How are interview invites sent out?

[jarmen]

not sure if anyone knows this, but are interview invites sent out all at once or are they staggered over time? i ask bc im a neurotic bitch... 265+ step 1, junior aoa, couple of pubs, and im seeing ppl post invites to schools i applied to and i cant imagine i was screened out...

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[NewYorkDoctors]

sdont worry

so far it's the "less desirable" programs that are sending these out

Now I do not mean to sound like a d-bag as I am positive these places train lots of very good doctors with great patient outcomes

Plus some people have gotten some great offers thus far...


But the most of them seem to be "lower tiered" offers.


Anyway I've received an email and then I check the ERAS Message Center for a reply email with dates


Then I suppose they confirm it with you later on.

 

[Jaymz]

They are most certainly staggered over time (I know for certain my school does)... I do not know of a program that will/would send out all invites one day only..
I am also neurotic (duh) and have identical stats/CV you have and 1 example is while I have been invited to a handful of programs thus far, I do not have one to UAB, which many others seem to have invites from.

 

[dozitgetchahi]

I think most places wait until after the MSPEs get released on Oct 1 before making decisions. I've gotten several confirmation emails that talk about programs holding meetings in early October to determine who gets interviews.

I wouldn't be too panicked yet either...I have pretty solid stats and yet I've gotten maybe half a dozen interviews so far (applied to almost 50 progs). The most competitive places I've applied to have been silent.

 

[saphireflame]

not sure if anyone knows this, but are interview invites sent out all at once or are they staggered over time? i ask bc im a neurotic bitch... 265+ step 1, junior aoa, couple of pubs, and im seeing ppl post invites to schools i applied to and i cant imagine i was screened out...

glad you asked 'cause i feel the same way. most invites thus far are from "lower tiered programs" so to speak, but there's been more and more of those "more desirable" programs sending out invites. it's human nature to get a little uneasy... to say the least.

 

[gutonc]

This thread makes me want to quit SDN...and life.

 

[jarmen]

This thread makes me want to quit SDN...and life.

y? cause of the unabashed insanity? i dont give any ****s if u want to hate, but would love if u have more info about how these interview invites are handled so as to explain y some applications would be skipped in the first round of invites.

 

[gutonc]

y? cause of the unabashed insanity? i dont give any ****s if u want to hate, but would love if u have more info about how these interview invites are handled so as to explain y some applications would be skipped in the first round of invites.

You have no idea why you don't have an interview at program X while somebody else does. Why would you obsess over it. Everything you can do has been done. Go out and get drunk tonight. You need it.

 

[emboli]

You have no idea why you don't have an interview at program X while somebody else does. Why would you obsess over it. Everything you can do has been done. Go out and get drunk tonight. You need it.

You must be a fun attending to work with lol

But I agree with you.

 

[disorder]

they probably saw your neurotic tendencies through your app and screened you out.






seriously, you're more than fine at any program. i think.

 

[duckie99]

not sure if anyone knows this, but are interview invites sent out all at once or are they staggered over time? i ask bc im a neurotic bitch... 265+ step 1, junior aoa, couple of pubs, and im seeing ppl post invites to schools i applied to and i cant imagine i was screened out...

seriously bro? you sound like a huge d-bag... what? because you don't have an invite from UAB/some other good program and someone else with lower stats does you get angry?

You will not get an invite at every program you applied to. period. It is not necessarily because you were screened out. Sometimes programs will think you don't honestly intend on attending their program or ranking them high so why bother wasting their time on you? If they look through your app and don't see a good fit just based on things like their current/past residents, your goals that they may not be best for, etc they may be less willing. Furthermore the med school you attend does play a factor so if by chance you attend a lower tiered med school or are from a school they've had bad residents from in the past that won't look good whether it's right or not. Trying to determine why any one person got an interview over another is impossible and not worth thinking about. Bottom line is that board scores aren't everything. And I agree, you are a neurotic bitch.

better change your attitude before interviews because you'll have more than enough from mgh, bwh, ucsf, etc etc etc.

 

[jarmen]

seriously bro? you sound like a huge d-bag... what? because you don't have an invite from UAB/some other good program and someone else with lower stats does you get angry?

