Interview scheduling and gap year

[pinheadnomore]

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Hey all. So I'm considering an offer for a gap year job that would be a 2+ hour flight from my state of residence (and most of the med schools I've applied for). My question is, can someone give me an idea of how scheduling for med school interviews works? Do they happen any day of the week, and how long are they normally (1 or 2 days?)?

If anyone wants to give advice about this gap year job too...it's a great position in a place I'd love to live in for a year, but as I said above, it's a bit far from my main hub of schools. Does anyone have experience juggling far-away interviews and a job? Is it possible to schedule interviews in blocks/in the same week, for schools in the same area? Is it all as awful as it seems?

Any and all input would be appreciated!! 🙂

 

[cactus8910]

Overall, med school interviews can be any day Monday-Friday. Certain schools may only interview one or two days per week. Typically, when invited to interview, you are given anywhere from 3 to >20 choices of interview dates. Some schools (Hopkins, for example) tell you your interview date, and you can request a change if you have a major conflict. They tend to be one full day, sometimes with an optional social event the night before.
As far as scheduling interviews in the same area close together goes, some people send "in the area" emails to schools once they have one nearby interview scheduled, essentially saying "Hey, if you were thinking about interviewing me anyway, do you think you could do it during x time period?" Some schools are receptive to this while others are not (there's a thread here somewhere that has a list of some). Personally, I found interview days completely exhausting, so the idea of doing more than two in a week is not appealing. However, people do it and manage to survive.

I had a job while interviewing and tried to schedule my interviews for Fridays or Mondays when I had the option, so I could miss as little work as possible and not be so stressed about travelling.

 

[Pacna]

Hey all. So I'm considering an offer for a gap year job that would be a 2+ hour flight from my state of residence (and most of the med schools I've applied for). My question is, can someone give me an idea of how scheduling for med school interviews works? Do they happen any day of the week, and how long are they normally (1 or 2 days?)?

If anyone wants to give advice about this gap year job too...it's a great position in a place I'd love to live in for a year, but as I said above, it's a bit far from my main hub of schools. Does anyone have experience juggling far-away interviews and a job? Is it possible to schedule interviews in blocks/in the same week, for schools in the same area? Is it all as awful as it seems?

Any and all input would be appreciated!! 🙂

Does anyone have experience juggling far-away interviews and a job? Yes.
Is it possible to schedule interviews in blocks/in the same week, for schools in the same area? Not usually. Usually you will have to schedule them individually, because it can be weeks or months between just being informed of interviews. That doesn't even account for how each school schedules them, which is radically different by school.

Is it all as awful as it seems? Not if your job is understanding. Yes if your job is not understanding.

If anyone wants to give advice about this gap year job too... Take whatever job is most advantageous for you. If medical school is ideal but not your only option, continuing to pursue that other career is best. If medical school is it for you, pursue whatever job would be most beneficial to your application (may be the same job!). Scribe jobs are hugely popular for gap years for good reason.