how many is too many interviews?

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Sleight

Sleight

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I have been invited to 6 interviews so far. I applied to 22 schools total. I didn't really expect to hear from so many schools this early and sort of expected to have about 6 total.

How many interviews is it typical to go on?

Do many people turn away interviews?

How can I decide what interviews to accept and which not to without knowing all of the schools that will offer them to me (it would be unfortunate to turn them away now and then not get any more 😕)...Thanks!
 
go on interviews until you get an acceptance. you're right, it would be darned foolish to turn one down and then not get in.
 
CielloStelatto said:
go on interviews until you get an acceptance. you're right, it would be darned foolish to turn one down and then not get in.
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how long after interviews to schools typically do acceptances? I assume it varies from school to school but is there any way to find out?
 
Probably 6 weeks at most schools. No one will get an acceptance before Oct 15 or something like that. Some will string you along for months. You could be on wait lists until next July.
 
just one said:
To answer the question in the thread title: one more than there are medical schools that you applied to. Are you really telling me that you applied to schools that you have no intention of interviewing? Should of saved the application money.
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No I did not apply to schools that I didn't intend to interview at (that would be stupid...). I didn't expect to get so many interviews so I applied broadly. I had intended to accept all of the interviews I was offered but hadn't considered that it could potentially be 10-15+
 
Schools are allowed to begin accepting you on October 15th. Some schools actually sent out the first batch of acceptances this early, whereas others wait until Dec, Jan, or even March for the non rolling schools.

It might be wise to schedule some of your lower choices or non-rolling school interviews slightly later. (Sometimes its wise to interview at your lower choices first for "practice," though.) You can "accept" all the interview invites for now... but after October 15th, maybe you'll have an acceptance somewhere, and you can CANCEL some other interviews at schools that you wouldn't attend over the one you were accepted at! Definitely do not "turn down" an interview offer until you have an acceptance.

~~

Last year, I scheduled all my interviews as early as possible. This has pros and cons...

I ended up going on thirteen interviews because it was too early to cancel any of them before October 15th, and by the time I got my first acceptance on Oct 15th, I had already gone on 8 interviews. I didn't want to cancel my remaining ones because UCSF, UCLA, and Harvard were top choices, and Duke and Columbia didn't cost much extra since I strung them together on the same trip as Harvard.


For the schools that let you choose your own date, there's nothing wrong with just leaving it pending for awhile. You don't have to pick a date right away. If you're strategic about when you schedule those interviews, you can put yourself in a nice position to cancel some of them later.
 
shemarty said:
Schools are allowed to begin accepting you on October 15th. Some schools actually sent out the first batch of acceptances this early, whereas others wait until Dec, Jan, or even March for the non rolling schools.

It might be wise to schedule some of your lower choices or non-rolling school interviews slightly later. (Sometimes its wise to interview at your lower choices first for "practice," though.) You can "accept" all the interview invites for now... but after October 15th, maybe you'll have an acceptance somewhere, and you can CANCEL some other interviews at schools that you wouldn't attend over the one you were accepted at! Definitely do not "turn down" an interview offer until you have an acceptance.

~~

Last year, I scheduled all my interviews as early as possible. This has pros and cons...

I ended up going on thirteen interviews because it was too early to cancel any of them before October 15th, and by the time I got my first acceptance on Oct 15th, I had already gone on 8 interviews. I didn't want to cancel my remaining ones because UCSF, UCLA, and Harvard were top choices, and Duke and Columbia didn't cost much extra since I strung them together on the same trip as Harvard.


For the schools that let you choose your own date, there's nothing wrong with just leaving it pending for awhile. You don't have to pick a date right away. If you're strategic about when you schedule those interviews, you can put yourself in a nice position to cancel some of them later.
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Thanks! this helps A LOT
 
Depends on your financial situation and class schedule. Don't cancell any until you have an acceptance. Maybe concider pushing back interview dates with schools you're less excited about...
 
Last application cycle, my friend got 29 interviews! But then again, she applied to 35 schools because she thought she wasn't going to get in anywhere. I think she only went to 12 of them because she was accepted by most of them and thought it would be pointless to go to the others.
 
mrpuff26 said:
Last application cycle, my friend got 29 interviews! But then again, she applied to 35 schools because she thought she wasn't going to get in anywhere. I think she only went to 12 of them because she was accepted by most of them and thought it would be pointless to go to the others.
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29? geez man.
 
Sleight said:
I have been invited to 6 interviews so far. I applied to 22 schools total. I didn't really expect to hear from so many schools this early and sort of expected to have about 6 total.

How many interviews is it typical to go on?

Do many people turn away interviews?

How can I decide what interviews to accept and which not to without knowing all of the schools that will offer them to me (it would be unfortunate to turn them away now and then not get any more 😕)...Thanks!
Click to expand...