You will not get an invite at every program you applied to. period. It is not necessarily because you were screened out. Sometimes programs will think you don't honestly intend on attending their program or ranking them high so why bother wasting their time on you? If they look through your app and don't see a good fit just based on things like their current/past residents, your goals that they may not be best for, etc they may be less willing. Furthermore the med school you attend does play a factor so if by chance you attend a lower tiered med school or are from a school they've had bad residents from in the past that won't look good whether it's right or not. Trying to determine why any one person got an interview over another is impossible and not worth thinking about. Bottom line is that board scores aren't everything. And I agree, you are a neurotic bitch.

better change your attitude before interviews because you'll have more than enough from mgh, bwh, ucsf, etc etc etc.

wow dude... that was intense... im not angry just curious as to how the system works. no need to get so angry and insulting. having said that ur point in between all the insults actually wasnt bad, although the programs that seemed to have skipped me on the first round were all pretty top notch, but i guess the point about which school one comes from is a good point. other than that u gotto take it easy... i may be over reacting to minutia but that response was just uncalled for.

 

[duckie99]

wow dude... that was intense... im not angry just curious as to how the system works. no need to get so angry and insulting. having said that ur point in between all the insults actually wasnt bad, although the programs that seemed to have skipped me on the first round were all pretty top notch, but i guess the point about which school one comes from is a good point. other than that u gotto take it easy... i may be over reacting to minutia but that response was just uncalled for.

yeah, sorry I went a little overboard there. In any case in that first post it did sound pretty d-bagish. But you'll be fine with plenty of top tier interviews and match well when all is said and done. Don't over-analyze the process. It is what it is. Good luck.

 

[path or no path]

This thread makes me want to quit SDN...and life.

 

[NewYorkDoctors]

Well I did unofficially get an interview yesterday in the following way:

On my final day of IM SubI at North Shore, I went to speak with the Chief Residents about some paperwork. I had performed as well as a medical student can and they reflected it as such on the evals. Then when asked, I mentioned I wanted to do IM.

So they pulled up the ERAS program on their computer (it just looks like any ordinary Windows application where they can gloss over all of the information... they did comment that I did not look as I did in that photo (long hair vs short hair now... see ERAS photo thread on the ERAS forum) but that it ultimately did not matter.

Once they saw the rest of my profile (no dean's letter yet), they essentially said they would contact their Program Coordinator to extend me an interview.


So I guess this is another way it could be done.

 

[F80]

not sure if anyone knows this, but are interview invites sent out all at once or are they staggered over time? i ask bc im a neurotic bitch... 265+ step 1, junior aoa, couple of pubs, and im seeing ppl post invites to schools i applied to and i cant imagine i was screened out...

I heard the cutoff this year for interviews was 270 step 1, might want to start looking into SOAP now...

 

[jarmen]

I heard the cutoff this year for interviews was 270 step 1, might want to start looking into SOAP now...

I heard that too....
Wow ppl are such haters. is it so wrong for someone with good stats to be worried? Everyone said that same ***t to me when applying to med school "with those numbers ull get interviews everywhere" and I ended up not getting the interviews where I originally wanted and landed at one of my safety schools (which turned out for the best cause I saved mad $ and did very well but regardless). Now two of the programs I'm most interested in (duke and Columbia) have sent out interviews and I was screened out for reasons unknown to me. Maybe my neurotic madness is a remnant of my hang ups from med school apps and this time around its less of a crapshoot but that's no reason to bitch endlessly just cause u look at the numbers and think they ensure success and only d-bags could worry cause they don't and in reality only d-bags would assume they have it in the bag just bc of their stats.

 

[emboli]

I heard that too....
Wow ppl are such haters. is it so wrong for someone with good stats to be worried? Everyone said that same ***t to me when applying to med school "with those numbers ull get interviews everywhere" and I ended up not getting the interviews where I originally wanted and landed at one of my safety schools (which turned out for the best cause I saved mad $ and did very well but regardless). Now two of the programs I'm most interested in (duke and Columbia) have sent out interviews and I was screened out for reasons unknown to me. Maybe my neurotic madness is a remnant of my hang ups from med school apps and this time around its less of a crapshoot but that's no reason to bitch endlessly just cause u look at the numbers and think they ensure success and only d-bags could worry cause they don't.

How do you know you were screened out? Just because you didn't get the invite, doesn't mean anything YET. Until you get the rejection letter, I don't think you should jump the gun, ESPECIALLY it's SO early. How many people got an interview to Columbia as of now, per the interview invite thread? One. I'm pretttty sure we'd see more people post their invites to Duke and Columbia... This is SDN after all.

Relax buddy. You are getting too worked up. You are making yourself a big target. You got the stats and the other stuff going for you. So just calm down and enjoy 4th year.

