Dear Doctor:

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The big item coming September 2nd is that the residency programs can begin contacting the ERAS PostOffice to download application files. Schools, ECFMG, NBME and NBOME will be able to transmit residency supporting documents as well.

There will be a bunch of applications submitted on this day, so most of the programs will finish reviewing all the applications as late as October 1st. If you do not get a call or interview invitation via e-mail in a week or two after submission, please do not panic. It may take up to a month to get feedback.

What should you do now:

1. Complete, certify and submit your ERAS Common Application Form

2. Apply to at least one program in any specialty to verify that your documents have been properly scanned and uploaded . Or you may submit your application to all the programs from your list. You should have already selected programs that you wish to apply for. The earlier you apply, the better. Please apply to all the programs you are sure about. If you still have some programs to research, you can apply there later.

3. Check the Applicant Document Tracking System (ADTS) a couple of days later to make sure that the documents have been transmitted.

Question: How many programs should I apply for?

Answer: It depends... The better your profile matches the specialty, the fewer programs you need. In general Application to Interview ratio varies from 5 to 20. In other words, if your profile is on a low part of the scale, you should expect about 5 invitations for 100 applications.

Question: How many interviews do I need?

Answer: It also depends... Usually 7 interviews is enough.As usual, your milage may vary

Question: How much should I budget dor the interview season?

Answer: Simple math: ERAS fees, travel, NRMP fees. You can calculate ERAS fees using a handy calculator: https://www.residencyplace.com/ErasCalcPage.aspx . You should budget $600.00 per interview. It will cost less if you combine your trips. You should not however select interview dates just because you want to combine the trips. See next question for details. For example if you are applying to 70 programs in IM and 70 in FM, your ERAS fees are $2,580.00. Assuming you got 7 interviews, one of them in your city and 2 combined, add $3,600.00. Total - $6,180.00

Question: What is the best time for scheduling my interviews?

Answer: Being at the right place at the right time is the key. You want to go to a few interviews that you do not rank very high first. Your "best shot" should be scheduled after that, for the end of October - beginning of November. This is when you are at the top of your performance and prematches are very likely.

Good luck,

IMG Residency team

www.imgresidency.com

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