Brb, let me get my "how many is too many calculator".


It told me 11.23 interviews. Anything more than that is too many.
 
mrpuff26 said:
Last application cycle, my friend got 29 interviews! But then again, she applied to 35 schools because she thought she wasn't going to get in anywhere. I think she only went to 12 of them because she was accepted by most of them and thought it would be pointless to go to the others.
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i want to see her mdapplicants profile...
 
gah

i just got my 8th interview

i mean i guess this is a good problem to have. but unfortunately, Ohio State, my top top top choice isn't till october 24...when i'll have gone to like 5 already 🙁
 
I've applied to 25 schools, got 9 invites so far, and have been to 3 interviews. I'm now thinking if I should go for the next one scheduled on sept. 10...man, thats a 11 hours drive one way or $400 airticket, and this school is the safety of my safeties...I'm not sure if I really want to go...
 
How long is too long to keep a school waiting on scheduling an interview? If they offered me a few dates that are earlier than I would like to interview there, is acceptable to request a later date? Or can I just ignore them until I'm sure I need/want to interview there?

I don't want to lose the interview offer, but I also don't want to go to the interview unless I need to. Does that make any sense? 😕
 
longhorn09 said:
I've applied to 25 schools, got 9 invites so far, and have been to 3 interviews. I'm now thinking if I should go for the next one scheduled on sept. 10...man, thats a 11 hours drive one way or $400 airticket, and this school is the safety of my safeties...I'm not sure if I really want to go...
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$400? Try http://www.cheapflights.com/. Some people like www.kayak.com, but I've always found the best deals through cheapflights. Usually, the best cheapflights deals seem to come through Priceline. Thank you, Priceline Negotiator.
 
longhorn09 said:
Thanks man, let me try them!
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Find your flight through priceline or whatever and then book it directly through the airline - it's usually just as cheap and you don't pay commission. Don't believe me? Look at it for yourself. They have contracts for their rates and they can't be advertised lower - if it was truly cheaper to go through orbitz or whatever 3rd party, the airlines wouldnt make $. Trust me, they have this figured out more than you guys think you do. Take this from an ex-airline pilot soon to be doctor. Orbitz/priceline and all of those are great at searching multiple airlines to find you the best deal... and priceline has the price offer thing which is amazing but other than that, poop on them.
 
and if you guys REALLY want to save money...check out ebates.com

basically you click on their priceline link before you buy your ticket. save another 3-6 bucks, depending on how much your ticket costs.
 
SteinUmStein said:
How long is too long to keep a school waiting on scheduling an interview? If they offered me a few dates that are earlier than I would like to interview there, is acceptable to request a later date? Or can I just ignore them until I'm sure I need/want to interview there?

I don't want to lose the interview offer, but I also don't want to go to the interview unless I need to. Does that make any sense? 😕
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Call them and tell them that you have a time conflicts with the dates that they offered. Ask them what days of the week they interview, and through what time range. Ask them if you can call them back later to schedule your interview.

If they say yes, check your schedule, take your time, and when you're ready, call them back to confirm a date.
 
longhorn09 said:
I've applied to 25 schools, got 9 invites so far, and have been to 3 interviews. I'm now thinking if I should go for the next one scheduled on sept. 10...man, thats a 11 hours drive one way or $400 airticket, and this school is the safety of my safeties...I'm not sure if I really want to go...
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If it's UTEP that you're referring to, I would say, based on your UG institution, grades, and MCAT, that you don't have to go. I think UTSA and UTMB are safe enough for you. If you're concerned, push it way back without canceling, if they will let you.
 
Ideally, you don't want to cancel any interviews until you have an acceptance in hand. When scheduling, put some safety schools that accept starting October 15th in the early line up. After that, request late interviews from the remainder of your safeties (I did November). Any schools that have rolling admissions and are safeties should be low priority and scheduled late. Put all of your top choices early up, not make sure that (ideally) you have had a couple of interviews before going there. You want to be practiced without being burned out or completely rehearsed.
 
Food said:
everyone in this thread is a tool.
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yes, it is truly stunning, actually. I don't think there is a single person in my med school class who is as losery as these people. not one.

Prediction: no matter how many interviews they have, they will not be accepted to medical school.
 
slowbutsteady said:
yes, it is truly stunning, actually. I don't think there is a single person in my med school class who is as losery as these people. not one.

Prediction: no matter how many interviews they have, they will not be accepted to medical school.
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Oh...sadly they will and make the rest our lives a living hell...
 
Food said:
Oh...sadly they will and make the rest our lives a living hell...
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that was absolutely not the intention...i am in a tight situation financially but feel free to mock...glad you have so much time 🙂
 
Sleight said:
that was absolutely not the intention...i am in a tight situation financially but feel free to mock...glad you have so much time 🙂
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Oh please...most people are in a tight financial situation. As for my time allocation...I am touched that you are concerned about it; if I had 9 interviews on my plate I can assure you I would not find the time to discuss the resulting woes.
 
