just a question regarding interviews

[Postictal Raiden]

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We all know that most prospective medical students apply to med schools at the end of their junior year in college, and they do their interviews during their senior year.

My question is, how do those students (espically the ones who get 10-15 interview appointments in different parts of the nation) manage to attend their interviews while they are going to school? Do they basically ditch their classes? or do they do their interviews on saturday, or what?

 

[Chocolate Bear]

Ditch classes. Almost no Saturday interviews.

 

[Postictal Raiden]

Ditch classes. Almost no Saturday interviews.

but wouldn't that affect the one's perfomance if that person is taking a handfull of upper divsion classes?

 

[Semicolon]

Ditch classes. Almost no Saturday interviews.

Yep. I've ditched a few classes in order to go to interviews. If possible, try to give yourself an easier/more flexible schedule for the semester you'll be interviewing during.

but wouldn't that affect the one's perfomance if that person is taking a handfull of upper divsion classes?

That's a chance that everyone has to take.

 

[time2go]

ditch them...if you have 10-15 interviews, then you will probably get in one school and your gpa wont matter once you get i, just pass...its a good feeling

 

[dominate]

It is tough to miss those classes for interviews...but well worth it. My profs were very understanding of the situation. I had a little added difficulty as I am a college athlete and the interviews were during season. If you get 10 interviews, then you are in excellent shape.

 

[AdemTD]

We all know that most prospective medical students apply to med schools at the end of their junior year in college, and they do their interviews during their senior year.

My question is, how do those students (espically the ones who get 10-15 interview appointments in different parts of the nation) manage to attend their interviews while they are going to school? Do they basically ditch their classes? or do they do their interviews on saturday, or what?

Jetliners make this possible 😉

 

[nevinleiby]

Jetliners make this possible 😉

Yeah, but they also can make you late for your interviews.

Plan to fly into the city where you are interviewing no later than 1/2 day before you interview - ESPECIALLY if flying though major hubs (Atlanta, Chicago, Philly, etc). Doing anything else is just asking for trouble. Personally, I went to class until ~3pm, then hopped on the earliest flight out, and went with 2 hrs+ layover at every major hub. I flewout 2 days in advance...the entire day before my interview I could check out the area, apartments/living, run though my questions/app, etc, and know exactly where I was going. It was worth dropping the extra $130 or so for a night watching HBO (er...I mostly just read up and looked at SDN). Some ppl few out the morning before...whatever works for you

One time I flew out of Chicago for DMU only to have the plane turn around 1/2 there and fly back to Chicago b/c Des Moines only runway was closed to do some concrete work at 10:00 at night (seriously...that is something that *I* don't even do [often]! =). I was grounded until flying out the next day with a 11am arrival time in Des Moines. At PHL, a plane came in with crippled landing gear - they shutdown ALL 3 RUNWAYS and no flights in/out for an hour. It was deadlock for 3 hours due to the backlog. Luckly, I just spend the night in Atlanta and chuckled at a few other guys on the plane freaking out b/c they had an interview the next day.

 

[Bacchus]

but wouldn't that affect the one's perfomance if that person is taking a handfull of upper divsion classes?

I interviewed three times, making me miss 2 days of class. I did just fine. Granted, I wasn't flying all over the place, but driving.

 

[Tuckermans]

I had 5 interviews and had to fly to all of them (plus stay in hotels, miss whole days of class). The only way that you do it is have really understanding professors. Mine pretty much let me go without any issue and made tons of allowances when I got back (allowing me to make up labs on weekends, rescheduling exams and sometimes just canceling assignments). The nice thing is that normally once you have reached the point that you are interviewing (ie senior year), you either personally know the professors that you are taking classes with or have a good reputation in the department. In any event, it makes for a really high stress/very busy semester.

 

[nevinleiby]

...made tons of allowances when I got back (allowing me to make up labs on weekends, rescheduling exams and sometimes just canceling assignments)...

lol - reminds me of my AZCOM interview. I got up @ 6am, etc, etc, interviewed, checked out apartments/area, then hit the airport, flew back to Philly via Vegas, getting back just in time to drive from Philly back to my school. I was 5 minutes late for my exam and just about passed out in my chair during lab around 5pm...that was a *long* day . Thankfully, I got the acceptance from both PCOM and AZCOM during the same "day"

 

[engineeredout]

The amount of people who actually get/go on 10-15 different interviews is probably pretty small. By the time you get to that point you start declining interviews.

And yeah you'll end up missing a few days. Try to make up the work or schedule the interviews on your easy days. Probably shouldn't be in the position anyway where missing two classes will make you fail.

 

[coffeeeandtea]

yup, there's pretty much no way to avoid ditching class. for me, i happened to have no classes on Monday, so i excused myself from work and then just scheduled my interview for Mondays (and then flew in over the weekend, then fly back Monday night for class on Tuesday). it's tough going out on interviews and then coming back to class (or worse, having stuff due the next day after your interview), but if you really want it, you just have to deal with it 😛

 

[Bacchus]

The amount of people who actually get/go on 10-15 different interviews is probably pretty small. By the time you get to that point you start declining interviews.

And yeah you'll end up missing a few days. Try to make up the work or schedule the interviews on your easy days. Probably shouldn't be in the position anyway where missing two classes will make you fail.

Definitely. If I received interviews to every school I initially filed AACOMAS with I would be broke. Also, after I got a "local" acceptance (VCOM) I knew I was turning down DMU and CCOM. They're just too far away, but I knew that I had to apply in case they were my only acceptances.

 

[RySerr21]

We all know that most prospective medical students apply to med schools at the end of their junior year in college, and they do their interviews during their senior year.

My question is, how do those students (espically the ones who get 10-15 interview appointments in different parts of the nation) manage to attend their interviews while they are going to school? Do they basically ditch their classes? or do they do their interviews on saturday, or what?

You are going to miss class. Theres no way around it. It kinda sucks, but its whatever. Let your professors know and get what you need done so you dont fall behind. Also, once you start getting acceptances you can start declining interviews so you arent spending money or missing school for an interview at a school that isnt really one you want to attend.

 

[shockadvised]

To play devils advocate here, in response to the initial question... Most students DON'T interview in the Junior year as most take a year+ off to do something else before med school. And I'd recommend it. Plus I got that advice from almost every doctor/med student I talked to. That would definitely solve your problem of missing classes😉 But then again, professors are probably more lenient in that respect than bosses...

 

[Semicolon]

To play devils advocate here, in response to the initial question... Most students DON'T interview in the Junior year as most take a year+ off to do something else before med school. And I'd recommend it. Plus I got that advice from almost every doctor/med student I talked to. That would definitely solve your problem of missing classes😉 But then again, professors are probably more lenient in that respect than bosses...

He wasn't saying that people interview in their junior year. He said senior year, which is true. 😛

I have met a lot of people who have been out of school for one or more years before med school, but I wouldn't say that most students do this, as this would imply that most applicants are non-traditional, which is not the case.

 

[engineeredout]

To play devils advocate here, in response to the initial question... Most students DON'T interview in the Junior year as most take a year+ off to do something else before med school. And I'd recommend it. Plus I got that advice from almost every doctor/med student I talked to. That would definitely solve your problem of missing classes😉 But then again, professors are probably more lenient in that respect than bosses...

Most people take a year off between college/med school? I don't think so.