how many interviews is too many?

[postbacker]

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Lots of discussion on "how many apps is enough or too many" to send out, but I am more interested in the number of interviews...trying to get a feel for the mental and financial "break point" on the most interviews anybody attended...particularly interested in interviews that required a plane ride...so how many "plane ride" interviews did you attend?

Hard to imagine doing more than, say, a dozen of these overnight / plane ride interviews...but for people who are still empty handed, a dozen is no big deal, I guess...

 

[uhohspaghettio]

I would like to get interviews from all 20 schools that I apply. Never to Much. It is like money. how much is too much? NEVER. hehe

 

[doinmybest5840]

Lots of discussion on "how many apps is enough or too many" to send out, but I am more interested in the number of interviews...trying to get a feel for the mental and financial "break point" on the most interviews anybody attended...particularly interested in interviews that required a plane ride...so how many "plane ride" interviews did you attend?

Hard to imagine doing more than, say, a dozen of these overnight / plane ride interviews...but for people who are still empty handed, a dozen is no big deal, I guess...

My answer: I'll go to as many interviews as it takes to get an acceptance.

That being said, if I get an acceptance at one school before I've had interviews with other schools, I wouldn't go to them all, but I wouldn't cancel them all, either. I'd probably start making comparisons between the accepted school and schools offering interviews and only go to those I really love, or that seem similar to the accepted school (I hope this makes sense).

 

[Ari Gold]

I would like to get interviews from all 20 schools that I apply. Never to Much. It is like money. how much is too much? NEVER. hehe

i think you just made the point for turning down interviews (you can never have to much money).

OP, i turned down an interview but not based how many ive had so far (theres no magic number), only on the fact that I had a couple acceptances that i liked more than the school that offered me and i did not want to pay for it

 

[postbacker]

i think you just made the point for turning down interviews (you can never have to much money).

OP, i turned down an interview but not based how many ive had so far (theres no magic number), only on the fact that I had a couple acceptances that i liked more than the school that offered me and i did not want to pay for it

I think your experience is probably typical - I realize that until you get an acceptance of any sort, there is no magic number, but I also assume that once an applicant has an acceptance or two in hand, the selectivity for interviews ratchets up considerably.

I am curious to hear from recent applicants when they "hit the wall" so to speak.

 

[NervousNed]

heres a good rule:

If you dont have any acceptances: no amount of interviews is too much
If you have an acceptance: 20 interviews

 

[Critical Mass]

The answer to this question is completely dependent on what your numbers look like and what is important to you.

I applied to 4 schools, interviewed at 2, took acceptance at the cheaper one (in-state). Total cost of application was under $500 if you include the MCAT and AMCAS. I wasn't willing to take off work and fly somewhere just to get rejected. The MSAR told me what was worth it and what wasn't.

 

[GuitarHero1]

Considering that most of these interviews require travel and an overnight stay, going to every single interview gets expensive. As people said, if you have an acceptance in hand, you can be selective and not go to interviews in schools that you don't really care for anymore. If you dont' have an acceptance, go til you have one, assuming you have the money to spend on travel.

 

[Poolboy]

Go to them all - scrimp and borrow, if you have to wait a year because you turned down some interviews and didn't get in anywhere you will lose all that income you could have had finishing med school a year earlier.

 

[Ihateverbal]

My brother in law had 17 interviews and only 2 acceptances... (this was like 8 years ago).

My other friend who is currently at UPENN had 11 interviews and 2 acceptances as well. He's currently in his residency...

 

[DF38]

I went to six interviews. All of them required flights and staying overnight (though I did manage to combine two into one trip). I had three more interview offers (had already booked one of the flights), but I got an acceptance to my top choice so I declined the rest of them. And I withdrew from the rest of the schools, so I've got no clue what would have happened with them.

In short, keep going until you have an acceptance. At that point, it really depends on how much you like the other schools.

 

[Vvandenn]

Yeah this med student I met last week told me he had 9 interviews and only 1 acceptance (to the one DO school he applied to).

 

[bigdog8829]

100

 

[Law2Doc]

Lots of discussion on "how many apps is enough or too many" to send out, but I am more interested in the number of interviews...trying to get a feel for the mental and financial "break point" on the most interviews anybody attended...particularly interested in interviews that required a plane ride...so how many "plane ride" interviews did you attend?

