the expense of interviewing.....

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psychotrope

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round trip plane flight- 200 to 400
shuttle from your house to the airport(and back)- $60(I live far enough away from airport closest to home where it would cost almost as much in gas and parking to drive own car there)
shuttle from airport to hotel and back to airport after interview(for those places that arent close enough from airport for a complimentary shuttle service) - ~$50

and not ever place pays for hotel either....ugh....
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We should try and get a list of places which will pay for hotels. I know I would certainly be more inclined to apply to a program if I knew they would. Especially if it is the only program in that state thus not allowing me to clump interviews.

For me so far the only one that is paying for my room is Palmetto in South Carolina. Anyone else want to join the fun?
 
psychotrope said:
round trip plane flight- 200 to 400
shuttle from your house to the airport(and back)- $60(I live far enough away from airport closest to home where it would cost almost as much in gas and parking to drive own car there)
shuttle from airport to hotel and back to airport after interview(for those places that arent close enough from airport for a complimentary shuttle service) - ~$50
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Happy news on Match Day- PRICELESS. :)

(Sorry, couldn't resist...)
 
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Haha true true.
 
General question, are most of you renting cars when you go interview? Or are there usually hotels close enough to the interview spots and wherever the resident dinner is that you can just shuttle it from airport to hotel? That would save a big chunk of cash...
 
I'm mostly driving my own car, but otherwise I'm taking public transportation within cities and a Greyhound if the airport's in a neighboring city. Public transportation is somewhat risky, but worst case scenario, you can always call a cab. Greyhound is pretty cheap too if you have time for it.
 
Psychelle said:
General question, are most of you renting cars when you go interview? Or are there usually hotels close enough to the interview spots and wherever the resident dinner is that you can just shuttle it from airport to hotel? That would save a big chunk of cash...
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I'm planning to avoid car rentals at much as possible. It's expensive, and it's a general PITA. I'm going for public transit and if that stinks, cabs.
 
What surprises me is that programs pay for or recommend generally upscale hotels. I personally don't see what's wrong with staying at Motel 6 if it's in a location close to the hospital. Even the discount rates programs have gotten us are generally a lot higher than full prices for economy chains in the area.

I'm not saying that there's no difference between a Motel 6 and a Crowne Plaza; I just don't think that the difference amounts to $75-$100. Hotels are one of the easiest targets to cut interview expenses, and with all the debt I'm in, I definitely plan on putting Priceline to work.
 
cookymonster said:
What surprises me is that programs pay for or recommend generally upscale hotels.
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Upscale hotels are a great place to look for a deal. I got used to traveling well from my former career, so it was a bit of a shock to have to travel on a budget for grad school. Here is what I learned about how to find good deals.

(copied from a thread in the Clinical Psychology forum)

-------------------------------------------------------------
1. Go to: www.tripadvisor.com to familiarize yourself with the areas where you will be interviewing, and the hotel options.
2. Go to: www.biddingfortravel.com (I have no affiliation. The owner is "eccentric", but the information is golden)
3. Go to the sub-forum for your state/city of interest. Read the various pricing threads/combos. Find a sweet spot for your needs.
4. Go to: www.priceline.com to bid. Use the information gathered from #1 and #3 to score a good deal.
-------------------------------------------------------------

IIRC, my average savings for my interview cycle earlier this year was almost 50% after tax. If you are willing to stay at 2.5-3.0 places, your costs should be in the $50's-$60's. I wasn't willing to stay anywhere under 3.5-4.0, so I was more in the $95-$110 range, excluding Boston, NYC, and Atlanta...where it was probably another $30/night or so.

You won't qualify for points at any hotel (as they exclude priceline), but you can still get perks. I stay mostly at Omni hotels and I still get my morning OJ, NY Times, etc. as an Omni Select Guest member. I'd strongly suggest signing up for the member programs for the various chains, as they are free and sometimes off great perks like free internet.

Another great place to stay are casinos, if you are a member of their rewards programs. I've stayed at Harrah's properties all over the US and it never cost me anything because I'm a Rewards member (and gamble). 2nd and 3rd tier locations are the best for cheap/free rooms. Places like New Orleans, Biloxi, Tunica, Atlantic City, Kansas City, etc.
 
