Interviews

[Homo sapien]

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I have a question. How do students go about scheduling interviews/going to them after applying for school? Because most of these students will be in their senior year/still having classes to take, so how can they structure an interview around a university class schedule? Also, what if a student is financially unstable, is there a way they can finance their interview travels?

 

[heybrother]

I did two of my interviews on Friday and one on Monday. If you do your traveling Thursday then you just need to find a way to take Friday off. I don't have a good answer for you on finances - its not a cheap process. Many of the students I met at interviews had driven across the country to the interview to save on airfare and were employing strategies to avoid extra nights at hotels like leaving for home the moment the interview ended.

Some places are relatively affordable to fly to, while others (Des Moines) are not. Booking your flight more than a month in advance can decrease the cost of the flight. This will seem strange, but even when pricing flights more than a month out there can be significant differences in price on certain days of the week. My wife and I purchased tickets to Des Moines on a Tuesday months out and the very next Wednesday the tickets were $150 a piece cheaper. Long story short - the further out you plan your trip the more flexibility you will have in finding details.

I try to fly Southwest Airlines so that I can bring extra baggage for free. Other carriers will hit you for $25-50 a bag so employ carry-on whenever you can. I believe if you search the internet you may find tips and tricks for fitting a suit into a carry-on bag.

Last of all - I've written about this extensively in prior posts - limit the schools you apply to. Fewer applications and fewer interviews is less money. I won't do the full shpiel, but if you are a reasonable candidate you stand a good chance of being accepted wherever you interview. Its just not that competitive a process. Research the schools thoroughly and ask yourself if you would really be willing to attend that school or live in that city. If you aren't willing to live in a big city than save yourself the money for applying to New York and Philadelphia. Hate corn? Don't apply to DMU.

My strategy also saves you the trouble of having to cancel lots of interviews. Candidates with decent stats ( and less than strong stats ) are highly likely to be offered interviews at every single school. Don't apply to "safety" schools unless you are at the tail end of the process and desperate to get in anywhere. The schools do not know they are your last choice and will hound you for an interview. Apply to your top choices. If you don't get in you can always apply again later in the cycle to your safety school.

Lastly - do not schedule your interviews far apart. The schools provide decisions reasonably quickly (especially early in the cycle) and you may have to provide answers and deposits before you have time to interview at later schools.

 

[Homo sapien]

I'm carless :O. And I have a year before I apply but I just wanted to know things now so I could start planning now. How much did your flights/hotels cost, if you don't mind me asking? And how did your flight scheduling work because first you had to know if you would get offered an interview so how could you plan a month ahead? Would Greyhound bus work too?

 

[heybrother]

I'm carless :O. And I have a year before I apply but I just wanted to know things now so I could start planning now. How much did your flights/hotels cost, if you don't mind me asking? And how did your flight scheduling work because first you had to know if you would get offered an interview so how could you plan a month ahead? Would Greyhound bus work too?

You are I are likely located in different cities so my airplane cost won't have any relevance for you. Go to kayak.com / expedia.com / pricefinder.com and see what the prices look like to some of the podiatry cities 1.5 / 2 months out (ie. look at the September prices for a Thursday evening Flight and a Friday late afternoon/evening flight). Hotels can be highly variable, but I suspect you can find a hotel room for less than $100 a night if you are willing to call different hotels and look around. Note that Temple will generously put you up for 2 nights in a hotel that is way nicer than anywhere else I stayed (Doubletree).

Per my credit card statement it appears I paid $75 to stay at the hotel directly next to OCPM (literally right next door). My flights to Cleveland and Temple were just over $300 a piece and my Des Moines flight was very expensive because I booked it very close to my interview to ensure it was my first interview. I've seen tickets to Des Moines from where I live for as low as $300 and as high as $1000 (round-trip). I list these not because the numbers are relevant, but so you understand how much lots of travel can add up.

When the school emails/calls you to offer you an interview you ask them for the interview schedule. You aren't forced to interview on a specific date - you are provided with a list of interview dates. Then you pick the date that fits your schedule. If you can find a way to make the bus option work for you that's fine, but you would likely have to take days off before your interview to ensure that you have time. Interviews from my experience are always in the morning ie. 8am and I believe it would be a mistake to include arriving the morning of your interview in your travel plans. Flights get delayed constantly especially when its important to you!

 

[Homo sapien]

Did you go from one interview directly to another? I mean, example: Interview at School on Thursday morning, hop the plane to Philadelphia Thursday night to get to Temple on Friday or anything like that?

 

[Homo sapien]

See, I'm in Mississippi, and the nearest Greyhound bus is in Memphis, so once I got there I've seen it's a 6.5 hr bus to Chicago, and from Chicago to Cleveland is about 4 hours, and from Cleveland to Philadelphia is 11 hrs ( I plan, contingent upon my grades, to apply to Scholl, OCPM, and Temple, but next year) and the way I saw it on the bus is that I could get the first bus somewhere and then hotel it for 1 day and then get the next bus to go to the next place. With the bus prices I would think they would come up to a bit less than airplanes, but a bit more travel time

 

[dyk343]

Temple Provides free lodging for up to 2 nights during your interview at a Double Tree in downtown Philadelphia.

 

[heybrother]

Did you go from one interview directly to another? I mean, example: Interview at School on Thursday morning, hop the plane to Philadelphia Thursday night to get to Temple on Friday or anything like that?

