How is everyone managing interview costs?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Gandyy

Gandyy

Full Member
7+ Year Member
Joined
Aug 8, 2014
Messages
3,432
Reaction score
2,188
Members do not see this ad.
The average plane ticket costs 300-400 dollars for a domestic flight in the USA. Add to that car rentals and hotel stays, plus in my case having to take off of work every time I get one.

Currently I have just a few interview invites this season, but I'm starting to realize how ridiculously high these costs are going to get.

Secondaries have already costed what feels like a fortune.


How are you guys managing/going to manage all these costs?
 
tartandtangy said:
Well right now what seems to be saving the most money for me is not getting any interview invites at all. 😉
Click to expand...

Oh I personally have gotten no II from MD schools yet either. There just happens to be a few DO schools that send out VERY EARLY II's that I got them from.

I applied to both MD and DO.
 
Gandy741 said:
The average plane ticket costs 300-400 dollars for a domestic flight in the USA. Add to that car rentals and hotel stays, plus in my case having to take off of work every time I get one.

Currently I have just a few interview invites this season, but I'm starting to realize how ridiculously high these costs are going to get.

Secondaries have already costed what feels like a fortune.


How are you guys managing/going to manage all these costs?
Click to expand...
I have delta credit card and have lots of miles racked up. Don't need a car at most places (take shuttles/uber) . If cash is tight a lot of schools offer student hosting at their apartments. Lots of places are within bus distance too. Be creative as not everything is cross country where the only option is plane.

Once you get your first acceptance, you can be more picky about attending interviews at less desirable locations. We should all be so lucky to have choices! I budgeted about 5k for this whole process.
 
Rainbow Zebra said:
I have delta credit card and have lots of miles racked up. Don't need a car at most places (take shuttles/uber) . If cash is tight a lot of schools offer student hosting at their apartments. Lots of places are within bus distance too. Be creative as not everything is cross country where the only option is plane.

Once you get your first acceptance, you can be more picky about attending interviews at less desirable locations. We should all be so lucky to have choices! I budgeted about 5k for this whole process.
Click to expand...

O boy, this is where those mile credit cards come in handy. Yea I guess, I'll have to look into shuttles and mass transportation.
 
Gandy741 said:
O boy, this is where those mile credit cards come in handy. Yea I guess, I'll have to look into shuttles and mass transportation.
Click to expand...
Yes I applied to 25 schools so 1k for primary another 2k for secondary s. Too bad my delta card is American express and not a visa or I would be getting more points.
 
I only applied to schools in my state and general area. I got 3 II, all of them driving distance. The farthest I had to drive was 1.5 hours, and I did not incur any hotel or flight costs. That is one way to manage interview costs.
 
On Eagle's Wings said:
I only applied to schools in my state and general area. I got 3 II, all of them driving distance. The farthest I had to drive was 1.5 hours, and I did not incur any hotel or flight costs. That is one way to manage interview costs.
Click to expand...

Wow thats good for you, but thats not representative of what most applicants have to go through.

I'm guessing you got into LUCOM or Loma Linda based upon on your avatar and insignia?
 
You just gotta save up money. Its a necessary expense, not much you can do about it. I guess if you have lots of friends around the country you could try to crash with them when you fly out for interviews (also airbnb maybe?).
 
Gandy741 said:
Wow thats good for you, but thats not representative of what most applicants have to go through.

I'm guessing you got into LUCOM or Loma Linda based upon on your avatar and insignia?
Click to expand...

One of those😉
 
Spector1 said:
You just gotta save up money. Its a necessary expense, not much you can do about it. I guess if you have lots of friends around the country you could try to crash with them when you fly out for interviews (also airbnb maybe?).
Click to expand...

what is airbnb?
 
On Eagle's Wings said:
One of those😉
Click to expand...

Still, at least apply to schools near you and only apply to far away schools if you have a fairly good chance at getting in. I only applied to 8 schools, but got 3 II and 2 acceptances. One of my friends from IL applied to 15 schools and only got 2 II and 2 acceptances. Another friend from CA applied to 20+ schools and only got 1 MD acceptance. I think a lot of people could contain their costs if they only applied and interviewed at schools they had a really good shot at getting into and one they wanted to go to. I decided not to apply to far out medical schools simply because I had no interest in any of them and I felt like I was a good fit for my local schools.

To acknowledge what Gandy741 said, I agree that this may not work for everyone, but I still feel like a lot of people could contain II costs by making themselves attractive candidates for their local schools and only going out-of-state for II if you are a really good fit for that school.
 
I stopped eating and drinking out and made some other changes to my budget. I'm also non-trad, so my salary is able to cover everything (thankfully).
 
Spector1 said:
it lets you rent peoples apartments and homes for cheaper than you could often get hotel rooms for
Click to expand...

My wife and I host on Airbnb. We rent one of our spare bedrooms with ensuite bath. We're in a major southern city with booku tourism, so I try to price it around 40-50% of the going hotel rate - anywhere from $59 to $145 per night.

Airbnb will be my go to when I apply next year. Find a friend that already uses it and you'll get like $100 credit. They'll get a kick back for referring you.
 
Gandy741 said:
The average plane ticket costs 300-400 dollars for a domestic flight in the USA. Add to that car rentals and hotel stays, plus in my case having to take off of work every time I get one.

Currently I have just a few interview invites this season, but I'm starting to realize how ridiculously high these costs are going to get.

Secondaries have already costed what feels like a fortune.


How are you guys managing/going to manage all these costs?
Click to expand...
Not suggesting anything but I heard hanging out around street corners can be very profitable.
 
Selling my kidneys or my body parts will help cover my interview costs lol. But seriously, the application process is expensive and time consuming.
 
I guess I have to save up money.