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Thank god we have more free time as fourth years to organize all this stuff. Combined with some fun trips that my husband and I are taking this year, it's going to be a lot more traveling than I've done in quite a while! I do feel like I should be picking up a part-time job or something though, I don't think my credit card has a high enough limit to pay for all this. :p
 
Psychelle said:
General question, are most of you renting cars when you go interview? Or are there usually hotels close enough to the interview spots and wherever the resident dinner is that you can just shuttle it from airport to hotel? That would save a big chunk of cash...
Click to expand...

it all depends on where the place is and how close it is to an airport....

Like the program in fort worth is like 35 minutes away from DFW airport(by far the cheapest airport), so the hotel is obviously not close enough to provide a free shuttle service.

Renting a car is an option(an actually would only cost slightly more than a round trip shuttle), but I dont want to drive in a large metro area from the airport for a place I've never been to.

For my trip to South dakota, I will have to rent a car....because the closest *reasonable* airport is minneapolis, which is a FOUR hour drive from sioux falls, so I'll have to rent a car for those two days to go from minn to sioux falls.....

In general, it all depends on the city......some programs are within 5 miles from the airport and those hotels would provide free shuttle services. Some arent.
 
cookymonster said:
I'm mostly driving my own car, but otherwise I'm taking public transportation within cities and a Greyhound if the airport's in a neighboring city. Public transportation is somewhat risky, but worst case scenario, you can always call a cab. Greyhound is pretty cheap too if you have time for it.
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1) the problem with greyhound(as far as airports go) is that in many cases the dropoff is 1-2 miles from your hotel. Yeah I *could* take greyhound at whatever it costs vs 27 dollars for a shuttle from the dallas airport to forth worth(about 25 miles), but then I'd have to walk 1.8 miles to get to my hotel from the dropoff point....I dont want to walk 1.8 miles in fairly heavy urban/suburban areas to save maybe 15 bucks......

2) cabs are way more expensive than shuttles. Not counting the tip, for a shuttle that costs maybe 20-25 bucks from an airport to a hotel a cab would cost 50-60.......
 
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psychotrope said:
it all depends on where the place is and how close it is to an airport....

Like the program in fort worth is like 35 minutes away from DFW airport(by far the cheapest airport), so the hotel is obviously not close enough to provide a free shuttle service.

Renting a car is an option(an actually would only cost slightly more than a round trip shuttle), but I dont want to drive in a large metro area from the airport for a place I've never been to.

For my trip to South dakota, I will have to rent a car....because the closest *reasonable* airport is minneapolis, which is a FOUR hour drive from sioux falls, so I'll have to rent a car for those two days to go from minn to sioux falls.....

In general, it all depends on the city......some programs are within 5 miles from the airport and those hotels would provide free shuttle services. Some arent.
Click to expand...

One advantage of renting a car is that if your serious about relocating to the area you're interviewing, you have the chance to explore and get a feel for whether you like the city away from the hospital/med school. You might be able to find cheaper lodgings this way too...

BTW--I don't know about your definition of "reasonable airport", but FSD does have regularly scheduled flights to/from major hubs in DEN and MSP. (I hear they're even putting in new electric lights on the runway so the pilots can see the cows more easily from their open cockpits....) :laugh:
 
OldPsychDoc said:
One advantage of renting a car is that if your serious about relocating to the area you're interviewing, you have the chance to explore and get a feel for whether you like the city away from the hospital/med school. You might be able to find cheaper lodgings this way too...

BTW--I don't know about your definition of "reasonable airport", but FSD does have regularly scheduled flights to/from major hubs in DEN and MSP. (I hear they're even putting in new electric lights on the runway so the pilots can see the cows more easily from their open cockpits....) :laugh:
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roundtrip quote I got on all the major places(travelocity, expedia, etc) from my airport to FSD: 690 dollars

roundtrip quote I got on same places to fly into minneapolis: 195 dollars


A 500 dollar difference(and this was well in advance, Im sure it's more now) is worth it to me to rent a car and drive from minni to sioux falls....especially considering I dont even know that I could have gotten a free shuttle to my sioux falls hotel room from the sioux falls airport. And then I asked the program coordinator what most candidates do and she said nobody flys through sioux falls...almost everyone goes through either minn or omaha.

