As a FMG I had 8 interview offers, obviously went on all 8, and matched at my #1 chioice. So, on the one hand I'm an advocate that you don't necessarily need 15-20 interviews, but there's no question I would have gone on that many if afforded the opportunity. In my opinion, if you're a strong candidate, have a personality that will fit in at most programs and you interview well, 12-15 interviews is adequate. But, we're all neurotic to some extent so I would never fault anyone for spending 10K and going on 20+ interviews if that's what helps them sleep better at night.
The answer, as with many things in life, is, "it depends". I think doing 5 is a bit silly, personally, and a bit egotistical....but to each their own. If you can afford to do 20, both financially and mentally, then more power to you :)My goal was to just GET interviews, seeing as how I saw myself as a mediocre candidate. I ended up with 25 offers. Took 18, and cancelled 6, to end up at a nice 12. I was even getting burnt out by #9 or so, but that's just part of the game. I matched at my #1, but I also rotated there. That is, of course, no guarantee at all of matching, so take that with a grain of salt. There's really just NO way to know what is "right" in terms of # of interviews. Go to ALL the ones where you think you'd be willing to train/live. That's pretty much what I did. This of course will vary from person to person. Best wishes! I know this process is stressful beyond all measure!!
I agree that "it depends." I think you need to look at the number of invites you get and compare it to the number of places you applied. If you apply to 90 programs and get 15-20 invites, you should go to all of them. If you apply to 40 and get 20+ invites, you would probably be fine going on 12 as long as they are not all super competitive places. 86% percent of us (US seniors) matched this year, and almost 90% did last year. Urology is competitive, but not nearly as hard of a match as I thought when applying. I went on 14 and it was the right amount in retrospect. The ones I cancelled were mostly for conflicting dates, but it worked out well. Good Luck!
I did 16 interviews in total, but I think I had maybe 25-30 offers. In retrospect, I applied to way too many programs (was couples matching)I think 10-15 would have been fine looking back.
To be honest, those re-applying have a WAY harder time of matching compared to that of first time applicants, regardless if they did a year of research, won the nobel peace prize, or became president. You are looked at as someone who wasn't successful the first time for a reason and likely a year of whatever did not change your application significantly. That said, there are expections.I knew this from friends who didn't match so I approached the process as this was my ONE SHOT CHANCE, and taking a year off was going to be a lot more expensive, anxiety provoking, and trouble than going into debt for the interview season.So I applied to VERY BROADLY. I went on 15 or so interviews, only turned down like 2-3 offers, and in the end, I matched and it was all worth it and would do it exactly the same all over again. The whole process is really a crap shoot and PDs all have different criteria for interviewing.I personally think the ideal number of interviews is different for the caliber of program you want to match at...some 5-10 is probably enough, but for those wanting to match at a top teritary referral center program, you may want to aim a bit higher, like in the 20s.Good Luck
if you're from a "top tier" medical school with a strong urology department and your scores are good (step 1 230+, top 25% of class) and your letters are good, you could probably get away with 10 interviews. even then it's risky, especially if you only interview at highly competitive programs. every year, some cocky student from a top 10 medical school fails to match because they didn't interview at any mid level or backup programs.if you're from a "middle tier" medical school, aim for 12-15, depending on your credentials.if you're anywhere lower, aim for more, something like 15-20.now, 20 interviews sounds crazy, but i'm at a large academically oriented big name program, and there is a definite bias toward students from prestigious schools. why? because most of the faculty when to harvard, yale, princeton, etc. for college, then a big name medical school, followed by a big name residency and a big name fellowship. if there were two identical applicants, one from HMS and one from a random small state school, the HMS applicant would be ranked higher unless he or she was a total douche at the interview. that's just a fact of life. the only students we match from non-big name medical schools are those who rotate through as visiting students. i know, because i'm one of them. one attending even told me "you know, we love you, you're a great resident, and thank god you rotated through because if we didn't know you, you would have just been another face on a crowd".i interviewed at 20 programs. it was expensive. it was exhausting. but it was also a great chance to visit programs and hear the gossip and get to know the other applicants. was it necessary? i was lucky and matched at my #1 choice where I did an away rotation. but what if i didn't match there? i think it would have dropped much lower on my list because of my medical school isn't well known and at all the other big name programs where i didn't rotate, i would have been a "face in a crowd".
