@creekland - unlike college or medicine, applying to 15 or 90 does not have a huge amount of difference (more fees?). It is a single application and they just keep adding more to the list. No additional essays to write, no supplementaries and whatever goes with the longer list.
The difference will come in terms of managing the list and the strategies they have in place. People start with an expectation that their specialty requires them to apply to 20 or 90 residencies, attend 10 or 25 interviews to be placed in their top 3 or 4 choices.
So lets say your son needs to attend 10 interviews to feel comfortable for his area, he applied to 20, interviews start rolling in. He hits 15 interview invites, every program he is interested has already called him and he thinks he needs to attend only 10. So he withdraws from the 5 that have not called him yet and proceeds to cancel 2 or 5 or whatever interviews already scheduled and withdraws from those too.
The counts vary based on specialty but I see many of the applicants follow the same process. Since there is no travel this year, I suspect people might be attending a lot more interviews since they can attend one everyday if needed but it was not possible in the past traveling across coasts and also with allocation of two days for most non local interviews.
Over the years I have hosted people from D’s college and driven them around to interviews and so talk to them a lot. I have had urologists, psychiatrists, opthalmologists, surgeons and most of them give me a variation of the above. This is how many it takes to get in, I have attended X interviews, I have Y pending, but I am planning to cancel Z number and withdraw from the rest.
@Creekland, I didn’t know as well where my daughter was applying and then interviewing at. I wouldn’t have known a good program from a bad, so it didn’t matter. Daughter and now husband were doing a couple’s match in different specialities which made it a bit harder. I only knew where they were interviewing as she told me, and I was able to provide some free hotels with points I had.
At this point in the game you just need to leave it up to him. When he submits his lists,then ask him about his rankings.
I know how it is to not know about all this stuff.
D2 will be in experimental year 3 years from now with pass/fail for Step 1. Most schools will have to come up with new way of ranking applicants or require people to take step 2 that is graded.
This batch will be the second batch without a step 1 score and hopefully they will know how programs are selecting candidates.
Unfortunately, this is an experimental year for all applicants to medical school and residency where everything has become virtual.
D submitted her final secondary today Applied to 16 and was so relieved to be done with all of those essays!! Now the waiting game and hope for some interview invites.
D submitted the combined BSMD application to AMCAS after receiving the authorization to submit such a restricted application type. Now it goes for verification. The medical school already has official transcripts, CASPer evaluation and the official MCAT score.
Interesting, there was no fee charged by AMCAS for the combined bsmd application authorized by the medical school. Let us see what happens when secondary arrives from the medical school.
@PPofEngrDr@CottonTales and @texaspg My oldest daughter is at a 5 year categorical surgical residency position. She will be doing research, not sure how long? The fellowship in pediatric surgery is her long-term plan, she will apply in her last year of residency. She has wanted to be a pediatric surgeon since her very first rotation in med school, and being placed with a mentor who really “has it all”, sealed the deal.
For others that are wondering about the applications to residency, my daughter applied to 23 programs, got 21 interviews. She cancelled a few towards the end. She shared her top 5 and bottom choices with us. We were very aware of her travels because she flew out of our hometown quite a bit due to much cheaper flights, and was able to stay with friends and family in NY, LA, and Texas!
My Middle D just started classes, and says even though she felt very prepared for medical school, said it’s still harder than she thought it would be, LOL! She is concerned already about step scores being pass/fail and how she will be able to make herself appealing to residencies. I’m like “IT’S WEEK ONE!! EVERYONE IS IN THE SAME BOAT! JUST DO YOUR BEST AND EVERYTHING WILL WORK OUT!”
@moonpie D started 2 weeks ago, finished her first test on Friday and is already preparing for a test next week. There is apparently no such thing as week 1 in med school although I agree step 1 worries can wait a while longer and she needs to focus on week 2!
D applied to three schools. She interviewed and got accepted to her first choice in September. (instate) She interviewed at two schools so far and completed the secondary for the third. At this point if she gets another acceptance she is just going to compare the costs but in her mind she is pretty much ready to send her deposit.
@raclut Congratulations. That is super planning and outstanding preparation/accomplishment to make it happen in such a short list. Can enjoy the year until July 2021.
Applied to 16 and was so relieved to be done with all of those essays!! Now the waiting game and hope for some interview invites.