I've actually got a question for you, Mark. You received a ton of interview invites, and I assume many of those were for the same weekend(s). How did you decide which to attend/which to turn down? I only hope I'm lucky enough to have to make those decisions, but in any event, I'm curious about how people make decisions about which interviews to attend if one cannot attend them all.
Ya, there were a few tough calls where I had to decide which school I wanted to attend. As I said, I had 14 interview offers, but could only attend 7. I would have attended more if I could.
I was fortunate in one way, I had an acceptance in my pocket on Jan 15th, which really changed the whole ball game and relieved me of much pressure. After receiving that offer, I pretty much immediately started to rank the programs that I thought I would accept over Texas A&M. That eliminated a number of programs, which I declined interviews with. Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana State University, and Our Lady of the Lake. Not that these were "bad" programs but on the lower end of the spectrum of where I applied and certainly less desirable than A&M.
On several weekends I had several good to very good programs asking me to interview. For instance, University of Houston, Oklahoma State University, and Michigan State University were all the same weekend if I remember correctly. This was a more difficult choice, I pretty much would have a great shot at OSU if I just showed for the interview and didn't blow it. I was strong at University of Houston (enough that they granted me a telephone interview.) and I was invited to Michigan State to interview for a second time. I decided to go to MSU because that was my number one choice from the programs there. Had I not had an acceptance in the bag, I might have tried for a less desirable program (say OSU.)
Some schools did telephone interviews in-lieu of in person interviews, most were not serious about it though (exception being MSU on my first attempt in applying since I was stuck because of weather.) Our Lady of the Lake granted me an alternate date. OSU said, if you aren't serious enough to show, good luck with the other programs. Phone interviews are not usually very convincing.
In the end I am glad I had that early acceptance. It allowed me to focus on the programs I really wanted and didn't think I had a shot at. I was surprised by some of the programs that invited me to interview, compared with the failure that I had experienced the year before.
I guess in the end my advice would be to interview with the best available programs. By this I don't mean academically but rather ones that fit your needs. The academics should be a secondary consideration, more important is the "fit" between you and your potential faculty advisors. Don't be afraid to ask about alternative interview dates, some programs have more than one interview date. Arizona State University had 2 dates and I had to pick the second one to make it work with my schedule. Inevitably your favorite 2 or 3 programs will all pick the same weekend, and it sucks. If you get the interview, you are 50% of the way there. Pick the school YOU want.
Mark
