Similar mid-low tier applicant. Went on 13 interviews and received 20 invites total. Unable to go on more due to conflicting dates. I think that being a well-rounded applicant with research, an interesting story, and good letters have really become important.

There was a big difference in the number of interviews for the low/mid-tier versus upper-tier applicants in my class this year. There were 7 applicants, and the top 2 applicants (both junior AOA) had 15-20 interviews, while the other 5 had 3-7 interviews. I definitely think a lot of programs will compare applicants from each school against their classmates and pick their favorite 1-2. We all had very little overlap among the programs we each got interviews at. Based on what I have observed this year and heard from friends at other schools, research, AOA, and letters from well-known attendings seem to make a big difference, especially when you are applying from a school with more than a handful of applicants.

I went on 12, got 13. 1 home program, 2 as a result of my 2 away rotations, and the rest were about 50/50 of places where I had ties, and places that I have no ties to. I also had a combination of expected interviews, ones I wasn't expecting, and also not getting a couple that I thought were for sure.

To echo what's already been said, I do agree that who you know and having letters that are recognizable by name goes a long way. I will also say that the vast majority of my 13 interviews were to places where I felt I could be a great fit personality wise--save maybe 2 of them. So that being said, the process worked pretty well for me and I'm now just sorting out the top of my list.

For what it's worth, I talked to an attending one time who said he was given a stack of applications to review, and to choose 10 to interview. After he had those 10, he just tossed the rest. After the applications have already made it through the first screen, they're probably all very similar and highly qualified. Sometimes it may just come down to where in someone's pile you land.

Over all, I met tons of awesome people on the trail, who I am sure are extremely well qualified for a spot. I think with each passing year the USMLE scores will creep up, the number of applicants will increase, and the quality of the applicants will remain just as high.

Good luck to everyone as we approach ranking deadlines and match day!

Hey congrats on your interviews guys, I'm sure it must be nerve-wracking waiting until Match Day!

Any way you guys could post some of your info (step score, research, grades etc..) for those of us who will be applying next year? Would be cool to see in real time how the current applicants fared with interviews.
Thanks!

Hey User3421--I don't mind sharing my info, especially if it helps someone.

Southeast medical school
Step 1: 245-250
Step 2: 260-265
Class rank: top 15%
Research experiences: 6 (covering ortho, vascular, general surgery, bioengineering, rehabilitation/exercise science)
Publications: 9 (ortho and non-ortho, including peer reviewed articles, presentations)
Work experiences: 4 (one ortho related, ortho research assistant throughout college)
Leadership/volunteer experiences: 5 (varying from 1-6 years in length)
Aways: I did 3 ortho rotations in the fall, including my home program.

Feel free to DM me regarding anything.