Food said:
Oh please...most people are in a tight financial situation. As for my time allocation...I am touched that you are concerned about it; if I had 9 interviews on my plate I can assure you I would not find the time to discuss the resulting woes.
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Perfectly stated.
 
Food said:
Oh please...most people are in a tight financial situation. As for my time allocation...I am touched that you are concerned about it; if I had 9 interviews on my plate I can assure you I would not find the time to discuss the resulting woes.
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word. plus i dont get it. if people are in a tight financial situation wouldnt they be more concerned with the financial aid, which would be much more significant than a cost of a plane ticket. but no, we are talking about so called safety schools and ****.
 
ChemEngSoonMD said:
Brb, let me get my "how many is too many calculator".


It told me 11.23 interviews. Anything more than that is too many.
Click to expand...


Did you ever find your calculator that calculates the chance of random people getting into school over the internet?
 
I agree with shemarty. See if you can't put off the least desirable interviews a bit (and you can also call schools near schools where you'll be interviewing to try and combine trips).

I did this with two schools, one that I was not excited about for various reasons (but would totally have gone to before anyone jumps down my throat) and another one that I wanted to combine geographically with other interviews. The first I ended up delaying long enough that I ended up canceling it after getting into somewhere else. The other school waitlisted me, and the dean basically said "we'll let you in if you tell us you'll come here" so be forewarned that they might read into your delays (but maybe something else gave them the impression that I wasn't leaning towards them) and only use this tactic when you need to for your pocketbook and sanity.
 
WaterBird said:
I agree with shemarty. See if you can't put off the least desirable interviews a bit (and you can also call schools near schools where you'll be interviewing to try and combine trips).

I did this with two schools, one that I was not excited about for various reasons (but would totally have gone to before anyone jumps down my throat) and another one that I wanted to combine geographically with other interviews. The first I ended up delaying long enough that I ended up canceling it after getting into somewhere else. The other school waitlisted me, and the dean basically said "we'll let you in if you tell us you'll come here" so be forewarned that they might read into your delays (but maybe something else gave them the impression that I wasn't leaning towards them) and only use this tactic when you need to for your pocketbook and sanity.
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Totally. It is sooo much cheaper if you live a substantial distance away from where you want to go to medical school. I was in Arizona at the time of the interview process, but I applied mostly to east coast and midwest schools (Michigan resident). A couple times, I basically went on a interview binge. Renting a car and driving from state to state is a bit annoying, but hundreds of dollars cheaper in my case.
 
mmmcdowe said:
Totally. It is sooo much cheaper if you live a substantial distance away from where you want to go to medical school. I was in Arizona at the time of the interview process, but I applied mostly to east coast and midwest schools (Michigan resident). A couple times, I basically went on a interview binge. Renting a car and driving from state to state is a bit annoying, but hundreds of dollars cheaper in my case.
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How successful were you in getting interviews combined?

I have a few interviews in the midwest (I live on the west coast) and am tempted to email UMich and Cincy and say something like "I'll be in the area this week." I'd do the same for Pritzker but I have a feeling they'd say "Sorry, but we were laughing so hard at your email that we accidentally put your application in the trashcan."
 
mirrorpair said:
How successful were you in getting interviews combined?

I have a few interviews in the midwest (I live on the west coast) and am tempted to email UMich and Cincy and say something like "I'll be in the area this week." I'd do the same for Pritzker but I have a feeling they'd say "Sorry, but we were laughing so hard at your email that we accidentally put your application in the trashcan."
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I was able to combine my two Virginia interviews so if I were you I would either call the school or email them...they are usually pretty good about working with you
 
mirrorpair said:
How successful were you in getting interviews combined?

I have a few interviews in the midwest (I live on the west coast) and am tempted to email UMich and Cincy and say something like "I'll be in the area this week." I'd do the same for Pritzker but I have a feeling they'd say "Sorry, but we were laughing so hard at your email that we accidentally put your application in the trashcan."
Click to expand...

I was pretty fortunate with them, but I focused on schools with non-rolling admissions. Once I got my interview, I just requested a spot later due to scheduling conflicts (which was true). I never tried the in the area thing.
 
Getting a case of the interview blues... got several invites very early on but all quiet on the e-mail front for the past 3 weeks. very grateful, but i'm getting greedy lol, especially cuz i'm still waiting on my top choices.

good luck everyone
 
It is too many when you are accepted by some better schools and you still go to the interviews of not-so-good schools.
 
i'd go to everyething just because each schl i applied to i wud like to go to anyway
 
neuro raqs said:
uh oh looks like someone been drinking the ol' haterade, leave it alone children, just say no :uhno:
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I think you need something better to do than dig through old posts.
 
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