Yea. This is a tricky question as everyone has different tolerance for stressful situations. Others thrive and look forward to it, others crumble.
It also depends on what type of fellowships you are applying for. For example:
- Majority of the standalone programs have 1-2 rounds max followed by a nice reception. Eg. Lilly Visiting Scientist Fellowship, Abbvie PDP, Dr. Reddy's, Novo.. etc
- The programs affiliated with universities like USC, UOS, UNC, etc have 2 rounds
- Rutgers & MCPHS have 3 rounds MAX & then the company specific reception followed by the school-wide reception (ridículo!)
- Other random ones are hard to judge
The problem lies when you get in situations when you are advancing to 2nd & 3rd rounds for a lot more programs than you anticipated. What was a 6-9 interview plan can easily double or triple when you take those advancements into consideration. Each interview is 30 mins long, so you must take into consideration
- 30 min goes by quickly
- Did I mention 30 mins goes by quickly!
Example 1: I was wrapping up a 2nd round with a Rutgers company @ 11am, who then offered me a 3rd round with the expectation to complete it rather quickly that day because the reception was that night (advisable to make sure to complete all your final interviews b4 that companies reception - did I lose you?) . I went ahead a scheduled it within a free 30 min block around 1p that day. I had a interview with a standalone program at 1:30p that was on the complete other side of the room - get the point..
Example 2: Receptions on the same night, same time, different hotel. Make a wise decision! (eyes are everywhere)
Example 3: Don't be the jackass the interviews for Clinical Development & Regulatory Affairs for the same company
Don't feel discouraged as others have mentioned if you bomb an interview and remember to interview the program as well. You are a doctoral candidate you have been thru worse studying infectious diseases. Goodluck and happy to help