Asking for an interview.

[cardinal2010]

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I'm travelling across the country to interview at a school with another school I applied to right next door. I'd rather avoid paying the $350 for the flight again if offered an interview by the second school. Is it reasonable to call the school to ask if I will be offered an interview, and if so to ask if I could interview within a couple days of the first interview? If they say no (which I understand is most likely), could calling hurt my chances of getting an interview invite later? What do you guys think?

 

[GoSpursGo]

It's not uncommon to do this, but you just have to phrase it right. Don't outright ask if you're going to get an interview or ask for it; rather, just send them an email saying, "I'm just writing to inform you that I will be in your area from date X to date Y and would love to have a chance to interview at your school at that time, if possible." Just leave it at that--short and simple would be my advice.

 

[shemarty]

I'm travelling across the country to interview at a school with another school I applied to right next door. I'd rather avoid paying the $350 for the flight again if offered an interview by the second school. Is it reasonable to call the school to ask if I will be offered an interview, and if so to ask if I could interview within a couple days of the first interview? If they say no (which I understand is most likely), could calling hurt my chances of getting an interview invite later? What do you guys think?

Is it too late to reschedule your interview at the first school? Tell them you have a time conflict with the date that you were assigned, and ask if it's okay to call them back later to reschedule. Then, if you get an interview at the second school, you can call the first school back and pick a date that lets you hit both in one trip.

That's how I strung together multiple interviews in one trip last year. A series of "I need to reschedule... can I call back later to do that?" phone calls.

 

[GoSpursGo]

Is it too late to reschedule your interview at the first school? Tell them you have a time conflict with the date that you were assigned, and ask if it's okay to call them back later to reschedule. Then, if you get an interview at the second school, you can call the first school back and pick a date that lets you hit both in one trip.

That's how I strung together multiple interviews in one trip last year. A series of "I need to reschedule... can I call back later to do that?" phone calls.

Personally I'd always take the early interview and come back later if that's what I had to do... but I understand the logic behind doing it either way.

 

[cardinal2010]

Personally I'd always take the early interview and come back later if that's what I had to do... but I understand the logic behind doing it either way.

Thanks for the responses. I think I'm going to try sending the email GoSpurs recommended first, and if that doesn't work then I'll probably just make two trips. Once I have an acceptance, I will probably do what Shemarty said, but until then I feel I should interview as early as possible.

 

[Beta Cell]

It's definitely possible to sound too forward with that type of request, but surely they can see that interviewing takes travel time, funds, etc. I was planning to do the exact same thing shemarty was saying when I begin applying. I'd rather play it on the safe side and just not offend anyone. Also, I'd rather put an interview off 2 weeks and possibly risk a nominally diminished chance of admission (if any) than waste the time and money coming and going twice to the same area.

 

[BlueElmo]

So how do I phrase it? I'm innterviewing at a very nearby school at this date, so I was wondering if it's possible at all, you can also review my file again and see if I am eligible for an interview? So that I could conserve my time and the airplane fees?

 

[shemarty]

This is the email that I sent in early September last year. [It's too wordy, in retrospect.] It was useless because their reply consisted of telling me to check the status page, which told me that my file was in screening.

I emailed them 6 weeks later asking the same thing (because I was going to make another east coast trip) and they told me that my application was *still* in screening.

Ultimately, Penn was the only school that didn't invite me to interview. I hope it wasn't because I bugged them about it, haha...

In the end, this totally didn't work for me. So, I stuck with my call-to-reschedule-a-previously-scheduled-interview strategy.


Dear U Penn Admissions,

My application was complete at U Penn in July. I reside in California
and I am planning to be on the east coast during the second
week of October for other interviews. If I am fortunate enough to
receive an invitation to interview at U Penn, I was hoping that I
could schedule it into the same trip, to save on airfare. I decided to
write this e-mail to ask your office just in case, before I booked any
non-refundable airline tickets. I understand that it may be too early
to know, but is there any way to estimate when the committee might
expect to finish reviewing my application?

I am very interested in interviewing at U Penn, and it would be
wonderful if I received notification about my status soon enough that
I can coordinate my schedule accordingly. The interview dates at the 2
other schools are somewhat flexible, so I could schedule them around U
Penn, if need be. If you believe that it will not be possible for me
to interview at U Penn during the 2nd weeks of October, then I
will go ahead and book my plane tickets for the other two schools.

