How many interviews needed to match to a Oral Surgery Program?

[pindola]

So a professor of oral surgery in my dental school said that usually an applicant needs 6-7 oral surgery interviews to be in good standing of being matched for a program. Is this True? I mean, every OS programs usually selects 20-25 applicants for around two spots. That's 1 matriculant per 5 interviewed applicants.

Oh Man, this is a doozy.

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[OMFSCardsFan]

So a professor of oral surgery in my dental school said that usually an applicant needs 6-7 oral surgery interviews to be in good standing of being matched for a program. Is this True?

I got 13 of 16 interviews, and I matched. I had heard that the magic number was eight. I only opted to go to 6 of the interviews, though. I'm not sure if that helps answer the question at all. Anyone else?

 

[toofache32]

Remember that it's a smaller applicant pool than you think. You'll be interviewing with the same 15-20 people at many places.

 

[Doggie]

I got 13 of 16 interviews, and I matched. I had heard that the magic number was eight. I only opted to go to 6 of the interviews, though. I'm not sure if that helps answer the question at all. Anyone else?

I also heard of this magic number. I only ranked 6 places, and I matched as well........but then again, I've got classmates (great scores) who ranked 8 places and didnt get into anywhere.

 

[OMFS hopeful]

I think the number of interview is just an index to see how competitive you are in the applicant pool. If the number of spots and the number of applicants remain the same as previous years, 6-8 interviews seem to place you among the top bunch of applicants and hence very likely to match.

But remember, the minimum requirement to match is 1 interview. On the other hand, having a lot of interviews is no guarantee that you will match. I know someone that matched with just 4 interviews. I also know someone that didn't match with 33 interviews and he went to everyone of them. This guy had 99 on the board and was number 2 in the class. Needless to say, with that kind of number, he immediately post matched into a program.
So in short, if you get 33 interviews like him, that means you are a superior applicant at least on paper. The more interviews you get (per program you applied to), the higher you rank in the applicant pool.

That's how I look at it.

 

[OMFSdoc]

You don't need a ton to match at all, however, I understand your "needing to feel safe with a lot of interviews". I felt the same way...we all did.

I applied to 24, recieved 20 interviews, went to 14 and ranked 14 of them. I matched at my #1. One of the best days of my life. Some say going to 14 interviews was a waste of time. It probably was, but it was fun as hell flying and driving across the country and NOT doing crown preps in the dental school clinic.

Also....If memory serves me right, of the people that matched over the past few years, almost 85% ended up at their 1, 2 or 3rd ranked program. Don't worry, it should all work out.

Good luck

 

[Doggie]

One of the best days of my life.....fun as hell flying and driving across the country and NOT doing crown preps in the dental school clinic.....

You definitely meet a lot of interesting and/or boring people who share you same passion in OMFS. I must have "ditched" close to 1 month from clinic.

 

[Extraction]

So a professor of oral surgery in my dental school said that usually an applicant needs 6-7 oral surgery interviews to be in good standing of being matched for a program. Is this True? I mean, every OS programs usually selects 20-25 applicants for around two spots. That's 1 matriculant per 5 interviewed applicants.

Oh Man, this is a doozy.

Sorry about the formating but fyi
2004-2005 stats

APPLICANTS
PARTICIPATION
Number of Applicants Registered for the Match 2495
Number of Applicants Who Withdrew or Did Not Return A Rank Order List 607
Number of Applicants Participating in the Match 1888


RANKINGS

Number of Applicants Ranking Each Indicated Program Type:
GPR AEGD OMS PED ORTHO TOTAL
Only This Program Type 445 109 284 377 463 1678
This Program Type Plus Others:
- This Program Type First 70 49 16 26 49
- Other Program Type First 117 102 5 14 0
All Applicants Ranking This Type 632 260 305 417 512

Rankings Submitted by Applicants 1839 458 1598 1512 2499 7906

Average Number of Ranks per Applicant Who Ranked the Indicated Program Type At Least Once 2.9 1.8 5.2 3.6 4.9 4.2

Total Number of Applicant Ranks Divided By Total Number of Programs Offered (this indicates overall rankings per program) 12.9 13.5 16.8 25.6 47.2 20.6

Total Number of Applicant Ranks Divided By Total Number of Positions Offered (this indicates overall rankings per position) 2.5 2.2 9.1 6.8 10.1 5.0

Number of Mutual Rankings (i.e. applicant and program ranked each other) 1301 245 955 852 965 4318


MATCH RESULTS GPR AEGD OMS PED ORTHO TOTAL

Applicants Matched
487
121
165
220
243
1236

Participating Applicants Not Matched

652
Match Results by Rank on Applicant’s List
Number Matched
Rank Number GPR AEGD OMS PED ORTHO TOTAL

1 375 104 95 140 176 890
2 69 12 26 34 38 179
3 27 2 19 25 15 88
4 10 2 12 12 12 48
5 4 1 10 5 2 22
6 or higher 2 0 3 4 0 9

MATCH RESULT BY TYPE OF APPLICANT
Matched Unmatched Total
GPR AEGD OMS PED ORTHO
Dental School

