Any point in attending last interview?

[KendallJennerSniperLady69]

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I have my last interview of the season coming up at the end of March. The thing is, I'm tired of interviews, and I'm 98% sure I would not attend that school over my current acceptances UNLESS some freak accident happens to my parents that required me to remain in the area I live in for the next 4 years.

Obviously, with video interviews, there's little cost on my end, but is there any point in attending that interview? I'd love to open up the interview slot for another deserving applicant.

I am currently waitlisted at my top choice, a T5 school. I currently have acceptances at 1 T20 and 1 T10. I have heard of people leveraging acceptances at other schools in LOIs. However, I'm not in the running any longer for any other T5 schools. Would attending this interview (at a T50 program) and *possibly* receiving an acceptance mean a LOI would carry more weight? Again, the event that I would attend that school over my current acceptances is not impossible, but still very, very unlikely.

 

[memesgalore]

In regard to the LOI - Think it depends on the prestige of the upcoming interview, but with the A's you already have, think LOI is already going to be thought of as pretty meaningful, granted if it is sincere.

For the interview - If you don't believe you would attend the program, I'm sure there's someone out there that would really appreciate that opportunity

 

[MEtoMD]

If I was you I’d give someone else a shot and withdraw your interview, it may just change somebody’s life.

 

[KnightDoc]

I have my last interview of the season coming up at the end of March. The thing is, I'm tired of interviews, and I'm 98% sure I would not attend that school over my current acceptances UNLESS some freak accident happens to my parents that required me to remain in the area I live in for the next 4 years.

Obviously, with video interviews, there's little cost on my end, but is there any point in attending that interview? I'd love to open up the interview slot for another deserving applicant.

I am currently waitlisted at my top choice, a T5 school. I currently have acceptances at 1 T20 and 1 T10. I have heard of people leveraging acceptances at other schools in LOIs. However, I'm not in the running any longer for any other T5 schools. Would attending this interview and *possibly* receiving an acceptance mean a LOI would carry more weight? Again, the event that I would attend that school over my current acceptances is not impossible, but still very, very unlikely.

Just how tired are you, what tier of school is it, and is there a chance they might give you merit money that you might be able to leverage into merit money elsewhere, or that might make the school more attractive to you, even in the absence of a freak accident? The answers to these questions will make your decision obvious.

If it's a low tier school that you wouldn't attend for free, there is probably no need to bother. Otherwise, it's been a very long year, so why not suck it up for one more rodeo and allow things to play out??? JMHO, but this is exactly what I'd do if I am lucky enough to be in your position next year. If you give up the slot, at this point in the cycle, it is far more likely to either be unfilled or go to another candidate just like you than to go to someone with no luck so far who is going to turn this opportunity into their only A, so I wouldn't allow the fantasy of maybe changing the trajectory of a stranger's life dictate what you do.

 

[LiteralLungs]

more likely to either be unfilled

Can a medical school have unfilled spots?

 

[KnightDoc]

Can a medical school have unfilled spots?

Not in the class, due to the overwhelming demand and the very limited number of seats. But, for an interview slot? Sure, why not? A few IIs one way or the other is not going to move the needle on what their class is going to look like.

 

[LiteralLungs]

Not in the class, due to the overwhelming demand and the very limited number of seats. But, for an interview slot? Sure, why not? A few IIs one way or the other is not going to move the needle on what their class is going to look like.

Don't they have more than enough people to fill the slot though?

 

[Moko]

I have my last interview of the season coming up at the end of March. The thing is, I'm tired of interviews, and I'm 98% sure I would not attend that school over my current acceptances UNLESS some freak accident happens to my parents that required me to remain in the area I live in for the next 4 years.

Obviously, with video interviews, there's little cost on my end, but is there any point in attending that interview? I'd love to open up the interview slot for another deserving applicant.

I am currently waitlisted at my top choice, a T5 school. I currently have acceptances at 1 T20 and 1 T10. I have heard of people leveraging acceptances at other schools in LOIs. However, I'm not in the running any longer for any other T5 schools. Would attending this interview (at a T50 program) and *possibly* receiving an acceptance mean a LOI would carry more weight? Again, the event that I would attend that school over my current acceptances is not impossible, but still very, very unlikely.

Looking at your post history, it seems that your top choice is Penn. Penn already knows that most of their accepted students will matriculate at their school. And those who choose to go elsewhere, usually matriculate at Harvard.

The only reason to attend this T50 interview is in hopes of a generous scholarship, which in turn may be leveraged to provide better aid from your current acceptances.

Send Penn a LOI closer to their CTE date when waitlist movement usually begins. There is not much else you can do to increase the odds in your favor. Just my thoughts and best of luck.