Hard to imagine doing more than, say, a dozen of these overnight / plane ride interviews...but for people who are still empty handed, a dozen is no big deal, I guess...

There is no break point. Until you have an acceptance, you should be willing to interview with anyplace that wants to talk to you. Once you have an acceptance, only interview at those you would potentially want to attend as much as the one that already accepted you. I've known people who went to well over a dozen interviews. The cost of interviewing is really a joke compared to what you will be spending for your medical education, so you do what you need to to get into the school that is best for you. And FWIW, interviewing is a skill that improves with practice, so the more interviews you go on, the better chance you have at impressing someone.

 

[SupernovaNights]

There is no break point. Until you have an acceptance, you should be willing to interview with anyplace that wants to talk to you. Once you have an acceptance, only interview at those you would potentially want to attend as much as the one that already accepted you. I've known people who went to well over a dozen interviews. The cost of interviewing is really a joke compared to what you will be spending for your medical education, so you do what you need to to get into the school that is best for you. And FWIW, interviewing is a skill that improves with practice, so the more interviews you go on, the better chance you have at impressing someone.

Yeah, the cost of interviewing is a joke compared to your medical education... BUT, medical education can be paid with loans. Interviewing cannot. This puts poverty students like myself in a very precarious position, especially when our parents cannot cosign anything because they have worse credit than I do.

 

[Law2Doc]

Yeah, the cost of interviewing is a joke compared to your medical education... BUT, medical education can be paid with loans. Interviewing cannot. This puts poverty students like myself in a very precarious position, especially when our parents cannot cosign anything because they have worse credit than I do.

Even in your situation, paying for interviews is still a lot more cost efficient than spending another year applying because you didn't go to enough.

 

[SupernovaNights]

Even in your situation, paying for interviews is still a lot more cost efficient than spending another year applying because you didn't go to enough.

Once again, money cannot just appear in my hands. If I don't have the money, I don't have it. I have to eat (Yes, I fall under that category of people who struggles just to feed themselves while in college). There's no help for people like me. I'm on student loans, and even then, thats just enough to pay for the food that I eat, the small amount of clothes that I wear, the laundry, and the gas. I am going to have to take advantage of the 11 school free AMCAS, and maybe add in a few more, and as for interviews... I dont know how the hell I'm going to finance those.

 

[LifetimeDoc]

People are always surprised when I say this, and think I'm just alarmist, but you need to find a way to come up with USD$2000-USD$5000 for the entire application process (MCAT through Acceptance). Some people may be able to get by with much less, but those are the stellar applicants or those that only apply to their state schools.

I for one applied to 15 schools, but wish I had only applied to my 4 state schools. I only got 2 interviews, and luckily one of those was my top choice and was subsequently accepted off the waitlist. In hindsight, I should have just applied in-state but I didn't want to take the risk of having to wait another year and waste one more year of practice and lose USD$120000 because of that lost year. So I took the risk, plunked down the USD$2000 in fees and applied. Luckily, the only interviews I got were instate and I didn't have to pay a lot for airfare.

 

[melissainsd]

I definitely hit a wall with interviews. I had to travel for every single one of my interviews, and at the time I was still breastfeeding. Pumping on a plane is NOT fun. After 9 or so I was sick to death of talking about myself. I still went on 2 more, but it was hard. In the end I only canceled 3 interviews (and my mailbox ate another invite). All three were cancellations were post-acceptances though.

I'd say suck it up if you don't have an acceptance yet, or if you have even the slightest desire to attend the school. Interviews can change your mind about the school (or make you appreciate other schools).

 

[Ari Gold]

People are always surprised when I say this, and think I'm just alarmist, but you need to find a way to come up with USD$2000-USD$5000 for the entire application process (MCAT through Acceptance). Some people may be able to get by with much less, but those are the stellar applicants or those that only apply to their state schools.

I for one applied to 15 schools, but wish I had only applied to my 4 state schools. I only got 2 interviews, and luckily one of those was my top choice and was subsequently accepted off the waitlist. In hindsight, I should have just applied in-state but I didn't want to take the risk of having to wait another year and waste one more year of practice and lose USD$120000 because of that lost year. So I took the risk, plunked down the USD$2000 in fees and applied. Luckily, the only interviews I got were instate and I didn't have to pay a lot for airfare.

whats with all the US dollars? i think even canadians know what you mean.

