Is it more advantageous to have an earlier interview date?

[andysasa]

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Hi, I have recently received an interview invitation to OSU. They offered me the opportunity for an early interview in November. Is it more advantageous to attend an early interview or does it not matter if I attend the ones in December?
I'm asking this because I have 2 midterms the following week for the early interview, and in December I can attend the last few interviews without school pressure since I'll be on winter break.
Any suggestions?? Thanks!

 

[GellaBella]

I don't think it necessarily matters. I'm not familiar with OSU's interview system, but at Penn usually there is a slight advantage to going earlier but that being said, you still have to rock your interview..so just getting to go earlier won't help if you can't express yourself/don't have good interview skills.

So if you will be calmer and more focused at the later date and they gave you the choice of the two, then IMHO go ahead and pick the date when you'll be able to give your interview all you've got. It's your one chance to really sell yourself directly to people who will be making the final decisions and you want to bring your A game.

 

[SocialStigma]

I don't think it really matters, I had the very first interview date and time slot (8:30am) and it was nice to get it over with but that was about it. If you feel that you'd perform better with the later interview slot then go with that one.

 

[StartingoverVet]

Check the acceptances thread (or their website). If they announce decisions as they interview then I would go early, if they announce all the decisions at once, I would go late.

FYI: UCDavis reviews all candidates after everyone is interviewed... I took the last spot available for "recency" reasons.

Penn makes the decision right after an interview date, so I wouldn't have wanted to delay... (% rate accepted is higher at beginning than end).

 

[Trematode]

For the schools where the interview date does not really matter, you might want to look at your schedule before accepting. I would not want to travel for an interview the week I have two midterms and an essay due.

 

[Minnerbelle]

I don't think it'll really matter all that much for Ohio. Unless something's changed, it seems like they make a majority of their decisions altogether. They'll make some offers on the spot, and some a few days later... but it seemed like a lot of people were also kind of put on hold until all the interviews were done with. I think if you look stellar on paper and they just wanted to make sure that you weren't really socially awkward, they'll offer right away regardless of whether you interview early or not. If you're in the average on paper crew, then I think they'll put a hold on you till the end so they can take into consideration comments from your interviews to hash it out and pick amongst that ghastly crowd of average-to-good applicants to fill the rest of their seats. That's based on speculation though, so maybe EllieG can comment...
But my gut instinct says definitely go when you think you will be most prepared. I felt like I was asked the most involved questions at Ohio's interview.

(WORD OF CAUTION: I know they allow it, but please don't bring your obnoxious helicopter parents along. I think it reflects poorly on you. Only bring parents if they are well behaved, under voice command, or on a leash/in a carrier.)

 

[EllieGirl89]

I agree that you should go when you're most prepared. Personally I would want to go to the early one since it's something new that they are doing this year and since not everybody gets an early interview I wouldn't want to turn it down. But if you're going to be worrying about your schoolwork and stuff and it's going to affect how your interview goes and make it even MORE stressful, then I would totally wait and go later. If you have solid stats and your later interview goes well, they aren't going to turn you down because you didn't go early when you could have, you know? If your objective and subjective scores add up high enough to make the cut, you're golden =)

(I know they allow it, but please don't bring your obnoxious helicopter parents along. I think it reflects poorly on you.)

I'm not sure if you're just saying to leave your parents at home if they are obnoxious helicopter parents or if you're saying that ANY parent who would come to the interview with you is an obnoxious helicopter parent, and if it's the latter I must disagree. My dad is definitely not a helicopter parent and he totally left it up to me if I wanted him to be there with me or not. I absolutely wanted him to come with me. It made my experience a lot better just to have him there with me, and I know it meant a lot to him to get to be a part of such a big day in my life. He just sat there with me on the couch and listened to me fret, didn't say anything to any of the interviewers, and was there waiting for me on the couch when I came back down. It was super nice to be able to talk to him about it and have him there for lunch, he info sessions, and the tour. It couldn't have reflected that poorly on me because I got in, and I'm pretty sure there's no check box anywhere for them to mark if you had a parent with you or not. I really don't think they care either way.

The moral of the story is do what makes you comfortable. If having someone there will ease your nerves and help you to have a better interview, then by all means take them along if they know how important this day is to you and will do whatever you ask to make you comfortable. If on the other hand, your parent is the anxious type who is just going to make you more nervous and excitable, then it might be best to leave them at home. I think the only way having a parent there is going to reflect on you at all is how having that parent affects you and your interview.

