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Posted by Crepitus
Question of when it might be better to interview:
Right now I'm doing an away elective on one side of the continent, and I will be doing the rest of my year on t'other.
Thing is, there's a lot of programs out here to which I plan to apply for a path res, and I'm wondering if it would behoove me at all to request interviews now.
On one hand, it could save me plenty of money in travel expenses, providing programs agree to early interviews (ie. w/o having seen my application).
On the other hand, I've heard in general it's better to interview later in the season, so you're fresher in the rankers' minds when they make their lists.
Couple other things:
--Because the programs would not have seen my app, I assume many of the interview questions would cover things that would otherwise be in there. This could make for easier interviews, but not very revealing.
--I may get interviews at programs who wouldn't have offered had they seen my app first.
What do you think: Early interview or later?
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I would say it likely would not matter if you kept in touch with programs you are really interested in. Get email addresses of residents you click with and make sure you send a thank you card close to match list time.
If you application is not great likely you will be ranked lower at top programs no matter what you do, unless you spend time at a program as an elective. That way they can see what you are really like. Unfortunately programs have to rely heavily on paper stats to seperate applicants. One day of interviews doesn't let them really get to know you or you them.
