If you get an interview at a school far away...

[ohhoneybear]

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I was just wondering if you apply to a bunch of different schools (like if you live in NJ and you apply to schools in California, Chicago, Oklahoma, etc) do you have to actually go in person for every single one and pay for your own travel?
I see a bunch of people around here who apply to maybe 15 different schools all over the United States and wonder how they possibly afford the travel for the 8 interviews they receive..

 

[Doctor Strange]

Yes.

 

[Mdtichen]

I was just wondering if you apply to a bunch of different schools (like if you live in NJ and you apply to schools in California, Chicago, Oklahoma, etc) do you have to actually go in person for every single one and pay for your own travel?
I see a bunch of people around here who apply to maybe 15 different schools all over the United States and wonder how they possibly afford the travel for the 8 interviews they receive..

If you want a shot at getting accepted then you must attend the interviews and you pay for your way there.

I had money saved up for interviews, but I know a lot of people get credit cards.

 

[RedICEE]

When the time comes around I plan to take out my first undergraduate loan(s) to pay for the application and interview processes.

 

[GopherMD]

I flew to Arizona, Chicago, New York, and D.C. for interviews. Yeah, it was VERY expensive. But I didn't have any acceptances when I did, so there was no way I was going to turn down an interview. And yes, I did pay for all of my interview travel expenses. Getting an acceptance>>>>>losing money.

 

[ohhoneybear]

Well, I guess I should start saving up...I don't want to base my applications off my location! I ended up doing so for my undergrad and it ended with me transferring.

 

[red7]

Make sure you budget for all the little costs too - flights/hotels are the major things, but smaller expenses like taxi/shuttle, food, dry-cleaning (suit), gasoline, car rentals, etc. can all add up pretty quickly, especially if you end up getting a bunch of interviews far from home. Try to stay with student hosts wherever you interview - you save a ton of money plus you can ask them all the stupid questions you don't want to ask on interview day and get a much more straightforward idea of the pros/cons of the school

 

[Lollygag]

I've heard of online Skype type interviews happening before but I don't think medical schools do that anymore.

Some people try to schedule interviews for far away schools around the same time so they can save $ on a trip but this is can be problematic and in feasible depending on the situation

 

[red doctober]

Most MD/PhD programs pay for travel and lodging and dine you every night you're there 😎

 

[JBOB]

It's CRAZY expensive, but you can figure out clever ways to save money. Use a site like cheaptickets.com where you can figure out the absolute cheapest way to fly to wherever you're going. I did this and found that by staying in cities like Las Vegas for a couple days as a long layover I could save 500+ dollars a trip, even counting the cost of the hotel.

 

[Pons Asinorum]

Most MD/PhD programs pay for travel and lodging and dine you every night you're there 😎

And they'll bleed every penny they spent on those 3 days out of you, with interest and penalties, during the 3-8 years that you slave away on top of the 4 years of medical curriculum. Just saying 😉

 

[BABSstudent]

I've heard of online Skype type interviews happening before but I don't think medical schools do that anymore.

Some people try to schedule interviews for far away schools around the same time so they can save $ on a trip but this is can be problematic and in feasible depending on the situation

I have never heard of a Skype interview for medical school. Every school I applied to specifically said phone interviews and Skype interviews were not allowed. Only in person interviews.

For the OP, flying across the country sucks. I think this is especially problematic for west coast applicants because a majority of the medical schools are on the east coast and flights can easily be $800+. Also, taxis and hotels can also be expensive so plan for that too.

 

[plumhill]

I've heard of online Skype type interviews happening before but I don't think medical schools do that anymore.

Some people try to schedule interviews for far away schools around the same time so they can save $ on a trip but this is can be problematic and in feasible depending on the situation

I'm pretty sure that Skype interviews (for the schools that even allow it) are for people who are in the military and serving overseas (A keynote lecturer at a conference I attended was an army physician and he did his med school interviews via some other video-chatting service).

