How does everyone finance interview costs??

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Marjan Islam

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Well, I'm very fortunate to have parents who're helping me cover the costs of traveling and attending interviews.

I just got back from one at SUNY Downstate, and I'm from Alabama. The trip cost me close to $900 ($400 for airfare, $300 for hotels... it was $150 a night in downtown Brooklyn!!, and $200 in food, cab fare,... actually, where did this $200 go? lol)

So yeah, I was relatively startled as to how expensive this ONE interview was, how's everyone financing this? Applying to very close schools? Only state schools? Flying in the day of the interview? (I suck at directions and don't trust myself to fly in the day of!)
 
Option 1) Be cheaper. Stay with a student host, friend, friend of friends, family, etc. Use frequent flier miles to get there, if possible. Eat cheaply. Take public transit once on the ground.
Option 2) Credit card, etc.

I am feeling very poor, after secondary fees and one interview.

For my interview, I purchased my plane ticket with frequent flier miles, got myself to the airport for free, and then stayed with parents of a friend. They loaned me a car. My total cost was about $150.
 
$900 for one interview is just too much man, you gotta find ways to cut down. find expedia coupons or something. use more than one site

I use a combination of Bing, STATravel and Expedia to search for the same deal. You have to also search flight + hotel, and also search flight and hotel separately to see which ones cheaper

For some places, use public transportation/split a cab with other applicants
 
Holy cow, I think $900 is more than I've spent on all my interviews combined! I've only flown to one so far (stayed with student hosts), so that was about $350ish, then drove to all the others. The longest drive is only about 6 hours, and my car gets great gas mileage 🙂. Plus hotels in the midwest are a whole lot cheaper than Brooklyn, apparently!

I really love my parents for helping me out through this.
 
For real though, my entire trip to Pitt from Chicago (which granted, isn't cross country), was around $150. Orbitzed the airfair, stayed with a student host, took the $2.50 each way bus. Packed my own food. BAM! $150 for a priceless experience.
 
mmm my ticket to STL was 1900... -.- talk about ripoff.
 
also check southwest. Its not the best place to go if you are a working person (since they dont have too many night time flights) but I guess they would have decent deals.
You should know which airports hub what airlines also
 
I don't know how much eating/ordering out costs in smaller cities, but in places like NYC it's expensive. Cab fare is really expensive as well.
If you don't travel much you don't want to estimate costs of traveling using hometown rates.

So if you're going to a big city to interview, ask about the public transportation beforehand, try to not eat out too much, and try to book interviews in the middle of the week, not on Monday or Friday, since mid-week flights can be a lot cheaper.
 
wanderer100 said:
I don't know how much eating/ordering out costs in smaller cities, but in places like NYC it's expensive. Cab fare is really expensive as well.
If you don't travel much you don't want to estimate costs of traveling using hometown rates.

So if you're going to a big city to interview, ask about the public transportation beforehand, try to not eat out too much, and try to book interviews in the middle of the week, not on Monday or Friday, since mid-week flights can be a lot cheaper.
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eating in NYC should be cheaper than anywhere else in the US if you look hard enough. Usually the best way to go is chinese (get those combination specials for $5). I do miss some of the eating out prices of NYC.

I do understand that if you are from out of town, you might not know where to eat or not be comfortable (even though I would say almost every part of NYC is pretty safe - something like the average panhandler in NYC makes like almost 30k a year)
 
brooklynblunder said:
eating in NYC should be cheaper than anywhere else in the US if you look hard enough. Usually the best way to go is chinese (get those combination specials for $5). I do miss some of the eating out prices of NYC.

I do understand that if you are from out of town, you might not know where to eat or not be comfortable (even though I would say almost every part of NYC is pretty safe - something like the average panhandler in NYC makes like almost 30k a year)
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Why am I applying to med school?!


Wait... why did I go to college... or high school... or elementary school...
 
lets just say this. I intend to finance this when i start giving out botox injections on the side ;D
 
idk about NYC, but i know at my alma mater, the pan handlers had unions too. and bank accounts.,..with 5 figures in them.

i do not have that, for sure
 
He2 said:
idk about NYC, but i know at my alma mater, the pan handlers had unions too. and bank accounts.,..with 5 figures in them.

i do not have that, for sure
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Panhandling is illegal in NYC. (Though it's rarely prosecuted, if at all.)
 
