Getting interview invitation with only waitlist spots available...

[osprey099]

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So I received an interview invite yesterday and immediately opened the schedule but found out that all the interview spots were full and that I can only waitlist for a date. What does this mean and why would a program do this? Are they expecting some of the more competitive applicants to end up dropping their interviews here and then I, being a lesser competitive applicant, could fill the void later on? Also, how does this happen when it's not even October yet?

 

[Ismet]

Most likely, the email was sent to multiple applicants and others got the spots before you did.

And yes, they expect people will drop interviews. I had one program where I signed up for the waitlist for multiple dates that would work for me, then when someone cancelled their interview, it emailed me and I could schedule the interview. No biggie.

 

[xffan624]

Most likely, the email was sent to multiple applicants and others got the spots before you did.

And yes, they expect people will drop interviews. I had one program where I signed up for the waitlist for multiple dates that would work for me, then when someone cancelled their interview, it emailed me and I could schedule the interview. No biggie.

I had this situation as well except I never got an email to sign up for an interview and never was able to interview for the program. I replied about 1 hour after receiving the email due to other obligations.

Lesson learned for you 4th years, check your phone frequently and reply immediately to interview invites. It can be a race sometimes.