I had 28 offers, I went on 14, I wish I stopped around 8. Between my home program and my 2 aways, I feel like there were 2 programs in the 3 that had me ranked to match (I know one of them did, as I matched there). My home program also expressed to me that if I wanted to stay there to let them know as they wanted to keep me.What is a 'mediocre' applicant? I felt like I was a very average or even sub-average applicant on paper. But I am pretty personable and have a slew of penis jokes that use break the ice.
As a FMG I had 8 interview offers, obviously went on all 8, and matched at my #1 chioice. So, on the one hand I'm an advocate that you don't necessarily need 15-20 interviews, but there's no question I would have gone on that many if afforded the opportunity. In my opinion, if you're a strong candidate, have a personality that will fit in at most programs and you interview well, 12-15 interviews is adequate. But, we're all neurotic to some extent so I would never fault anyone for spending 10K and going on 20+ interviews if that's what helps them sleep better at night.
I was an Ok applicant from a very small school. 242 on step 1 244 on step 2. AOA. top percentile in class and 1 research abstract submittedI applied to about 50 programs, got 15 interviews, went on 11. I matched at my #7 which was a huge surprise but i'm glad i did.I would have been happy at any of the 12 programs i ranked.Bottom Line: the name of your schol matters, I think 10-12 is a good range, yeah you're gonna be tired by 8 or 9. but who cares hopefully you plan to apply for the match only once. Nothing is easy, it only makes it so much sweeter when you match.
As an FMG I was happy to take anything I was offered. In the end I had 14 offers and went on 12. I was quite happy with that, but still terrified at the possibility of not matching. I ended up at my 6th choice, and was ecstatic. In the end, you are talking about your (basically) one shot at nailing an amazing 40-50 year career. Suck it up and give it every ounce of energy you have and put every dollar you have to towards it -if urology is that important to you, that is. In the end if you match and you felt like you went on too many, oh well, you're gonna be a urologist, and thats an amazing feeling. You'll quickly forget about how much of a pain in the ass it is to go on so many interviews when you're partying your ass off cause you just matched and you still have ~5 months to party till residency begins. If you didn't match, and you gave it your best, thats all anyone can ask of you and you should be proud of yourself. On to your backup option. But if you didn't match and you half-assed it... well thats a really shitty feeling, isn't it. Don't end up in that last scenario. Again, it is all dependent on your overall application, but lean towards overdoing it to ensure you match in a very competitive specialty. Good luck
As a FMG I had 8 interview offers, obviously went on all 8, and matched at my #1 chioice. So, on the one hand I'm an advocate that you don't necessarily need 15-20 interviews, but there's no question I would have gone on that many if afforded the opportunity. In my opinion, if you're a strong candidate, have a personality that will fit in at most programs and you interview well, 12-15 interviews is adequate. But, we're all neurotic to some extent so I would never fault anyone for spending 10K and going on 20+ interviews if that's what helps them sleep better at night.
The answer, as with many things in life, is, "it depends". I think doing 5 is a bit silly, personally, and a bit egotistical....but to each their own. If you can afford to do 20, both financially and mentally, then more power to you :)My goal was to just GET interviews, seeing as how I saw myself as a mediocre candidate. I ended up with 25 offers. Took 18, and cancelled 6, to end up at a nice 12. I was even getting burnt out by #9 or so, but that's just part of the game. I matched at my #1, but I also rotated there. That is, of course, no guarantee at all of matching, so take that with a grain of salt. There's really just NO way to know what is "right" in terms of # of interviews. Go to ALL the ones where you think you'd be willing to train/live. That's pretty much what I did. This of course will vary from person to person. Best wishes! I know this process is stressful beyond all measure!!
I agree that "it depends." I think you need to look at the number of invites you get and compare it to the number of places you applied. If you apply to 90 programs and get 15-20 invites, you should go to all of them. If you apply to 40 and get 20+ invites, you would probably be fine going on 12 as long as they are not all super competitive places. 86% percent of us (US seniors) matched this year, and almost 90% did last year. Urology is competitive, but not nearly as hard of a match as I thought when applying. I went on 14 and it was the right amount in retrospect. The ones I cancelled were mostly for conflicting dates, but it worked out well. Good Luck!
I did 16 interviews in total, but I think I had maybe 25-30 offers. In retrospect, I applied to way too many programs (was couples matching)I think 10-15 would have been fine looking back.
