5 Interviews Or More????

[livlovlern]

To all of those evidently overqualified applicants who have listed their records indicating they have somewhere between 5 and 13!! interviews, are you people honestly going to this many interviews????? Does this seem ludicrous to anyone else? Are people seriously traveling to that many different medical schools? Please enlighten me with the theory behind having this many interviews......the only thing I can think of is if you have been to more than five interviews and have yet to be accepted you may want to reconstruct your personality(or just learn how to act better )

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[TPROrgoTutor]

5 interviews here... Yea Ill be going to them all. I don't think its a whole lot...

 

[mintendo]

I don't see anything wrong with it. This is where you'll be spending the next four years of your life (maybe more!) so you want to be sure that you like the school.

Having said that, I'm not planning to go to all of my interviews, because I hate flying and monetary restraints.

 

[CardiacIntensivist]

... you may want to reconstruct your personality(or just learn how to act better )

You should follow your own advice

 

[dopaminesurge]

To all of those evidently overqualified applicants who have listed their records indicating they have somewhere between 5 and 13!! interviews, are you people honestly going to this many interviews????? Does this seem ludicrous to anyone else? Are people seriously traveling to that many different medical schools? Please enlighten me with the theory behind having this many interviews......the only thing I can think of is if you have been to more than five interviews and have yet to be accepted you may want to reconstruct your personality(or just learn how to act better )

7, and having been burned as badly as I was last year, I'll go to any interview utnil I have an acceptance. Freak events have happened.

 

[bubabugster]

I got 7 interviews. I had 1 in September, 5 in October and 1 in November. I just got accepted to University of Rochester ( Sept interview) and am almost positive I'm going to go there. I am already on tour for the 5 October interviews but am withdrawing the Nov interview at AECOM. I'm quite sure I'm going to U of R because it is one of my top choices along with Dartmouth (don't want a dilemma between the two but have an interview there) and think that it would be rude to hog interview spots if I already know what school I am going to. Although I think touring the US if fun, I don't want to take up an interview spot from people whose dream school is AECOM. Good luck to all of you at SDN! I think the process would be easier if people would withdraw when they already know where they are going. It would make the waitlist a much less stressful place to be for everyone.

 

[thedelicatessen]

I think it's ok to go to many interviews. Even if you know what your #1 school is ahead of time, being at different schools may paint a different picture of what you want. Although it is kind of financially taxing, it's also fun to see new places too.

 

[CTtarheel]

I went to five before I even got an acceptance, and 3 more were already scheduled for this week and early next week, so it's too late to cancel even if I wanted to. The other two are at schools that I think I might (or might not) like better than the school i've been accepted at. Basically, I'd still take interviews unless I were absolutely sure that there's no way I'd go to that school over where I'm already accepted. Also, its really hard to tell whether or not you'll like a school before you visit. I've been very impressed by schools that were on the lower part of my list and dissapointed by schools that were higher on my list. If there's a chance you might go there, and money's not too big of an issue (honestly, what's another 1K vs. the 200K you're going to be in debt anyway), you should probably still go anywhere you get invited.

 

[bubabugster]

Please enlighten me with the theory behind having this many interviews......the only thing I can think of is if you have been to more than five interviews and have yet to be accepted you may want to reconstruct your personality(or just learn how to act better )

Reconstruct personalities? How rude. JK.

 

[somemaybedoc]

I've been to 6 interviews and if I got an interview from UTSA, which is the only school that I applied to that hasn't interviewed me, I would take it. Why gamble, we're in deep already.

 

[PHD_2007]

Yes I have five or more interviews and I will be attending all of them.

 

[LifetimeDoc]

Yes I have five or more interviews and I will be attending all of them.

Can I have one of 'em?

 

[floridakppr]

I have nine interview invitations so far and will probably onnly attend 7 of them. I can't go to all of them because time away from home is killing my GPA.

 

[Heimerfink]

i had 4 interviews last year, got rejected from 1 and got waitlisted at all the rest - never to get an acceptance. Go to all your interviews until you get an acceptance.

