When you interview [early/late in season] makes a difference?

[googled]

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OK, this may have been asked before, but...

Does WHEN you interview at a program have an impact? Say a program interviews Nov 1 to Feb 3, does someone interviewing early (first month) have an advantage over someone interviewing later (last month), assuming you come off the same way (although interviewing later gives you more "experience" in the process)?

My GF & I were discussing this and she thinks that if you interview later, interviewee and interviewer get "burn out" and it's going through the motions, etc... and you may have to work harder to appear or sound enthusiastic...
I sorta see her point, but I don't think it makes a difference but may give an advantage as you've seen more on the interview trail and are more comfortable w/ the process...

Thoughts?

 

[Jeff05]

OK, this may have been asked before, but...

Does WHEN you interview at a program have an impact? Say a program interviews Nov 1 to Feb 3, does someone interviewing early (first month) have an advantage over someone interviewing later (last month), assuming you come off the same way (although interviewing later gives you more "experience" in the process)?

My GF & I were discussing this and she thinks that if you interview later, interviewee and interviewer get "burn out" and it's going through the motions, etc... and you may have to work harder to appear or sound enthusiastic...
I sorta see her point, but I don't think it makes a difference but may give an advantage as you've seen more on the interview trail and are more comfortable w/ the process...

Thoughts?

Iserson's states that the later you interview the higher your chances of matching, albeit only by a couple of percentage points. He attributes this to a gradual dilution of the "perfect applicant" image that interviewers look for in the beginning of the season. basically, later in the season they are more likely to compare you to the applicant pool than to an ideal candidate image, which is always better than the actual applicant base.

 

[j_sde]

when do commitee's start to 'rank' the applicants? i know they turn in the rank list in late feb/early march.... but do they start ranking applicants (numberically, or into categories of top/middle/low) weekly as they interview? or do they only do that all in the end when they come and talk bout everyone they interviewed in the last 3 months?

 

[googled]

Thanks for the reference to Iserson's Getting into a Residency... I inherited an older edition just sitting on my shelf... hadn't time yet to pick it up... so my question was addressed in the book... basically the book states later interview may have more of an advantage as they see previous applicants to compare you to (realistically), and when interviewing in a later group, they tend to remember you more before the final meeting to "rank" the list....

 

[Cardiovert]

Except Iserson's book is voodoo and likely based on the crack he was smoking at the time he wrote his book. Dunno about his current edition but in his previous editions he wrote some outrageously stupid interview questions he felt you may be asked. For example, "if you were a kitchen tool, which would you be?" WTF?#@! His advice is worthless (but amusing reading)and a lot of that mumbo-jumbo he spews out is not based on any evidence other than his own opinion.. Most residency interviewers have seen Iserson's book and any advantage applicants believe exists as a result of reading it, does not.

 

[vigvik]

I was told by PD that they have draft of rank list when they start inviting applicants for interview. And in the course of interviews they just change the positions of applicants. He suggested me to interview in most desirable program in the middle (I was surprised 😕 ) of "interview season", because in the beginning applicants don't have enough experience and to the end of interviews, programs already have their rank list and compare applicant to the previous ones. Usually they don't change their rank list dramatically in the end.
I am not sure that all program follow this practice.

 

[chillindrdude]

is it true that at most programs, a candidate is given a raw numerical score after the interview. and this is how a candidate is ranked