How much is interview season costing you?

[tiger816]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Once interview season is done, how much do you think you will have spent?

Flights + hotels + taxis + rentals + gas (for the ones your drove to)

You can list the details of how many interviews you're going on and how much it's setting you back

 

[ar2388]

i am lucky that i dont need to fly anywhere. i am prolly spending $40-50 an interview (manicure, dry clean my blouse, and train ticket)

 

[tenau12]

You guys are crazy. 1000 dollars is crazy but 5000. I am sure someone is messing around. People are really crazy and paranoid.

 

[fizzle]

I assume this doesn't include the costs of sending out the applications, which easily tops $1000.

The cost is highly dependent on where you're trying to go. An applicant who goes to an East Coast school but wants to return to the West coast for residency is going to be spending a hell of a lot more on flights and hotels and other costs than someone like ar2388 who only applied to schools within driving distance of his/her current location. I've had to spend over $500 for one interview alone (including flight, hotel, etc), despite my best efforts to try to be as cheap as possible. And that's not even including the fact that as radiology applicants who require a separate prelim/transitional year, we have to go on basically twice as many interviews as most other specialties.

 

[Trastuz]

You guys are crazy. 1000 dollars is crazy but 5000. I am sure someone is messing around. People are really crazy and paranoid.

I met a guy on the trail from UWash. He has to fly to every one of his interviews. He'll be in over a grand after 3 interviews in airfare alone.

 

[deleted116380]

Including the $850 in ERAS and NRMP fees, I'm estimating a tad over $4,000.

 

[tenau12]

I met a guy on the trail from UWash. He has to fly to every one of his interviews. He'll be in over a grand after 3 interviews in airfare alone.

It's a problem with the system. We are all over applying and this trend is unstoppable in the foreseeable future. Medicine feeds paranoia. There should be theoretically no reason why UCSD should be more competitive than U Miami or something. Both are in great desirable location. Both see incredibly diverse array of patients and pathology. We will all be MDs and most of us have scores that are similar. If someone genuinely wants to go there they should say it and the director should take this seriously. This is if everyone applied to 10 places that they would really like. You apply to 3-4 dream schools and the rest are realistic choices. It would work just fine. But, we have to be anally retentive about everything; otherwise, you will be left behind no matter how brilliant you are.

Yes. I get it that every field has special places and the next level etc. But, do you really have to apply to 30 +places? come on. This is highly unique to our field.

 

[Doctor D]

Eras should enforce a cap of 10 interviews that you can accept. This would decrease costs enormously.

 

[MossPoh]

Application and travel, I'm probably at about 6,000 so far. I have to fly out of a really small airport, so it bumps the cost off a lot.

If you tag in cost of a new suitcase, suits and accessories, shoes and a top coat then it is around 7500. I'm 6'5" and fairly broad shoulders, so had to get stuff tailored.

Expenses should end up around 10,000 when all is said and done. Admittedly, I haven't slummed it as much as I could.

 

[viper930]

You guys are crazy. 1000 dollars is crazy but 5000. I am sure someone is messing around. People are really crazy and paranoid.

$1000 is crazy? Are you getting to interviews on horseback with someone else paying for the oats?

 

[Shifty B]

The process is very expensive. I went through interviews a couple of years ago and probably spent around $4,000. I was cutting corners when possible by getting hotels on priceline and staying with friends when we could.

Unless you apply only in your region and drive to all interviews, $1000 is way too low to be realistic.

 

[tenau12]

$1000 is crazy? Are you getting to interviews on horseback with someone else paying for the oats?

Well if you fly to places that are 250-600 miles away and stay at mansions then yes you will think 1000 bucks is not crazy.

It's all about financial management and planning.
I am happy riding my horses though!

 

[tenau12]

The process is very expensive. I went through interviews a couple of years ago and probably spent around $4,000. I was cutting corners when possible by getting hotels on priceline and staying with friends when we could.

Unless you apply only in your region and drive to all interviews, $1000 is way too low to be realistic.

Going coast to coast, btw! But, also have friends in various areas!

 

[MossPoh]

Flying out of the town I'm in to one interview was over 500 dollars round trip.

Another flight was 400 one way.

1000 is really easy to hit when you are from a location with a small airport that is not easy driving distance to other locales.

 

[deleted116380]

Flying out of the town I'm in to one interview was over 500 dollars round trip.

Another flight was 400 one way.

1000 is really easy to hit when you are from a location with a small airport that is not easy driving distance to other locales.

Yeah, that sucks a lot. 🙁 I'm very thankful I'm using two airports with lots of flights even to the small towns here in the southeast (Orlando and Baltimore). Southwest Airlines and Kayak.com have saved me a ton of money. Granted, I've only needed 9 flights as I can drive to many of them, but 9 flights can still get expensive.

 

[tenau12]

Eras should enforce a cap of 10 interviews that you can accept. This would decrease costs enormously.

Are you being sarcastic?