ERAS etiquette/ accepting or rejecting interviews

Hi all,

I hope I could get some of your ideas and impressions about how to handle some decisions regarding interviews.

I am having some troubles where to put myself within the attitude scale towards this ERAS application process. I gather from some posts that there's kind of a continuum out there, for example in answering interview invites. Some people say that the invited person should get back to the program within the day, some say that you can wait as long you want and even respond after a month (granted, with the danger of having lost the spot). Ultimately, I would see myself more in the position of playing it fair and responding immediately, but my fear is that this will get me into trouble later on. I applied to A LOT of places and have heard back from some of my safety schools, but nothing from my dream schools. This may change in November, but it also may not. Therefore I don't want to blow off the invitations I have received so far, but if I take them I might get myself into time/travel/money problems later on.

Is it now basically possible to cancel an interview that you have accepted some time ago (or is this an ABSOLUTE no-no)? How often is it possible (for IM) to change the interview date later on during the interview session? Is there usually a surge of interviews coming in around November or is it more that most of the stuff has already settled down and you should not expect too much (in an example where you have applied to >40 programs)? Have people initially not responded to interview invitations and then contacted the program some weeks or even months afterwards (and were they successful)?

Sorry to bother you guys with that, but I'm trying to get a feeling for the general etiquette in these things.

Thanks!

Hey guys,

thanks for all your replies. Everything was very helpful! I'm relieved to see that most people here share the same opinion about that topic (which is the one I was hoping for). Regarding accepting interviews and not showing up, I completely agree with the posters and also consider it an unfair action when the interview slot could be given to another person.

Unfortunately, I didn't do my homework properly and underestimated the importance of the ECFMG certification (yes, us IMGs ;-)
I recently checked with a couple of my favorite programs and learned that they discard applications without the certification, and there is nothing one can do about it (sad for me since my app is otherwise complete but my certification will only become available around January/February..... "just in time"). I was counting on one program stating that they just expect applicants to be certified by the time the ROL needs to go out, but these are apparently the minority.
Consequently, I guess I shouldn't expect too much from November (but hope dies last).... so now I will hold on tight to the few invitations I've received so far...

Good luck to everybody out there!