How to pick interview dates

[lihtris]

I was just wondering what the best way to pick interview dates. I really only have one interview to schedule but I anticipate getting more.

So do I want to go with the earliest available?
How much time should I leave in between two different interview dates? Should I attempt to try to schedule schools from the same area together and how do I really go about doing that?

Or do I just let them fall willy nilly where they may... I don't know. I apologize in advance for being so neurotic. I feel that there should be a way that I can save some money through this ordeal.

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[MollyMalone]

Generally speaking, earlier is better.

If possible, it's nice to schedule interviews you care less about before interviews you care more about.

It is not the kiss of death to schedule an interview later in the season (i.e. January onward) if you have to for whatever reason. But it's not ideal.

Many schools are amenable to grouping interviews if you call and ask. Many aren't. It does not hurt at all to try.

The ideal time between interviews is completely dependent on your personal schedule.

 

[dajimmers]

Based on my experience:

Go ahead and plan multiple interviews at places in the same area. If say you're offered an interview at one Chicago school, call another Chicago school you applied to to let them know you'll be in the area, for example. Don't push it though. And give yourself a day between interviews unless you're OK with the stress and you don't have to spend more than an hour or two travelling.

Earlier is better, especially for rolling admissions schools. As the previous poster said, getting a "practice" interview at one of your less-favored schools earlier is better, but often beyond your control.

Try to stay with current students if you can, and ask them lots of questions. Especially about things you're interested in the school, and before your interview. Gives you insider stuff to talk about.

 

[sentrosi]

If you only have one interview to schedule, go ahead and try to do that as early as possible.

Later, if you start getting interview invites, you can try to get ones in the same area scheduled close enough to do one trip. If the new interview can't be scheduled with the existing interview, the school where you have already scheduled an interview may be able to re-schedule. This is kind of hard. I only managed this once...and it was for Case and CCLCM...which are extremely related. I had to fly to DC twice...exactly one week apart...it sucked. Flew to Philly 3 times...two of which were separated by only a week.

And I guess if you can, schedule interviews at schools you want to go to more before schools that you want to go to less...that way if you get accepted from a school you want to go to more, you can save the hassle of doing another interview. Again, this is not very easy to manage...most of the time that it does, it's not a result of your planning.

And you might want to look at this somewhat related thread:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=304362

 

[Law2Doc]

\
And I guess if you can, schedule interviews at schools you want to go to more before schools that you want to go to less...that way if you get accepted from a school you want to go to more, you can save the hassle of doing another interview.

Disagree with this. Interviewing is a skill you get better at with practice. Thus in the perfect world, you want to interview at the school you are less interested in first, so you can work out the kinks before the big game. Plus you'd be more relaxed and a better interview if you got lucky and already held an acceptance in hand when going to interview at your higher choice.
But in general you don't get these kinds of choices. So always take the earliest interview slots you can get because in a rolling admission process there are fewer spots for the school to give out the longer you wait.

 

[lihtris]

Thanks for the advice. I will try to call up the schools that I have already applied for that are in the same area.

 

[nosugrefneb]

If you have a choice, and if you can help it, go when school is in session. Some schools probably are interviewing already or will be soon, and inevitably some of them will not have started classes yet. Some have Saturday interviews, too. You won't get a good feel for the school unless there's actual school going on. An empty medical school isn't going to tell you anything about how the students interact, how stressed they look, or what their schedules are like from day to day. Delaying it until school starts back up, if you can, would be my suggestion, and you certainly would not be hurting your chances by not interviewing at the earliest possible moment.

 

[Dr.TobiasFünke]

calander and dart board

 

[sentrosi]

Disagree with this. Interviewing is a skill you get better at with practice. Thus in the perfect world, you want to interview at the school you are less interested in first, so you can work out the kinks before the big game. Plus you'd be more relaxed and a better interview if you got lucky and already held an acceptance in hand when going to interview at your higher choice.
But in general you don't get these kinds of choices. So always take the earliest interview slots you can get because in a rolling admission process there are fewer spots for the school to give out the longer you wait.

That's a good point. I was going by the assumption of having good interview skills already. You might want to get some practice and figure out how med school interviews usually go at school you are not as interested in if you aren't confident in your interview skills. You should still try to prepare in other ways (mock interviews, reading the SDN interview feedback pages, etc.) before that...because none of your interviews should really be throwaway practice runs.

But again, most of the time you have little influence in setting your interview schedule exactly like you want it.

 

[Law2Doc]

If you have a choice, and if you can help it, go when school is in session. Some schools probably are interviewing already or will be soon, and inevitably some of them will not have started classes yet. Some have Saturday interviews, too. You won't get a good feel for the school unless there's actual school going on. An empty medical school isn't going to tell you anything about how the students interact, how stressed they look, or what their schedules are like from day to day.

You are correct in this part of your post, but most med schools start in the next couple of weeks (mid-August) so the concern hardly comes up. 90% of people interview while school is in session. And even if you interviewed while school was out, you would certainly have opportunity to go back to the school ("second look" trips, sitting in on classes, etc) before you made a final decision. Do not delay an interview because of this.

 

[nosugrefneb]

You are correct in this part of your post, but most med schools start in the next couple of weeks (mid-August) so the concern hardly comes up. 90% of people interview while school is in session. And even if you interviewed while school was out, you would certainly have opportunity to go back to the school ("second look" trips, sitting in on classes, etc) before you made a final decision. Do not delay an interview because of this.

Sure, but not all of them. Many start in September, late September even, and since the question was recently posed, it's possible that the OP could be interviewing within a few weeks from now.

I'm still holding to my suggestion. If one happens to get a poor impression of a school because one interviewed before school started when it's tough get a sense of the typical hustle and bustle, one may not even be inclined to pay for a second look later in the first place. Might as well get the best look possible the first time around and see schools in their true forms.

 

[Law2Doc]

Sure, but not all of them. Many start in September, late September even, and since the question was recently posed, it's possible that the OP could be interviewing within a few weeks from now..

Name the "many" that start in late september. It's going to be a small handful at best. The vast majority of US allo schools start in the next two weeks.

 

[jillibean]

You are correct in this part of your post, but most med schools start in the next couple of weeks (mid-August) so the concern hardly comes up. 90% of people interview while school is in session. And even if you interviewed while school was out, you would certainly have opportunity to go back to the school ("second look" trips, sitting in on classes, etc) before you made a final decision. Do not delay an interview because of this.

When you say don't delay, would a couple of weeks make that much difference? For example, if I have a choice of interviews 9/8 vs. 9/21, is there really that much difference between the two?

 

[Law2Doc]

When you say don't delay, would a couple of weeks make that much difference? For example, if I have a choice of interviews 9/8 vs. 9/21, is there really that much difference between the two?

Depends what you mean by "much". It's still early so the risk isn't that bad. But there could be one or more adcom meetings between those two dates. seats may be given away in that interval. Or you could end up gettin an acceptance that much later.