Balancing School and Interviews

[koalabear68]

Ok, so I have 7 interview invites so far (yay!) but they all fall on days where I will be consistently missing the same classes. How did you guys handle/plan on handling this? I am afraid of missing so much class time and don't want my grades to suffer, but I also don't want to cancel any interviews before I have an acceptance. Should I just load up on easy courses for this semester and take all of the remaining courses I need for my degree in the spring semester?

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[Fivo]

Ok, so I have 7 interview invites so far (yay!) but they all fall on days where I will be consistently missing the same classes. How did you guys handle/plan on handling this? I am afraid of missing so much class time and don't want my grades to suffer, but I also don't want to cancel any interviews before I have an acceptance. Should I just load up on easy courses for this semester and take all of the remaining courses I need for my degree in the spring semester?

Reschedule the interviews to more appropriate times?

 

[yellowfish]

Reschedule the interviews to more appropriate times?

I wouldn't do this, especially if we're talking rolling admissions schools.

Just manage the best that you possibly can. School comes second at this point, interviews first. I mean, try not to get Cs and definitely don't fail, but it should be completely possible to get As/Bs while missing class - keep a consistent open line of communication with your professors so they know what's going on. Most professors will be very understanding of seniors who are missing significant chunks of class for professional interviews. Do homework in airports, find reliable friends to get notes from, be as efficient as possible. Don't know what else to suggest! Good luck and big congratulations on all those interviews!

 

[darkjedi]

At this point, interviews trump classtime. Have friends take very good notes and go over the lectures with you and return the favor if they have the same need.

 

[Irish Football]

7 interviews already?! I am jealous...

 

[NickNaylor]

At this point, interviews trump classtime. Have friends take very good notes and go over the lectures with you and return the favor if they have the same need.

This should definitely be your approach. I probably missed ~15 class days during a semester due to interviews. It sucks, but if you have your ducks in a row and applied smartly, it won't matter anyway as your senior year performance is irrelevant. My GPA dropped pretty significant (~0.12 points) due to senior slacking. It doesn't matter unless you think it does. I also found that most professors are very understanding and will work around you as much as possible. Just let them know what's going on, what days you'll be missing, and when you can make up any work. You likely won't run into any issues.

 

[SilverCat]

This should definitely be your approach. I probably missed ~15 class days during a semester due to interviews. It sucks, but if you have your ducks in a row and applied smartly, it won't matter anyway as your senior year performance is irrelevant. My GPA dropped pretty significant (~0.12 points) due to senior slacking. It doesn't matter unless you think it does. I also found that most professors are very understanding and will work around you as much as possible. Just let them know what's going on, what days you'll be missing, and when you can make up any work. You likely won't run into any issues.

Was that due to missing class for interviews, or just to slacking?

I'm also in this situation-- I am a reapplicant with 7 invites. I'm worried this will really take a toll on my master's GPA, and if, for some reason, I don't get in anywhere, I'm basically incapable of applying anywhere again.

 

[NickNaylor]

Was that due to missing class for interviews, or just to slacking?

I'm also in this situation-- I am a reapplicant with 7 invites. I'm worried this will really take a toll on my master's GPA, and if, for some reason, I don't get in anywhere, I'm basically incapable of applying anywhere again.

Both. Missing class made me fall behind in my work, and I simply didn't have the motivation to put forth the effort necessary to get caught back up. I didn't do terribly by any means, but once I got that first acceptance my care level fell pretty sharply.

 

[markyb03]

+1 to this thread. This has definitely been a huge worry of mine as I've started getting interview invites and hope to get more.

Question: At DePaul we have off from Thanksgiving to January (lucky us) so I was thinking if I was offered any interview dates for November I would probably just push them to after thanksgiving. Essentially I would delay them just a couple weeks in an effort to minimize missing class. Would this much delay at this time period in the app cycle be detrimental? I know you don't want to delay too much but I wanted to see what you all thought of this

 

[darkjedi]

+1 to this thread. This has definitely been a huge worry of mine as I've started getting interview invites and hope to get more.