 

[LoudBark]

I heard that too....
Wow ppl are such haters. is it so wrong for someone with good stats to be worried? Everyone said that same ***t to me when applying to med school "with those numbers ull get interviews everywhere" and I ended up not getting the interviews where I originally wanted and landed at one of my safety schools (which turned out for the best cause I saved mad $ and did very well but regardless). Now two of the programs I'm most interested in (duke and Columbia) have sent out interviews and I was screened out for reasons unknown to me. Maybe my neurotic madness is a remnant of my hang ups from med school apps and this time around its less of a crapshoot but that's no reason to bitch endlessly just cause u look at the numbers and think they ensure success and only d-bags could worry cause they don't and in reality only d-bags would assume they have it in the bag just bc of their stats.

Stop worrying about things you have no control over.

And get out and maybe have some fun.......this is internal medicine after all. You are acting like you are applying to derm or optho or rads. Chill out.

 

[TheBigCat]

 

[Jaymz]

I heard that too....
Wow ppl are such haters. is it so wrong for someone with good stats to be worried? Everyone said that same ***t to me when applying to med school "with those numbers ull get interviews everywhere" and I ended up not getting the interviews where I originally wanted and landed at one of my safety schools (which turned out for the best cause I saved mad $ and did very well but regardless). Now two of the programs I'm most interested in (duke and Columbia) have sent out interviews and I was screened out for reasons unknown to me. Maybe my neurotic madness is a remnant of my hang ups from med school apps and this time around its less of a crapshoot but that's no reason to bitch endlessly just cause u look at the numbers and think they ensure success and only d-bags could worry cause they don't and in reality only d-bags would assume they have it in the bag just bc of their stats.

Well, at the probable risk that people will begin hating on me too, I agree with you, jarmen. I did not apply to Columbia (not interested in NY) but did apply to Duke as well and have not gotten an invite.. I may not be as worried but definitely am also wondering what the process is. I know there's nothing any of us can do at this point, but even if people have good stats, we are also still like any other applicant in that we want to see our hard efforts yield a tangible result and become concerned when it seems like it will not.

Anyways, good luck to you, jarmen, I hope you tear it up soon enough here. I am sure you deserve it.

 

[jarmen]

Lol yea...

 

[jarmen]

Well, at the probable risk that people will begin hating on me too, I agree with you, jarmen. I did not apply to Columbia (not interested in NY) but did apply to Duke as well and have not gotten an invite.. I may not be as worried but definitely am also wondering what the process is. I know there's nothing any of us can do at this point, but even if people have good stats, we are also still like any other applicant in that we want to see our hard efforts yield a tangible result and become concerned when it seems like it will not.

Anyways, good luck to you, jarmen, I hope you tear it up soon enough here. I am sure you deserve it.

Well said. Thanks dude, same to u.

 

[DrSnips]

I heard that too....
Wow ppl are such haters. is it so wrong for someone with good stats to be worried? Everyone said that same ***t to me when applying to med school "with those numbers ull get interviews everywhere" and I ended up not getting the interviews where I originally wanted and landed at one of my safety schools (which turned out for the best cause I saved mad $ and did very well but regardless). Now two of the programs I'm most interested in (duke and Columbia) have sent out interviews and I was screened out for reasons unknown to me. Maybe my neurotic madness is a remnant of my hang ups from med school apps and this time around its less of a crapshoot but that's no reason to bitch endlessly just cause u look at the numbers and think they ensure success and only d-bags could worry cause they don't and in reality only d-bags would assume they have it in the bag just bc of their stats.

Your stats are over the top good. You will get interviews everywhere, unless your mspe is filled with comments stating that everyone and their mom hated working with you. Can't explain what happened to you during med school apps. Maybe some part of your app was deficient and you weren't even aware of it.

Anyway, we are far too early in the process for people to be ready to listen to complaints from someone with a >265 step 1. That is why you are getting negative feedback. Just take gutonc's advice--stop worrying and have a drink.

 

[jarmen]

although this thread got really off topic, in large part because of my digression into a rant about haters, i actually found the answer to my original question. I was under the impression that interviews were sent out in waves, meaning they reviewed the whole stack and on a single day sent out all those who were their "first choice" for interviews (as seemed to be the case during med school apps). And it seems some programs do act that way. Mayo for example, sent out a bunch one day and we havent seen anyone post invites from them since. However it appears other programs send out interviews as they review the applications, which appears to be the case for columbia, which had ppl posting invites almost every other day for the past several weeks. so there you have it, for anyone who was interested, some programs send them in waves others stager, i guess its useful to know which does which to gauge whether one has been "screened" out or just not reviewed yet.

