Interview Stats 2011, How many apps? How many invites? etc

hillisequalsnorris I agree with your post and with what your name implies. This site paints an innaccurate picture of the applicant pool, ie you see people on here with 30-35 interview invites which probably makes up less than 1% of applicants. And lets not forget it's not uncommon to look great on paper and get 30 interviews but in real life be a socially awkward d bag. We've all met these people.

Those of you with less than the "target" number 10 or whatever Charting Outcomes says, don't sweat it. Just kill it on the interviews you have. I am an ortho PGY1 now and have friends from last year with sub average numbers and less than ten interviews that matched at their #1 because they were great guys who worked hard and just fit. At the end of the day IMO that matters more than numbers, i mean were not doing brain surgery haha

Just for a final update as things are winding down

Total Apps: 34 - Favoring MW and East Coast
Programs applied who have offered interviews: 33
Rejections: 14
Interviews Offered: 14
Interviews Declined: 3
Waitlisted/Not yet determined: 5
USMLE: Step I 250's, Step II - will take Dec. 30
Grades: Preclinical - mix of H, HP, P with mostly HP; Clinical - 80% Honors, 20% HP
AOA: Not determined
Publications: 1 poster, 1 international podium presentation
Letters: 4 ortho, 3 big names

Just for a final update as things are winding down

Total Apps]

Just out of curiosity, did you decline those interviews because of date conflicts or because you felt like you had enough for a good chance of matching and weren't particularly interested in those programs?

All three were canceled due to date conflicts.

Total Apps: 41 - Midwest mostly, some east coast
Rejections: 19
Interviews Offered: 12
Interviews Declined: 3
Waitlisted/Not yet determined: 1
USMLE: Step I 264, Step II - 266
Grades: Preclinical - honored everything; Clinical - 4 honors, 1 letter, 3 satisfactory
AOA: Yes
Publications: 0
Letters: 4 ortho, 0 big names
Extracurriculars: 2 marathons, 4 half marathons
Awkard in interview: no

Total Apps: 29 (East Coast + MW primarily)
Programs applied who have offered interviews: 28
Rejections: 5
Interviews Offered: 21
Interviews Declined: 6
Waitlisted/Not yet determined: 3
USMLE: Step I 240's, Step II - will take end of Jan/early Feb
Grades: Preclinical - 5/8 Honors; Clinical - 80% Honors, 20% HP
Med School: Top 5 USNWR
AOA: No
Away Rotations: 3
Publications: 8 articles, 2 posters, 3 abstracts, 3 online manuscripts
Letters: 5 ortho (3 big names, 1 from away)

Since all my programs are now out, I might as well contribute to this for next year's peeps. I think my advice would be that if you're not one of those crazy amazing applicants, just apply to a lot of programs and don't be picky

Total Apps: 56
Programs applied who have offered interviews: 56
Rejections: if I had to go back and count all of these I'll cry
Interviews Offered: 20 + interviewed at one away
Interviews Declined: 3 so far
USMLE: Step I 247, Step II - not taking until March
Grades: Preclinical - mostly P; Clinical - I only honored ortho and fluffy stuff like geri...everything else is HP except for medicine and pedi (oops)
Med School: was a Top 10 USNWR when I started
AOA: Nope
Away Rotations: 2
Publications: 2 ortho manuscripts pending acceptance, one abstract rejected from AAOS; some ER research from undergrad that actually got accepted places
Letters: 4 ortho
Awkward in interview: mildly.

Awkward in interview]

I've definitely used these forums over the past year or two, figured I'd make a contribution since I'm probably one of the weaker applicants posting around here.

Total Apps: 100 (century club, woo!)
Programs applied who have offered interviews: 100
Interviews Offered: 16
Interviews Declined: 3 (only due to conflicts!)
USMLE: Step I - 220s, Step II - 250s
Grades: Preclinical - All P; Clinical - Only did well in Surgery, average in all else
Med School: Top 30 USNWR
AOA: Nope, obviously not close
Away Rotations: 2
Publications: 3 ortho manuscripts pending acceptance, two Ortho abstracts accepted, 2 other projects listed; some cards research from undergrad
Letters: 5 ortho

Applied broadly and extensively due to perceived overall weak application

Bump.

Could people please update their stats or add if they have not done so.

