How long is the interview season, REALLY?

[centrigeugle]

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I'm very confused about the contradictory terms flying back and forth on this forum whenever somebody asks a question about applications. I'd like to know how deep into the interview season we are - I've only received two invites so far, with strong numbers and EC's. Barring a poison pill in my letters, I'm perplexed by the lack of response.

Of course, maybe it's still early, and I should wait a couple months before starting to get really concerned. However, whenever this question gets asked, it goes like this:

One poster will be inspirational and tell the OP to disregard rationality, pursue doctorate.

Another poster will cynically point out that most schools have given out their interview invites already, so good luck.

Still another will assert that it isn't early, but it isn't late, either.

So what gives? At which point should we assume the lion's share of the invites have gone out? Yes, I know you have that one classmate who interviewed in April and got accepted the day before class started... but I'm asking for the trend, not the exception.

tl;dr: when should I be all BAWWWW no invites

 

[poohbear12345]

You applied to top 20 schools? top 20 schools work on a slower cycle. Be patient ( i know Stanford, U of Chi and UCLA peeps who had 1 or 2 ints at this point)

Just chill (i know its hard). Continue to do what you love to do ( just in case you need to update).

 

[aSagacious]

If I had to take a stab in the dark I'd say that ~50% of interview invites have gone out already. Probably 90% will be out by the end of December.

 

[centrigeugle]

If I had to take a stab in the dark I'd say that ~50% of interview invites have gone out already. Probably 90% will be out by the end of December.

So it will either be a happy Thanksgiving, or a really sad Christmas.

Yes, I applied to a few top-20 schools (Vanderbilt and UW have rejected me) but what's more concerning to me is the cornucopia of most-decidedly-not-top-20 schools who haven't given me a peep. I'm expecting to get rejected from my top five choices...but I really wasn't expecting the cold shoulder from my bottom five.

Thanks for the input, I'll hold off on the emotsunami for now. My big worries are missed typos and one LoR that may not be as overwhelmingly positive as it needs to be.

I guess we'll see! :/ :< :[ :| :{

 

[235788]

If I had to take a stab in the dark I'd say that ~50% of interview invites have gone out already. Probably 90% will be out by the end of December.

I think its safe to say yeah. Most of the interview invites that are handed out post dec, are for waitlist spots (so i've been told). There are always exceptions though.

 

[EK601]

Just from reading SDN I'd say 50% have gone out by now and 80% will be out by December.

Remember that once more and more people submit there is a lag.

If Person A submits June 01 and Person B submits July 01, person B will be more than 1 month "behind" in invites because a whole wad of people will have submitted between those two dates slowing down the process of Person B.

 

[Knocked Up]

I'm very confused about the contradictory terms flying back and forth on this forum whenever somebody asks a question about applications. I'd like to know how deep into the interview season we are - I've only received two invites so far, with strong numbers and EC's. Barring a poison pill in my letters, I'm perplexed by the lack of response.

Of course, maybe it's still early, and I should wait a couple months before starting to get really concerned. However, whenever this question gets asked, it goes like this:

One poster will be inspirational and tell the OP to disregard rationality, pursue doctorate.

Another poster will cynically point out that most schools have given out their interview invites already, so good luck.

Still another will assert that it isn't early, but it isn't late, either.

So what gives? At which point should we assume the lion's share of the invites have gone out? Yes, I know you have that one classmate who interviewed in April and got accepted the day before class started... but I'm asking for the trend, not the exception.

tl;dr: when should I be all BAWWWW no invites

You do realize that most top schools are non rolling. Even the ones that aren't truly non rolling are essentially non rolling (i.e.: Stanford, Hopkins, etc)...

 

[Noah Capurso]

You still have time. You will probably hear by the end of the year from most programs but the interview invites still trickle in after the New Year. Some of my med school classmates interviewed as late as April. Also, it is a good point that many of the top schools have non-rolling admission cycles. This means it doesn't matter where in the interview season you interview. There is absolutely no advantage to being early vs late. In fact, you could argue that interviewing at your top schools a bit later is better as it will give you a bit more experience. So do your best to relax (as hard as that is) and have confidence that you should be hearing back soon. If you really can't stand it, you could always give the admissions office a call and just ask when you might be expecting to hear back.

 

[saveourpens]

I applied to 26 schools. I'd say its top heavy. Like you, I have 2 interviews. From the rest...1 rejection and the remaining schools are quite. I submitted all my secondaries in mid to late August.

 

[Tim Armstrong]

I'm in the same situation. I applied to 16 schools, and I have had 2 interview invites so far (I was complete at most by late August/early September). I think it also depends on when you were complete at all of your schools. Around December is when we should start getting worried if we have no more invites.

 

[CloverHoney]

I've heard of interview going until early March