 

[saphireflame]

although this thread got really off topic, in large part because of my digression into a rant about haters, i actually found the answer to my original question. I was under the impression that interviews were sent out in waves, meaning they reviewed the whole stack and on a single day sent out all those who were their "first choice" for interviews (as seemed to be the case during med school apps). And it seems some programs do act that way. Mayo for example, sent out a bunch one day and we havent seen anyone post invites from them since. However it appears other programs send out interviews as they review the applications, which appears to be the case for columbia, which had ppl posting invites almost every other day for the past several weeks. so there you have it, for anyone who was interested, some programs send them in waves others stager, i guess its useful to know which does which to gauge whether one has been "screened" out or just not reviewed yet.

hmm interesting, hope you're right! congrats on your invites- they came as was predicted from every post in this thread lol.

 

[digdug2]

To add on: what percentage of programs applied to, are people getting interviews from, at this point in the game?I ask only because I'm trying to decide whether to spend a whole bucket more money on additional applications, in addition to the few dozen I already sent out...

 

[saphireflame]

To add on: what percentage of programs applied to, are people getting interviews from, at this point in the game?I ask only because I'm trying to decide whether to spend a whole bucket more money on additional applications, in addition to the few dozen I already sent out...

I really do think it's still early... right? Personally I applied to 19 and have only gotten 4 invites so far. My PD suggested giving programs at least 10-15 days after the release of the MPSE.

 

[Dextrocardia]

To add on: what percentage of programs applied to, are people getting interviews from, at this point in the game?I ask only because I'm trying to decide whether to spend a whole bucket more money on additional applications, in addition to the few dozen I already sent out...

So far, around a third. Good luck!

 

[sunset823]

To add on: what percentage of programs applied to, are people getting interviews from, at this point in the game?I ask only because I'm trying to decide whether to spend a whole bucket more money on additional applications, in addition to the few dozen I already sent out...

8.5%. Chill out dude, it's still early.

 

[digdug2]

Okay, so I compiled how many interviews people have gotten so far, from the latest post in the IV thread. Obviously, this is a self-selecting population, and I don't have people's denominators, of numbers of programs applied to:

# of invites - # of people
1 - 9
2 - 12
3 - 7
4 - 7
5 - 8
6 - 8
7 - 1
8 - 5
9 - 3
10 - 0
11 - 0
12 - 0
13 - 1


It was helpful for me to learn where I stood, and hopefully others will find it useful also.

 

[disorder]

adding to the stats.
7int/~50applied so far
~6-7 programs sent out invites that i haven't heard back from yet

 

[sunset823]

Okay, so I compiled how many interviews people have gotten so far, from the latest post in the IV thread. Obviously, this is a self-selecting population, and I don't have people's denominators, of numbers of programs applied to:

# of invites - # of people
1 - 9
2 - 12
3 - 7
4 - 7
5 - 8
6 - 8
7 - 1
8 - 5
9 - 3
10 - 0
11 - 0
12 - 0
13 - 1


It was helpful for me to learn where I stood, and hopefully others will find it useful also.

fwiw, I don't have stats anywhere near the SDN average, or even the national average for IM. I am quite pleased with the invites I've gotten so far. Just be patient, they will come. At our school they are kind of signaling warning signs if you don't have enough invites by the end of October, no earlier.

 

[digdug2]

Updated summary statistics from the invite thread as of this morning, with the previous caveats:
# of invites - # of people
1 - 6
2 - 11
3 - 12
4 - 5
5 - 8
6 - 7
7 - 3
8 - 2
9 - 3
10 - 1
11 - 4
12 - 2
13 - 1
14 - 1
15 - 1

 

[duckie99]

Updated summary statistics from the invite thread as of this morning, with the previous caveats:
# of invites - # of people
1 - 6
2 - 11
3 - 12
4 - 5
5 - 8
6 - 7
7 - 3
8 - 2
9 - 3
10 - 1
11 - 4
12 - 2
13 - 1
14 - 1
15 - 1

I do not think these stats are actually indicative of the number of interviews some individual applicants have...

 

[digdug2]

That's almost certainly true, given that this is purely self-reported. I would expect that there is a small tail of 0's and that potentially the real curve is shifted somewhat towards a higher # of invites per person, but still with a long tail.