I do agree with the point of "getting to know a city", but Im different in this regard. If it's a small(ie 2-300,000 people) city I would feel comfortable navigating without knowing the area, I might do this. As I will do with sioux falls. But if it's like dallas or fort worth or something, I don't feel comfortable just driving around a large metro area I've never been before with a car I've never driven......I'd rather just go to my hotel and have dinner and stay off the roads :)
 
psychotrope said:
1) the problem with greyhound(as far as airports go) is that in many cases the dropoff is 1-2 miles from your hotel. Yeah I *could* take greyhound at whatever it costs vs 27 dollars for a shuttle from the dallas airport to forth worth(about 25 miles), but then I'd have to walk 1.8 miles to get to my hotel from the dropoff point....I dont want to walk 1.8 miles in fairly heavy urban/suburban areas to save maybe 15 bucks......

2) cabs are way more expensive than shuttles. Not counting the tip, for a shuttle that costs maybe 20-25 bucks from an airport to a hotel a cab would cost 50-60.......
Click to expand...
1) Yeah, Greyhound has its disadvantages. I don't tend to rely on it unless there's good/reliable public transportation (or maybe taxi) to the bus stop, but that of course adds more time, money, and hassle to the overall expense.

2) I only think of taxis as a last resort if cheaper options fail at the last minute. Only reason I mentioned them is to suggest that if you want to mess around with cheaper transportation that takes you out of the literal/figurative driver's seat, jot down a cab phone # just in case it falls through.
 
Most of my OOS interviews are including a one-night hotel stay (6/8 programs) Maybe it depends on where you are coming from??? The two in-state progs I am applying to did not offer me a hotel room.:confused:

Paying for plane tickets has got to be the biggest expense for sure :rolleyes:

but....finding the program perfect for you=PRICELESS :)
 
Ditto Dr. Bagel!

Yikes, just looked at travel plans for Dartmouth... Totally overwhelmed. Think I'll wait till I hear from more programs around there before I try to figure that whole trip out.
 
Doctor Bagel said:
I must be applying to the wrong places or something because I've only been offered one free hotel room so far. Bummer.
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Programs that are paying for hotel rooms (thus far):

University of New Mexico
Scott & White - Texas A&M (paying a set amount)
University of Oklahoma
Indiana University
Creighton
John Peter Smith

Haven't gotten complete interview details from a few programs yet so we'll see. We're mostly looking at Midwest/Southwest so it might just be the type of program we're looking at.
 
Psychelle said:
I do feel like I should be picking up a part-time job or something though, I don't think my credit card has a high enough limit to pay for all this. :p
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Same. :( I actually looked on craigslist today to see if there were any okay p/t jobs that would fit into my schedule.

Only one of the programs has offered me a place to stay so far, but I luckily have friends or family in most of the cities I've applied to and can just couch surf. I'm planning to use public transportation exclusively in any city that's not within reasonable driving distance from home. I'm checking slickdeals daily for travel deals, too, and have already saved a bunch on airfare.
 
trophyhusband said:
Programs that are paying for hotel rooms (thus far):

University of New Mexico
Scott & White - Texas A&M (paying a set amount)
University of Oklahoma
Indiana University
Creighton
John Peter Smith

Haven't gotten complete interview details from a few programs yet so we'll see. We're mostly looking at Midwest/Southwest so it might just be the type of program we're looking at.
Click to expand...

Adding to the list:

University of New Mexico
Scott & White - Texas A&M (paying a set amount)
University of Oklahoma
Indiana University
Creighton
John Peter Smith
University of Oklahoma - Tulsa
University of Louisville
 
Paying set amount
Scott & White - Texas A&M
Virginia Commonwealth

Providing room
Case Western Reserve
Creighton
Indiana University
John Peter Smith
LSUHSC - New Orleans
SUNY Upstate
University of Louisville
University of New Mexico
University of Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma - Tulsa
 
Take a piece of advice that worked well for me.

Get a GPS.

Being in a totally new town and having no idea how to get anywhere is just the situation for a GPS.
 
Getting back to the original point of this thread, I just wanted to let everyone know that you can take out an alternative loan to cover these expenses if you find your budget getting a little snug with more interviews than you were expecting.
 