 

[LifetimeDoc]

whats with all the US dollars? i think even canadians know what you mean.

Sorry, force of habit. I used to do a lot of currency trading in a virtual world called Second Life that also dealt with many international currencies, so I just got used to discriminating between Australian, US, Canadian, etc. dollars.

 

[foofish]

My answer: I'll go to as many interviews as it takes to get an acceptance.

That being said, if I get an acceptance at one school before I've had interviews with other schools, I wouldn't go to them all, but I wouldn't cancel them all, either. I'd probably start making comparisons between the accepted school and schools offering interviews and only go to those I really love, or that seem similar to the accepted school (I hope this makes sense).

That's exactly what I did. I was fortunate enough to get a lot of interviews, but I only went to about half of them....but I only began declining interviews once I had an acceptance in hand, and then it was to schools that I *absolutely* knew I wouldn't attend over where I had been accepted.

If you're at all unsure about the accepted school vs. the interview school, go on the interview. While on the interview trail I was happily surprised by some schools and terribly disappointed by others....even though I had done a lot of research into schools beforehand, my top choice schools from before interviews vs. after interviews were very different.

 

[GreenShirt]

I was starting to go mad after about the fourth interview. It didn't help that on all my interviews, but one, my flights were cancelled or delayed. My hat goes off to those of you who went on 10s of interviews.

 

[Ari Gold]

Sorry, force of habit. I used to do a lot of currency trading in a virtual world called Second Life that also dealt with many international currencies, so I just got used to discriminating between Australian, US, Canadian, etc. dollars.

oh cool, i thought i missed something👍

 

[gotmeds?]

My answer: I'll go to as many interviews as it takes to get an acceptance.

👍Good answer! Basically, you go to as many as it takes to get an acceptance. One you have an acceptance, you turn down interviews from the schools that you definitely wouldn't choose over your acceptance.

Due to a late application and late acceptances, I ended up going to over a dozen interviews (I only turned down two invites). It was rough, but having the opposite problem (too few) would have been much worse.

Here's what I learned:

Some schools are pretty good about working with your schedule (e.g. Cornell), so try to schedule as many interviews as you can during the same trip.

If you're going to be in a city, email the other schools you applied to and let them know. Usually they'll ignore you, but sometimes they'll give you an interview.

Sign up for a frequent flyer program if you haven't already done so.

Pay for your trips with a credit card that gives you reward points (preferably one that also gives you additional points for distance travelled).

Don't schedule two interviews on opposite sides of the country on consecutive days (trust me, I learned this one the hard way).

Don't pay for a hotel. Stay with a friend or a student host.

Plan ahead -- print out maps, directions, etc. Check out hopstop.com for subways in Boston and NY.

Finally, don't EVER complain about having too many interviews. Deal with it and consider yourself very lucky.

 

[doinmybest5840]

👍Good answer! Basically, you go to as many as it takes to get an acceptance. One you have an acceptance, you turn down interviews from the schools that you definitely wouldn't choose over your acceptance.

Due to a late application and late acceptances, I ended up going to over a dozen interviews (I only turned down two invites). It was rough, but having the opposite problem (too few) would have been much worse.

Here's what I learned:

Some schools are pretty good about working with your schedule (e.g. Cornell), so try to schedule as many interviews as you can during the same trip.

If you're going to be in a city, email the other schools you applied to and let them know. Usually they'll ignore you, but sometimes they'll give you an interview.

Sign up for a frequent flyer program if you haven't already done so.

Pay for your trips with a credit card that gives you reward points (preferably one that also gives you additional points for distance travelled).

Don't schedule two interviews on opposite sides of the country on consecutive days (trust me, I learned this one the hard way).

Don't pay for a hotel. Stay with a friend or a student host.

Plan ahead -- print out maps, directions, etc. Check out hopstop.com for subways in Boston and NY.

Finally, don't EVER complain about having too many interviews. Deal with it and consider yourself very lucky.

Does every school provide student hosts? I am really hoping to be able to do this at most/all of the schools I interview for, as it seems like it would help give a good idea of what life is like at the school. Looking back over the list of schools I will be applying to, I will have family at a decent number of locations (MI, OH, Chicago, DC) but for the majority of the places I will have to stay in a hotel if they don't have student hosts.