 

[TSK]

I attended 6 of my 9 interviews prior to 10/15. Now that I've gotten in somewhere, I can cancel some and be more picky with my attendance. So, it's only logical to attend interviews until you have an acceptance, no personality reconstruction involved.

 

[lin1984]

I'm going to most of mine because I feel like I don't know enough about what each school has to offer beyond what the guidebooks say. I feel like the interview and having the chance to visit the school and talk w/the other students is key.

 

[yobynaes]

To all of those evidently overqualified applicants who have listed their records indicating they have somewhere between 5 and 13!! interviews, are you people honestly going to this many interviews????? Does this seem ludicrous to anyone else? Are people seriously traveling to that many different medical schools? Please enlighten me with the theory behind having this many interviews......the only thing I can think of is if you have been to more than five interviews and have yet to be accepted you may want to reconstruct your personality(or just learn how to act better )

I just had my first acceptance yesterday. im prolly going to start declining a lot of the interviews now. i know that sound so arrogant, but honestly, i just don't think i can afford to spend 200-400 bucks a trip anymore. On the other hand, i've already had five interviews including two of my top choices.

so, ive been thinking about this. PhDs get paid going to their interviews; some graduate programs also pay their master candidates. With the enormous amount of cash med schools have, y are they so stingy?

 

[Max8]

I'm going to most of mine because I feel like I don't know enough about what each school has to offer beyond what the guidebooks say. I feel like the interview and having the chance to visit the school and talk w/the other students is key.

I am going to all of the interviews I get at least until I get accepted somewhere, which will probably be a while because the first schools I'm hearing from aren't notifying until at least mid November--- Too bad I didn't interview at any schools that tell you oct 15th early enough to be in that notification pool but I am happy to continue to tour schools until I am sure of where I want to be and am accepted somewhere.

 

[Stolenspatulas]

To all of those evidently overqualified applicants who have listed their records indicating they have somewhere between 5 and 13!! interviews, are you people honestly going to this many interviews????? Does this seem ludicrous to anyone else? Are people seriously traveling to that many different medical schools? Please enlighten me with the theory behind having this many interviews......the only thing I can think of is if you have been to more than five interviews and have yet to be accepted you may want to reconstruct your personality(or just learn how to act better )

you are going to live there for the next four years. thats huge--- pretty much a stepping stone for residency, for who you'll meet, your lifestyle, etc. its important to go to all of them so you can find the place that best fits you.

 

[MonkeyNuts!]

I may not go to one of mine - time/money constraints. But I really really wish I could go...

 

[DrVanNostran]

You should follow your own advice

 

[QuantumMechanic]

To all of those evidently overqualified applicants who have listed their records indicating they have somewhere between 5 and 13!! interviews, are you people honestly going to this many interviews????? Does this seem ludicrous to anyone else? Are people seriously traveling to that many different medical schools? Please enlighten me with the theory behind having this many interviews......the only thing I can think of is if you have been to more than five interviews and have yet to be accepted you may want to reconstruct your personality(or just learn how to act better )

lets see...5 of my 6 interviews are at top tier schools: Baylor, Vanderbilt, UCLA, Penn, and Harvard. The other interview was at a school in the city where I live and on a day when I had no class, so nothing lost there. I'd say its "ludicrous" to say no to Harvard without at least visiting their campus.

 

[ordeliacay]

i've now been to 10, and i'm seriously exhausted. and broke. and totally going to get fired. and my suit is a disaster. but honestly it is also a lot of fun, and it sure beats spending the day in lab. i'm definitely going to at least 3 more, and hopefully 4, but i've now cancelled a few others. i'd find a way to go until you get an acceptance. even if you do and you're on the fence about another school, you do see a lot at the interviews that you can't get from reading a prospectus.

 

[riceman04]

You should follow your own advice

Preaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaachhh!!!!!!!!! PREACHA!!!!!!! PREAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCHHHHH!!!!

