Best month to return to US for med school interviews

[jordan222]

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Hello everyone,

I am living abroad and will be applying to medical school this cycle, and am hoping for some advice. I've searched the forums and haven't found much on this question. I'm teaching at a high school and was told it would be fine to take 2-3 weeks away from work next fall to return to the US for medical school interviews (assuming I get some). Given the cost and time components of leaving my job for 3 weeks, I'm hoping to tell medical schools which weeks I plan to be home in hopes of coordinating a bit and attending as many interviews as possible. From doing some research and talking to my premed advisor, it seems like sometime either in November or December would be most effective, but I'm trying to decide which is a better plan. I am guessing that no one will interview me during Thanksgiving or over Christmas/New Year's break. From your experience, do you think it would be best to try and return home from, for example, November 6-27 or December 1-18? Either way I will also be home from December 19-January 7, though I'm guessing there will be few interviews during this time.

For reference, I have about a 3.6 GPA and a 30 MCAT, though I'm retaking June 20 when I return home for the summer. I am applying to one MD and one DO school next week when submissions open just to verify, and will then apply to many more schools when my new MCAT score arrives on July 19.

Thank you for any and all comments and advice.

 

[mmmcdowe]

It will be extremely difficult to accomplish all of your interviews in 3 weeks and you are likely significantly impairing your chances (which doesn't necessarily mean reducing them to zero). I hate to recommend it (as many schools are rolling) but your best bet is to request later in the cycle to ensure you can get as many as possible. Late November after Thanksgiving and early December. You need to have your application in on the first day o the cycle and you need to do your secondaries immediately upon receipt.

 

[xffan624]

Hello everyone,

I am living abroad and will be applying to medical school this cycle, and am hoping for some advice. I've searched the forums and haven't found much on this question. I'm teaching at a high school and was told it would be fine to take 2-3 weeks away from work next fall to return to the US for medical school interviews (assuming I get some). Given the cost and time components of leaving my job for 3 weeks, I'm hoping to tell medical schools which weeks I plan to be home in hopes of coordinating a bit and attending as many interviews as possible. From doing some research and talking to my premed advisor, it seems like sometime either in November or December would be most effective, but I'm trying to decide which is a better plan. I am guessing that no one will interview me during Thanksgiving or over Christmas/New Year's break. From your experience, do you think it would be best to try and return home from, for example, November 6-27 or December 1-18? Either way I will also be home from December 19-January 7, though I'm guessing there will be few interviews during this time.

For reference, I have about a 3.6 GPA and a 30 MCAT, though I'm retaking June 20 when I return home for the summer. I am applying to one MD and one DO school next week when submissions open just to verify, and will then apply to many more schools when my new MCAT score arrives on July 19.

Thank you for any and all comments and advice.

I tried to do this and was able to attend three interviews in a three week period of being back in the states. Although only two of them were planned prior to traveling back. One was offered when I was back in the states and I was able to attend it. This was done in a period of October. I still had to come back one additional time to interview in January and ended up declining two interviews as I couldn't return for them. You are better off waiting a year and saving yourself the stress, especially if your stats don't improve much. You don't want to limit your options due to logistical issues. The reality is, schools operate on their own time, not your schedule, and a 3 week period is really not enough time to give them to arrange all of your interviews and some schools might be open to giving you an interview, just at a later date (this can be the case for the borderline applicants). Some might be on the same day or in the same month, but outside of that window, etc (ie beginning of November).

 

[ThisCouldBeYou]

Oh good luck to this. I was not restricted and with higher scores, but my interviews went from Nov through February. Who knows when you'll get invitations. Since your scores etc. aren't super high, it won't be right out of the gate. Here's a thought: at some point, you should request an interview like it's an "in-the-area" interview. That is, write to say you're in the area, or you will be in the area, and can you meet then.

Do this even if you haven't heard from them.

 

[22031 Alum]

I think you should seriously consider waiting a year. You are purposefully putting yourself at a disadvantage and increasing the chances that you'll end up having to reapply, when you could just apply next cycle in the first place.

Back in the ancient days, I only went on 5 interviews (thank you rolling admissions!) and they were spread out despite very quick secondary turnaround: October, 2 Novembers (including one the Monday after Thanksgiving), January, and February (Valentine's Day).

 

[mmmcdowe]

I think you should seriously consider waiting a year. You are purposefully putting yourself at a disadvantage and increasing the chances that you'll end up having to reapply, when you could just apply next cycle in the first place.

Back in the ancient days, I only went on 5 interviews (thank you rolling admissions!) and they were spread out despite very quick secondary turnaround: October, 2 Novembers (including one the Monday after Thanksgiving), January, and February (Valentine's Day).

I think this is honestly the best advice as well. You are going to be delayed by your score and you only have a tiny window of time. Even with a better score the smart money is to wait.

 

[jordan222]

I'm pretty set against waiting, as I fundamentally think spending a whole year essentially waiting for medical school rather than pursuing my best job opportunities (which happen to be abroad) is a waste of important time. I could in theory restructure my scheduling however. I could break my 3 week trip into 2-3 shorter trips for interviews if need be (the only big obstacle is cost but it's a drop in the bucket relative to my overall medical school financial investment so I guess this shouldn't deter me). Given that most people only seem to have 4-6 interviews anyway, if I could just lump them even a bit into 2 (or at worst 3) trips, I don't see how that makes my being abroad an enormous, wait-a-year kind of challenge. My question with this thread, more than whether I should apply this cycle or not, is when I am most likely to receive interviews so I can tentatively plan for that. I really do appreciate all the input, and thank you for being honest.

 

[xffan624]

I'm pretty set against waiting, as I fundamentally think spending a whole year essentially waiting for medical school rather than pursuing my best job opportunities (which happen to be abroad) is a waste of important time. I could in theory restructure my scheduling however. I could break my 3 week trip into 2-3 shorter trips for interviews if need be (the only big obstacle is cost but it's a drop in the bucket relative to my overall medical school financial investment so I guess this shouldn't deter me). Given that most people only seem to have 4-6 interviews anyway, if I could just lump them even a bit into 2 (or at worst 3) trips, I don't see how that makes my being abroad an enormous, wait-a-year kind of challenge. My question with this thread, more than whether I should apply this cycle or not, is when I am most likely to receive interviews so I can tentatively plan for that. I really do appreciate all the input, and thank you for being honest.

It is impossible to predict when you will receive interviews, especially for borderline applicants (which you will be). I was complete in late July-early August for pretty much all my schools and received interview invites starting in August, September, October, December, January, and March. Given that you don't have a crystal ball, you don't know those interview invites are coming. Scheduling two small trips would be better than one big one, but, predicting when you will receive the interview and that the school that offers the interview will be within the two week window of you being back in the states is impossible before you even have an interview invite. The best strategy would be to wait for at least one interview invite. Schedule it far in advance to give additional schools time to offer interviews and then try to schedule those interviews around that interview invite. You can try and send "in the area" e-mails for schools that you think you're in range for (I wouldn't pressure the reach schools, they'll probably just find it easier to reject you). Leave another vacation open later in the year for stragglers.