January interview - late?

[nychila]

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I know that earlier interviews are correlated to higher chances of admission, but as an applicant who is slightly below a rolling school's matriculant average, starting which month do interviews become much more competitive for remaining spots? January? December or February?

 

[RelicLTD]

I know that earlier interviews are correlated to higher chances of admission, but as an applicant who is slightly below a rolling school's matriculant average, starting which month do interviews become much more competitive for remaining spots? January? December or February?

It varies by school. More competitive schools generally fill up sooner, while schools with a low matriculation/offer ratio generally fill up later. Some schools "save" spots for later interview groups, but I would say most of these dry up in Feb. Once you are in March, spots are getting tight. Schools are usually up front about wait-list only interviews.

 

[nychila]

It varies by school. More competitive schools generally fill up sooner, while schools with a low matriculation/offer ratio generally fill up later. Some schools "save" spots for later interview groups, but I would say most of these dry up in Feb. Once you are in March, spots are getting tight. Schools are usually up front about wait-list only interviews.

For most schools, would you say that for interviews before the new year, competition is still reasonable, but beyond it means that there are still lots of applicants with much fewer spots available?

 

[darkjedi]

According to LizzyM, the chances of you being accepted earlier or later in the cycle should be the same no matter when you interview.

That said I have heard of cases of where everyone past a certain date was waitlisted.

Another issue is that those who are interviewed late, tend to be weaker applicants compared to earlier applicants.

 

[NickNaylor]

According to LizzyM, the chances of you being accepted earlier or later in the cycle should be the same no matter when you interview.

I think you are misinterpreting what Lizzy said. If what you said were true, there would be no point to applying early, and Lizzy is a pretty big proponent of applying early.

(sent from my phone)

 

[LizzyM]

I think you are misinterpreting what Lizzy said. If what you said were true, there would be no point to applying early, and Lizzy is a pretty big proponent of applying early.

(sent from my phone)

Applying early gives you a better shot at getting an interview. Without an interview, you can't get admitted.

Once you have the interview, at some schools it will make no difference when you interview, with a given record, you will have an equal shot at being admitted regardless of when you interview. That said, the strongest applicants tend to be interviewed early and a greater proportion of the offers of admission go to those superstar early birds. A superstar interviewed late in the cycle has an equal shot but will be mixed in with many people who are good but not great (waitlist material).

 

[MedPR]

Applying early gives you a better shot at getting an interview. Without an interview, you can't get admitted.

Once you have the interview, at some schools it will make no difference when you interview, with a given record, you will have an equal shot at being admitted regardless of when you interview. That said, the strongest applicants tend to be interviewed early and a greater proportion of the offers of admission go to those superstar early birds. A superstar interviewed late in the cycle has an equal shot but will be mixed in with many people who are good but not great (waitlist material).

Is there any reason to try and "strategize" our actual interview date? For instance, some schools say their ADCOM meets at the end of each month so would it be better to try and interview towards the end of the month so we are more likely to stick in their memory than someone who interviewed in the beginning of the month?

 

[LizzyM]

Is there any reason to try and "strategize" our actual interview date? For instance, some schools say their ADCOM meets at the end of each month so would it be better to try and interview towards the end of the month so we are more likely to stick in their memory than someone who interviewed in the beginning of the month?

In most cases, the people who interview you are not in the room for the decision to admit you. The decisions at that point are based on written reports of the interviews. Furthermore, someone being pokey about writing their interview report can bounce you from one meeting to the next. Just work with the dates that are best for your calendar and let karma take over.

 

[CliveStaples]

Applying early gives you a better shot at getting an interview. Without an interview, you can't get admitted.

Once you have the interview, at some schools it will make no difference when you interview, with a given record, you will have an equal shot at being admitted regardless of when you interview. That said, the strongest applicants tend to be interviewed early and a greater proportion of the offers of admission go to those superstar early birds. A superstar interviewed late in the cycle has an equal shot but will be mixed in with many people who are good but not great (waitlist material).

This is obviously not the case when it comes to schools with rolling admissions though. People interviewing earlier are competing with fewer people for the most spots.

 

[LizzyM]

This is obviously not the case when it comes to schools with rolling admissions though. People interviewing earlier are competing with fewer people for the most spots.

Not necessarily true. Part of the purpose of rolling admissions is to give an early decision to someone who is going to have lots of choices, with the hope that some of those superstars will pick the school that gave them an offer in Oct/Nov. It means that some decisions are offered early and some are offered later. Most schools make 2 to 4 offers for every seat they need to fill. Given that none of the applicants have to make a firm declaration of their intention until May 15, the rolling schools are either playing very close to their vest and making only the number of offers equal to the number of seats and then filling the rest from the waitlist (a risky proposition because the people left on the waitlist are the people who didn't get a better offer -- in other words, not the very best) or they are making offers throughout the season in proportion to the total number of offers they intend to make by March 15. Not to do so makes it likely that you won't entice people to come for interviews late in the season because they perceive that they are interviewing for the waitlist.