Good Excuse for Stalling an Interview

[sindee1984]

I interviewed at one of my top schools and won't know if I am accepted until end of January. I was invited to interview at another school out of state, but the latest interview date is end of January. I don't want to fly to this interview if I am accepted to my top school. What's a good excuse to give for asking the school if I can wait until the February interview spots open before I schedule? I am thinking about saying I have interviews at other schools in January so there are conflicts. (but I really don't have any interviews in January) Any suggestions?

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[TheRealMD]

I interviewed at one of my top schools and won't know if I am accepted until end of January. I was invited to interview at another school out of state, but the latest interview date is end of January. I don't want to fly to this interview if I am accepted to my top school. What's a good excuse to give for asking the school if I can wait until the February interview spots open before I schedule? I am thinking about saying I have interviews at other schools in January so there are conflicts. (but I really don't have any interviews in January) Any suggestions?

Until you have an acceptance, you should not be picking and choosing what schools you want to interview at. I know it may seem like a waste of money, but if you were to get a waitlist, you are going to wish you had interviewed at the earliest possible time to increase your chances. Don't play games with med school admissions!

 

[emquiksilver]

You don't need excuses. Just ask for the available dates and pick one to your liking. In your case, ask if February dates are available. Admissions offices have better things to do than to care why people want to schedule a later interview.

 

[167649]

Until you have an acceptance, you should not be picking and choosing what schools you want to interview at. I know it may seem like a waste of money, but if you were to get a waitlist, you are going to wish you had interviewed at the earliest possible time to increase your chances. Don't play games with med school admissions!

I have to agree with RealMD on this. It is not wise to turn down or significantly postpone an interview. An interview invite is too precious of an opportunity. You could get rejected from your top choice and ultimately not admitted to this other school because you waited for the interview and the class filled up. And this scenario could very much happen. You should just fork out the ticket and go, you never know, in fact you may even end up liking this school more, or they could give you a scholarship, who knows...

 

[StealthNerd]

I have to agree with RealMD on this. It is not wise to turn down or significantly postpone an interview. An interview invite is too precious of an opportunity. You could get rejected from your top choice and ultimately not admitted to this other school because you waited for the interview and the class filled up. And this scenario could very much happen. You should just fork out the ticket and go, you never know, in fact you may even end up liking this school more, or they could give you a scholarship, who knows...

Agreed. Honestly OP, what are we talking about here? A few hundred bucks, max, and a potentially "wasted" weekend. Compared to the $100k plus and four years you're going to be forking over medical school... ... it's not even a drop in the bucket. TOTALLY worth it to CYA. Unless you've already been accepted to a school you would hands-down choose over this one, you should go ASAP.

 

[diosa428]

Yes, the money/time you spend is unfortunate, but it will be cheaper/easier than having to reapply. If the school is rolling, you should go ASAP. Also, trust me, when you sign that first loan note, the few thousand you spend on applications seem like a drop in the bucket.

 

[wampeter]

I agree with the previous posters... I think that you should assume that you will NOT get into any of the schools you've interviewed at until you actually do. You've worked so hard to get to this point. Don't get greedy now.