Graduate of US Dental School 460 94 154 208 227 462 1605
Graduate of Non-US Dental School 27 27 11 12 16 190 283
School Unknown

0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 487 121 165 220 243 652 1888

Graduation Date and Graduate Training

2004 Graduate 465 106 114 138 157 231 1211
Pre-2004 Graduate:
- No Previous Graduate Training 17 9 10 33 27 236 332
- Previous Graduate Training 5 6 41 49 59 185 345
- All Pre-2004 Graduates 22 15 51 82 86 421 677
Graduation Date Unknown:
- No Previous Graduate Training 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
- Previous Graduate Training

0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 487 121 165 220 243 652 1888

 

[GatorDMD]

Sorry about the formating but fyi
2004-2005 stats

APPLICANTS
PARTICIPATION
Number of Applicants Registered for the Match 2495
Number of Applicants Who Withdrew or Did Not Return A Rank Order List 607
Number of Applicants Participating in the Match 1888


RANKINGS

Number of Applicants Ranking Each Indicated Program Type:
GPR AEGD OMS PED ORTHO TOTAL
Only This Program Type 445 109 284 377 463 1678
This Program Type Plus Others:
- This Program Type First 70 49 16 26 49
- Other Program Type First 117 102 5 14 0
All Applicants Ranking This Type 632 260 305 417 512

Rankings Submitted by Applicants 1839 458 1598 1512 2499 7906

Average Number of Ranks per Applicant Who Ranked the Indicated Program Type At Least Once 2.9 1.8 5.2 3.6 4.9 4.2

Total Number of Applicant Ranks Divided By Total Number of Programs Offered (this indicates overall rankings per program) 12.9 13.5 16.8 25.6 47.2 20.6

Total Number of Applicant Ranks Divided By Total Number of Positions Offered (this indicates overall rankings per position) 2.5 2.2 9.1 6.8 10.1 5.0

Number of Mutual Rankings (i.e. applicant and program ranked each other) 1301 245 955 852 965 4318




MATCH RESULTS GPR AEGD OMS PED ORTHO TOTAL

Applicants Matched
487
121
165
220
243
1236

Participating Applicants Not Matched

652
Match Results by Rank on Applicant’s List
Number Matched
Rank Number GPR AEGD OMS PED ORTHO TOTAL

1 375 104 95 140 176 890
2 69 12 26 34 38 179
3 27 2 19 25 15 88
4 10 2 12 12 12 48
5 4 1 10 5 2 22
6 or higher 2 0 3 4 0 9

MATCH RESULT BY TYPE OF APPLICANT
Matched Unmatched Total
GPR AEGD OMS PED ORTHO
Dental School

Graduate of US Dental School 460 94 154 208 227 462 1605
Graduate of Non-US Dental School 27 27 11 12 16 190 283
School Unknown

0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 487 121 165 220 243 652 1888

Graduation Date and Graduate Training

2004 Graduate 465 106 114 138 157 231 1211
Pre-2004 Graduate:
- No Previous Graduate Training 17 9 10 33 27 236 332
- Previous Graduate Training 5 6 41 49 59 185 345
- All Pre-2004 Graduates 22 15 51 82 86 421 677
Graduation Date Unknown:
- No Previous Graduate Training 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
- Previous Graduate Training

0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 487 121 165 220 243 652 1888

 

[Extraction]

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics." Mark Twain

 

[esclavo]

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics." Mark Twain

Extraction, was that the physics to land on the moon or something else? I need an anti-convulsant....

 

[esclavo]

No matter what these number claim to show, I can tell you by looking at the applications in general (3 years in a row) that less than half the applicants are mentored properly into OMFS. It is easy to tell because of how their CV's are structured, who wrote the letters of recommendation. The interesting thing is I have reviewed these things for applicants and after all the red ink is gone in my ped, people are so attached to what they think is a good applicant. The changes are hard. I tell them who cares to about 80 % of what they have written. They think they know what a good applicant is but really, they can't envision what a good applicant looks like to those really making the decisions.

 

[OMFSCardsFan]

I know someone that matched with just 4 interviews.

The other guy in my class wanting to do OMFS applied to 24, got 4 interviews, and didn't match...

 

[OMFSCardsFan]

No matter what these number claim to show, I can tell you by looking at the applications in general (3 years in a row) that less than half the applicants are mentored properly into OMFS. It is easy to tell because of how their CV's are structured, who wrote the letters of recommendation. The interesting thing is I have reviewed these things for applicants and after all the red ink is gone in my ped, people are so attached to what they think is a good applicant. The changes are hard. I tell them who cares to about 80 % of what they have written. They think they know what a good applicant is but really, they can't envision what a good applicant looks like to those really making the decisions.

I'm sure that I was one of these guys. I was never buddy-buddy with any oral surgeons, and had no real oral surgery exposure outside of dental school with the exception of a couple mission trips and an externship. I'm curious what program you're at Esclavo--wondering if I interviewed with you. It would crack me up to find what you thought of my app had you looked at it...