do I need to attend "optional" interview events?

[throwawayaeiou]

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I attended an interview at a Cali school that had an optional little presentation thing we were invited to. I didn't attend it. Will this impact the committee's decision?

also, the irony in the title 🙂

 

[hydrophobicmed]

it's optional.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

May be "optional" was a trick 🙂

 

[throwawayaeiou]

May be "optional" was a trick 🙂

Do you think they'd actually do this?

 

[KnightDoc]

I attended an interview at a Cali school that had an optional little presentation thing we were invited to. I didn't attend it. Will this impact the committee's decision?

also, the irony in the title 🙂

If you really cared, maybe you should have asked before skipping it! 🙂

I'm sure you're fine, but, if not, it's too late to do anything about it now, so why post?

 

[deleted966164]

Ok so... people (including me) become very paranoid during interviews etc. here is a story...

During a campus tour I saw plastic utensils spilled all over the ground. As a group we were walking by. I had this inner urge to stop and pick them up and put them in the trash can. But then, it’s awkward to stop, separate from the group, clean the ground and catch up. For days I was paranoid that this was a test.

 

[deleted1001426]

I apologizes for this unhelpful post but some of you people on here are taking neurotic to a whole new level. If they cared about your attendance it wouldn't be optional and even if they did care, its too late for you to change your decision. if this kind of thing makes you run to sdn for other people's input, I dont want to see what youre like when you have actual things to worry about.

edit: in the future whenever youre concerned about things like this just take a deep breath and put everything in perspective. Your blood pressure and sanity will thank you

 

[Goro]

I attended an interview at a Cali school that had an optional little presentation thing we were invited to. I didn't attend it. Will this impact the committee's decision?

also, the irony in the title 🙂

I can't sugar coat this: what part of "optional" was difficult to understand?

 

[Rachapkis]

I attended an interview at a Cali school that had an optional little presentation thing we were invited to. I didn't attend it. Will this impact the committee's decision?

also, the irony in the title 🙂

These events are not a test. They are truly optional. However, mingling with current students might give you some additional perspective on the school, which, if you want to be mercenary about it, could be helpful during interviews.

 

[getdown]

As an FYI for you people in the future during residency application time. There are "optional" pre-interview dinners the day prior. It's mostly an event where you get to interact with the residents without the pressure of having an attending/faculty present. While some may think of them as "optional" they are truly NOT optional as input from residents at these dinners on you is taken and factored in the decision of where you end up in the rank list.

 

[Moko]

As an FYI for you people in the future during residency application time. There are "optional" pre-interview dinners the day prior. It's mostly an event where you get to interact with the residents without the pressure of having an attending/faculty present. While some may think of them as "optional" they are truly NOT optional as input from residents at these dinners on you is taken and factored in the decision of where you end up in the rank list.

This is probably specialty- and/or program-dependent. Our residents have no say in the rank list, unless of course someone did something egregious the night before. So the pre-interview dinners at my program truly are optional. I suspect that for programs with fewer residents, word of mouth is much more important.

 

[getdown]

This is probably specialty- and/or program-dependent. Our residents have no say in the rank list, unless of course someone did something egregious the night before. So the pre-interview dinners at my program truly are optional. I suspect that for programs with fewer residents, word of mouth is much more important.

I agree. It could be variable depending on program and specialty but I doubt the applicants would know which ones do and which ones don't. I would probably err on the side of caution is something as high stakes as potentially not matching. More face time is better (usually)

 

[piii]

Do you think they'd actually do this?

They do for residency interviews

 

[CidHighwind]

As an FYI for you people in the future during residency application time. There are "optional" pre-interview dinners the day prior. It's mostly an event where you get to interact with the residents without the pressure of having an attending/faculty present. While some may think of them as "optional" they are truly NOT optional as input from residents at these dinners on you is taken and factored in the decision of where you end up in the rank list.

I would add to this and say that at certain programs, it’s not even worth it to interview there if you can’t make the dinner. The resident input is so great that you won’t be ranked highly if you don’t get the “thumbs up” from current residents.

 

[Andrew Baines Bernard]

If we're ignoring the possibility that it's all a trap, if a school called an event "optional," I'd have to assume that it's just their way of saying, "Hey, you guys are adults. If you want more info and the chance to meet/ask questions to other students and faculty, come hang out. If you have everything you need and that doesn't interest you, no worries".

 

[CidHighwind]

If we're ignoring the possibility that it's all a trap, if a school called an event "optional," I'd have to assume that it's just their way of saying, "Hey, you guys are adults. If you want more info and the chance to meet/ask questions to other students and faculty, come hang out. If you have everything you need and that doesn't interest you, no worries".

Things like that are really “optional mandatory”. They aren’t required, but it is a way that programs can gauge interest.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

The only school I interviewed at and didn’t get in was the one where I skipped the optional event at the end. Correlation =/= causation, but just saying.

 

[OrthoTraumaMD]

As an FYI for you people in the future during residency application time. There are "optional" pre-interview dinners the day prior. It's mostly an event where you get to interact with the residents without the pressure of having an attending/faculty present. While some may think of them as "optional" they are truly NOT optional as input from residents at these dinners on you is taken and factored in the decision of where you end up in the rank list.

I went on 22 ortho interviews. I did not attend about 80% of the dinners because I needed to travel to the next place. Attend if you can, but don’t kill yourself over it. The interview is where all are equal and you’ll have your opportunity to shine.