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Competitive match question...


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Hey all -

 

I was wondering if any of you have any idea on whether or not the number of interviews distributed reflect the number of spaces available - i.e. Program X has 8 positions that fill every 1st match, thus they only send out [some number] invitations.... Or to be on the safe side, do they generally ship out tonnes to guarantee filling? Just daydreaming here, and wondering what my chances are for those more competitive spots now that I got an invite (huzzah!)...

 

Thoughts?

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They usually have a set ratio of Interviews:Spots

 

For instance, if they have 8 spots, and they want a ratio of 5:1, they will give out 40 interviews, which works out to a 20% match success.

 

From what I've seen, the ratio can be anywhere from 4:1 to 10:1

 

So, you could be up against anywhere from 30 to 80 others.

 

Usually the more competitive a specialty, the less interviews are given out.

 

Of course, they sometimes throw in extra interviews if people aren't accepting invitations (again, in more competitive specialties, it's more likely that ppl will accept interviews, hence they don't need to hand out too many)

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Usually the more competitive a specialty, the less interviews are given out.

 

I don't think that's really true. IM programs are not in general competitive, but because there are so many applicants they can be somewhat selective about who the interview. On the other hand, anesthesia is relatively more competitive, but several programs interview almost everyone as a matter of course. So while it can be difficult for non-UofT students to get an IM interview there, it's almost a given to get an interview if you apply to the Toronto anesthesia program.

 

As for the original question, it depends. Programs will vary their practices from year-to-year and it's not unheard of at all for competitive ones to end up with unmatched spots because they didn't end up ranking enough people.

 

As ever, the only advice is to apply wide, interview everywhere you can, and rank everything you'd be at least semi-okay with. The second iteration is not friendly to anyone.

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I don't think that's really true. IM programs are not in general expensive, but because there are so many applicants they can be somewhat selective about who the interview. On the other hand, anesthesia is relatively more competitive, but several programs interview almost everyone as a matter of course. So while it can be difficult for non-UofT students to get an IM interview there, it's almost a given to get an interview if you apply to the Toronto anesthesia program.

 

As for the original question, it depends. Programs will vary their practices from year-to-year and it's not unheard of at all for competitive ones to end up with unmatched spots because they didn't end up ranking enough people.

 

As ever, the only advice is to apply wide, interview everywhere you can, and rank everything you'd be at least semi-okay with. The second iteration is not friendly to anyone.

 

I should have been more clear. I was talking about REALLY competitive fields with FEW spots, like rad onc, neurosurgery, derm, etc. They hand out very few interviews

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