Is it feasible to go the same day show up to the interview and leave without ever having to rent a room? I always see people talking about sharing rooms or staying somewhere for the interview. Why spend the extra money?
Interview w/o a hotel room
- Thread starter Datooth
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I think it totally depends on the interview time. Some interviews start at 7a.m and it would be hard to fly or drive in that early and be "awake" in my opinion. On the other hand if you have an afternoon interview, it's feasible to fly in, take the interview and then head back home. I just like renting a hotel so I can check out and experience new cities since were paying for transportation anyways. Why not stay a night and enjoy the area!
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Of course it is possible however most people like to travel one day earlier/stay one night (especially if it is a significant distance) so they can relax, check out the area, prepare, review app/interview feedback, shower, get a good night's sleep, etc. prior to their interview that may determine the next 4 years of their life.
I did it for an interview once. Interview was around 11:00AM I think, so I had to catch a really early flight (which was 3 hrs). Got to campus an hour early, left around 4pm and caught an earlier flight around 5pm (I was scheduled to fly couple hrs later), and got back home that same night.
It's possible, but you get screwed if the flight gets canceled due to bad weather.
It's possible, but you get screwed if the flight gets canceled due to bad weather.
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Or delayed. My flight was delayed for 3 hours for one of my interview. If you want to play it safe, you can always plan your trip a couple hours early and if everything goes according to plan, you can sleep at the airport. 😎 Or book a cheap motel.
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I, personally, wouldn't risk taking a same-day flight for an interview. Even if it was a super short, 1-hour flight. Even the smallest delay, or traffic accident, or your GPS/phone dying and you getting lost will ruin everything for you.
Just did it yesterday with Mercy LGA-DTW at 8:30am (interview at 2) and DTW-LGA at 7:55pm. Went without a hitch. If its a short flight away I really don't see the problem at all if you have an afternoon or really late morning interview.
My flight was at 8:30am I arrived at 10am for a 2pm interview. In the rare event that my flight was delayed for 4/5 hours I still don't think it would "ruin everything". Im sure any school will understand and either interview you whenever you come in, or they'll reschedule you for another day.
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So instead of planning ahead, you expect the adcoms to "understand" you and reschedule you. You're hoping for too much and it's just not worth the risk.
and btw, how sure are you? Do you by chance know someone in each of the ds admissions office?
I consider landing 5 hours before an interview enough of a plan in case of a slight delay. And yes I do expect adcoms to understand that I am traveling to meet them and as with all travel there are chances that not everything can go as planned.
I've had to reschedule already 1 interview, simply because the date didn't work for me, and it was no problem with the school. To be honest, if a schools committee was so stiff that they wouldn't accommodate me in the event that my flight got delayed due to a pilot making an emergency landing for some Bacon Lovers deli meat...then I don't think the school is a good fit for me.
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Rescheduling an interview a couple days or weeks prior to the actually interview is very different from rescheduling on the same date of the interview. Plus, I'm "pretty sure" schools have a big enough applicant pool to choose people who are punctual. And the reverse can also be said about you.If you care about the school, you should show up on time like almost everyone else does. It's simply not worth the risk, unless the interview is for one of your backup safety schools.
Granted I'd try to be extra careful if it wasn't a safety school. But I really don't think sleeping overnight is absolutely necessary in every case even if it's not safety school. Each to their own.