 

[IMreshopeful]

Still waiting on quite a few of my interviews (applied to about 20 progs, heard back from 5) and know for a fact some people have heard from some of the same progs I applied to but I haven't heard anything yet - i have a higher step 1 score/better grades/pubs than many of them.

I hope they send them out in bunches - and it seems kind of arbitrary who they send invites to first too. ugh really hoping for a bunch of them...

 

[duckie99]

i have a higher step 1 score/better grades/pubs than many of them.

you now know that getting an interview is not only about that stuff... you sound arrogant here as well.

 

[IMreshopeful]

you now know that getting an interview is not only about that stuff... you sound arrogant here as well.

Don't make assumptions that that's "all i have". I have good letters, wrote a good personal statement, and have a lot of ECs to back me up along with plenty of research... if that came off as arrogant to you I apologize, but they clearly have to look at whats on paper to judge who to give interviews to before they can meet and judge you in person

 

[saphireflame]

Still waiting on quite a few of my interviews (applied to about 20 progs, heard back from 5) and know for a fact some people have heard from some of the same progs I applied to but I haven't heard anything yet - i have a higher step 1 score/better grades/pubs than many of them.

I hope they send them out in bunches - and it seems kind of arbitrary who they send invites to first too. ugh really hoping for a bunch of them...

i'm in a similar situation (applied to 19, still have only heard from 4.) some programs have already sent out quite a few invites according to these threads, trying not to get too discouraged. good luck to you!

 

[emboli]

How many weeks in would it be appropriate to call a program to inquire about my app status? This is assuming the program has already sent out interviews and the app has been completed for a long time.

 

[majahops]

I don't think everyone has been adding ALL of their invites. I know there have been a few I haven't included in that thread because of my P.O.S. ego ... but I'm going to add them right now. My bad.

Updated summary statistics from the invite thread as of this morning, with the previous caveats:
# of invites - # of people
1 - 6
2 - 11
3 - 12
4 - 5
5 - 8
6 - 7
7 - 3
8 - 2
9 - 3
10 - 1
11 - 4
12 - 2
13 - 1
14 - 1
15 - 1

 

[stuffnstuff]

For those of you with high step 1 scores/other stats who have not received interviews -- what schools did you attend to?

I am wondering if it is possible that program directors first screen through candidates from top schools? What else could determine the order of screening? Chance? Quality of a medical program? Step 1 scores?

 

[newcoke]

might as well not speculate since true no one knows! just gotta be pt

 

[doobiedoobah]

How many weeks in would it be appropriate to call a program to inquire about my app status? This is assuming the program has already sent out interviews and the app has been completed for a long time.

I haven't heard from any of the places I was really hoping to hear from, and they've sent out a lot of invites. I called a few of them yesterday, and they basically laughed at me and said just to sit tight because it's still so early, and they've only sent a few invites so far. Most of them said their interviews don't even start until late November, so they will be sending a lot more invites over the next 2-3 weeks.

 

[ArcGurren]

I haven't heard from any of the places I was really hoping to hear from, and they've sent out a lot of invites. I called a few of them yesterday, and they basically laughed at me and said just to sit tight because it's still so early, and they've only sent a few invites so far. Most of them said their interviews don't even start until late November, so they will be sending a lot more invites over the next 2-3 weeks.

Yeah, I think a lot of this is kind of arbitrary to be honest

 

[SmartyPants85]

Really because I've been seeing your name all over the official interview invites thread! unless that's a different doobiedoobah?? lol ;-)

 

[doobiedoobah]

Really because I've been seeing your name all over the official interview invites thread! unless that's a different doobiedoobah?? lol ;-)

No, I know, and I'm definitely very happy to have the interviews I have. I thought I would be competitive for certain programs who have been sending out interviews, and I haven't heard anything from them yet. Those are the ones I contacted yesterday.

 

[SmartyPants85]

No, I know, and I'm definitely very happy to have the interviews I have. I thought I would be competitive for certain programs who have been sending out interviews, and I haven't heard anything from them yet. Those are the ones I contacted yesterday.

Well I haven't heard anything from any of the programs I applied to and I'm coming from a top tier program (Cornell). I am a little nervous but I figure it's too early...at least I hope that's the case, lol.

 

[doobiedoobah]

Well I haven't heard anything from any of the programs I applied to and I'm coming from a top tier program (Cornell). I am a little nervous but I figure it's too early...at least I hope that's the case, lol.

I'm sure you'll hear something soon. Good luck! I think you're right, it's still early.