Courtesy Residency Interview?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

moosa

Full Member
10+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
Joined
Dec 26, 2007
Messages
15
Reaction score
0
Hello guys, I recently got an interview call from a program after the cancellation of an interview by an applicant who got a pre-match somewhere else. I got it with a help of a friend who is a resident in that program. Now the the email invitation that I received from the program has mentioned that it is a courtesy interview.

I want to ask whether courtesy interview the same weightage as a regular interview call? Will it be worth attending that interview call because I will have to come from a long way to give interview. Any feedback will be highly appreciated. Thanks
 
In general, a courtesy interview isn't of the same weight. That doesn't mean you couldn't "wow" a program and end up at a decent spot on their rank list, and it doesn't mean that if a ton of people high on their list don't come to that program that you couldn't still secure a spot -- stranger things have happened. But no, if they are captioning it as a courtesy interview, it means that they wouldn't be inviting you in on your own merits, so you'd have an uphill battle. Coming out of a real interview feeling like you did "fine" might be enough, but at a courtesy interview doing "fine" probably wouldn't be enough -- you have to have them sold.
 
Yea I agree. I'm assuming you were pretty interested in this place since you had your friend help get an interview there hence they're throwing you this "courtesy" interview.

If a place you were really looking at then give it a shot if traveling is feasible. I would think though that you would need to come off really well at the interview to get on their short list though.
 
But why would a program waste one of its interview slots on a candidate they aren't totally serious about? It just seems like a huge waste of time, money and effort especially when they probably get hundreds of applicants, more than enough to fill their slots with "qualified" applicants.

I'm still an MS4 but I would think this interview is weighted same, and they just wanted to make it clear that you got this interview because of connections. Or maybe they are saying "courtesy" interview because this interview will be offered after-hours or on a day when they don't usually interview. I know many students who had abridged, more casual courtesy interviews on random days at programs they did elective rotations at, because they were already familiar with the place and the faculty.
 
I'd guess -- and I can't prove this and the only way anyone would know is if they actually asked the PD there -- that the reason they gave you the interview is because it's getting on in the interview season. Most of the great candidates are at this point thinking about cancelling interviews, not picking up new ones (that's not a knock on you, btw, so don't take it personally). So if you have someone telling them to interview you, then probably they just said "OK, what the heck." In general, "courtesy interview" means that the interview was given out of courtesy. An institution will give courtesy interviews to all students at that school so as to not be rude -- it would look bad for all parties if they didn't because it would be saying that the institution didn't even believe in their own student. An abridged interview is not a courtesy interview. If you're an outsider who knows everyone there and they know you, then of course they're going to interview you differently than a stranger. Like, if I just finished working with you for six weeks and just saw you yesterday and you came in for an interview, I'd probably just say "hey, what's up, eastcoastdr? Did you have any questions? No? OK, well, you want to talk about something or just go home early?"

All that being said, if you want to go to the place, then why wouldn't you go to the interview? Even if I told you your chances were slim, it's still a chance. (I assume you wanted to go there if you went so far as to have a resident plead your case.) If you don't want to go there, just tell them no.
 
I'd guess -- and I can't prove this and the only way anyone would know is if they actually asked the PD there -- that the reason they gave you the interview is because it's getting on in the interview season. Most of the great candidates are at this point thinking about cancelling interviews, not picking up new ones (that's not a knock on you, btw, so don't take it personally).

Whenever we have someone cancel/reschedule an interview late in the season, it's really a struggle to find good candidates to fill their spot. So I'd agree with you. I've just never heard of someone explicitly calling it a courtesy interview in the invite...
 
Whenever we have someone cancel/reschedule an interview late in the season, it's really a struggle to find good candidates to fill their spot. So I'd agree with you. I've just never heard of someone explicitly calling it a courtesy interview in the invite...

Me, neither. That threw me for a loop. To me, I would think that the PD was a ******, but whatever. I'd feel bad turning it down after my friend lobbied for me. But I'd still think the guy was a ******.
 
Whenever we have someone cancel/reschedule an interview late in the season, it's really a struggle to find good candidates to fill their spot. So I'd agree with you. I've just never heard of someone explicitly calling it a courtesy interview in the invite...

I've never heard of that either.

We will interview most students who rotate with us and usually just interview them at the end of the month. And like you mentioned, it's usually fairly laid back and more of a formality since we've already been watching them for a month and just want to sit down and have a chance for questions that weren't addressed during the rotation.

If that's considered a "courtesy" interview that's one thing. To outright say that though on an invite is odd but whatever.

I say go and see what happens.

Just don't tell them you're giving them a courtesy visit. 🙂
 
I've also never heard of explicitly calling it a courtesy interview, but I'd guess that they're trying to give you a hint that it might not be worth your time/money to make the trip. The interview isn't a courtesy to you, it's a courtesy to your friend who tried to help you out.

If it's a program that doesn't normally fill via the Match, then I might still consider going. If you're getting a courtesy interview, I can imagine that you'd be low on their rank list... but if they usually have to scramble/SOAP, then you still have a decent shot. If it's a competitive program, you might want to talk to your friend there before you decide. Your friend might have inside information about the types of qualifications that are generally required to get in.
 