BBender716 said:
For real though, my entire trip to Pitt from Chicago (which granted, isn't cross country), was around $150. Orbitzed the airfair, stayed with a student host, took the $2.50 each way bus. Packed my own food. BAM! $150 for a priceless experience.
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word. OP, you gotta cut down. what this guy did is the way it's supposed to be done.

hotels are a rip. stay with student hosts only. i actually cancelled my Pitt interview cause I couldn't get a host (already had an acceptance in hand). figured it wasn't meant to be.

here are some websites that can help

www.studentuniverse.com (if you are a student)
www.bing.com/travel
jetblue, airtran, southwest are not on all those websites, so you have to go to them individually.

i just spent around $350 on airfare to go cross country for xmas, and thats including a flight inbetween the break from orlando to houston. gotta look for deals.
 
$5,000 on my credit card financed my application and interview costs. I am a third year med student and I am still dragging around that credit card debt. I hate it. In fact I have another payment due today - so still paying for those interviews 3 years later. Sweet. Oh, and my credit card interest rate just got raised significantly, even though my credit score and payment history is good. It is always fun getting screwed by the MAN.
 
I have a job, and budget very well. And I look for the cheapest way out of things. My most expensive interview to date was at the end of October, where I spent about $600... because I was flying into a regional airport, and had to stay at a hotel because all my friends are bums. But, it was near where my dad lives, so he covered the travel to the hotel, hotel cost, dinner the night before the interview, and cab fare back to the airport after the interview. I got continental breakfast at the hotel, and lunch at the school. I walked from my hotel to the school.

One of my interviews cost a tank of gas, another cost about $300.

Check out kayak.com. They search a whole bunch of sites to find the best deal.
 
I've been saving for about 2 years for this whole process. I'm nearing the end of my interviews and I've blown through nearly all of it. Primary+Secondary+Interview+Deposits get really expensive.
 
dr zaius said:
I've been saving for about 2 years for this whole process. I'm nearing the end of my interviews and I've blown through nearly all of it. Primary+Secondary+Interview+Deposits get really expensive.
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Get your dirty paws out of here you damn dirty ape!!

Also, I financed my interviews by selling high-quality meth. Figured it was about time to put that Chemistry masters to good use.
 
It's all coming out of my wallet. I spent -$200 on train tickets and stay w/ hosts when possible.
 
Marjan Islam said:
Well, I'm very fortunate to have parents who're helping me cover the costs of traveling and attending interviews.

I just got back from one at SUNY Downstate, and I'm from Alabama. The trip cost me close to $900 ($400 for airfare, $300 for hotels... it was $150 a night in downtown Brooklyn!!, and $200 in food, cab fare,... actually, where did this $200 go? lol)

So yeah, I was relatively startled as to how expensive this ONE interview was, how's everyone financing this? Applying to very close schools? Only state schools? Flying in the day of the interview? (I suck at directions and don't trust myself to fly in the day of!)
Click to expand...

...
uh
1. student host - downstate offers them, i know that for sure
2. not sure where that 200 went...that's your problem. no interview should cost you 200 in cash in 2 nights.
3. book your flights earlier? then again, it may just be a cost you'll have to suffer if you don't have many flights going in/out of alabama.
 
housefish26 said:
Get your dirty paws out of here you damn dirty ape!!

Also, I financed my interviews by selling high-quality meth. Figured it was about time to put that Chemistry masters to good use.
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I ALWAYS thought that those meth-makers were pretty smart people. Who knew that they had masters degrees!?!?! :laugh:
 
J DUB said:
loans.....
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I cannot even begin to imagine what a drag it would be to spend possibly thousands of dollars to apply and travel to med schools only to be rejected at every single one and have all that debt for nothing+pity+

i would probably ---->:boom:
 
c5212 said:
I ALWAYS thought that those meth-makers were pretty smart people. Who knew that they had masters degrees!?!?! :laugh:
Click to expand...

Yep! Plus my glassware setup in the hood works way better than in the bathtub or toilet-born meth.
 
bannie22 said:
mmm my ticket to STL was 1900... -.- talk about ripoff.
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bannie22 said:
lol no toronto, but i got the tickets really late. inexperienced cuz it was my first interview...
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What would make you even consider paying that much for a plane ticket, and why would you not go nuts looking for a cheaper option? For what it's worth, I can get a ticket to Toronto from Little Rock departing tomorrow for $413. I can get a flight tonight for $529. You'll note that Little Rock's airport is a tiny little 20-ish gate airport, while St. Louis is one of the national hubs. I'm gonna call BS. If you're not lying, you should probably find a better source for your plane tickets - you know, one that doesn't demand an organ each time you board one of their planes.

