Will Ophtho programs interview multiple people from the same school?

[golfman]

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A friend of mine that matched this year said that he thought many Ophtho programs limit the number of interviews they give to people from the same school, regardless of their application (for diversity purposes). I guess this makes sense, if a school with 5 resident slots only interviews 50 people, they probably don't want to interview, say, 5 people from a school that pumps out a lot of Ophtho applicants every year, or would they?

I hadn't really thought about this until he mentioned it. I would hope schools would just take the best applicants, but I also understand the diversity issue.

Does anybody come from a school that pumps out lots of Ophtho applicants? I don't even know which schools those would be, maybe Iowa? At any rate, do you think the number of people applying from your school affects you, even if you have a strong application? I think it is a very interesting question. But maybe I'm the only one who finds it interesting.

 

[JMK2005]

... At any rate, do you think the number of people applying from your school affects you, even if you have a strong application?

Yes to a limited degree, but all you can do is have the strongest application possible.

 

[Eyes T]

Within my region, it wasn't uncommon to see 4 or 5 of my classmates at the same interview. Once we got out of the northeast, it seems like programs got a lot more selective and invited only 1 or 2 (or none) of us. Despite all of us being fairly strong candidates, I think they were trying to pick the ones who would most likely leave the region based on where we lived or went to school in the past. That being said, if you are an all-star applicant you can expect fewer limitations based on number of classmates applying and geography.

 

[GuitarHero1]

Probably depends on the program you are applying to. I'd say that if 10 people from your school apply to program A, and everyone is a strong candidate, the program will only invite a few to interview despite the others being strong applicants as well. I suppose then there is some competition among your classmates.