declining interviews?

[DoctorWolf]

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Would it be a bad decision at this point in time to decline an interview? My problem is that the expense and hassle of traveling across the country combined with the fact that this school is low on my list- actually it's last. I just feel like it's so early to be turning down interviews, especially since there are no guarentees about getting in anywhere. Any thoughts?

 

[SpiritiualDuck]

why apply if you wouldn't attend? If your numbers are solid and you feel confident that you'll get in somewhere else, then don't go. But I wouldn't have created the dilema to begin with. I've only applied to schools that I would seriously consider attending.

 

[28129]

Yeah, I wouldn't be turning down interviews until you get accepted somewhere (better). Try to stall. Postpone till winter break.

 

[kito]

...it's all about spreading the risk.

 

[DrWuStar]

sounds like a karma situation to me. if i were in your position, i would be scared that if i declined the interview, the karma would come back to haunt me and i wouldn't get in anywhere. and then i would kick myself over and over and over about how i should have gone to the interview.

sounds like you applied to a bunch of schools. so you already dropped a bunch of money in an attempt to make sure you get in somewhere. i would stick with that mindset and just deal with the expense. it will all be worth it. after all, there was a reason you applied there, right? even if it was just for safety. i wouldn't rule out "safety schools" until i felt pretty sure i was into a better one.

 

[Eraserhead]

I'm having the same dilemma (this is expensive and taking up all my spare time), but luckily my 6 interviews are pretty much clustered together, or near other schools I am waiting to hear from. There is no way I would decline an interview without an acceptance, nothing is guaranteed as you say...look at the stats for each of the schools you are visiting, some are very, very low percentages of interviewees accepted! If I could afford to be picky-- if getting in were not so important to me at this stage in my life, I might decline some of them but at this point I need to go next Fall and it doesn't matter so much where fate places me (as long as I get on with my life!).

 

[DW]

regardless if its the worst school in the country in your own eyes....keep showing up to interviews until you have an acceptance letter IN HAND!!! You think its impossible to have a handful interviews and not get in somwhere? Its happened before.

to echo drwustar, karma is a b1tch man.

 

[Amy B]

I agree with the previous posters. Don't say no until you have an acceptance and are very sure where you want to go.


This can be a lesson to all those who are going to apply......"Only apply to a school you are serious about. That way you won't waste your money. Research ALL the schools BEFORE you apply to them."

I didn't listen to my own advice. I threw away the money I paid to AMCAS for a school in a city where I would never live. Just money down the drain. For some reason I didn't even look at where it was located in the USA. DUMB😛 🙄

 

[DoctorWolf]

Thanks for the advice. I think I will try to schedule an interview after all- especially since I just got my first rejection today and I'm a little less confident now.

 

[Eraserhead]

Yeah, seriously, ever since U of Chicago sent me a form letter rejection with my name substituted in a blank space I'm willing to fly all over the US. I paid like 120 bucks for that letter. There are no guarantees!

 

[jdg222]

Send the school a letter and let them know that they are on your official wait-list! 😀

 

[Alli Cat]

You can use this to your advantage! Be a smarty. So the interview is at your last choice school... let's say Harvard. So call up all the other schools in the area that you applied to, like Boston U, Tufts, UMass... and tell them that since you're going to be in the area you could come for an interview. It's a good excuse to call these other schools on your list without just asking for an update, and if they were going to invite you anyway they might say c'mon down! And this way they know that some other school thinks you're a valuable commodity.

The worst that could happen is you'll end up talking to a rude adcom who doesn't want to hear it. What else is new?

~Alison