 

[EllieGirl89]

Haha Minnerbelle, you totally edited your post while I was typing-I now fully agree with you 😉

 

[that redhead]

I'm not sure if you're just saying to leave your parents at home if they are obnoxious helicopter parents or if you're saying that ANY parent who would come to the interview with you is an obnoxious helicopter parent, and if it's the latter I must disagree.

Yeah, I think the parent comment was made in a bit of poor taste. Not meaning any offense to you, MB, but I think the vast majority of parents are excited for their kids and want them to succeed at this big event in their lives. At my interview at AVC, parents were invited to the lunch with the admissions coordinator and my mom and I had planned for her to slip away at that point. But the admissions coordinator actually had me call my mom back so that she could be a part of the lunch - it was really nice and it made me realize (along with some sentiments at the coating ceremony) that the school really respects the role of family and friends in supporting you as a student.

I can see that "helicopter parents" can be annoying. But I don't think it will reflect negatively on the candidate, and it may actually help them perform better knowing their dad or whoever is outside waiting for them to finish.

 

[Minnerbelle]

Haha Minnerbelle, you totally edited your post while I was typing-I now fully agree with you 😉

lol, yeah I was talking about the parents that won't shut up during Q&A sessions (like asks 10x more questions than the applicants), brags to other applicants and their parents about their kids accomplishments, and/or asks other applicants about their stats to size up the opponents.

 

[Minnerbelle]

Yeah, I think the parent comment was made in a bit of poor taste.

Sorry, I didn't mean for it to come off that way (which is why I edited my post as soon as I submitted it). I def didn't mean to say that it's immature to bring parents along or anything like that. I mean especially if they say your family is welcome to come along, there's obviously no problem. The thread just brought back memories of some of the most horrendous parental actions I saw at my OSU interview and I hastily posted without clarifying. My apologies.

 

[StartingoverVet]

I can see that "helicopter parents" can be annoying. But I don't think it will reflect negatively on the candidate, and it may actually help them perform better knowing their dad or whoever is outside waiting for them to finish.

Don't be so sure that obnoxious parents don't affect candidates. Interviewers are human, and it is really hard to completely ignore your negative feelings about these parents. And whereas you might feel your parents are just loving and involved others may not view the situation the same way.... You have to remember that most people conducting these interviews did not grow up when "helicopter parenting" was so prevalent so they may retain a more critical view of over-involvement.

If I am interviewer, I want candidates who are ate least a tiny bit independent and don't need to be still tethered to their parents. If I am a young candidate, I wouldn't necessarily leave them at home, but I would make sure THEY are on a short lease and realize they are guests in the process. If that is a problem, then they probably shouldn't be there.

Don't assume that the positive experience you received at AVC will be universal.

 

[goldnretrivrgrl]

My dad came with me to my OSU interview. It was a pretty cool thing for us to do together. We road-tripped up from State College and had a lot of fun. I'm one of the younger people in my class (just turned 23 today!) and I feel like that made it more acceptable to bring him with me to my interview at OSU. He just hung out and talked to another father about opening a rabbit farm... don't ask. He also got really excited that he got to see the horse cadavers in the anatomy lab- when we got home he kept telling everyone about that. I was really glad he was there just because it was so stressful trying to get there and back to school while studying for finals.

 

[that redhead]

Don't be so sure that obnoxious parents don't affect candidates. Interviewers are human, and it is really hard to completely ignore your negative feelings about these parents. And whereas you might feel your parents are just loving and involved others may not view the situation the same way.... You have to remember that most people conducting these interviews did not grow up when "helicopter parenting" was so prevalent so they may retain a more critical view of over-involvement.

If I am interviewer, I want candidates who are ate least a tiny bit independent and don't need to be still tethered to their parents. If I am a young candidate, I wouldn't necessarily leave them at home, but I would make sure THEY are on a short lease and realize they are guests in the process. If that is a problem, then they probably shouldn't be there.

Don't assume that the positive experience you received at AVC will be universal.

In the more extreme cases that Minnerbelle outlines in her reply to me above, I agree 100%. It can be obnoxious to anyone and everyone that comes into contact with your parent, absolutely. However, I'm unaware of any schools that actually permit parents into the interview room with their kid so I wonder how many interviewers actually even see the annoying parents in some cases. At AVC it was different, as you point out, but I got the impression from people's interview experience posts from last cycle that a lot of them sat in an office and got called in to speak with their interviewers. At AVC, only one of my three interviewers met my mom.