I financed my application cycle with extra loan money I had left over. I live extremely inexpensively (think cheap rent and ~$100/month food bill), so that wasn't a terribly difficult task to accomplish.

I cannot even begin to imagine what a drag it would be to spend possibly thousands of dollars to apply and travel to med schools only to be rejected at every single one and have all that debt for nothing
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I got pretty close to doing just that, and I would've had half of the '07 applicants to keep me company.
 
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c5212 said:
I cannot even begin to imagine what a drag it would be to spend possibly thousands of dollars to apply and travel to med schools only to be rejected at every single one and have all that debt for nothing+pity+

i would probably ---->:boom:
Click to expand...

Yeah. I'm a re-applicant. Applied "late" last year, got in no where, with hella debt racked up on my credit cards :/ Applied this year as early as possible and already have 3 acceptances. I work 3 jobs (yes, 3...might be adding a fourth soon) to pay for this cycle while paying off my credit card debt (and student loans). Talk about an investment. I'm trying to be down to 0 debt come the start of classes Summer 2010. I am tired.
 
45/hours a week of hard work helped me pay for all of my application and interview costs (not to mention all my other bills)...it is finally nice to know it wasn't a waste of money with an acceptance!
 
I work...a lot.

And how did you spend $900 on ONE interview??? I only spent ~$1100 for 4 interviews across the country.You might want to look into cheaper ways to travel and save your parents some money.
 
Definitely research public transit options for interviews beforehand!! There is NO REASON to take cabs in new york city (I'm not sure where suny downstate is, but you said you stayed in brooklyn, so I'm assuming public transit is available). Day passes are pretty cheap on the subway, last time I was there I think it was $7 for a whole day.

Eating out does get expensive, but you can go to grocery stores (ramen + hotel/host hot water) or fast food (subway, etc) and that should rack up no more than $20-30 a day.

I've financed app fees + interview fees through work and parents. 50% I pay, 50% I borrow from them.

I spent about $1000 on two interviews, but that is because I flew internationally to come interview (a country that is 15 - 20 hours away by plane), so I think it worked out more or less ok in the end.
 
Look, I was in Manhattan recently for an interview and also stayed an extra 2 days to enjoy the city. This is what I spent:

Airfare - 230
Accommodations - 0 (Student host, friend)
Subway transportation - 15
Food - <30

I saw a LOT in those 3 days. I went out of my way to make sure I wouldn't have to pay for a hotel. I took the subway and even walked so I wouldn't have to pay subway fare if not necessary.

You are clearly doing something wrong. There is a problem with your spending habits if you spend $200 on "miscellaneous expenses" for one interview.
 
Loans.

My FSU interview was over Columbus day weekend, plus it's crazy expensive so that cost me a bit over $600. Insane.
 
Money from my parents. But one interview trip costs less than 500 dollars for me. Just a combination of trying to be stingy, and staying with students hosts helps a great deal in cutting costs. Usually, the hotel costs are the most expensive part of the trip, next to airfare. But little things like using public transportation instead of taxies and things like that also helps in balancing your budget.
 
my most expensive interview was about 330 total and that was flying from the east coast into an airport in iowa that only had 6 gates 😱

like others have said you're definitely doing something wrong...
 
mybubbles14 said:
my most expensive interview was about 330 total and that was flying from the east coast into an airport in iowa that only had 6 gates 😱

like others have said you're definitely doing something wrong...
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Flying into Iowa is awful! That place is so expensive. I paid 387 for a flight from Florida to Iowa. And I booked it in advance, that was the cheapest out there. Boooooo.
 
MSUSpartan642 said:
Flying into Iowa is awful! That place is so expensive. I paid 387 for a flight from Florida to Iowa. And I booked it in advance, that was the cheapest out there. Boooooo.
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It's barely any better to fly into Des Moines, which is the biggest airport in IA (and assuming you were going to Iowa city, 2 hours away). It's tiny. And expensive. They do get you through security pretty fast though...you and the ten other people flying through there 🙂
 
Thankfully my mom and dad have been helping. But I've been trying to cut down costs as much as possible. I've been staying with friends/family/student hosts, driving to all the interviews that I can instead of flying, and living off of meals I pack myself/the food the schools provide. I think my most expensive interview was this past weekend since I flew (a little under $300), but I stayed at home and made a weekend out of it so the cost wasn't JUST for the interview. The most expensive one after that ran me about $200, but $150 of that was for the speeding ticket I got on the way there...oops.
 
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