Scheduling Interviews and saving money

[futureNCmed]

So I got my first interview today <yay>. My problem is that it is pretty far away and I've applied to several more programs in the same area of the country but haven't heard from those yet. Should I wait to schedule this one until I hear from the others so I can group them together or would not immediately responding to this offer make me seem disinterested?

I don't want to come across as disinterested but I am not made of money... it would make much more sense to fly out there once and rent a car to get between the cities than going out there 3-4 different times.

Thanks for any advice!

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[gutonc]

So I got my first interview today <yay>. My problem is that it is pretty far away and I've applied to several more programs in the same area of the country but haven't heard from those yet. Should I wait to schedule this one until I hear from the others so I can group them together or would not immediately responding to this offer make me seem disinterested?

I don't want to come across as disinterested but I am not made of money... it would make much more sense to fly out there once and rent a car to get between the cities than going out there 3-4 different times.

Thanks for any advice!

Schedule now. Like yesterday. Figure the rest of them out if/when it becomes an issue. Ignore the one you got and it will likely go away.

 

[mvenus929]

Schedule it during a block of time when you can do several interviews at once. I've gotten three invites so far--one I scheduled next month because it's my home program and so it's really easy to do it whenever, and the others I scheduled for the end of November and beginning of December because they're on the other side of the country, and I'm already going out that way for Thanksgiving to spend time with my family. I'm also hoping for several other interviews in that area during that time, and scheduling that far out now allows me a little more flexibility in scheduling them.

 

[Winged Scapula]

So I got my first interview today <yay>. My problem is that it is pretty far away and I've applied to several more programs in the same area of the country but haven't heard from those yet. Should I wait to schedule this one until I hear from the others so I can group them together or would not immediately responding to this offer make me seem disinterested?

I don't want to come across as disinterested but I am not made of money... it would make much more sense to fly out there once and rent a car to get between the cities than going out there 3-4 different times.

Thanks for any advice!

Like gutonc says, schedule now, like yesterday.

What you (and others) might not realize is that programs often send out more invites than actual interview slots. Thus, if you wait to schedule the interview, you may find that when you do contact the program that all spots are filled. This is the reason why MS-4s have smart phones and are obsessively checking their phones during this time of the year.

Its ok once you schedule this interview to contact other programs you've applied to in the area to mention you will be in town and are available to interview if they were going to offer you one.

And yes, it would make "more sense" to go to a certain geographic area once, but the reality is that many students end up criss-crossing the country during interview season.

 

[drcrispmd]

This is not the time to have saving money a priority. There are loans (if you are a US citizen) that you can get to help with residency interviews. Can't get a loan, get a credit card. If you wait too long to schedule an interview they will schedule someone else. You need to respond to interview invites ASAP.

 

[rkaz]

I agree with this. I scheduled one of my interviews last week the very next day (about 20 hours after the invite came to me), and came to know that their October interviews were almost already full. I ended up getting a December interview spot as the November one I wanted was no longer available. (Unfortunately I can't do October interviews since I'm doing an away rotation - thus November is the earliest for me for interviews.) Glad I was still able to secure an interview spot (albeit in December) as this school is high up on my list of top choices. Phew.

 

[chargersfan]

I was just wondering how programs view rescheduling interviews. Let's say I need to reschedule an interview to make traveling to another interview more efficient. Are most programs okay with this? Also, how many times is rescheduling too much? I've already rescheduled an interview once but am thinking about rescheduling again. Is this too much?

 

[mcl]

I was just wondering how programs view rescheduling interviews. Let's say I need to reschedule an interview to make traveling to another interview more efficient. Are most programs okay with this? Also, how many times is rescheduling too much? I've already rescheduled an interview once but am thinking about rescheduling again. Is this too much?

It depends. Some programs only offer a few interview days and can accommodate a large number of applicants on any given day. Rescheduling for those programs tends to be easier, but your choices are very limited. Some programs have more interview day options, but less flexibility regarding the number of applicants they can accommodate on a given day. My program falls in that category. Our perfect number is 8, I can schedule up to 11, but after that point names go on a wait list for that day until someone cancels. If you want to reschedule to a day I still have open slots, I'm happy to accommate the request, but I can't create another space on an already-full day.

You really only want to reschedule once unless it's an emergency. More often than that and you risk giving the impression that the program is among your back-ups and not a priority for you.

 

[MS87]

You really only want to reschedule once unless it's an emergency. More often than that and you risk giving the impression that the program is among your back-ups and not a priority for you.

Does this apply to programs that schedule through Interview Broker? I want to change my interview and the site says it has to be done at least a week before the interview date. If hypothetically I had to change it again, would the program know, or just Interview Broker? (I'm assuming the program gets the final list at the one week mark and prepares to interview those people)

 

[mcl]

Does this apply to programs that schedule through Interview Broker? I want to change my interview and the site says it has to be done at least a week before the interview date. If hypothetically I had to change it again, would the program know, or just Interview Broker? (I'm assuming the program gets the final list at the one week mark and prepares to interview those people)

I can't say with certainty since I don't use Interview Broker, but it seems like that would be fine. Again, it's not that you can never switch--it happens all the time. You just don't want to switch so often that it appears you really aren't interested in the program.