I know that the average # of interview invitations in SDN is like 35, but what's the average # of invitations for most med school applicants? Also, what do you think is the number of interview invites that would make a given application cycle a "success" for an applicant?
I think 3-5 might be good guess to the number that applicants get. This is from talking to people at interviews.
I'd say "success" is arbitrary. I mean if you got into the school you really wanted to go to then in the end it doesn't matter how many invites you had. Example: I had a friend last year who interviewed at Duke, UPenn, and Chicago Med and Loma Linda. Got shafted by the UCs despite being a cali resident and didn't even get invited to interview. In the end he only got one acceptance to Loma Linda. While he is grateful that he got in, Loma Linda wasn't his first choice. So should one call this a successful cycle because he interviewed at awesome schools like Duke and UPenn and ultimately got in somewhere in the contiguous 48 states? Or was it not successful because in the end he only got one acceptance letter?
The average # of interview invitations is 35?!? Am I just misuderstanding that stat? God, if that's true I feel really sorry for the guy filling out that many secondaries! For those of you who have interviews already, how many have you scheduled? And if you have a lot, are you having trouble keeping up w/ classes from all the traveling?
i believe veilside was stretching a bit when he/she said the avg was 35. i think solid gold is a bit more accurate with 3-5 average interviews...
no, as veilside said the SDN average is 35 interviews. i think thats a little misleading. if we take jot, relatively prime, and other stalwarts out of the data pool, the SDN average probably drops down to the 3-5 range
i forgot to put a smiley face after my comment about SDNers' average # of interviews being 35 (i.e., was a joke)
I'm not an expert or anything, but here is what I've observed and what my guesses are. Most people apply 10-15 schools. I might be a little high, but not too much. Just about everyone (except for a Rhode Scholar I know) has applied to 8+. A few exceptions get above 20, and are typically California people. Personally, I've sent my AMCAS to 14 schools but only sent secondaries to 13 (left out Tulane) Most people interview until they get in where they want to go. I'm guessing people are scheduling every interview invitation they recieve until at least October 15. After they recieve an acceptance they are happy with, then people will probably withdraw applications or turn down invites. This next part may be wrong, but it is just a hunch. I think a lot of top schools seem to be interviewing later on in the season (Harvard, Penn, Northwestern, etc.), while a lot of other schools seem to be interviewing people with really high stats really early (state schools, lower ranked schools). Personally, I have 7 interviews scheduled. My life would be a lot easier if I knew where I was in or out to determine where to interview or not. So far, I haven't found it really hard to manage class and interviews, althought that might change at the end of the semester when professors typically cram material in and it will be the heart of the interview season. Just my $.02. Good luck with it all.
veilside quote ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------what do you think is the number of interview invites that would make a given application cycle a "success" for an applicant? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seconding UCLAMan's oppinion, I too believe the term "success" is a rather arbitrary one. Assuming that you gauge success by getting into a med school, any allopathic med school, than as sweet tea said, just one is enough. From a statistical standpoint, although schools certainly vary, I'd say the mean interview / acceptance ratio for allopathic med schools is about 33% acceptance from interviews. So you could argue that 3+ interviews means you have a more-than-likely chance of getting in. There is a flaw in this logic, however; Since these interviews are all statistically independent, you cannot add their chances and so there is really no number of interviews you can have that will give you a definitive comfort zone - so, again we get to the conclusion that it success is arbitrary and personally dependent. Wow... did I really need to go on like that?....hmm... I think I need to start thinking about other things besides medical school admissions....
According to an informal poll we performed last year on SDN (with 142 respondents), the average number of interviews that people received was 7.7 person.Here is the link to the thread where people posted their interview data. The average number of acceptances was 2.6 per person. On average, people completed 14.7 secondaries.
No kidding. But then again, SDNers aren't typical. I thought MSAR or someplace reliable listed the avg. number of schools applied to as 11. And >7 interviews...geez. Why? Once you interview, you get a response pretty quick. Assuming you get in, don't most people withdraw from schools lower on their "list." I know I sure will if I'm that lucky.
You don't always know right away after an interview. Some schools will leave you hanging for months. Also, it is difficult to compare schools until you have visited them, so, even if after your first interview you are accepted immediately, you might not just cancel your other interviews as you would like to see what those other schools are all about as well. The interview process is not just to have the school get to know you, but also to help you get to know the school, community, etc. to see if you would like it there. There is also the financial aid aspect. Most schools won't start handing out their financial aid offers until later in the season. You don't want to drop a school just because it might be 'ranked lower' as they might offer a killer financial aid package. Your personal 'ranked list' of favorite schools might change after your interview visits. There are many reasons to go to as many interviews as you possibly can. There are also reasons not to go on interviews (I only went on two of four interview invites...mostly because I am from Alaska and two more trips to the east coast at about $1,000 a pop just did not seem reasonable to me when I had already been accepted to a great school). The AAMC does list the average number of applications for the 2001 entering class as 11.7 per applicant (link). They will publish the 2002 entering class results in November. They do not list interview information. With a little bit of statistical finagling you might be able to figure out what the average number of interview invitations is per applicant using the data in the MSAR...but it's probably not worth the time.
I dunno if you can really expect an accurate # of interviews a "normal" med school candidate will get ("normal" = non SDN... we're "super"!) there's no way to really know bcos you have to know how many schools "normal" people apply to as well as the types of schools "normal" people apply to... if these "normal"'s feel too good about themselves and apply to Harvard, hopkins, duke, etc., then they're not getting many interviews !!!