 

[KnightDoc]

Don't they have more than enough people to fill the slot though?

I don't understand. Which slot? Only one person is scheduled into each interview slot. It's possible that, just like OP is tired of interviews, the school might decide the second week of March that it is also tired of interviews, it has what it needs, and it maybe doesn't need to make a call to try to schedule one more person at the last minute to add to the 500-1,000+ people it has already interviewed, and is already scheduled to interview in the next few weeks, before calling it an interview season.

Or not. Either way, OP should act in their own best interest, instead of worrying about how some anonymous stranger might be impacted by whatever they decide to do.

 

[KendallJennerSniperLady69]

In regard to the LOI - Think it depends on the prestige of the upcoming interview, but with the A's you already have, think LOI is already going to be thought of as pretty meaningful, granted if it is sincere.

For the interview - If you don't believe you would attend the program, I'm sure there's someone out there that would really appreciate that opportunity

The interview is at a T50, and again there is a sliver of a chance that I would attend. The school doesn't have the resources I am looking for in terms of where I hope to go in medicine, though, while my top choice matches my plans/aspirations perfectly.

If I was you I’d give someone else a shot and withdraw your interview, it may just change somebody’s life.

Haha if it were that easy to change someone's life I would definitely do it. As the date approaches it'll definitely be on my mind, but I also don't know if they are still giving out II's this late... (i.e. the slot would be wasted)

Just how tired are you, what tier of school is it, and is there a chance they might give you merit money that you might be able to leverage into merit money elsewhere, or that might make the school more attractive to you, even in the absence of a freak accident? The answers to these questions will make your decision obvious.

If it's a low tier school that you wouldn't attend for free, there is probably no need to bother. Otherwise, it's been a very long year, so why not suck it up for one more rodeo and allow things to play out??? JMHO, but this is exactly what I'd do if I am lucky enough to be in your position next year. If you give up the slot, at this point in the cycle, it is far more likely to either be unfilled or go to another candidate just like you than to go to someone with no luck so far who is going to turn this opportunity into their only A, so I wouldn't allow the fantasy of maybe changing the trajectory of a stranger's life dictate what you do.

Pretty tired... I work 50+ hours a week+ volunteering, so it's been tough balancing the cycle with my professional responsibilities. If I were to attend, I'd just refresh myself on the school but prob wouldn't bother going into in depth prep for the completely new (to me) format (MMI).

Also to me, part of medicine is about helping strangers regardless of how big or small their problems may seem 😛! It's always nice to be able to do that in all aspects of my life and not just in my workplace/volunteer environments. Thanks for your input!

Looking at your post history, it seems that your top choice is Penn. Penn already knows that most of their accepted students will matriculate at their school. And those who choose to go elsewhere, usually matriculate at Harvard.

The only reason to attend this T50 interview is in hopes of a generous scholarship, which in turn may be leveraged to provide better aid from your current acceptances.

Send Penn a LOI closer to their CTE date when waitlist movement usually begins. There is not much else you can do to increase the odds in your favor. Just my thoughts and best of luck.

That is my top choice, and I'm slightly embarrassed that that was so easy to sus out since I thought my profile was kept private LOL. Yes, I think I will attend as finances are a concern of mine.

I've sent LOIs already in advance of my WL decision, but I will be sure to send updates and express my continued intent to matriculate if accepted around their CTE date (or would this be too much? hmm...). Looking at their projections, the WL movement seems discouraging, but one can hope I suppose! Thanks for the guidance as always 🙂

 

[CorgiLoaf]

If the T50 school gives you a full scholarship, would you go? If not, then interviewing would be a waste of everyone's time.
You only have 1.5 months left until you have to narrow your acceptances down, and unless you're expecting it, I think the odds of something terrible happening to your parents in that time-span is basically 0.

 

[Goro]

I have my last interview of the season coming up at the end of March. The thing is, I'm tired of interviews, and I'm 98% sure I would not attend that school over my current acceptances UNLESS some freak accident happens to my parents that required me to remain in the area I live in for the next 4 years.

Obviously, with video interviews, there's little cost on my end, but is there any point in attending that interview? I'd love to open up the interview slot for another deserving applicant.

I am currently waitlisted at my top choice, a T5 school. I currently have acceptances at 1 T20 and 1 T10. I have heard of people leveraging acceptances at other schools in LOIs. However, I'm not in the running any longer for any other T5 schools. Would attending this interview (at a T50 program) and *possibly* receiving an acceptance mean a LOI would carry more weight? Again, the event that I would attend that school over my current acceptances is not impossible, but still very, very unlikely.

If you'r ehappy with your accepts, then give up the interview and let someone else live their dream