I've also never heard of explicitly calling it a courtesy interview, but I'd guess that they're trying to give you a hint that it might not be worth your time/money to make the trip. The interview isn't a courtesy to you, it's a courtesy to your friend who tried to help you out.

If it's a program that doesn't normally fill via the Match, then I might still consider going. If you're getting a courtesy interview, I can imagine that you'd be low on their rank list... but if they usually have to scramble/SOAP, then you still have a decent shot...

Agree. Although if you think you can really wow them in person you might want to go even if it's a place that doesn't generally end up in soap. A good salesman will tell you he just needs a foot in the door. That's all you've really got here. So go close that sale.
 
If u really love this program then who cares. U starting from the disadvantage....u have nothing to lose.
I was in a similar situation 2 years ago. I got a courtesy interview in a very strong place and looking back I think it was always gonna be an uphill task. However am happy I gave it a shot back then. And in my residency class there was a guy who basically called the program cordinator and said " my friend was due to interview there tomorrow and will likely cancel because of a pre match. Can I take his spot". He ended up matching here and he is so amazing
 
It seems pretty odd/rude that the program would go so far as to explicitly state that this was a 'courtesy interview'. I would question whether you want to go to a program that is sending out such mixed/bizarre signals. Like somebody stated before, the leadership of this program seems kinda tone deaf if this is the way they're communicating with applicants.
 
Disrespectful/unprofessional to openly call it a courtesy interview, and pretty Busch league on the programs part. Even if its true, keep that **** to yourself.

You are starting off knowing you are pretty low on their list. If you really want to go to that program though, it is an opportunity to change their minds. Low yield interview though.
 
I wouldn't go. The term "courtesy interview" just reeks of condescension, and you have to ask yourself 1.) what would I have to bring to the table in a 15-30 minute interview to really wow them (is there something not in your application that could sway them ?) and 2.) do I want to go to a program that explicitly indicates that its enthusiasm for me is low on an interview invite email.
 
I wouldn't go. The term "courtesy interview" just reeks of condescension, and you have to ask yourself 1.) what would I have to bring to the table in a 15-30 minute interview to really wow them (is there something not in your application that could sway them ?) and 2.) do I want to go to a program that explicitly indicates that its enthusiasm for me is low on an interview invite email.

This would depend, of course, on how many interviews you have. If you have only 5 interviews, for instance, a courtesy interview would definitely be welcome. Even if they tell you its a courtesy interview, you have a chance to shine. If you decide to go, you should pull out all the stops to wow them and get them to think, "Hey, maybe we underestimated this guy/girl. Maybe we should consider him/her for our program."
 
Last edited:
This would depend, of course, on how many interviews you have. If you have only 5 interviews, for instance, a courtesy interview would definitely be welcome. Even if they tell you its a courtesy interview, you have a chance to shine. If you decide to go, you should pull out all the stops to wow them and get them to think, "Hey, maybe we underestimated this guy/girl. Maybe we should consider him/her for our program."
Agree. From the OP's post, s/he sounds like a foreign grad who may not have all that many invites to begin with since s/he is asking friends to help set up more. It's easy for American grads with lots of invites to turn up their noses at this one, but how many people with too few invites would rather risk going unmatched than take this one?

OP, you've gotten good advice about this already. If you have enough invites to decline this half-hearted invite, then decline it. But if you need the invite because you may not have enough to match, then go there and do everything in your power to turn that maybe into a yes. Best of luck.
 
This is a difficult decision. One has to consider what the cost of going on the interview is as compared to the chance that it actually results in OP being accepted into the residency program. If it costs OP $1000 to go to the interview, and OP's chance of acceptance goes from 0->1%, then essentially the cost of admission to the program is $100,000. This is a considerable sum for anybody but I imagine even more for most FMGs.

There's a few variables that one has to consider:
- Are we interpreting this correctly? I agree that the most likely interpretation is that it is not quite a "real" interview, but at the end of the day the email was written by some administrative staff and sent. Maybe that was his or her personal interpretation but does not accurately reflect the PD's view on the interview.
- Cost of going on the interview? If it's an additional interview on the same trail and you're just staying with friends then it is low. If you're flying from another country to the U.S. just for this interview and staying in a NYC hotel it could be extreme.
- Chance of an interview making a difference? This is very program-dependent. On one extreme, people who get invited to the interview are all relatively "even" from the program's perspective, and the interview itself has a large effect on the program's rank list. On the other extreme, the rank-list is mostly determined and, while you can be dropped by poor behavior or poor fit, it is difficult to move up. Many programs are in between. One has to assume that a program which labels interviews as "courtesy" is towards the latter end.
- Chance of really impressing someone on an interview? I would argue that this is a low probability event. There is some chance of very strong chemistry, and some chance of actually interviewing with someone whose opinion will matter with regards to the rank list, but you can't force either. If you dress well, have a nice handshake and smile, and talk confidently--well a lot of your peers will do that. You have to act within relatively narrow bounds of professionalism, so there is no equivalent of serenading a girl outside her window at 2 AM to win her heart*.

A lot of people are advocating for a hail-Mary approach, but the cost portion of the cost-benefit analysis seems to be very high. Your choice.


*And this only works if she already likes you a little bit, otherwise you're just a creeper.
 
Top