Total Apps: 63
Programs applied who have offered interviews: 63
Interviews Offered: 7
Interviews Declined: 0
USMLE: Step I - 250s, Step II - 240s
Grades: Preclinical - All H; Clinical - All A, except Surg and Obgyn Bs
Med School: Most never heard of it
AOA: Nope, obviously not close
Away Rotations: 2
Publications: nope
Letters: 4 ortho

I guess it's my turn to contribute a little - I've definitely used these forums a bunch. Since I'm one of the weaker apps out there number-wise, maybe someone will find it helpful.

Total Apps: 39 - (East Coast only for family reasons)
Programs applied who have offered interviews: all
Interviews Offered: 5 (play the hand you're dealt...)
Interviews Declined: 0
USMLE: Step I - 200s, Step II - 230s
Grades: Preclinical - All H; Clinical - All H, except HP Med and Neuro
Med School: Top 20 USNWR
AOA: Nope (they count step I in our rankings...)
Away Rotations: 3 (interviewed at all of them)
Publications (all are ortho): 10 papers published, 5 in submission, 2 podium presentations, 17 abstracts/poster presentations
Letters: 5 ortho (4 very big names)

I sucked it up on Step 1. I'm hoping my research, clinical grades, step II, letters and 3 aways help me pull off a match. We'll see.

Final Update...

Med School: Middle of the road state school with strong Ortho
USMLE: Step 1 - 251, Step 2 - 243 (didn't care..)
Pre-clinical grades: mostly H Clinical grades: All H except Family/Peds
AOA: No
Research: 3 ortho projects (1 pub, 2 presentations, 2 abstract
1 non-ortho (cardio)
Total Apps: 60
Programs applied who have offered interviews: 60
Rejections: 23
Wait-listed: 2 --> eventually lead to rejections
Interview Invites: 37
Canceled/Declined Interviews: 21

Total Apps: 72 - midwest, northeast, southeast
Programs applied who have offered interviews: all
Interviews Offered: 21
Interviews Declined: 4 (schedule conflicts for 3)
USMLE: Step I - 230s, Step II - 270s (taken September)
Grades: Preclinical - mix of P/HP/H; Clinical - All H
Med School: northeast state school
AOA: As a senior
Away Rotations: 2 (didn't get an interview at one)
Publications: 1 biomechanics project with abstract submitted and poster
Letters: 3 (2 ortho, 1 gensurg)

Total Apps: ~65 - midwest, northeast, southeast; minus NY and many "big name" programs
Programs applied who have offered interviews: all
Interviews Offered: ~30 (including 1 northeast, 2 southeast)
Interviews Declined: ~10 (schedule conflicts for all but 1)
USMLE: Step I - 250s, Step II - 260s (taken July)
Grades: Preclinical - mix of HP/H; Clinical - H in all except family med
Med School: midwest state school most people have never heard of
AOA: senior
Away Rotations: 2 (1 midwest, 1 southeast - interviewed at both)
Publications: 1 pub in another surgical subspecialty, 1 ortho project pending publication

Applied to a relatively high number of programs secondary to lack of research, relatively unknown medical school, and the fact that my wife and I are willing and excited to relocate pretty much anywhere for the next 5+ years.

Total Apps: 49 all over the country
Programs applied who have offered interviews: all
Interviews Offered: 21
Interviews Declined: 6 (conflicts for most)
USMLE: Step I - 240, Step II - 224 (taken in April, so was definitely viewable, only 1 person asked about it though)
Grades: Preclinical - H in all but 2 (HP); Clinical - H Surg, HP Med/Ped/Neuro, P Ob
Med School: south, not "top 40"
AOA: no
Away Rotations: 2 interviewed at both
Publications: 2 ortho publications, 1 as first author; 2 ortho presentations, 1 regional, 1 national

Total Apps: 70 all over the country
Programs applied who have offered interviews: all
Interviews Offered: 30
Interviews Declined: 14
USMLE: Step I - 257, Step II - 260 (taken in late November, no one saw it)
Grades: Clinical - H Surg, OB, EM, HP Med, Ped, Neuro
Med School: midwest, top 50
AOA: senior
Away Rotations: 2 interviewed at both
Publications: none

Total Apps: 70 in every region
Programs applied who have offered interviews: All
Interviews Offered: 28
Interviews Declined: 12
USMLE: Step I-265+, Step II -270+(Taken in Sept, released before interviews)
Grades: Clinical -All H, Basic Science- All H
Med School: Midwest, somewhat unknown
AOA: Junior
Away Rotations: 1 West Coast, 1 Midwest
Publications: none, 1 current project

Regionally probably did the worst in my own region surprisingly. Was able to crack in to the Southeast a fair amount. West coast away didn't really seem to open up thing much either, especially with the top programs