Canceling an interview pre-acceptance?

[interviewQ]

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Hey SDNers,

I have an interview coming up at Einstein but I've learned more about the school since originally applying and I'm not sure I'm still interested in attending (location, no structured interview day, facilities). Its quite an expensive journey (cross country) and I have 5 other interviews. Would it be unwise to cancel the interview before receiving any acceptances?


Thanks 🙂


Ps. Sorry for the alternate account, I can be identified by my standard account and the nature of the question isn't something I'd like adcoms to associate with me.

 

[alwaysaangel]

Yes, I think its a bad idea to reject interview invites before you have an acceptance in hand.

Premeds don't get to be nitpicky about location and facilities until they have multiple acceptances to compare. There are plenty examples of people who attend multiple interviews and receive no acceptances - go until you have an acceptance in hand - then you can start picking and choosing.

How would you feel if you declined it and then didn't get into your 5 schools that you're interviewing at. Wouldn't you always wonder "what if?" Wouldn't you be better off going to any school at all than reapplying? If you dislike Einstein so much that you literally would be UNWILLING TO GO THERE given no other options then yes, decline the interview. But thats a pretty far extreme.

 

[deleted357625]

Whoa i would only do that if i found out i already have an acceptance.

Risky, it's becasue you never know, you have to always take a chance, hell when it comes time for me, the one's i can't fly too, I'm driving hah

 

[Asyouwereatrio]

Hey SDNers,

I have an interview coming up at Einstein but I've learned more about the school since originally applying and I'm not sure I'm still interested in attending (location, no structured interview day, facilities). Its quite an expensive journey (cross country) and I have 5 other interviews. Would it be unwise to cancel the interview before receiving any acceptances?


Thanks 🙂


Ps. Sorry for the alternate account, I can be identified by my standard account and the nature of the question isn't something I'd like adcoms to associate with me.

Definitely go to ALL interviews UNLESS you have an acceptance in hand. Better to be safe than sorry...this is coming from someone who had to go to an interview to a school that I didn't like AND decided to reject me..but had to go for the sake of going...(and it was my last interview of a string of 5 interviews!)

It's too risky because you never know what schools will reject/accept you...in addition, you also never know how you'll feel about the school UNTIL you visit. What difference does the "structure" of the interview day make, honestly? What should matter is the quality of the programme and facilities (which aren't bad IMO--they're currently building a brand new building on campus). The location IS questionable, I'll admit..but they offer guaranteed housing for all four years, so no biggie about finding housing that is in a secured area!

 

[Mithril]

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[Asyouwereatrio]

I'm going to go against the grain and say to cancel the interview. If you have no motivation to go to the school, it'll show to the interviewers and you may end up getting rejected anyways. Why waste money to go to an interview at a school you have no desire to enrol in?

Because if he is a good actor and can put on a good face, he could get in to a school that may be his only acceptance. You never know....

Ex: I submitted my app to McGill without any idea they'd actually invite me for interview. Even though I'm going to have to learn french and whatnot in order to survive with the Quebecois, I'm still going even though it's costing me an arm a leg to fly over...Nice part is I have a friend who is letting me stay there for 10 days.

Moral of the story: Better safe than sorry. In the end though OP, it's your choice and you'll have to live with the consequences of your decisions (good or bad). I definitely understand though..I had the same feeling when I was about to fly over to that school that rejected me (see above)..I didn't want to go there at all because I felt so confident with my four previous interviews. Ironically enough, 3 of those 4 accepted me (have yet to hear back from one). You never know how life turns out, but you should prepare and be conservative in your decision making..to ensure you take advantage of all the opportunities available to you.

 

[dbeast]

Hey SDNers,

I have an interview coming up at Einstein but I've learned more about the school since originally applying and I'm not sure I'm still interested in attending (location, no structured interview day, facilities). Its quite an expensive journey (cross country) and I have 5 other interviews. Would it be unwise to cancel the interview before receiving any acceptances?


Thanks 🙂


Ps. Sorry for the alternate account, I can be identified by my standard account and the nature of the question isn't something I'd like adcoms to associate with me.

lolwut...

Seriously though, calculated risk... Is it worth risking no acceptances on a few hundred dollars? If you feel really confident with other interviews then I suppose it's cool

 

[Mithril]

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[rHinO1]

Go to all interviews until you have an acceptance. Especially because you are interviewing late in the cycle, you need to give yourself every opportunity to succeed.

 

[rhesuspieces]

I'm going to go against the grain and say to cancel the interview. If you have no motivation to go to the school, it'll show to the interviewers and you may end up getting rejected anyways. Why waste money to go to an interview at a school you have no desire to enrol in?

I actually agree with this. If you're 100% certain that you wouldn't attend this school even if it were the only school to accept you, then don't go to the interview. I totally don't buy into this "you have no right to be picky" bulls***. Cancel the interview, and open up a spot for someone who really wants to go to Einstein.

Also, I think what other people here aren't considering is that OP has 5 other interview offers. I know that an interview is by no means an acceptance, but it's pretty improbable that all five of these schools will reject OP. I personally think that OP is in a good spot to cancel an interview.

 

[rHinO1]

I actually agree with this. If you're 100% certain that you wouldn't attend this school even if it were the only school to accept you, then don't go to the interview. I totally don't buy into this "you have no right to be picky" bulls***. Cancel the interview, and open up a spot for someone who really wants to go to Einstein.

