Clothing for MSTP multi-day interview extravaganzas

[Picklesali]

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I was wondering, do people bring more than one suit for the multi-day interviews? Or one suit with two shirts? (Mind you, I'm a girl, so I think our suitage is often a little less wear two-days-in-a-rowable.)

I don't own anything like this yet (but hey I'm nowhere being near complete at most of my schools so interviews are nowhere near the horizon yet anyway) and I was just wondering how much more money I'm going to have to pull out of thin air (read: go further in the red...🙁) before this process is over.

 

[OncDoc19]

I was wondering, do people bring more than one suit for the multi-day interviews? Or one suit with two shirts? (Mind you, I'm a girl, so I think our suitage is often a little less wear two-days-in-a-rowable.)

I don't own anything like this yet (but hey I'm nowhere being near complete at most of my schools so interviews are nowhere near the horizon yet anyway) and I was just wondering how much more money I'm going to have to pull out of thin air (read: go further in the red...🙁) before this process is over.

I would bring three things:
1. cute outfit for right after you get off the plane in case you are meeting your student host or there is a dinner the first night
2. two suits, maybe one pant and one skirt suit
3. 3-4 shirts, don't just bring two in case someting happens

I think the only way you could wear the same suit two days in a row is to buy a three piece suit and wear the skirt one day and the pants the next. I would still feel wierd about that tough. Check out factory stores, bluefly.com or borrow from friends. I found a nice suit on sale at Macy's.

The good thing about buying suits if you are looking at med school is that its not like they will hang in the back of your closet forever after interviews. You must dress professional in the clinic. A women's professional wardrobe is expensive, so start now.

 

[j-weezy]

And hopefully, some schools will say that day 2 is casual (more casual that is) - so you can get away with just one suit.

Since we need more clothes than regular MD people, how should we transport all this stuff? I was thinking of shoving both suit👍 type outfits into one dry cleaners/hanging bag....

Bleh - I understand the role of professional attire but it doesn't mean I like it.


-j

 

[Neuronix]

Every year this question gets asked and every year the answer is the same. It doesn't matter. You all look the same to everyone at the school. 99% of applicants wear a blue or black suit with a typical dress shirt and tie. The only way anyone will notice your attire is if you significantly deviate from this. If you don't significantly deviate from this, nobody will notice if you wear the same thing for 2 days or change it between days.

 

[Picklesali]

Every year this question gets asked and every year the answer is the same. It doesn't matter. You all look the same to everyone at the school. 99% of applicants wear a blue or black suit with a typical dress shirt and tie. The only way anyone will notice your attire is if you significantly deviate from this. If you don't significantly deviate from this, nobody will notice if you wear the same thing for 2 days or change it between days.

Good to know. Well, as long as I shower in between then...

 

[OncDoc19]

And hopefully, some schools will say that day 2 is casual (more casual that is) - so you can get away with just one suit.

Since we need more clothes than regular MD people, how should we transport all this stuff? I was thinking of shoving both suit👍 type outfits into one dry cleaners/hanging bag....

Bleh - I understand the role of professional attire but it doesn't mean I like it.


-j

I am using a garment bag as my carry on. You can put your suit(s) a couple pairs of shoes and any other essentials. This is good because you definitely want to carry on anything essential - never know what can happend with luggage.

 

[Alvacea]

I asked the same question on this forum last year when I applied.. the first suit I bought was a grey pant suit with a subtle black check pattern, which deviated a bit from the crowds of black and blue suits (I am a girl by the way). I was worried that I'd have to wear it two days in a row and so it would be noticed by my interviewers.. so I finally went out and bought a second black pant suit. I didn't wear it a single time. I only had two interviews (out of eight) where the second day also required formal wear, and I just wore my grey suit because it looked better on me. I realized after a while that I would be interviewing with different people on those two days, so no one (except for the administrators) would be seeing me twice, and thus it wasn't a big deal if I recycled my suit.

I highly recommend sticking to one suit if you're trying to save money in the short-term, especially if you have a suit that you can pair with different colored blouses. I couldn't do that with my grey one, it would only work with a black top, but even so I managed.

 

[Hurricane]

And hopefully, some schools will say that day 2 is casual (more casual that is) - so you can get away with just one suit.

Since we need more clothes than regular MD people, how should we transport all this stuff? I was thinking of shoving both suit👍 type outfits into one dry cleaners/hanging bag....

Bleh - I understand the role of professional attire but it doesn't mean I like it.


-j

At my alma mater (Univ of Cincinnati), day 2 is definitely casual, like jeans casual.

As far as transportation, you can get a carry-on sized rolling suitcase with a section in it to hang and then fold over a suit. Much easier than lugging around a hanging garment bag.

 

[GoinBack2Cali?]

wear the same suit, change up the tie and shirt. No one cares anyway.