I guess it's just a knee-jerk reaction on my part; my parents have been extremely supportive of me, including financially, in this whole process and the idea of "keeping them on a short leash" reeks of ungrateful, bratty undergrad tour groups where being with their parents is So Uncool. Just my $0.02 🙂

 

[CorporateFatCat]

Hi, I have recently received an interview invitation to OSU. They offered me the opportunity for an early interview in November. Is it more advantageous to attend an early interview or does it not matter if I attend the ones in December?
I'm asking this because I have 2 midterms the following week for the early interview, and in December I can attend the last few interviews without school pressure since I'll be on winter break.
Any suggestions?? Thanks!

Sounds like someone needs to start the official interview invites thread for c/o 2016. Yeeeeeeeeee!

Oh, and congratulations. Sounds like you get first pick for interview slots, I can see why it might be hard to choose. Goodluck !

 

[andysasa]

Thanks for the feedback guys, I think it'll be easier if I interview in December.

 

[Angelus9]

Should always be mentioned re: Penn's early-invites-are-better scenario that this does not apply if your declared interest is Large or Food Animal, as those days are always later (like February) to include the New Bolton visit, so don't worry if you're not assigned one of the early dates.

 

[flyhi]

I think if you are offered an 'early interview' that is different from when most are going to be interviewing, you should JUMP on it. If it is a small % they invited to interview early, it's for a reason. Suck it up and go. Just my .02.

 

[EllieGirl89]

I think if you are offered an 'early interview' that is different from when most are going to be interviewing, you should JUMP on it. If it is a small % they invited to interview early, it's for a reason. Suck it up and go. Just my .02.

THIS is what I've been trying to say. Thanks for putting it into words, Flyhi!

 

[SilverSpyderGT]

OP: When I applied to OSU in 2005, it was rolling admissions for vet school. The ad com met once a week to discuss the interviewees from the previous week. Some people were offered admission right after their interview, some were offered right after the committee meeting, some were put in a "let's see how everyone else is before we decide" holding pile, and some were declined outright. If things have not changed since then, then my advice below holds true.

It is theoretically possible for the ad com to have a large number of highly qualified applicants in any one cycle. All things equal, it is to your advantage to interview as early as possible, because if you interview late, you could (theoretically) be "crowded out" of a class if there are a ton of really great applicants who interviewed before you and filled up the class. Plus, worst case scenario, if you are in the "no way, Jose" pile, you have the maximum amount of time to implement your Plan B. If you are in the holding pile, it doesn't really matter, but it is probably best to err on the side of caution.

If anyone has any more recent information for OSU, please correct me.

My $0.02. I interviewed in late November.

 

[Minnerbelle]

They stopped doing the rolling admissions thing as of the 2009 cycle (whichever one it was that I applied 2 years ago). For the last 2 years, it's been everyone gets interviewed all at once within a short amount of time.

But I guess this year, they're doing something in between (which I didn't realize originally) where they send a select number of applicants an early-interview date. In that case, I agree, it might be better to interview early unless it will really make you perform worse. But I have a feeling that if you're a stellar applicant who were given the opportunity, you probably will do just as fine even if you wait a little, but if it were up to me, I wouldn't take any chances.

Are they still doing everyone else together? Or are they all going to be staggered like at Penn?

 

[EllieGirl89]

They stopped doing the rolling admissions thing as of the 2009 cycle (whichever one it was that I applied 2 years ago). For the last 2 years, it's been everyone gets interviewed all at once within a short amount of time.

But I guess this year, they're doing something in between (which I didn't realize originally) where they send a select number of applicants an early-interview date. In that case, I agree, it might be better to interview early unless it will really make you perform worse. But I have a feeling that if you're a stellar applicant who were given the opportunity, you probably will do just as fine even if you wait a little, but if it were up to me, I wouldn't take any chances.

Are they still doing everyone else together? Or are they all going to be staggered like at Penn?

Don't quote me, but I think they are doing the rest together like they have for the last couple years.

 

[squirrelsrule]

The interview dates offered to me were November 12th then December 3rd, 9th, 10th, 12th.... something like that where it was the November one then December 3rd then a whole bunch all grouped around the same time.

 

[SilverSpyderGT]

They stopped doing the rolling admissions thing as of the 2009 cycle

Oh, man... now I feel old!

"Back in my day, OSU had rolling admissions... and Pluto was a planet!"

 

[StartingoverVet]

. and Pluto was a planet!"

and there were no personal computers, cell phones, or IPODs, and vet school was CHEAP!

 

[nyanko]

and there were no personal computers, cell phones, or IPODs, and vet school was CHEAP!

Let's not get carried away here...