WhoisJohnGalt said:
Getting back to the original point of this thread, I just wanted to let everyone know that you can take out an alternative loan to cover these expenses if you find your budget getting a little snug with more interviews than you were expecting.
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I am so hesitant to do this because I already have so much debt from school, but yeah, it's good to know it's out there. Probably beats credit card debt, and you can use that loan money for moving expenses, too.

On the saving money issues, is public transit in LA doable, or should I actually rent a car there? I'm thinking specifically about Harbor. It looks like USC is on a rail route.
 
One of the alumni groups at my med school actually offered us $2,000 5%loans in order to interview. That loan is subsequently paid back 100 bucks a month until it's paid back right as you start residency. That way, the pretty much can always restock the loan for the next crew. It was pretty sweet.
 
Doctor Bagel said:
On the saving money issues, is public transit in LA doable, or should I actually rent a car there? I'm thinking specifically about Harbor. It looks like USC is on a rail route.
Click to expand...

just rent a car, get a GPS, and pray you don't have to spend too much time on the 405. public transport in LA really really blows.
 
billypilgrim37 said:
One of the alumni groups at my med school actually offered us $2,000 5%loans in order to interview. That loan is subsequently paid back 100 bucks a month until it's paid back right as you start residency. That way, the pretty much can always restock the loan for the next crew. It was pretty sweet.
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That is not only a great idea, but also a very functional use of the alumni group's money. Hopefully graduates from your program contribute back to them.
 
Fresno helps with part of the room and someone comes and picks you up to take you to the interview, sweet!
 
Paying set amount
Scott & White - Texas A&M
Virginia Commonwealth

Providing room
Case Western Reserve
Creighton
Indiana University
John Peter Smith
LSUHSC - New Orleans
Saint Louis University
SUNY Upstate
University of Iowa
University of Louisville
University of Missouri - KC
University of Missouri - Columbia
University of New Mexico
University of Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma - Tulsa
University of Wisconsin - Madison
 
Also costing me is new interview clothes, wish my size didn't fluctuate....:rolleyes:
 
Paying set amount
Scott & White - Texas A&M
Virginia Commonwealth

Providing room
Case Western Reserve
Creighton
Indiana University
John Peter Smith
LSUHSC - New Orleans
Mayo (2 nights!)
Saint Louis University
SUNY Upstate
University of Iowa
University of Louisville
University of Minnesota (+ taxi!)
University of Missouri - KC
University of Missouri - Columbia
University of New Mexico
University of Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma - Tulsa
University of Wisconsin - Madison
 
Paying set amount
Scott & White - Texas A&M
Virginia Commonwealth

Providing room
Case Western Reserve
Creighton
Indiana University
John Peter Smith
LSUHSC - New Orleans
Mayo (2 nights!)
Saint Louis University
SUNY Upstate
University of Iowa
University of Louisville
University of Minnesota (+ taxi!)
University of Missouri - KC
University of Missouri - Columbia
University of New Mexico
University of Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma - Tulsa + free transportation from residents
University of Wisconsin - Madison
 
Paying set amount
Scott & White - Texas A&M
Virginia Commonwealth

Providing room
Case Western Reserve
Creighton
Indiana University
John Peter Smith
LSUHSC - New Orleans
Mayo (2 nights!)
Saint Louis University
SUNY Upstate
University of Iowa
University of Florida (+ transportation between hotel and hospital)
University of Louisville
University of Minnesota (+ taxi!)
University of Missouri - KC
University of Missouri - Columbia
University of New Mexico
University of Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma - Tulsa + free transportation from residents
University of Wisconsin - Madison
 
Paying set amount
Scott & White - Texas A&M
Virginia Commonwealth

Providing room
Case Western Reserve
Cleveland Clinic
Creighton
Indiana University
John Peter Smith
LSUHSC - New Orleans
Mayo (2 nights!)
Saint Louis University
SUNY Upstate
University of Iowa
University of Florida (+ transportation between hotel and hospital)
University of Louisville
University of Minnesota (+ taxi!)
University of Missouri - KC
University of Missouri - Columbia
University of New Mexico
University of Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma - Tulsa + free transportation from residents
University of Wisconsin - Madison
 
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