How to avoid interview burnout

[pazu]

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For those of you interviewing at a lot of programs (10-20), how do you plan to keep from burning out during your last few? I really don't want to cancel any visits and actually made a manageable schedule, but from the stories I hear, it sounds like wishful thinking.

 

[cookymonster]

I'm currently at 16, with 12 scheduled over the course of 4 weeks. I've heard it's wishful thinking too, but I'm stubborn enough to try it anyway. I just feel like it's really important to find the best fit for the next 4-5 years, and thus I can stay motivated, especially since I like all the places I'm scheduled to visit. Of course, at some point it just becomes logistically non-feasible.

My only advice is to schedule maybe one or two "practice runs" at the beginning that aren't your top choices, then schedule your top choices immediately afterward while you're still fresh. Although you don't want to cancel any interviews, the best thing you can do is schedule the ones you'll regret canceling the least at times when you're most likely to feel the burnout.

 

[Ashers]

If at all possible, try to schedule them with time in between each one. That gives you time to process 1 interview and review for another. Not to mention it also helps getting between locations.

I got really tired of interviewing during my stretch of 5 interviews in 6 days in 4 areas of the country. I was in 1 place for 17 hours before flying somewhere else, and 14 hours in another place before I drove to another location.

 

[Tallulah]

I have 2 interviews scheduled for the last week of october, 9 for november, and 4 from dec-jan. So I feel you. I guess I'm doing some wishful thinking too...and several of my interviews are for triple board, which are 2 days long each. So for 2 weeks in november, I am in an interview everyday (with 2 days each at the same school). I am just praying there are no flight delays somehow and I get every where I need to be on time!
On one hand, I am so grateful for all my interviews (and do not have any I would dream of cancelling)...on the other hand...I am worried how I will do if I get burnt out too early. Oh well...guess we will find out.

 

[cookymonster]

With only a couple of exceptions, I'm taking at least one day of break between. Unless you're interviewing at 2 places VERY close to one another, it's pretty much impossible to interview at one program during the day and attend the pre-interview dinner at the other program that same evening. I'm also mostly getting to places by car (I planned it out this way), so although some of the legs between visits are going to be really long, I at least won't have to deal with much of the headaches of air travel.

 

[mcl]

I can't emphasize enough how your being tired on the interview trail often translates to "I'm not interested" on your interview day as perceived by the program. That is the number one negative comment I receive on evaluations from both faculty and residents.

We don't know you, and don't know what your personality is really like. All we have to go by is the half day or so you spend with us, and if you spend it staring off into space because your mind is too tired to focus--it's not impressive. Traveling and interviewing both take a surprising amount of energy, and programs are expecting to see you at your best on your interview day (and vice versa). If at all possible, I urge everyone to pace yourselves and give your body and mind some recuperation time between interviews. The exception being if you are interviewing at several places in one city.

Every year I get sincere-sounding thank you notes from applicants swearing that they loved every moment of their interview experience and hope to come to our program for residency--to which I mentally respond: Really? I would never have guessed.

 

[arielred]

I have 15 interviews so far and although I originally tried to leave a day open between them, some program have so few dates left that I've been forced to schedule quite a few back to back. Also the interviews on consecutive days are in different states, so I will be finishing the interview at one place, getting on a 5 hour flight and interviewing again the next morning.

I'm worried I'll be so tired it will be difficult to seem awake and perky. Any tips from people who've had the same issue?