 

[Falco2525]

I am one of the ones with 13...I just cancelled one of them so yes I will be going to 12...mainly because I have not been accepted yet...once I get accepted then I would cancel more...but since I have been to 10 already and only have two more chances are I will attend 12/13....the thing is 8/12 are at the top of my list and are all pretty equal...the other 4 are "safeties"

 

[Liquidshock]

I have 5 so far and yes I am going to all of them. In fact, I would be really happy to attend more since I suck at interviews. Hopefully more will come... !!!!!

 

[bubbachuck]

if you're interested about your probability of being accepted given 5 interviews, you can actually use the binomial distribution (i'm taking stat right now...awesome use).

assuming you have 33% accept post-int and 66% reject post-int,

1-(0.66)^5=87.5% chance of being accepted into AT LEAST ONE medical school.

of course, you would probably want to have a choice between two or more. you can calculate the prob of choosing between two or more also using the binomial dist...PM me if interested.

also, 87.5% still leaves >10% chance of being rejected from all 5....which i personally think is too high considering the effort gone into this whole process. most people want to be REALLY sure they can get into med school, hence >5 interviews.

 

[tomorrowgirl99]

What is the big deal OP? You are not paying for the flights and hotels of these people. My rationale is that I have not been all over the US so I don't know what I am going to like or dislike unless I actually see it.

 

[Liquidshock]

What is the big deal OP? You are not paying for the flights and hotels of these people. My rationale is that I have not been all over the US so I don't know what I am going to like or dislike unless I actually see it.

Ewww I just watched the cartoon on ur avatar. Grosss

 

[tomorrowgirl99]

It's hilarious, isn't it?

 

[MonkeyNuts!]

i've now been to 10, and i'm seriously exhausted. and broke. and totally going to get fired. and my suit is a disaster. but honestly it is also a lot of fun, and it sure beats spending the day in lab. i'm definitely going to at least 3 more, and hopefully 4, but i've now cancelled a few others. i'd find a way to go until you get an acceptance. even if you do and you're on the fence about another school, you do see a lot at the interviews that you can't get from reading a prospectus.

Speak for yourself. I love sitting in front of my PCR machine watching the cycles tick by. I love sitting infront of my gels and watching dye migrate. I love cutting up baby foreskins from hospital circumsicsions to isolate melanocytes.

 

[MonkeyNuts!]

double post, sorry.

 

[Stolenspatulas]

For interview invites for schools that are on the lower-end of my list... I've changed the interview days to December.... hopefully I get in soon to some of my higher choices, then I can cancel them!

 

[narc]

I have 11, attended 6 so far but if i hear from another school early i will cancel at least 1 and perhaps 2.

 

[mintendo]

I love cutting up baby foreskins from hospital circumsicsions to isolate melanocytes.

what kind of research do you do?

 

[cgscribe]

I just had my seventh today, and I have three more this month. I agree it's terribly long and exhausting, but all the schools (save one or two), were schools I genuinely was interested in. I think there's only a couple schools I'd go to now, but initially you'd hate to cancel an interview and then not get in.

 

[MonkeyNuts!]

what kind of research do you do?

skin cancer. unfortunately the only fresh dependable source of primary human melanocytes is from foreskins chopped off newborn babies in the hospital nursery. they save them for us, and sometimes I (usually other tech) runs over, slices dices and extracts the cells.

 

[aerodivya]

in terms of interviews, i say you should go to every one you get (that it's financially possible to do).
there's no better way to know a med school than to go on an interview. i, personally, have been both positively and negatively impressed so that schools I thought would be awesome actually weren't. one school i expected not to like actually blew me out of the water.
guilting people not to go to their interviews isn't a very good attitude for someone who wants to enter a profession built on camraderie and trust between colleagues. ultimately, every person can only go to one med school and every med school wants to fill every seat. therefore, a qualified applicant will get in -- it just might be later.

 

[DoctorPardi]

Some people because they are smarter, because they worked harder or because they are luckier have great applications.

