Interviewing in two specialties

[flour]

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I am interviewing in two specialties. I seriously think I'm going to go into one specialty versus the other (ie. not ranking one specialty) although do have interviews set up in both, and will attend at least a couple in the one I'm not leaning towards. My MSPE states no preference, but my personal statement is strong for both. I've got a couple of questions about this.

1) Are there any recommendations for how to respond to questions about the lack of preference in my MSPE? I know the proper thing would be to inform them of where I'm at, but I do not want to do anything that would decrease my ranking in either specialty until I'm 100% sure about where I'm going.

2) If I decide early and don't want to interview with specialty #2 what is the amount of time that is needed before cancelling interviews?


Any other thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[lord_jeebus]

Can you get the "preference" excluded from your MSPE? I don't think that's a common thing to include - it helps no one and hurts people who need a back-up specialty.

 

[dragonfly99]

Question 1 I can't answer. Would think they will usually not ask you about this, unless your MSPE blatantly stated you wanted another specialty.

Question 2 ideally you want to let them know ASAP. 2 weeks or more would be good, 1 week OK, at the very least 48 hours before so they know you aren't coming.

 

[flour]

Well to be more specific my MSPE is just general and doesn't point to anything. It doesn't include the word "preference".

I heard that if you don't give "enough" notice to programs that they can badmouth you to your school's administration.

 

[Samoa]

1. MSPEs don't generally state a preference, or so I've been told, so it won't look odd at all. If you're applying in a competitive field, you'll probably get asked what your backup plan is. So as long as you're not applying to different specialties at the same institution, there's no way anyone would pick up on the fact that you're interviewing in two specialties.

2. If it's within a week of the interview, I would just go, because they can't realistically invite someone else at that point. So just have as good a time as possible. Although not such a good time that you become a legend of the trail, obviously.

I'm in a similar boat, although I like both specialties well enough to interview and rank them. However, the interview invitations have mostly done my deciding for me, and I'm fine with that.

 

[flour]

I am interview in the same place for both specialties at one stop, I was debating whether to just tell them or go incognito. It is in a smallish community.