How many programs do people usually apply to?  I have no idea where to apply, where I think I will end up, etc.  I have heard that most people usually do around 10 interviews.  Please help.......

Applied to 20 programs throughout the country and went on 13 interviews. I declined a few interviews and was not invited for interview at some others. One program I never even heard from as if they didn’t get my application or something.

What helped aid your decision in choosing programs?  Reputation?  Location?  Right now, I have about 40 programs on my list, and I wanted to narrow it down to about 25 or so.

to ensure that i matched, i felt like i had to apply to a lot of programs.  i applied to 37, got interview offers from 35.  i ideally would have wanted to do 20 interviews, but ended up being able to fit in only 17, and ranked 14 of them.

in the beginning, the only thing you know about programs is their reputation, so many people base their choices on reputation.  in the end, location ended up being my most important criteria, as i felt that the top six programs on my rank list would have provided equivalent training.  the only things that really differentiated programs for me were: 1) geography, and 2) the personality of the program.  remember, you don’t want to spend 7 years in a city you hate working with people you can’t stand.

best of luck.

reputation, location, things the residents and faculty at my med school told me..I would be lying if I said that things I read on sites like nsmatch didn’t have some effect on me, even if subconciously.

I don’t think this is the time to be cheap. If you have even an inkling of thinking that you might like that program then go ahead and apply. You can start narrowing down as you get interview invites.

my goal was to match and i didn’t let anything get in the way.

mpp is right: don’t be cheap.  i took an additional $10K in student loans to help fund my application experience.  flying from city to city and staying in motels/hotels and renting cars is not cheap. i was often changing my interview schedule as offers came up and so was often booking flights and hotels at the last minute.  i left for a tour of america 24 days long living out of a garment bag and a backpack.

it was fun, tiring, and expensive, but well worth it, because i ended up matching.

don’t be cheap.

I applied to 35, got offers from all of them.  I went on 12 interviews… in the end I just got so tired of it I started canceling them like crazy.  I agree with the other posters though- you need to cast a wide net, and try to hit as many places as you can on the trail.  Certainly, don’t try to cut corners to save some $$ This is not the time.

In terms of what shaped my decision?  In the end I wanted a program that was truly up-and-coming, where I would get tons of hands on experience in the OR, where I liked the other residents and where the focus of the program and the attendings was really on resident education.  I ended up staying at my home program (my #1 pick) which was not in a city I was dying to stay in, but where I’ve been very happy.  I haven’t doubted my decision at all.

I’ve got a question.  Interview invitations are just starting to roll in.  So far, they have mostly come from schools that I applied to as “back-ups”.  Is it kosher to accept all invitations and schedule dates for interviews even though have full intentions of cancelling on them when/if you get interview invitations at the primay places you are hoping to attend?  At this point, I don’t see any other way to do it.  Would appreciate input from those with experience.

that’s totally fine.  that’s exactly what i did.  i was a beggar and i couldn’t be choosy.

the only thing i would say is to try to cancel as far in advance as possible so another person can take your spot, though sometimes you have to cancel at the last minute.

I think everyone does this. There is no other way really. Just don’t be a no show. Give as much advance notice as you can.

One place last year wanted to see a copy of your airplane ticket to schedule the interview since they have so many no shows.

can any residents comment on how a program makes its rank list for students who have not rotated at a program?

obviously bad behaviors at interviews cross you off their list, but for the majority of applicants who can behave for one day, when it all comes down to it, how do you rank applicant A over applicant B, when both are hard working guys, with good credentials?

a follow up question is, how much of the battle is getting the interview? if you are invited for interview, and things go well, will you at least be somewhere on their rank list?

wow, tough question, abcd.  as you can imagine, it is difficult to put 20-30 great guys and gals into an ordered list.  at OHSU, the faculty and residents sit down and argue and heckle until everyone’s happy with the list.  most of your guys’ applications look the same at this point, so a lot of our haggling is based upon our experience with you during the interview process, both formal and informal.

getting the interview is the hard part.  once you’ve got it, you have a really high chance of being on the list.  i have seen several applicants get canned because of behavior or whatever during the interview, but that’s rare.  as long as you’re yourself and not a tool, you’ll probably get on the list.

hope this helps.

I agree with Kenny.  While rotating medical students are almost always guaranteed an interview, the fact that they rotated through the program seems to help only marginally.  What’s more important is for you to see if you would enjoy seven years at that program.

The interviews are the big equalizer, as long as your board scores are within the same range of each other.  Some attendings look for high board scores (therefore a good test taker, and will pass the neurosurgery boards easily), research, but most look for people that put out the appearance of a hard-working, non-offensive, I could work with this guy for seven years type person.

Ken/Mark or anybody, after applying, was there any notion that you had any control over where you’d match?

no