Do I have a less chance of admission if my interview date is much later?

[job application]

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hi,

I just got an interview at a school I am interested in attending. I scheduled my interview the minute I got the date. However, the earliest date I could find was all the way in March. Will this negatively impact me? I know I am really grateful to have an interview, and I understand that a lot of people don't have interviews but it still feels far later than I expected especially since many offers have already been sent out earlier in the year. It's my first app cycle, and I don't really know what to expect.

 

[polymerization]

Congrats! The article From Waitlist to Offer explains LM's staircase analogy.

Because every school z-scores their applicants post-II differently, it's impossible to tell. If you anticipate being a high-priority candidate for that school, you still have a shot. Do the best you can on your interviews and hope that the staircase is in your favor.

The downside of coming in "late" is that there are just going to be more people interviewed, so more people will be on the staircase already.

So if let's say a school decides to accept profiles that score 10/10 post-II and waitlist everyone else...and then pick out the 8s and 9s off the waitlist as the cycle elapses (and, say, you're an 8)...

What might happen is that if you had applied early enough for them to actually go down the list and accept some 8s and 9s, you had a better chance at that point because fewer people had been interviewed (and so you had a better shot of being pulled).

Toward the end of the cycle, each school has interviewed multiples of applicants for each seat. It is much more likely that if people are being pulled off the WL, the long list of 9s would have to decline and then you would have to hope you are a lucky 8 that is given an offer.

Obviously I don't know how granular it can get when it comes to X vs. Y candidate, and even the way I'm presenting this is a huge oversimplification... but I hope I could convey to you that if it's meant to be, it'll be.

 

[Med Ed]

Very much depends on the school. Some of the low-tier/high-volume places, for example, fill a lot of their seats in the spring.

 

[LelouchLamperouge]

Depends on the school. Some schools at interviewing for their waitlist at this point, while other schools are interviewing everyone who as a good chance of being accepted. Which program is this?