Only 1 Interview...what do I do?

i'm in the similar situation and am starting to worry if something is wrong with my paper application.

This process sucks. Everyone who has gone through it has told me you get less than you expect, get rejections at your 'fallbacks' but then get an offer at some place you thought you had no chance. Don't give up hope yet, but I think you should talk to your faculty.

There is no shame in emailing your PD/chair/student coordinator/rotation director/whoever-takes-care-of-students/LOR writers and say 'hey, I'm getting nervous about only having one interview. Any suggestions?" and maybe they can make some calls.

Its not going to get you MORE rejections, and it might get you invitations, so whats the harm.

Feel free to disagree with me, but thats what I would do.

Good luck everyone.

OP you and I are in pretty much the same boat. I have 1 interview at a place I rotated at and 16 rejections. Our Step1 scores are the same and our research experiences are roughly equivalent. I talked to my PD the other day and he said my LORs were strong and that my app had no red flags. He said it's the nature of the beast and just to wait it out and see. Hope you hear something soon.

I am with you... only 2 interview offers so far. I have had a handful of rejections as well, but mostly it is just a vast sea of silence. I spoke with my advisor and he reassured me that there are no red flags in my application, and that it is just a waiting game at this point. He said not to panic yet, but if things haven't picked up by early December, I may want to consider applying for a prelim gen surgery year "just in case."

I have not talked with my PD yet, mainly because I don't want HIM to worry about my application or give him any reason to doubt my competitiveness as a candidate for my home program. That being said, is it worth it to bring him in the loop so he can maybe make some calls or write some emails on my behalf? Or, what do you guys think about me contacting the programs directly to reiterate my interest in them? Is that a common trend among med students, or is it just considered annoying?

I know it is basically out of my hands at this point and I should just have faith and be patient, but the silence is killing me!

i would advise against contacting programs, my PD told me that the last thing they want is a med student "harassing' their coordinator! what it boils down to is simply if they like your application they will invite you

Any body else out there not getting invitations yet except from home programs and aways?

I am an "average" applicant for ortho. First quartertile, 241 on step1, 249 step 2, Honored all of my ortho rotations, H's and HP's in 3rd year with H in surgery, and some research.. My letters are all strong from well respected people that I worked with quite a bit.. So what do you guys think is going on?

Applied to 72 programs. Applied broadly.
Received: 4 waitlists. No invitations except for Home program and 2 aways. 41 rejections so far.

You would think that an "average" applicant should receive an "average" number of invitations which is about 8-10.. My ego is hurting!! Anybody else out there in the same boat?

Thanks guys! And good luck to all.

When did you submit your application? Are you FMG or nontraditional?

I think that one of the issues is that the bar is being raised every year regarding what makes an ortho candidate "average". This is based strictly on observations of the last few classes at my home institution as well as looking back on old Interview Invite threads on this site. Looking at the 2009-2010 list it seemed like if you were mid 230s with a mix of H and HP in clinical rotations you were going to be doing ok. Those stats would maybe not be impossible to overcome this (or last) year, but it seems they would certainly put one at a disadvantage. Who knows, this year average board scores may bump to the 250s (above what I got). Maybe somebody who wants to go through all the NRMP data can refute this observed trend?

That said I hope that there are more invites in your future, there still seem to be a good number of programs that have not yet started to send out decisions. Good luck!

Maintain hope. Should be some offers off wait lists coming in soon as people cancel their dates that overlap. You might consider talking to your PD or your mentor about your situation. They might be able to give you insight/suggestions or even put in a call for you.

Submitted the App first day it opened up: 09/15.

Normal dude from a good middle tier school. Not nontraditional or anything.

My written evals are all stellar. Physicians from different specialties told me numerous times that I was one of the strongest med studs they worked with in their careers. It was shelf exams that held me back from getting all honors in 3rd year. All of my HP's were super close to the 'H' cutoff.. But whatever, still HP's..

KidWhoCantRead: Looking at previous years from what is published thru NRMP, the trend has been that step 1 avg for ortho has been on the rise-you are correct. But it has been going up by 1-2 points per year consistently for the past 5 or so years. There is NO WAY it would jump up 10 points in one year. Last year it was 240. The step1 NATIONAL avg overall is just about the same as previous years. That tells me that most people performed just about the same, more or less. If the national step1 avg all of the sudden jumped up to high 230's or low 240's, then I would agree with you and think that the avg ortho applicant this year might have a 250+, but I truly doubt that that is what is going on..

Any other classically known as "average ortho applicant" out there not getting invites yet?

I consider myself one of those "average" students and have only received 1 interview (besides the places i have rotated).

orthototaljoints: Thanks for looking up the NRMP data. My apologies, I was trying to commiserate with you on the idea that the process is getting more competitive, but I think it came off as me calling you below average, which was not my intent. From what little of it I have experienced so far this process does indeed suck. I am sure that more invites will be on the way as things move around.