Also, I think what other people here aren't considering is that OP has 5 other interview offers. I know that an interview is by no means an acceptance, but it's pretty improbable that all five of these schools will reject OP. I personally think that OP is in a good spot to cancel an interview.

5 interviews this late is by no means a guarantee of anything. The OP might be surprised how he feels about Einstein if it is his only acceptance. Sure, if he absolutely would not attend even if it was his only acceptance, then don't go. A better plan would be to schedule Einstein last after he might hear back from a couple schools he is more excited about.

 

[alwaysaangel]

5 interviews this late is by no means a guarantee of anything. The OP might be surprised how he feels about Einstein if it is his only acceptance. Sure, if he absolutely would not attend even if it was his only acceptance, then don't go. A better plan would be to schedule Einstein last after he might hear back from a couple schools he is more excited about.

Exactly this.

The only reason he should cancel the interview is if he knows he for sure he would absolutely not attend the school, even if accepted to no other schools - which may be true, but I doubt it.

And 5 interviews this late is definitely not a guaranteed acceptance. So he should not decide to cancel Einstein just because he thinks he'll get into one of those schools (which based on his OP is what he wants to do)

 

[interviewQ]

Hey guys,

Thanks for the advice so far. I would be particularly interested in hearing from someone who interviewed at Einstein to hear what they thought of the day - maybe if it exceeded other people's expectations it'll exceed mine as well. SDN interview feedback seemed neutral but its pretty hard to get a good feel of the day from the snippets available there. The concern over an unstructured interview day comes from feeling like the school wont really present themselves so my oppinion is unlikely to change.😕

If Einstein were the only school to accept me I'd be certain to attend, but with 5 other interviews I'm hoping rejection is sufficiently unlikely (6 others actually, but I've heard back from one and been waitlisted). I'm still undecided about my course of action at this time.

5 interviews this late is by no means a guarantee of anything.

You're making the false assumption that this is my first interview. Its my fourth with the last one coming up 3 days later; the other 3 were at least a month ago. Still appreciate the advice in general though, thanks.

 

[Salient]

Since you don't have an acceptance yet, this is the question you need to ask yourself:

Would you rather go to Einstein or risk delaying everything a year? If you dislike Einstein so much that you'd rather wait a year in your cycle, then don't interview there. If you'd rather go to a school you aren't crazy about than wait that year, then don't cancel.

 

[rHinO1]

You're making the false assumption that this is my first interview. Its my fourth with the last one coming up 3 days later; the other 3 were at least a month ago. Still appreciate the advice in general though, thanks.

I didn't "assume" anything...

Hey SDNers,

I have an interview coming up at Einstein but I've learned more about the school since originally applying and I'm not sure I'm still interested in attending (location, no structured interview day, facilities). Its quite an expensive journey (cross country) and I have 5 other interviews. Would it be unwise to cancel the interview before receiving any acceptances?


Thanks 🙂


Ps. Sorry for the alternate account, I can be identified by my standard account and the nature of the question isn't something I'd like adcoms to associate with me.

... you should have said you had other interviews. Either way, you don't have an acceptance yet. Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[maverick2011]

OP, you are not being fair to yourself or the school you are writing off. You have read some things online and possibly heard some things about this school, but until you see and experience it for yourself, what makes you so certain that it is not a good school for you?

Also, if cost is an issue, think about the huge costs incurred if you have to apply again next year. My advice is that unless you are 100% sure of an acceptance elsewhere (which would be pretty cocky to assume unless you actually have the acceptance), plan to go to this interview. Good luck.

 

[cher25]

go to the interview! for crying out loud, the interview day set up should have no bearing on whether or not you decide on a school. There are so many other legitimate factors to consider like some you mentioned, cost, location, systems vs traditional, etc. There were at least 3 interview days that I reluctantly attended when I was applying. I left each interview with a far better impression of the school than I had going in. You'd be surprised at how different the school is from what you read online on message boards. Until you have an acceptance in hand, at least check it out for yourself. If you then decide that it's not the place for you, withdraw your app.

 

[rafflecopter]

The question you have to ask yourself is whether you'd still want to be a doctor if you HAD to go to the school you're considering interviewing at. If the answer is yes, go to the interview; if the answer is no then don't attend the interview. The reality is that it is very difficult to predict your performance on an interview and even though you've attended 3 or 4 so far you aren't guaranteed to have at least one acceptance (although it is likely you will). I think you should hedge your bet, suck it up, and go. The slight financial disadvantage/time commitment of going is a small setback compared to the possibility of not getting in anywhere and having to reapply for a second cycle.

 

[interviewQ]

Thank you everyone for your responses and insight.

You have all helped me see just how minimal the financial investment is in the grand scheme of things and how much I could possibly stand to gain. As such, I have decided to keep my interview and hope for the best.

Thank you!

 

[MCAT guy]

Thank you everyone for your responses and insight.

You have all helped me see just how minimal the financial investment is in the grand scheme of things and how much I could possibly stand to gain. As such, I have decided to keep my interview and hope for the best.

Thank you!

Btw, I cancelled 1 interview pre-acceptance. It worked out for me but certainly was a hard choice.

If you don't like the school so much that you'd apply again, then go ahead.