I'd start saving money ASAP. Not to quote Romney, but borrow money from your parents if you have to. And if you're worried about having to fly a lot, what I've been doing is when I travel now, if a flight is overbooked and they offer you a $200 voucher or so to take the next one out, I take it.

 

[nBeeDee]

I lol'ed at your question.

But seriously, when narrowing down your school list think about the logistics. Are you willing to spend the money to travel to said location for an interview and/or move there if accepted? Consider things like driving vs flying to an interview; or cheap motel vs hitlon (I saved a lot using hotwire here), and everywhere in between to save some cash. The entire process is expensive and traveling costs can easily exceed application fees.

 

[sector9]

I have never heard of a Skype interview for medical school. Every school I applied to specifically said phone interviews and Skype interviews were not allowed. Only in person interviews.

For the OP, flying across the country sucks. I think this is especially problematic for west coast applicants because a majority of the medical schools are on the east coast and flights can easily be $800+. Also, taxis and hotels can also be expensive so plan for that too.

I've heard of Skype interviews for Caribbean med schools. That's about it 👍

But yes, it can be way more expensive than you realize to apply to medical school

 

[sinombre]

Hopefully you have financially supportive parents/family. If not, get ready to start medical school with thousands of dollars of credit card debt like a good number of us.

 

[sinombre]

I lol'ed at your question.

But seriously, when narrowing down your school list think about the logistics. Are you willing to spend the money to travel to said location for an interview and/or move there if accepted? Consider things like driving vs flying to an interview; or cheap motel vs hitlon (I saved a lot using hotwire here), and everywhere in between to save some cash. The entire process is expensive and traveling costs can easily exceed application fees.

Don't forget about student hosts... not only is it a free option, the hosts tend to be really helpful and can tell you "unique" things about the school you can bring up in your interview (which often aren't available via school websites).

 

[wanderedtoolong]

Hopefully you have financially supportive parents/family. If not, get ready to start medical school with thousands of dollars of credit card debt like a good number of us.

I put my interview expenses on a 0% interest (for 1 year) credit card and just finished paying it off by teaching MCAT prep in addition to my full time job. Good times.

 

[sinombre]

I put my interview expenses on a 0% interest (for 1 year) credit card and just finished paying it off by teaching MCAT prep in addition to my full time job. Good times.

Sounds like an awesome way to go. I transferred a lot of my debt to 0% cards, but I still have a looooot to pay off. I'm hopefully paying most of it off with student loans, since the cards are only 0% for 12-18 months.

 

[aspiringdoc1234]

This is something I wouldn't recommend unless 1) You already have good/excellent credit (should have at least had a card open for 1 year), and 2) You have found a decent salaried job/have few expenses ($30k+ a year if single).

I actually applied for about 3 credit cards that had HUGE sign-up bonuses (Southwest airlines had an offer for $800 in round-trip airfare; Chase Sapphire Preferred had $500 in bonus points; American Express had $400 in airfare; etc.) over the period of time I was interviewing. You don't want to apply for all these at once, but if you start now you can apply for 1 and then another in 6 months so that it won't adversely affect your credit so much. In this way I basically got $1500+ that I could use for airfare, hotels, etc. Of course, before I started the application season I had already had my own credit card under my name for 1+ year, and I'm VERY controlled with my finances. I always pay my credit cards off every month (interest WILL kill you) and I'm financially savvy (I know not to overspend). Aside from these bonuses I use the credit cards to earn points which has also netted me an extra $500 over the past year.

So yeah, wouldn't recommend it for everyone, but if you can at least apply to 1 of these safely I would definitely say it's great .

 

[DanceGirl286]

Yeah if you want them to take you seriously you would have to go in person, that's just the way it works.

 

[Dingo Mango]

Try to schedule the ones that are on the opposite coast around the same time if you apply to a lot in the same region. I was able to do 4 interviews in a row so I only had to make one cross country trip to the northeast plus a little bus trip in-between cities. They are usually nice about scheduling issues like that. 🙂
Also take advantage of offers to stay with current students as most schools do this, save lots of $ by not staying in hotels every night.