Question: At DePaul we have off from Thanksgiving to January (lucky us) so I was thinking if I was offered any interview dates for November I would probably just push them to after thanksgiving. Essentially I would delay them just a couple weeks in an effort to minimize missing class. Would this much delay at this time period in the app cycle be detrimental? I know you don't want to delay too much but I wanted to see what you all thought of this

It would depend on the school, if its rolling admissions, it's possible it could hurt, although LizzyM claims otherwise.

 

[penguinism]

I purposely scheduled my classes for the fall semester so that I had a couple of days per week completely off. This may or may not be possible at your university, but it was a pretty good strategy. If an interview date was assigned to me, I politely asked if I could move it to another weekday if it conflicted with my classes. I also scheduled some interviews for over winter break.

If you have to miss class, try not to miss the same one repeatedly. Also, be up front with your professors. Some will be very accommodating, and others really won't care.

 

[NickNaylor]

+1 to this thread. This has definitely been a huge worry of mine as I've started getting interview invites and hope to get more.

Question: At DePaul we have off from Thanksgiving to January (lucky us) so I was thinking if I was offered any interview dates for November I would probably just push them to after thanksgiving. Essentially I would delay them just a couple weeks in an effort to minimize missing class. Would this much delay at this time period in the app cycle be detrimental? I know you don't want to delay too much but I wanted to see what you all thought of this

Pushing interview invites that you get for September or even October to November would probably be bad. I would just generally avoid pushing interviews back. Your professors will understand. It's not worth delaying an interview by a month or two because of school.

(sent from my phone)

 

[Narmerguy]

At this point, your grades don't really matter. Assuming you have a strong chance of getting in somewhere, then no one will ever see these grades. No one will care. I'm not saying you shouldn't try hard or anything like that, but realistically, jeopardizing your chances at one opportunity (medical school) for another that is basically over doesn't make much sense.

I interviewed for a bunch of stuff my senior year, and it sucked not being able to do as well on your schoolwork as you could without distraction, but trust me, nailing one of those opportunities you were shooting for makes all that go away. Don't be a slave to your grades, they're just grades.

 

[frutiaspice]

Ok, so I have 7 interview invites so far (yay!) but they all fall on days where I will be consistently missing the same classes. How did you guys handle/plan on handling this? I am afraid of missing so much class time and don't want my grades to suffer, but I also don't want to cancel any interviews before I have an acceptance. Should I just load up on easy courses for this semester and take all of the remaining courses I need for my degree in the spring semester?

I don't know if you're school has this. But my undergrad school had video recordings of some past lectures of the class so that could be another way of dealing with it. But definitely let your professor know ahead of time especially if you have to hand in assignments or reschedule exams. Get friends to take notes and read the lecture notes/powerpoint slides if they're posted on the class website.

But honestly, it worked out ok :] I missed a consecutive week of classes due to interviews and it was fine. You just have to do some catching up once you do get back. I occasionally brought work with me to interviews if I was gone for awhile/had an assignment due/had an exam to study for. You can do it on the plane ride there or back.

If you get an acceptance to a school that you really want to go to, you could withdraw all the interviews at other schools that you're not as enthusiastic about. I did this and it helped so much! I hate flying D:

 

[MedPR]

I wouldn't do this, especially if we're talking rolling admissions schools.

Just manage the best that you possibly can. School comes second at this point, interviews first. I mean, try not to get Cs and definitely don't fail, but it should be completely possible to get As/Bs while missing class - keep a consistent open line of communication with your professors so they know what's going on. Most professors will be very understanding of seniors who are missing significant chunks of class for professional interviews. Do homework in airports, find reliable friends to get notes from, be as efficient as possible. Don't know what else to suggest! Good luck and big congratulations on all those interviews!

At this point, interviews trump classtime. Have friends take very good notes and go over the lectures with you and return the favor if they have the same need.

+1. I've got 6 interviews (1 attended so far) and I'll be several days of school and work. Before the semester started I emailed my teachers and told them I would be attending interviews throughout the semester and they all seemed ok with it so long as I gave them adequate notice. Same with work.

 

[MiracleforMD]

+1. I've got 6 interviews (1 attended so far) and I'll be several days of school and work. Before the semester started I emailed my teachers and told them I would be attending interviews throughout the semester and they all seemed ok with it so long as I gave them adequate notice. Same with work.

You have 6? You literally told me 3 days ago you had 2. What an incredible end of the week run.