To be honest, those re-applying have a WAY harder time of matching compared to that of first time applicants, regardless if they did a year of research, won the nobel peace prize, or became president. You are looked at as someone who wasn't successful the first time for a reason and likely a year of whatever did not change your application significantly. That said, there are expections.I knew this from friends who didn't match so I approached the process as this was my ONE SHOT CHANCE, and taking a year off was going to be a lot more expensive, anxiety provoking, and trouble than going into debt for the interview season.So I applied to VERY BROADLY. I went on 15 or so interviews, only turned down like 2-3 offers, and in the end, I matched and it was all worth it and would do it exactly the same all over again. The whole process is really a crap shoot and PDs all have different criteria for interviewing.I personally think the ideal number of interviews is different for the caliber of program you want to match at...some 5-10 is probably enough, but for those wanting to match at a top teritary referral center program, you may want to aim a bit higher, like in the 20s.Good Luck
if you're from a "top tier" medical school with a strong urology department and your scores are good (step 1 230+, top 25% of class) and your letters are good, you could probably get away with 10 interviews. even then it's risky, especially if you only interview at highly competitive programs. every year, some cocky student from a top 10 medical school fails to match because they didn't interview at any mid level or backup programs.if you're from a "middle tier" medical school, aim for 12-15, depending on your credentials.if you're anywhere lower, aim for more, something like 15-20.now, 20 interviews sounds crazy, but i'm at a large academically oriented big name program, and there is a definite bias toward students from prestigious schools. why? because most of the faculty when to harvard, yale, princeton, etc. for college, then a big name medical school, followed by a big name residency and a big name fellowship. if there were two identical applicants, one from HMS and one from a random small state school, the HMS applicant would be ranked higher unless he or she was a total douche at the interview. that's just a fact of life. the only students we match from non-big name medical schools are those who rotate through as visiting students. i know, because i'm one of them. one attending even told me "you know, we love you, you're a great resident, and thank god you rotated through because if we didn't know you, you would have just been another face on a crowd".i interviewed at 20 programs. it was expensive. it was exhausting. but it was also a great chance to visit programs and hear the gossip and get to know the other applicants. was it necessary? i was lucky and matched at my #1 choice where I did an away rotation. but what if i didn't match there? i think it would have dropped much lower on my list because of my medical school isn't well known and at all the other big name programs where i didn't rotate, i would have been a "face in a crowd".
I had 28 offers, I went on 14, I wish I stopped around 8. Between my home program and my 2 aways, I feel like there were 2 programs in the 3 that had me ranked to match (I know one of them did, as I matched there). My home program also expressed to me that if I wanted to stay there to let them know as they wanted to keep me.What is a 'mediocre' applicant? I felt like I was a very average or even sub-average applicant on paper. But I am pretty personable and have a slew of penis jokes that use break the ice.
I was an Ok applicant from a very small school. 242 on step 1 244 on step 2. AOA. top percentile in class and 1 research abstract submittedI applied to about 50 programs, got 15 interviews, went on 11. I matched at my #7 which was a huge surprise but i'm glad i did.I would have been happy at any of the 12 programs i ranked.Bottom Line: the name of your schol matters, I think 10-12 is a good range, yeah you're gonna be tired by 8 or 9. but who cares hopefully you plan to apply for the match only once. Nothing is easy, it only makes it so much sweeter when you match.
As an FMG I was happy to take anything I was offered. In the end I had 14 offers and went on 12. I was quite happy with that, but still terrified at the possibility of not matching. I ended up at my 6th choice, and was ecstatic. In the end, you are talking about your (basically) one shot at nailing an amazing 40-50 year career. Suck it up and give it every ounce of energy you have and put every dollar you have to towards it -if urology is that important to you, that is. In the end if you match and you felt like you went on too many, oh well, you're gonna be a urologist, and thats an amazing feeling. You'll quickly forget about how much of a pain in the ass it is to go on so many interviews when you're partying your ass off cause you just matched and you still have ~5 months to party till residency begins. If you didn't match, and you gave it your best, thats all anyone can ask of you and you should be proud of yourself. On to your backup option. But if you didn't match and you half-assed it... well thats a really shitty feeling, isn't it. Don't end up in that last scenario. Again, it is all dependent on your overall application, but lean towards overdoing it to ensure you match in a very competitive specialty. Good luck