This may be an un-answerable question...

Exactly!

When choosing whether to apply to a program, you need to ask yourself, would you rather go to this program or not match. If the answer is go to the program, then apply to it. if you are limited to only 20 programs, I would have a backup plan unless you have a stellar application.

Apply to every program ou wouldnt absolutely hate being at. If you think you would rather not match than be at a certain program or in a certain place then mark it off. If programs dont meet one of those two then apply to it. Most likely it will be overkill. But you would hate to not match and wish you had applied to more. I applied to 38 got 10 interviews and matched. But it was a nerve wracking process and there were programs I didnt apply to that i should have. I see no reason not to apply to 50+ programs.

I agree with applying to as many as you can stomach. Personally, I think it would be reasonable for a top applicant to apply to 30-40 programs, only if they aren't all among the most competitive places in the country. An average or poor applicant should plan to apply to around 50 or more places, depending on preferences and how bad your application may be.

I will create a rule-of-thumb here for fun. Assuming your overall application is similar to your Step 1 score, subtract your step score from 295, and that is the number of places you should apply to. (Step 1 = 240, 55 applications) You may adjust up or down if the rest of your application is better or worse than your step. I would not go below 30 programs.


I had an average application. Step 1 in mid 230's, some research, good 3rd year grades and letters. I applied to 45 programs in the Southeast and got 9 invites. I would have felt a lot better if I had applied to 60 and gotten 12-14 invites. I still matched, but each year is getting more competitive.

ya I completely understand what you all are saying. I'm not against to applying to 30-35 programs. But you hear about some people applying to around 50 programs and I'm just wondering if there is some rationale people are using for strength of application and the number of places you should apply or if people are just pulling numbers out of thin air. It seems like the consensus is just to apply to as many as you can stomach both financially and geographically.

Basically I think the underlying problem is just that people have no idea how to gauge how good of an applicant they are until its too late, which is a scary idea to think about when you're just starting apply.

I had a pretty perfect application and still applied to 50 just to be safe. It's better to cast the net wide and see what comes back, giving yourself an opportunity to cherry pick your interviews, instead of wishing you had spent the extra $300 when you have only a handful of interviews.

I agree with the above. But in the interest of putting down a number for the OP here are my thoughts.

1. Obviously the number of programs is going to depend on your application. Weak application? Apply to more programs. Stronger application maybe you can sneak by with applying to less.

2. I applied to 24 programs. This is not nearly enough programs to apply to for most people. I did this because of had serious geographic constraints that prevented me from apply to more. I was very fortunate to get a lot of invites, but I was worried about it for a while.

3. Everyone I met on the trail had applied to at least 30 programs. My student dean and ortho chairman both recommended that I apply to 30+ programs.

4. If I had the freedom to apply anywhere, I would have applied to about 35 programs. I personally think that this would have been a good number for me that I would have felt comfortable with.

5. Sadly, there is no magic number that will guarantee you will match. I think this is why people say apply as to as many as you can. Remember its not too expensive to apply to programs and you can always cancel extra interviews if you need.

my wife and I basically looked at a full map of the US on google maps and went through each state, trying to decide which ones we absolutely would be miserable living in. Once that as straight, then I decided to apply to all the programs in the remaining states.

I don't think anyone, even the dude with the 270 step 1, can be picky. In this month's issue of the AAMC's Careers in Medicine, they highlighted that the top 4 competitive specialities in this last match was derm, ENT, neurosurg, and ortho. We all know what a crazy hard field this is, so I think once you pick out the programs you would hate being at (at face value), then apply everywhere else. Its better to have to call programs and turn down their offers than be sweating bullets for more interviews.

Here's my opinion after not matching the first time around despite being a great candidate: Apply to more programs than you think you should. Interview offers can be a strange beast, and you never know what programs are going to give you an offer or how many offers you're going to get. Better to get 30 offers and turn down 15 than to feel like you didn't get the chance to interview at enough places.

Just ask yourself this question: Would I rather do ortho at a program that I'm not thrilled about or do general surgery, anesthesia, etc.