Thanks! How are the interviews? I'm also concerned with traveling to different states and knowing where to go. I probably won't be able to afford to rent a car in every state I go to and I've never used public transportation before or at least in the last 10 years. I don't even know how to time a bus's departure close to my hotel to the school.
The interviews were 1 part intense and 2 parts very relaxed. The entire day may be draining. Eat healthy. Work out. Get plenty of sleep the days leading up to it. Your immune system will take a hit if you fly alot.
Review any holes or weaknesses in your application. Explain why they occurred, what you did between then and now to fix it, and what you learned from it.
Go through the SDN interview questions. They are 99.9% accurate in terms of question types you may get.
I flew (due to my location, no schools in my state). If I was smarter I should have stuck to 1 airline and rack up a ****ton of reward points.
I stayed at Airbnbs and networked with family and friends. Crash at their place, Uber or drive to interview, come back.
Most of the schools provide you a list of hotels nearby, their prices, and complimentary shuttle from hotel --- school --- airport.
Kent was one of the schools where the entire traveling process was very streamlined. Complimentary shuttle to and from hotel --- school --- airport.
CSPM was a little trickier. First time taking public transport (BART) from SF airport --- Airbnb --- Uber to interview --- Uber to Oakland airport.
Western I had relatives to stay with but the actual interview site was 1.5 hours away. Got up early, borrowed a car and drove.
Do what you can with what you have.
Don't be afraid to try new things (public transport in my case was exhilarating) but be smart about it.
Research and prepare routes/board/logistics well in advanced and always have a backup plan.