To those who havent gotten II's yet... I've seen a lot of the people in this thread posting multiple times. Considering your guys ridiculous stats.... I'd say most of you will probably get IIs lol.
 
"Can I afford to travel to an interview here?" is a question that, unfortunately, should be considered when building a school list. Hopefully you'll get an early acceptance and won't have to travel to very many.
 
I saved as much sick/vacation time as possible at my job, and plan to drive to any interview within 6 hours (most of my schools are within this distance). Also hitting up friends/relatives already at those schools or living in those cities so I don't have to pay for hotels.

As previously mentioned, if you get an acceptance early in the cycle you can be picky!
 
I will be flying a la Harry Potter.

Seriously though...my bank account is hemorrhaging.
 
I will most likely be driving to all my interviews, unless I get an II to a CA school. In that case, a friend has offered me some airline miles.
 
Look at a southwest card and southwest airlines in general. Getting their visa card allowed me to earn 25,000 miles relatively quickly which should cover 2.5 flights. And a lot of flights can be booked on their from 75-150 each way, now if you don't live in the midwest its not as feasible but still can be a good deal depending where you fly.
 
JulioJones said:
Look at a southwest card and southwest airlines in general. Getting their visa card allowed me to earn 25,000 miles relatively quickly which should cover 2.5 flights. And a lot of flights can be booked on their from 75-150 each way, now if you don't live in the midwest its not as feasible but still can be a good deal depending where you fly.
Click to expand...

Just stop it, Julio. You're getting PAID next year.
 
If you're really interested in going the extra mile, you can look for Travel Rewards credit cards that offer signup bonuses. There are airline specific and non-airline specific ones. For example, Southwest offers a card that gives you 50,000 travel points ($500) if you spend like $1000 in the first 3 months. Every bit is a little bit. Just be careful of the ones that have high fees. Also, it's not good for your credit score to be getting these cards and cancelling them a year later, so just keep in mind what you're doing when you sign up for something.

Also, skiplagged is good for cheaper tickets if you're feeling friskier 😉
 
Idk I had to be strategic with which schools to apply to...I only ended up doing 13 for that reason and it looks like I'm not going to complete my CA secondary. Thankfully I can drive to the schools I am most likely going to get II's from, which helps costs a ton.
 
I recommend getting a Southwest credit card or something similar. After spending the first $3,000, they give you like 50,000 points to play with...
 
genericpremedstudent said:
my friends told me about this really cool app you can get called Grindr that helps you meet guys you can stay with
Click to expand...

I don't know why I LOL'ed so hard at this.:hilarious:

I plan on applying next year. But what I've been doing is saving up money that I received from tax returns since freshman year of college. So I have enough in my savings to cover my entire application process.
 
mackkdad said:
I recommend getting a Southwest credit card or something similar. After spending the first $3,000, they give you like 50,000 points to play with...
Click to expand...
i have this one.
https://www.bankofamerica.com/credit-cards/products/bankamericard-travel-rewards-credit-card.go
every dollar you spend on airline,hotel, car rentals is worth 3 points. any other purchase is worth 1.5 points

a pro for it is that there is no annual fee

a con is that to get the 3 points for $ spent on airline booking deal, you have to book flights on bank of america's travel site.

a point is basically a cent when you redeem them, but hey it's better than nothing. try to use credit cards to pay for everything (bills,rent). the management for my new place allows me to pay for rent using credit card. so if my roommates venmo me their share and i pay for the whole month ($2400/month) with my card...
in a year, 12 months x $2400=28800
$.015 x 28800 = 432

at least one flight?
edit: just saw there's a $37 charge for paying rent with card lol damn it. that would negate the 432.
 
Last edited:
AsianPersuasion said:
I don't know why I LOL'ed so hard at this.:hilarious:

I plan on applying next year. But what I've been doing is saving up money that I received from tax returns since freshman year of college. So I have enough in my savings to cover my entire application process.
Click to expand...
what if you have like 20 interviews
 
genericpremedstudent said:
my friends told me about this really cool app you can get called Grindr that helps you meet guys you can stay with
Click to expand...

A friend of mine was going to stay at my apartment one night. I fell asleep and missed all his calls. His solution? Grindr! Definitely better than sleeping on the streets of San Francisco.
 
genericpremedstudent said:
other option - meet a daddy on Grindr and have him take care of all your interview expenses.
Click to expand...

Um, do you like, low key know me IRL?

I did had some sort of an arrangement like that in the past with an older gent. But things ended quickly because he wanted me to be physically intimate and I just can't see myself doing that...:sorry:
It felt good to be pampered, and treated to the finer things in life but when push comes to shove, I just couldn't do it. I was starting to feel guilty.

So sorry OP, I completely hijack your thread haha.
 
AsianPersuasion said:
Um, do you like, low key know me IRL?

I did had some sort of an arrangement like that in the past with an older gent. But things ended quickly because he wanted me to be physically intimate and I just can't see myself doing that...:sorry:
It felt good to be pampered, and treated to the finer things in life but when push comes to shove, I just couldn't do it. I was starting to feel guilty.

So sorry OP, I completely hijack your thread haha.
Click to expand...

lol im the daddy whisperer. i was a stripper at a gay club for awhile and got all my bills paid, shopping sprees, steak dinners every night. it was pretty rad. i might get back into it come application time to help with the expenses.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

K
How bad is this?
Replies
2
Views
999
Hollow Knight
Hollow Knight
pinkbowbunny
How to gauge interview performance?
Replies
3
Views
586
Goro
Goro
D
How bad is a W in calculus?
Replies
6
Views
896
LizzyM
LizzyM
L
How is my application looking so far?
Replies
5
Views
1K
FairEver
F
O
How bad is it? Academic IA
Replies
5
Views
1K
Goro
Goro
Top