Average Cost?

[Quixotic]

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What is a rough estimate of costs for interviewing? I know it depends on the airport located nearby, number of interviews etc.., but I am anticpating attending no more than 15-20 interviews. I'm estimating between $7K-$11K.

 

[Stephanieukmed]

What is a rough estimate of costs for interviewing? I know it depends on the airport located nearby, number of interviews etc.., but I am anticpating attending no more than 15-20 interviews. I'm estimating between $7K-$11K.

I did 14 interviews and it cost me about $10,000 or so. It just depends on where you go.

 

[NoodleIncident]

I did 14 interviews and it cost me about $10,000 or so. It just depends on where you go.

I did 12 anesthesia interviews in the South/Southwest and 4 prelim medicine interviews in TX. Airline tickets and cab fares cost about $2500. All of my hotel rooms were paid by the programs.

 

[cchoukal]

yeah, it totally depends on your specialty, whether you live in a city with an airline hub and good airline competition, etc. Many programs in less competitive specialties with small classes pay for hotels. I've heard of some rural FP programs that will even fly you in. One in Alaska offered a classmate of mine airfare, hotel, and $1000 to come interview. Seriously. Most of my anesthesia programs (even the big west coast ones) paid for hotel.

I budgeted $500 per interview, but any time you can combine a 3-4 city stretch, you'll save money. I ended up being way underbudget. Again, depending on your specialty, you should be able to schdule things in runs (e.g., medicine programs have like 30 dates during the season, but derm or ENT or something may only have 2, making it much harder to line things up).

 

[NinerNiner999]

About one million dollars.

 

[Methyldopa]

What is a rough estimate of costs for interviewing? I know it depends on the airport located nearby, number of interviews etc.., but I am anticpating attending no more than 15-20 interviews. I'm estimating between $7K-$11K.

That's a good estimate. I did about 13 interviews and I think my total was around $5000 (which is a lot of money for a med student!!!!).

 

[jc237]

I went to more than 20 interviews (anesthesia and prelim) and it cost me about $1000. Maybe less. Many anesthesia programs provide hotel with food included of course. Plus, I'm in NYC and want to stay in NYC. So most programs I applied to were in and around NYC. I did go to Boston twice (Fung Wah bus), Connecticut once (drove), and Los Angeles once (dune buggy). You just got to plan ahead. I did have a whole month off during the interview season. And the rotation after was a real easy one where I could take off more days without anyone noticing.

 

[BigBadBix]

I think it's wisest to make a high-end estimate, as you have, but just to put another perspective out there: 11 IM interviews in 8 cities set me back approximately $2000. I had budgeted more, but only ended up needing hotel rooms for 4 nights because I stayed with friends or family in half the cities. When I did use hotel rooms I took the cheapest option (should have splurged in NYC, that room was disgusting!). It is expensive to fly from where I live, but I found great deals on sidestep.com - I highly recommend checking it out.

Hope this is helpful.

-BBB

 

[trouta]

I budgeted $5K, interviewed at about 12 rads programs and 6 prelim programs. I travelled all over the country and only one program paid for anything.

I came in right on budget so I think $5K is pretty reasonable for the numbers you are looking at.

 

[geekgirl]

i didn't keep exact track (too scared to look), but i guesstemate at around $5000. i interviewed at 11 places.

it all depends on geography and plane ticket fares. but yes, best to budget big and have a nice surprise.

good luck!

 

[u_r_my_serenity]

Here are my expenses for the application process.

-~$30 per program application fee (including the many you will not interview with)
- Good suit: ~$300

Cost per interview:
- Average airline ticket: ~$300
- Cabs/rental car: ~$30-50
- Hotel: ~$100 but many are paid for
- Meals: Usually paid for

I arrived on the day of the night-before-dinner just a few hours before, stayed one night, and had a flight out on the evening after the interview. If you make a vacation out of each one (I did for one of them) then of course it will cost more.

 

[kaineliu]

Interviewed at 15 combined/integrated plastics programs all over the country, flying to most: $4000

 

[NinerNiner999]

Wow - I really overpaid...

 

[Idiopathic]

Drove everywhere

9 interviews

Hit one while I was on rotation there, hit three in one trip. Drove everywhere. Probably drove about 7500 miles total.

Suit: already owned
Gas: about 1200-1300 dollars
Hotels that werent paid for: Only had tp pay for about 3 nights, using priceline (in baltimore and philly) for about: $200 total + valet of about $60
Food and incidentals: 1000-1250
Rental car for my big trip to the East Coast: $350 (Cadillac baby!)

Gone from home on interviews a grand total of 21 days at an estimated cost of 2700-3200 dollars with a mileage on my personal auto f about 3000 miles (an extra 1000 for depreciation)

All told well under 5K.

 

[Pril]

15 interviews = $7,500

 

[fun8stuff]

how do you guys afford this? can you get extra loan money? 😱

 

[Stephanieukmed]

how do you guys afford this? can you get extra loan money? 😱

There is something call a MEDEX loan that comes through Sallie Mae, you can get up to 12,000 for interviews and relocation. I think it was on the AMSA website, but it could have been AAMC.

BTW, it really depends on where you live and where you are going. I spent a lot more cause some of the places I interviewed had really small airports with very few flights (which really drives up the price).