See, I'm in Mississippi, and the nearest Greyhound bus is in Memphis, so once I got there I've seen it's a 6.5 hr bus to Chicago, and from Chicago to Cleveland is about 4 hours, and from Cleveland to Philadelphia is 11 hrs ( I plan, contingent upon my grades, to apply to Scholl, OCPM, and Temple, but next year) and the way I saw it on the bus is that I could get the first bus somewhere and then hotel it for 1 day and then get the next bus to go to the next place. With the bus prices I would think they would come up to a bit less than airplanes, but a bit more travel time

I scheduled my interviews in an ill-advised, erratic fashion and I would encourage you not to follow my lead. I would suggest you not to arrange any travel until you have received interviews from all your top choice schools (or just all the schools you applied to - if you don't hear from them politely call them and ask about the status of your application and ensure that they have received all of your letters) that you would like to interview at. I received an opening bout of interviews and scheduled Temple, then a week later received an invite to OCPM, and then a week after that heard from DMU (~actual times vary, but there was enough of a delay to have me question whether I would receive further interviews [this was foolishness on my part]). So instead of buying all my plane tickets at once I bought them separately and wasn't able to coordinate my travel. Long story short - no, I didn't arrange all my interviews over one weekend though it did happen that I interviewed on a Friday and a Monday of the same weekend, but it wasn't a coordinated buy.

If you can make the bus system work then more power to you. However, interviews I believe tend to be on Fridays and Mondays and don't forget the return trip when factoring in your time.

I would continue to do research on each of the schools and to especially learn as much as you can about the city/lifestyle you'll be living. Search online to find out the prices of housing near the school you want to live in. Try and find an apartment that you would want to live in near Temple. Ask current students about their living situation. I didn't choose to do it, but some DMU students will literally be living across the street from the school. I don't believe that it is possible to do this at OCPM (I was told there are some neighborhoods where most of the students live), but it may be possible to do this at Scholl (my internet search seemed to indicate numerous apartments in very close proximity to their medical center). Long story short - know the differences between the schools.

 

[heybrother]

Temple Provides free lodging for up to 2 nights during your interview at a Double Tree in downtown Philadelphia.

Make sure to eat your cookie allotment. In addition - you may have a roommate. I was told I would have one, but the person did not show.

 

[dyk343]

Sometimes Amtrak is cheaper than air fair but is also known to be shady when it comes to arriving on time.

 

[Homo sapien]

I never thought about Amtrak. I don't even think one is around here, though

 

[Homo sapien]

Isn't housing costs factored into total cost of attendance when you do financial aid?

And if you said I should not schedule travel until I get all my interviews, how will I be able to get better prices on plane tickets if I don't buy them already?

 

[heybrother]

Isn't housing costs factored into total cost of attendance when you do financial aid?

And if you said I should not schedule travel until I get all my interviews, how will I be able to get better prices on plane tickets if I don't buy them already?

When you are offered your interviews you politely tell them that you look forward to interviewing, and would they please send you the interview schedule dates for the school so that you can coordinate your interview with your busy school and work schedule. You will have numerous options spanning well into the future. Once you receive the interview schedules for all the schools you wish to attend, you aim for interviews that are far enough out to get you a discount on airfare then you contact the school and arrange to interview those days. Once you've confirmed your school interview you arrange travel (purchase the ticket). Don't purchase a ticket until the school tells you they've put you down for a slot because they might be full that day. You have options unless you apply at the tail-end of the cycle. They are interviewing until a few weeks before school starts. Don't wait till the last minute (earlier is always better), but don't let them rush you.

I may have confused you - you believe that you plan the air-ticket first and then arrange the school interview. Its a hand-in-hand process. You find out the available interview dates and then pick the one that works best for you.

 

[Homo sapien]

I think the second one is better: get the interview then the airplane/train/whatever

 

[heybrother]

Isn't housing costs factored into total cost of attendance when you do financial aid?

Schools provide estimates for the cost of housing/living/phone/travel and tuition. The maximum amount you can borrow in loans is based on this estimate they establish. What you can borrow and what you should borrow are two very different things. Its often suggested in the allopathic forums that you should get your medical education at the cheapest school you can attend. That doesn't just mean tuition - it means the package. Some schools are going to be much more expensive than others when you include the cost of living. I "lived it up" during my masters and I can tell you this - paying back loans sucks (but it feels wonderful when its done).

 

[Homo sapien]

Oh yes, I know that, and because of repayment I ain't one to live it up. Relatively cheap housing/relatively cheap food.
Well, do pod schools have meal plans like universities?

 

[josebiwasabi]

i would personally not recommend taking a bus to get to all the places, unless you're going from philly to nyc or something like that. not only would the trip take a long time, i guarantee you are going to be extremely tired if you do back to back to back interviews while commuting by bus.

 

[heybrother]

Oh yes, I know that, and because of repayment I ain't one to live it up. Relatively cheap housing/relatively cheap food.
Well, do pod schools have meal plans like universities?

DMU and OCPM both have cafeterias. I don't remember what Temple has. That said - I don't think you can describe these cafeterias like undergrad school cafeterias with meal plans. You and I may disagree on what the definition of a meal plan is, but universities with meal plans can provide all your meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) and purchasing additional meals tends to decrease the price. I suspect (I don't know) that the pod school cafeterias are there to cater to you while you are on campus, but they aren't there to be your full service food source and I doubt they are cheap.