It should be any applicants goal to go to the school that will serve them best. So these people who are more fortunate to have so many interviews should by all means go to any interview they can. Think of having multiple schools to choose between as a reward for doing so well on the mcat, undergrad, volunteering etc.

If you don't get into medical school, or don't get into the one you would have liked, then it is probably because you were not as good of an applicant, and possibly a little less "lucky".

 

[maestro1625]

going to as many as I can... Watching the DMC-Wayne situation has shown me that freak things can happen even if you've been accepted somewhere.

 

[MicroBugs]

I've been to four and have two more. I'm a reapplicant so I'm not throwing away any opportunities. Plus, it's a great chance to get out of town and get back to New England (ahh home). Plus, without the hubby home (deployed right now), I'd rather pass the time doing something fun and seeing sights! But mostly, I want to boost my chances of getting in SOMEWHERE!

 

[Falco2525]

going to as many as I can... Watching the DMC-Wayne situation has shown me that freak things can happen even if you've been accepted somewhere.

What situation is this?? Where can I read abou tthis freak thing

 

[Max8]

What is the big deal OP? You are not paying for the flights and hotels of these people. My rationale is that I have not been all over the US so I don't know what I am going to like or dislike unless I actually see it.

word. couldn't have said it better myself---today i went to an interview at a school i thought was just medium on my list and it skyrocketed to very near the top some schools have moved down also...

 

[maestro1625]

What situation is this?? Where can I read abou tthis freak thing

Right now the DMC is threatening to split with Wayne... A situation that will likely be forced to a resolution, and can be corrected even if it does happen. even then, the thought of attending a "school in transition" is kinda ugly. I deal with enough of that **** at Albion.

I posted a story on the "people applying to michigan schools" thread...

 

[Doctor~Detroit]

seven interviews so far. i've been to four, too early for an acceptance at any.

the financial aid packages can differ among schools. so if/when i get an acceptance i will continue to interview at other schools minus the ones that are stingy with scholarship money or that i don't think i'll fit with as much. i will happily pass along those interview spots.

 

[wiki23]

Hey there people........

you may think this is crazy......but i have 17 interviews I know......

i really did not think that I would get an interview basically everywhere that I applied. I chose some difficult schools, and I was expecting to be turned down.

I live in Boston (interviewed at Tufts (accepted!) and BU)...and i am interviewing at 3 in NYC where my sister lives (Mount Sinai, NYU, albert einstein). Then at a couple other nearby places.....dartmouth and vermont.....and my 2 state schools.....wisconsin and milwaukee.....and then the High hopes california schools (UCSF, UCLA). I also applied to one school in Virigina where I was born. The other random ones include Wake Forest, Miami, Pittsburgh (accepted!), U-penn and vanderbilt. = 17

Yes.....i am going to cancel some
No......i am not crazy

 

[Twitch]

I have about a dozen interviews but with a first time MCAT of 29, I'm not complaining

 

[veenut]

you're making a mistake if you turn down any interviews before you have at least one acceptance. why apply to those schools and spend the money if you're not gonna at least take a look at it?

 

[Dr.Detroit]

Go to all the interviews you can. It may be your last chance to travel for the next eight years.

If you're like most pre-meds you've been busting yr arse for the last several years (the best years of your life) trying to make yourself a viable candidate. Why let down now? Keep gettin' it on!

 

[livlovlern]

more responses than i had anticipated. i followed my own advice a long time ago i have been to 2 interviews so far, accepted at both and pre-interview accepted at another, one more interview to go to, then my plastic will be maxed out!! no parents to pay for trips, no husband or wife in the service!! simply out of ways to get money to travel!! so i am jealous of all of you who can use this opportunity to gallavant across the country. nothing ludicrous about exercising your opportunities i suppose, just ludicrously expensive. and you are holding seventeen spots that could be occupied by 17 people it does, however, make sense if for some reason you were able to schedule all intervies in a month, and did not receive any acceptances prior to attending your 12th interview........will all of you put down deposits at more than one school also????