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Limited number of interviews


dr.tom

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Good evening, I know the more interviews the merrier, it obviously increases ones odds of matching.But, lets say an individual only got 2 interviews. Now that's a pretty scary looking rank list....

 

I know a lot of programs usually interview 10-20 applicants per spot. So, statistically every interviewee has 10-20% chance of being selected at the the top of the rank list....the probability of matching increases with each interview.

 

Does anyone have any personal experience on matching with such few interviews.

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To be fair, your chances are a bit better than you describe.

 

Say 20 ppl apply for 2 spots. The chances are higher than 10%. This is because, chances are, several of those ppl will not rank that program #1, and thus will be ranked elsewhere before they could even get to that program on a rank order list.

 

Furthermore, I always think there are some ppl who get interviews who really have a poor shot--who have done very minimal electives in the specialty, for example. Assuming you HAVE shown a lot of interest and done electives, this increases your chances substancially.

 

Thus, I tend to think the chances of a given program like that are more 2/7-8 than 2/20.

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To be fair, your chances are a bit better than you describe.

Say 20 ppl apply for 2 spots. The chances are higher than 10%. This is because, chances are, several of those ppl will not rank that program #1, and thus will be ranked elsewhere before they could even get to that program on a rank order list.

 

Furthermore, I always think there are some ppl who get interviews who really have a poor shot--who have done very minimal electives in the specialty, for example. Assuming you HAVE shown a lot of interest and done electives, this increases your chances substancially.

 

Thus, I tend to think the chances of a given program like that are more 2/7-8 than 2/20.

 

 

thats very true! I was one of 25 candidates for a gunner program. I met at least 6 interviewees who not only weren't interested in ranking that program first, they weren't even gonna rank the discipline first!!! That increases chances greatly.

So yeah, it's a waiting game...

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thats very true! I was one of 25 candidates for a gunner program. I met at least 6 interviewees who not only weren't interested in ranking that program first, they weren't even gonna rank the discipline first!!! That increases chances greatly.

So yeah, it's a waiting game...

 

Yup, at least it is a lot shorter than all the prior waiting we needed to do (weeks vs months).

 

I even ran into people that after the interview weren't going to rank the school at all. There is a lot of varieties in this :)

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Don't worry; I applied only for 3 programs, interviewed at 3, ranked 2 and got my first choice. ;)

 

Except for the fact that you are a CMG who applied to psychiatry, who got all of their interviews, so I am assuming you were competitive for it. The OP is an IMG who might have applied to way more programs and got only 2 interviews, and if he is applying to a program that has 2 spots, I'm wondering if it could be a competitive surgical subspecialty? Either way the IMG vs CMG thing is a big enough difference. Not to take away hope but putting things into perspective.

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Except for the fact that you are a CMG who applied to psychiatry, who got all of their interviews, so I am assuming you were competitive for it. The OP is an IMG who might have applied to way more programs and got only 2 interviews, and if he is applying to a program that has 2 spots, I'm wondering if it could be a competitive surgical subspecialty? Either way the IMG vs CMG thing is a big enough difference. Not to take away hope but putting things into perspective.

 

Thanks Mr. Alastriss. Not sure the relevance behind you mentioning my IMG status. My original post revolved around having a limited number of interviews, and 2 spots being offered at one of the programs that I want to get into. There were 20 interviewees, whom all happened to be IMG's as well.

 

And before you ask, its for anesthesiology. There are only few IMG programs, so the rest is pretty simple.

 

Cheers.

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Thanks Mr. Alastriss. Not sure the relevance behind you mentioning my IMG status. My original post revolved around having a limited number of interviews, and 2 spots being offered at one of the programs that I want to get into. There were 20 interviewees, whom all happened to be IMG's as well.

 

And before you ask, its for anesthesiology. There are only few IMG programs, so the rest is pretty simple.

 

Cheers.

 

I think it was more that CMG psych getting 3 interviews on three applications is comparatively expected relatively to IMG anything else. Renin didn't even rank one of the choices - probably in part because psych is not that competitive.

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Thanks Mr. Alastriss. Not sure the relevance behind you mentioning my IMG status. My original post revolved around having a limited number of interviews, and 2 spots being offered at one of the programs that I want to get into. There were 20 interviewees, whom all happened to be IMG's as well.

 

And before you ask, its for anesthesiology. There are only few IMG programs, so the rest is pretty simple.

 

Cheers.

 

Hi Dr. Tom. The relevance in mentioning my IMG status is that depending on the province IMGs may have parallel streams where you compete for IMG seats, but from my understanding \that may not be the case in all provinces where you may be neck-to-neck with other CMGs for the same spots. Additionally, in the second iteration, should it come to that (fingers crossed no) then it will be IMG vs CMG for whatever spots left, so if any in your specialty are left it might be tougher.

 

The other thing is a matter of circumstantial probability, not related to your IMG status per se. You've posted before and that's how I know you are an IMG, so I would only assume that you wouldn't have limited the numbers you applied to down to 3 as Renin did, which means that your interview:application ratio isn't as favourable.

 

I'm just saying how the circumstances are different. There is nothing we can do now but cross our fingers and hope for the best, me and you both :)

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I gotcha. Lets hope for the best.

 

On a side note, can anyone comment how much a LOR from the PD and doing an elective on site will help in terms of ranking?

 

 

Oh, and I already got the bottle of champagne ready to open March 5th at 12:01 pm.....even if its bad new, I will be getting drunk.

 

Cheers!

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I gotcha. Lets hope for the best.

 

On a side note, can anyone comment how much a LOR from the PD and doing an elective on site will help in terms of ranking?

 

 

Oh, and I already got the bottle of champagne ready to open March 5th at 12:01 pm.....even if its bad new, I will be getting drunk.

 

Cheers!

 

I suspect you will not be alone in your approach :)

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