at what point should we start refusing interviews?

[SigurRos]

I ask because I have 14 interviews at this point and I can't think of any feasible way to travel this much with the little money I have, as well as skipping work and classes this frequently. For you guys who have several interviews, how do you decide whether or not to decline them?

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[drizzt3117]

Well, the conventional wisdom is that you start declining after you have your first acceptance, but I would weigh distance/expense versus how much you want to go to a particular school. Schools on opposite coasts or those that are very out of the way would be ones that would seem to be ones to drop if you aren't crazy about them.

 

[efex101]

When you have ONE acceptance in hand then you can start about not going to interviews....just because you schedule them now does not mean you have to go to ALL of them.

 

[drizzt3117]

To add on to the previous poster's point, another thing to do may be to push future interviews that you aren't sure about a little past Oct 15, at which point you may have an acceptance in hand and you can decide whether to go to the interviews.

 

[167649]

I ask because I have 14 interviews at this point

Two words...Holy S***

 

[nomoreplz]

Hedge your bets. Like another poster was saying, you don't have to schedule all of your interviews immeadiately. I'm putting off Vandy until I hear something on Oct 15, and I'm putting off Tufts until next semester because I can't miss Tuesday/Thursday class (it's an extensive lab and a pain in the ass to miss.) So I would try to hold off and see if you get an acceptance to a school you want to attend in October.

Barring that, go to the interviews at the schools you most want to attend.

 

[gman33]

don't refuse any until you have an acceptance. Just put the ones that are not as attractive at as late a date as possible. If needed, contact the school and tell them your schedule will not permit you to come until after some date later this year.

If you turn anything down now, you might be kicking yourself later.

 

[MassTransport]

This is all good advice. Also, you are a superstar.

 

[efex101]

Yes, put the schools that you are not so interested in after Oct 15th. Congratulations! on so many interviews btw.

 

[swim2006]

don't refuse any until you have an acceptance. Just put the ones that are not as attractive at as late a date as possible. If needed, contact the school and tell them your schedule will not permit you to come until after some date later this year.

If you turn anything down now, you might be kicking yourself later.

While I don't have 14 interviews I did schedule two interviews much later in the year so that if I get an acceptance in Oct or early Nov then I can cancel the other two.

 

[Phoenix.]

To add on to the previous poster's point, another thing to do may be to push future interviews that you aren't sure about a little past Oct 15, at which point you may have an acceptance in hand and you can decide whether to go to the interviews.

 

[SigurRos]

Though, if they are all already scheduled for sept-nov, it would be unwise to reschedule right? It seems like it would tell the schools that I'm not interested, when in fact I am. The crappy thing is that a lot of schools only allow you to interview within a certain window, or they assign you a certain date.

 

[mvenus929]

Though, if they are all already scheduled for sept-nov, it would be unwise to reschedule right? It seems like it would tell the schools that I'm not interested, when in fact I am. The crappy thing is that a lot of schools only allow you to interview within a certain window, or they assign you a certain date.

If you got assigned a date, ask to reschedule. If you picked the date, rescheduling would be very unwise.

 

[alphaholic06]

I ask because I have 14 interviews at this point and I can't think of any feasible way to travel this much with the little money I have, as well as skipping work and classes this frequently. For you guys who have several interviews, how do you decide whether or not to decline them?

When you have an acceptance.

 

[87138]

Wow, 14 interviews? Damn.

If you don't mind me asking, what kind of stats do you have? Just curious.

 

[Law2Doc]

I ask because I have 14 interviews at this point and I can't think of any feasible way to travel this much with the little money I have, as well as skipping work and classes this frequently. For you guys who have several interviews, how do you decide whether or not to decline them?

Agree with the others -- you never cancel interviews until you are accepted someplace. Believe it or not there have been folks on SDN in the past with tons of interviews who weren't able to close the deal. So always keep those options open until you don't need them.

 

[LovelyMD]

I ask because I have 14 interviews at this point and I can't think of any feasible way to travel this much with the little money I have, as well as skipping work and classes this frequently. For you guys who have several interviews, how do you decide whether or not to decline them?

I have very little to contribute to this thread except to say: SigurRos, you are the man!

But to answer your question, if I were in your [very wonderful] shoes, I would probably wait until I get my first acceptance and then start to cancel interviews. At least that's what I plan to do (though I don't have 14 interviews... I just don't want to cause friction at the job by taking too many days off). Hopefully some of the schools you interviewed at are rolling, and hopefully you will be notified around October 15th so you can cancel interviews early on. Are many of your current interviews before 10/15?

 

[Dr OCD]

i would schedule the interviews as schools you least want to attend after oct 15. that way if you get into a good school that you want to attend, you can turn interviews down and open up spots for others to interview. if you dont get in (and hopefully that wont happen!) then you still have your interviews to go to. best of luck!!

 

[div0t17]

Definitely wait until an acceptance comes before you do anything rash. But, if you're really worried about the travel expenses and everything, I'd be happy to take a couple of interviews from you. Just tell them that div0t17 says it's okay to give it to him...he'll take really good care of it.

/always trying to help people, it's a curse...

 

[badasshairday]

Wow 14 interviews, that is impressive. How many schools did you apply to?

 

[Gut Shot]

Wow 14 interviews, that is impressive. How many schools did you apply to?

Six.

 

[SigurRos]

Wow 14 interviews, that is impressive. How many schools did you apply to?

I completed 20 secondaries following the dropping of 4 post-mcat score receipt. For those asking about my stats, I have ~3.9 overall and a 37, though I think my extracurriculars, personal statement, and LORs were really the things to boost me up the most.

 

[cyclingmo]

I completed 20 secondaries following the dropping of 4 post-mcat score receipt. For those asking about my stats, I have ~3.9 overall and a 37, though I think my extracurriculars, personal statement, and LORs were really the things to boost me up the most.

Wow, impressive! So you got 14/16 interviews? 2 more and you'll be one-for-one. Nice!

But yeah, like div0t17 said, i'd be glad to get some of those burdensome interviews off your hand too

Also, get a loan if you have to, but don't stop until you have an acceptance. Seems like it won't be a wise choice to cancel interviews pre-acceptance.

 

[SigurRos]

Wow, impressive! So you got 14/16 interviews? 2 more and you'll be one-for-one. Nice!

But yeah, like div0t17 said, i'd be glad to get some of those burdensome interviews off your hand too

Also, get a loan if you have to, but don't stop until you have an acceptance. Seems like it won't be a wise choice to cancel interviews pre-acceptance.

I meant I dropped 4 to get down to 20 total. The ones I haven't heard from are the impossibles (e.g. WashU, JHU, etc.). Thanks for all of your advice everyone. I felt that roughing it out was the best thing to do, and I think its comforting that you all think so as well (as time-consuming and financially burdening as it may be).

 

[michigator04]

I vote for you withdrawing from the schools I applied to, ASAP.

 

[Its An Platypus]

At what point do we stop having sex with supermodels?

I ask because I am having sex with 14 supermodels at this point and I can't think of any feasible way to travel this much with the little money I have, as well as skipping work and classes this frequently. For you guys who have several supermodels to have sex with, how do you decide whether or not to decline them?