Is it really beneficial to interview early?

[bobcat]

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I keep hearing from past applicants and admission people that it is to your benefit to interview early. However, the people who interview early seem to have high stats, and it would therefore be harder to stand out during these early interview days. I mean obviously adcoms don't want to fill their classes on the first few interview days by admitting 80% of applicants interviewed. It seems like it would be easier to stand out later on in the interview cycle. What do you all think? Is there an advantage to interviewing earlier?

 

[coop]

i think pitt is the only school blatantly interviewing early on numbers, but you are not competing against those on the same day, if you have what it takes to get in, then you'll get in as long as there is still space in the class, the risk you run by interviewing late is their running out of spaces, dont think of it as so much of a competetion, if you just worry about your own application then it doesn't matter if you are surrounded by others with high mcats or not.

 

[Hopkins2010]

I think interviewing early is definitely better than later, but I dont know if it makes a substantial difference or not.

 

[jdub]

statistically it makes more sence to try and get an early interview because most schools have rolling admissions, so as more time goes along, there are simple less spots. a few schools don't do that, but they seem to be the exception.

i took the august mcat last year and did not get that many interviews, only 2 out of 13 schools and my numbers were at, or very close to most of the averages of the schools i applied to, i think the thing that hurt me the most was the fact that they didn't have my completed app until the end of october.

i would just do what you could to get stuff completed as early as possible, i get the feeling that if a school is going to interview you, they will make that decision right around the time your app is complete, it just doesn't seem that they keep too many people strung along for interviews, that is what post-interview waitlists are for . . . 😀

 

[Georgey]

I agree with coop. I think that adcoms interview and accept people on their merits, not in the context of a competition between applicants. I think they look at an applicant when their application is complete, decide whether or not that applicant would be able to successfully complete their curriculum from an academic point of view, get to know them better through an interview, calculate how good of a match that applicant is with their school, and then, based on that criteria alone, decide whether on not to admit them. I think that the fact that people get interviews well after they submit their applications is a function of the person overseeing their file not being entirely convinced that that applicant is in need of an interview at that time. But I still think such applicants have shot at admission, it's just not as likely.

 

[6-8 Weeks]

I thought that at the interview stage, everyone was somewhat on the same level competitively. They may not have the same numbers, but other aspect balance out the students.

 

[gower]

Of course applicants are selected on their merits, but rolling admissions means that the earlier meritorius ones are awarded seats in the class even as interviewing continues. Once the class is filled (class size limits are set by the accreditation process*) with the early birds who have each gotten a worm, the late risers, so to speak, have to wait outside the arena until some of the early risers choose to go elsewhere, leaving places for those watching and waiting because they were slug-a-beds.

The exceptions to time of interview being important are those medical schools, such as Harvard, which make accept, wait-list, reject decisions AFTER all interviewing has ceased.

*Professional schools are not free to fill entering classes with all they deem acceptable.

 

[jdub]

4-6 weeks,

once you get an interview, the committee is saying that their initial impression is that you could get through medschool. they are not saying that the playing field is level, and most definitely, your numbers and extra-curriculars are not forgotten, a great interview may help a lot, but if your numbers are low, chances are that they will still string you out for a while.

from animal farm: "all animals are equal, some are more equal than others" 😀

 

[ewells]

I got this first hand from an adcom. For a school with a smaller class size, it is difficult for them to accept someone early in the process. With a limited amount of spots, they are reluctant to give one to anybody until they have a good idea of what the overall applicant pool is like.

 

[coop]

ewells, if your info is true it does provide an incentive to interview. IF there is a small class size and you are borderline at the beginning you may not get an early acceptance, but you won't get an early rejection letter either. They will just wait for later applicants and evaluate you again then. Thus there are 2 senarios, in one the class fills up with quality applicants in the beggining/middle of the cycle, hindering the chances of late interviewees. In the other the class is filled slowly, and towards the end of the interviews acceptances are given to the best candidates regardless of time of interview, thus there is no advantage.

since these are both the case it seems to be the safest play to interview early whenever possible.

 

[ewells]

coop, you definitely have a point, but the person that I talked to made it seem as if it is better to not be one of the first. Again, he was only speaking for small schools. For schools with a larger enrollment, I think the earlier the better

 

[Cassidy61]

just to reiterate an earlier post...YOU ARE NOT ON A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD AT THE INTERVIEW!!!! i sit on an adcom and interview potential students. our school is only really looking to nix the red flag people. so, basically, the only thing you can really do is get yourself rejected at the interview. there are very few places that take the interview as a major factor in offering someone a spot. in fact, when the numerical list is made to rank order students, interview score isn't even in the calculation at our school (however, if your interview score is below a certain level, you are removed from the list)!!!!!

 

[Scooby Doo]

Cassidy61,
Any hints on what school this is?
Or just tell us if you can...
Do you know if all schools are like that or only a select few?
Thanks!

 

[TwoSteveSquared]

If interviews are there for red flags, then what are essays for? Same idea. I hope not, cause I've been writing "creative" essays, instead of merely discussing my accomplishments. Is that a bad idea?

 

[Jamier2]

Cassidy61,

Care to share what some of the "red flags" are? Just wondering. 🙂

 

[watto]

It may be different for doctoral programs, but my little sis spoke with a prof on the admissions committee (after she got in to the program) who told her that they were told to immediately reject anyone who specifically stated they wanted to do research with a specific prof at the school.

The smart move was to insist that you'd be happy working with anyone at the school.

Maybe general open-mindedness is key in interviewing?
-watto

 

[Cassidy61]

I prefer to keep my school anonymous!

Red Flags
1. someone that will probably have a hard time interacting with others well

2. someone who comes off as 'just not right' (this is a gut feeling usually substantiated by more than a few people)

3. someone who seems like they will have academic difficulty

4. someone who is extreme in nature (including fanatism about anything)

5. someone who you wouldn't want doing your yearly physical


Hope this helps. My advice is this. If you are a red flag, you probably don't realize it. If you are concerned about being a red flag, you already have shown enough thought to more than likely exclude you from this entity. Be yourself and don't do anything to try and stick out. You are not competing against anyone at the interview but yourself!

 

[Jamier2]

Thanks Cassidy,

That was about what I expected to see. I guess this process isn't as mysterious as it can seem at times. 😉

 

[LizardKing]

bump