Being late for the interview.

[schnauzr]

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I just came back from an interview where I arrived about thirty minutes past the starting time mentioned on the email.
This sounds ridiculous but I thought that I was arriving at the right time.
But I wasn't late for the actual interivew; I just missed some of the infosession talk.

Now, I don't know if I should write an email explaining a little more clearly why I was late.
Does anyone know if they make a note of tardiness in the folder?
If they did make a note of it, then I'd definitely want to address it before the adcom meets up.
But if there is no such thing, then by writing the email, which they would surely add to my folder, I'd be telling the adcom that I was late.
The thing is, the lady at the desk asked me twice, very casually, why I was late.
I had a feeling that she wanted to know why, perhaps to write that in.
And actually, I gave her different answers the first time she asked and the second time she asked.

I really loved the school and I'd hate myself so much if this becomes any issue at all.
Does anyone have an insider's scoop on this?

 

[supergirl87]

maybe you can call the admissions office and explain instead and see what they say. lol, it's not like the person answering the phone is audio recording the conversation to put it in your file. i'm sure that if you were just late for the info session and not for the interview, they will not hold it against you.

 

[Greonis]

It happens quite often, actually; most of my interviews have had at least one person arrive late. The admissions office has always been fine with it, however, so I wouldn't worry about it at all. If it still bothers you, however, the above poster's suggestion is a good one: call the office, explain what happened, and see what they think of it. More than likely, it won't be a problem!

 

[Demas567]

I was actually 15 minutes late to one of my interviews and was running like hell through the parking lot with my suit on and ironically, the two people who later interviewed me were both in the parking lot at the time. We joked about it during my interview and I was accepted two weeks later. True story.

 

[chiz2kul]

True story.
I arrived late for one of my interviews...first of I thought I was a mere 30 mins late cos I went to the wrong building cos of construction n all that stuff.
It was like later on at night, that I realized that I was like 1 hour late!! The thing was that I drove from a different state, and arrived there to a different time zone and I totally forgot (they were 1 hr ahead)...so i was late waking up and late everything.
I thought that I was like late for my interview, but it ended up being much more than that lol, and the sad thing was that I didnt figure out that I was over 1 full hour late, till later that night.
So ASAP, I emailed the dir. of admissions lady n told her what happened.
She replied n said that it was ok.
..
Got accepted a week later.
Moral: Dont worry too much about it. Maybe u can send an email or something explaining y u were late (if you hav a valid reason..)

 

[Mobius1985]

If you do more explaining, it better jibe with what you already told the lady at the desk. (Why did you give two different explanations?)

 

[diosa428]

Yeah it is odd that you gave her 2 different responses... it's also kind of odd that she asked you why you were late twice.... I was late for an interview once because of traffic and poor planning, and walked in late when the dean was talking to the interviewees... and it all turned out fine, I ended up on hold and then later accepted. I'd say you probably don't need to send them anything (if the receptionist DIDN'T make a note, it might just draw attention to the situation) but if you think she might have, a simple letter or email with a brief (and truthful) explanation (and apology) added to your folder should suffice.

 

[pianola]

I would forget the whole incident. No need to draw attention to it again. No need for what might potentially be seen as explanation #3.

Relax. There's probably not a whole lot you can do either way and chances are it doesn't matter.

 

[majestic red]

I got lost for my first interview and arrived ~20-30min late. I was also a few minutes late for one of my actual interviews because I stopped by the bathroom. I got accepted, so it couldn't have been that much of a problem.