Back to back interviews

[Pinesinger]

Hey all,

I am thinking of interviewing at Pitt on 11/13 and then WVU 11/14, they're only 75 miles apart and I figure since I'll be so close it just makes sense. Is it crazy to do two back-to-back? Anyone else planning to do this?

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[DarksideAllstar]

I am doing back to back to back interviews, but they are all in Boston. Not sure if I would be so willing to do it if they were in different cities.

 

[dpmd]

Last year I did an interview in Florida on a friday, then got on a plane to California to do an interview on saturday. It sucked, but it didn't really seem to affect my performance besides having to leave early from the florida interview. It can be done, and if you are interested in both programs I don't see why you shouldn't interview at both.

 

[Click Here!]

I plan on doing that a few times. UNC, Duke, Wake Forest in 3 days. Emory and UAB back to back (2.5 hr drive). 3 Programs in Houston. My biggest concern is that the programs will run together in my mind before I even get home. I'll make sure to make my notes and write thank you letters in the hotels.

 

[mig26x]

Im doing a back to back in NY and another back to back in Mass.

 

[RLMD]

I plan on doing 5 interviews back-to-back, all in different cities, 5 consecutive days. NY to chicago, to baltimore, to NY again, to DC. I may die....

 

[wvumd]

You will have no problems doing those interviews. I am at WVU and its only 45-1hr drive from Pittsburgh to Morgantown. However, the weather can cause problems but I don't see a problem otherwise.

 

[Shah_Patel_PT]

I am doing 4 in 5 days in NYC.

 

[peachgirl]

I'm doing two interviews in San Francisco and then I fly down to Los Angeles. Three interviews in three days.

 

[gutonc]

Posting issues so dupe

 

[gutonc]

dupe

 

[gutonc]

FWIW, I did 5 interviews in 8 days last year that went like this:

Day 1: Get up, take subway from Brooklyn to UES, interview Cornell; Skip cocktail hour at end of day (okay, I stayed for 1 cocktail), grab cab on York, hightail it to LaGuardia, hop on plane to O'Hare, arrive ~11p local time, get rental car, drive 2+hrs to Madison, WI, check-in at on-campus hotel ~1:30a.

Day 2: Interview at UW-Madison (one of my favorite programs BTW). Meet wife who just arrived from NYC at hotel, have dinner w/ old friends who are both faculty @ med school. Go to bed early.

Day 3: Get up at 0dark30, drive 5 hours to St. Louis in snow storm (wife mostly drove, I mostly slept) for 8am start of interview at WashU. This is a Friday so spend w/e w/ in-laws in St. Louis.

Day 5: Drive to Chicago in another snowstorm.

Day 6: Day 1 of 2 at U Chicago
Day 7: Day 2 of 2 at U Chicago

Day 8: Interview at UIC. So tired I can't remember a single thing about the place. Seriously, that day was a huge blur and I basically couldn't think of anything else except going home and going to bed.

I then flew to Seattle on Day 9 and interviewed at UW on day 10.

Moral of the story is that 2 or 3 interviews in a 2-4 day stretch, assuming reasonable distance b/w them is not unreasonable. 5 programs in 8 days (or 6 in 10 days in 3 different time zones) might be a bit insane. I had a much easier time of it w/ 3 interviews in 5 days earlier in the season, all of them in New England, total distance ~400 miles driving.

Boston, NYC, SF/Bay, Chicago, DC, LA are all places where multiple interviews can be relatively easily linked. Just remember that you will get burned out. Even if you don't have to travel, by the end of it all they will all be a blur and you'll wonder why the view from the call room at Columbia included the Golden Gate Bridge and Space Needle and how you managed to get to MGH from O'Hare on the BART.

BE (now PE)

 

[sequela]

i think it is possible to pull off some of these combinations. but, never underestimate the weather...esp if you're flying. you can't cry enough to make them fly the plane, trust me.

when i was interviewing for med school, i was in north carolina and because of weather, our flight got canceled (it was the last flight of the night). in fact, lots of flights got canceled. i was okay b/c i had already done my inteview and was actually going home. on that same flight, however, was a girl who was interviewing for derm residency and had her UCSD interview the next morning!!!!! needless to say, she missed the interview. she was in hysterics and rightfully so. it was of course, one of her top choices.

moral of the story, know that you loose all control if you are flying and that traveling through MUCH of the counrty (esp places like chicago, NE, etc) means that you are subject to weather constraints.

if you must, at least make sure that the interview you are about to miss is not your top choice.

i don't want to scare anyone but this stuff happens so don't put yourself in a position to be screwed.


ps i'm originally from CA and go to school in the NE and therefore have traveled by plane every year during december and i have had to sleep in the airport at least once.

again, i don't want to be a buzz kill but i have seen it happen. if you can help it, don't let it happen to you.

good luck.