Interview at UMDNJ

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Hey, congrats on the interview. I just wanted to comment on something arthrodesis and some other people have said. I really don't think it's correct that everyone who gets an interview at a place is necessarily on equal footing. A lot of residents that I've talked to, and even one residency director told me that the interviews usually don't count for much unless you really screw it up or really impress them. A lot of programs give big preference to their own students or to people who have rotated there, and these people are likely to be ranked higher than the other 50 people they interview. I think that the interview is just one small part of your application to be considered, and is probably 4th or 5th in importance behind your connections to the program (i.e. did you rotate their and do a good job), board scores, AOA status, letters of rec, research experience. And just because you get an interview doesn't mean your app is similar to everyone elses. They have to interview enough people to fill all the spots, even though there may only be 10 or 20 that they would really want. Just a thought.

They have you interview with 3-4 attendings and one resident- usually a chief or R4. All were single person interviews. They do have a few foreign grads there, but they tended to be EXCEPTIONALLY good - i.e. fully trained ortho surg with numerous papers, or a guys with 270 board scores and AOA. They really seem to be looking for a good personality match, who will work well with the dept.