Advantages/Disadvantages of Interviewing Early/Late

[Glycerin]

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A classmate and I were just discussing her residency interview options for an invitation she received today. She was given many dates from which to choose. She asked me if she should tell them she would interview at the end of January or if she should tell them she'd interview at the end of February (or somewhere in between), if there was any advantage or disadvantage to either. I thought I'd seen the answer to that somewhere around these forums, but I'm guessing I dreamt it ( ) because I can't find it by doing a search.

So, to those of you in the know, is there a better time to interview when given the option to choose between a broad range of dates?

 

[Hels2007]

Hard to say... especially since with the Match, everyone makes their rankings on close to the same date pretty late in the game.

Based on my own experience on the other side of the table (though for fellowships, not residencies), and the experiences of people I know from all the sides...

On one hand, if you interview later, there is greater likelihood they will remember how good you were (unfortunately, it is very hard to keep track of everything everyone told you when you are interviewing a bunch of people!). On the other hand, if there are some really great candidates who interview early on, the program may already make up their mind about certainly including certain people and then you may just get a half-hearted interview and lower ranking proportional to what you deserve just because the top spots are already occupied by someone else. Also, people who interview early get away a little easier, since the program is not yet sure what to expect of this year's crop of candidates. They will use early ones as benchmark and then the later ones will get somewhat harder questions.

These are the issues I can think of right now... I will add if I think of something else.

 

[njac]

thank you for your help!

a friend and I have set up the last interview date at one site because it was the only day left with 2 slots... that way we can save $$ on hotel etc.

we'll see how that bodes for us. I do worry about showing up as a pair but we're broke and it makes sense.

 

[Hels2007]

You are welcome...

I actually need the interviewee's help. I will post a new topic. 🙂