Thank you so much for your help, and I look forward to hearing back
from the committee regarding my application.

Sincerely,
Shemarty

 

[rockaction]

You used your SDN Username in your emails?!?! 😱 😉

 

[GoSpursGo]

So how do I phrase it? I'm innterviewing at a very nearby school at this date, so I was wondering if it's possible at all, you can also review my file again and see if I am eligible for an interview? So that I could conserve my time and the airplane fees?

I mean, I really would make it as succinct as possible. I'd simply say something to the effect of:

"Dear school X,

Because of my continued desire to interview for a seat in the class of 2014, I wanted to inform you that I will be in the city Y area around (these dates) and would be available to interview then. I know that interviews are only granted to a select few qualified applicants, but if it appears that I am likely to be offered an interview in the future, I would sincerely appreciate it if you could schedule me around that time.

Sincerely,
blah"

This is the email that I sent in early September last year. [It's too wordy, in retrospect.] It was useless because their reply consisted of telling me to check the status page, which told me that my file was in screening.

I emailed them 6 weeks later asking the same thing (because I was going to make another east coast trip) and they told me that my application was *still* in screening.

Ultimately, Penn was the only school that didn't invite me to interview. I hope it wasn't because I bugged them about it, haha...

In the end, this totally didn't work for me. So, I stuck with my call-to-reschedule-a-previously-scheduled-interview strategy.

This is just a reminder, that this is totally a hail mary type of shot. Nine times out of ten, you'll get no help this way; it doesn't hurt to give it a shot, though.

I think that in a perfect world, shemarty's plan would probably be best... if somehow you felt really confident you'd hear from the other school in the next 2-3 weeks; a 2-3 week difference in scheduling your interview won't be a big deal. However, you'd look kind of silly later if you didn't wind up getting an interview at the other school, which is why I'd be really hesitant to reschedule an interview unless you already have an invite in hand.

 

[mvenus929]

Watch which schools you do this with... Mt. Sinai welcomes this type of information, whereas it seems VCU completely objects to it.

I'd hesitate on sending it to schools that haven't started sending out invites yet, but I suppose it couldn't hurt.

One of my interviews out east is scheduled pretty late in October, so I'm waiting until the end of September to really start scheduling tickets and time off work. I'm hoping that by then, other schools out east will be interviewing (it won't be in the same city, by any means, but it's still cheaper to hop around cities than it is to buy more than one ticket out there). Unfortunately, it's really difficult for me to get coverage off work if I don't request time off before the schedule is published, so I have to make concrete plans a certain amount of time before the interview (up to 6 weeks out, depending on when in the schedule the dates fall).

 

[shemarty]

This post is dabomb.com. Totally off da hook.

I don't know what to make of this.

 

[swatchgirl]

Does it do more harm than good to email or call about interview offers? I applied EDP but still haven't heard anything. Should I continue to wait or contact their admissions office for an "answer"? 😕

 

[theacks1]

Watch which schools you do this with... Mt. Sinai welcomes this type of information, whereas it seems VCU completely objects to it.

I definitely remember seeing a school or two say on their website, if you are going to be in the area, let us know. It might have been Mount Sinai, but I live close enough that I didn't really take note. Look at the school's website and see if they say anything. There certainly seem to be a good number of people who get positive responses to the "I'll be in the area" message.

 

[cardinal2010]

Well I went ahead and sent an email similar to what GoSpurs recommended, and got the answer I was expecting.

Dear Cardinal,

Thank you for your e-mail. Your application is complete and currently under review. The review time varies from applicant to applicant. Once any decision is made, you will be notified in writing.

Our interview season runs mid September through the end of February. Applicants who are invited to interview are given a choice of around 3 or 4 interview dates. If an applicant would like to request an alternate interview date, they may contact our office at that time to request one.

Sincerely,
xxxxxxxxx


Not what I was hoping for, but I knew it was a longshot going in, and I don't think it hurt my chances at all to ask.

 

[shemarty]

Not what I was hoping for, but I knew it was a longshot going in, and I don't think it hurt my chances at all to ask.

I agree. No harm done 🙂