How bad is it to interview late?

[confusedchild]

Hey, I was wondering how bad it is to interview late - as in does it put you at a major disadvantage. I actually ended up applying to wayyy too many schools because I freaked out a bit looking at people's past experiences. I ended up getting 18 interviews up to this point but starting the first month I started pushing interviews I've been getting in late August/early September into January 2010 hoping to get in somewhere in 2009 so I could drop those interviews. I've interviewed at 8 schools so far and haven't heard a thing...no acceptances/no rejections/no WLs - just plain terrible silence (which i guess is better than rejections but still..completely screws with my plans).

So right now I'm starting to book flights for interviews in mid Dec and early January, and a bit regretting that I should've went to these interviews earlier since some of them are actually very good schools. Does it put me at a disadvantage to interview at these schools that gave me interviews early and I go there late?

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[Sammich117]

18 interviews?!?!?!?!?!? Holy god, that's amazing.

 

[wanderer]

Even if you were to assume that you have a 25% chance post-interview at each place (it's usually 33-50%) you'd still have a 99.4% chance at getting in to at least one school. I think you can relax a bit.

 

[sgtbrushes]

Getting your secondaries in late is bad. Interviewing late - when you have 18 interviews - is not bad at all.

 

[futureNCmed]

yeah....

me = jealous

relax man!

You are sitting pretty right now!

 

[alibai3ah]

How do you EVEN PAY for 18 interviews??????? Jesus, I have way less and I'm broke

 

[confusedchild]

Umm that's why I pushed some back and prioritized them. I'm not planning on going to all of them if I don't have to, but I'm also not dropping any until I have an acceptance in hand (which once I do, I can start dropping downstream interviews) - which is why I'm a bit conflicted because there are some that I could've interviewed in Sept that I pushed to Dec/Jan and I'm wondering how much that is going to hurt me, but don't get me wrong - I feel very fortunate to be in the position that I am in. This process is very random indeed. I have friends with similar stats/activities as me applying to the same schools w/o the same luck.

 

[UAAWolf]

Relax man. You're fine. It's not bad to interview late...everyone I know at my school interview Jan or later.


Seriously it's senior year...take a break before you work your ass off for the rest of your life bro

 

[BlueElmo]

18 interviews, you'll get in for sure.

 

[J ROD]

18 interviews, you'll get in for sure.

Yeah, you would have to be the worst interviewer ever....

 

[RySerr21]

Hey, I was wondering how bad it is to interview late - as in does it put you at a major disadvantage. I actually ended up applying to wayyy too many schools because I freaked out a bit looking at people's past experiences. I ended up getting 18 interviews up to this point but starting the first month I started pushing interviews I've been getting in late August/early September into January 2010 hoping to get in somewhere in 2009 so I could drop those interviews. I've interviewed at 8 schools so far and haven't heard a thing...no acceptances/no rejections/no WLs - just plain terrible silence (which i guess is better than rejections but still..completely screws with my plans).

So right now I'm starting to book flights for interviews in mid Dec and early January, and a bit regretting that I should've went to these interviewers earlier since some of them are actually very good schools. Does it put me at a disadvantage to interview at these schools that gave me interviews early and I go there late?

its school dependent. Some schools it will matter, some it wont (like mine).

 

[MacBookMD]

when is an invite too late? im sure it is variable by school, but i was thinkin feb or so?

 

[MacBookMD]

bump, still wondering your opinion. THANKS

 

[calimed214]

when is an invite too late? im sure it is variable by school, but i was thinkin feb or so?

Depends on too many factors.. the school, how late their interview season goes, how quickly the school is filling up the class this year, etc. But again, every invitation to interview still holds the opportunity for acceptance, even if you're just interviewing for a waitlist spot. So I'd say no invite is "too late". Although obviously your chances for acceptance are better earlier in the season.

 

[bannie22]

lol 18 interviews.... go away

 

[175961]

18 interview offers, and from the 8 you've attended you havent heard anything?? so uh.....can you communicate, cuz your interview skills must not be too great.

 

[starl3tte]

My situation is nearly identical to yours (and believe me, I'm not complaining about it). Except instead of 18 and 8, I'm at 14 and 4. And I've actually had to push interviews out even later than you have - all the way to February. I'm hoping that I can withdraw from some of the later interviews, but I haven't heard back from any of the schools I've interviewed at so far. Luckily I have a job and a newly increased spending limit on my credit card...certainly helps with these travel expenses.

 

[halekulani]

unfortunately, until you've received acceptances it's hard to justify turning down interviews

prioritize the schools you 'think' you want to go to the earliest b/c you obviously want the best chance to get in.

 

[njbmd]

If you applied to a school that has filled it's incoming class, then the best you can hope for would be wait list. It's unlikely that in November, any school has filled all of it's slots. If it were March, then you may be in a different situation but at this point, even if you interview in Jan or Feb, you will likely be OK. You will be fine if the school has rolling admissions in any event.

Back in the dark ages when I applied, my first interview was in November and my last was in Feb. I ended up with six out of six acceptances so my interviewing later didn't make much difference then. They wanted me and I got in.

Just make sure that you meet every deadline from here on out. Don't be late with anything.

 

[randombetch]

Even if you were to assume that you have a 25% chance post-interview at each place (it's usually 33-50%) you'd still have a 99.4% chance at getting in to at least one school. I think you can relax a bit.

Only applies if each interview is a random independent event, which it's not because it's the same interviewee each time (ie: if he's a really bad interviewer, he won't get in anywhere).