Late for an Interview...

[rbfiji13]

Jesus, I'm embarassed to be writing this. Anyway, has anyone been late for an interview. On the way to my first interview, weather was horrible. On top of that, I missed my turn and was about ten minutes late for the orientation. How big of a deal is this. Has it happened to me or am I the only ****** that was late for one of the most important dates of my life? Do you think this could be brought up during adcom discussions? Somebody make me feel better about myself, please.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[ghgi8]

the only part of the interview day that really matters are the actual interviews. that is the schools time to assess you. the rest of the 'interview' is for you to get to know the school.

 

[DHMO]

I really doubt it will be a problem. If you were late to one of your interviews (with student or faculty) it might be noted that you were late. But I don't think anyone will care if you showed up a few minutes late to orientation. Good luck!

 

[Ambs]

They won't care if you were late to orientation. Your actual interview itself is when you've got to be on time (even though your interviewer at times is not).

 

[IAMS]

I can defintely see how being late can throw a shake into the rhythm you want for a smooth sail. This happened to a guy at my last interview - the airline lost his luggage, and he came in to the financial aid portion of the orientation in jeans and a t-shirt. He was pretty stressed out, and that probably affected his interviews - I overheard the adcom wishing him luck on finding his stuff. You would have to think that would be taken into account into, but what a shame to have any shadow over your candidacy.

I suppose as long as you hold your composure for your interview, you should be fine, they may not even know you were late for the orientation, and I'm sure they take into account things happen, traffic, family crisis, getting lost on a new campus, whatever. Hope your interview works out for ya.

 

[ajt2003]

You're totally fine! Adcoms are made up of actual people - who understand all of the potential snags that can happen with traveling to an interview. My brother was an HOUR late to his Buffalo interview day because of the weather - he's a first year there now. And I was about 10 minutes late to my NYU interview - to my ACTUAL interview - mainly because I all of a sudden became directionally challenged (I'm FROM NYC, so this is particularly embarrassing), and I just sent in my deposit a couple weeks ago to hold my spot in the entering class. It happens. Try not to dwell on it! Best of luck!

 

[JuicyDay]

i agree with all the above posters' comments.

and while we're at it, i have to share this incredible story that happened to a girl at one of my interviews. her car broke down on the highway on the way to her interview (it was about an hour away). but that did not stop her. she HITCH-HIKED to the interview!! literally. she was with her dad, who stayed behind with the car, and then she hitch-hiked (assumedly with someone that she and her dad thought was a noble soul). and she made it on time, too. needless to say, she shared her story with everyone right away, and was (deservedly) awarded many brownie points.

 

[alumafly]

Jesus, I'm embarassed to be writing this. Anyway, has anyone been late for an interview. On the way to my first interview, weather was horrible. On top of that, I missed my turn and was about ten minutes late for the orientation. How big of a deal is this. Has it happened to me or am I the only ****** that was late for one of the most important dates of my life? Do you think this could be brought up during adcom discussions? Somebody make me feel better about myself, please.

don't feel badly

i was about 20 min's late to an interview at my state school due to $hitty CO weather

in fact, i got there late and i left 4 hours early

lol... those bastards

 

[crazyvladif]

i was late to my interview at case, and they told me it was no big deal. i was able to catch them on their way to the elevator before orientation started.

however, i ended up psyching myself out -- i was identified by my interviewer and the secretaries as the "one who was stuck in traffic." this damaged my performance. two weeks later, got my "hold" letter in the mail.

so long as you maintained composure, it oughta be fine. thats one of the purposes of interview day -- to evaluate how you react under stress. consider it a good thing if you were able to rebound!

 

[Sabrinne]

Jesus, I'm embarassed to be writing this. Anyway, has anyone been late for an interview. On the way to my first interview, weather was horrible. On top of that, I missed my turn and was about ten minutes late for the orientation. How big of a deal is this. Has it happened to me or am I the only ****** that was late for one of the most important dates of my life? Do you think this could be brought up during adcom discussions? Somebody make me feel better about myself, please.

I was also late for my interview at Case . . . I didn't catch the bus in time and ended up missing the pre-orientation meeting/breakfast with the associate dean (oops!). Honestly, the staff was really nice about it and no one made a big deal about it. Two weeks later, I got my acceptance, so you shouldn't feel bad.

 

[sockandmittens]

Yah... the case map is misleading- huh? I also was late, soaked, and later accepted.

 

[Haybrant]

Jesus, I'm embarassed to be writing this. Anyway, has anyone been late for an interview. On the way to my first interview, weather was horrible. On top of that, I missed my turn and was about ten minutes late for the orientation. How big of a deal is this. Has it happened to me or am I the only ****** that was late for one of the most important dates of my life? Do you think this could be brought up during adcom discussions? Somebody make me feel better about myself, please.

i doubt it man; the interviews are what are important; if there were alot of people at the interview it is unlikely they will remember your face; I walked in like 15 min late to my ucsd interview and the frickin dean was leading the discussion; i just figure if you are a good applicant, a little thing like being late isnt gonna hurt you. Thats what this whole process comes down to in the end; are you a good applicant or not and if you are dont sweat the small stuff.

 

[CanuckRazorback]

I was almost half an hour late to my Wake interview (orientation session, not the actualy interview). I went south instead of going north on the interstate and couldn't find an exit to turn around and then I got stuck in the parking structure. I would say that at each interview I've been to, there was at least one person who showed up late. Don't worry about it.

 

[javert]

I was 1/2 hour late to an MD/PhD interview at one school due to car problems, bad weather, and getting lost in the friggin school. There were 3 of us interviewing that day; only 1 was there for the morning orientation session...the third person showed up a half an hour later than I did. As everyone else has been saying...don't worry about it; they don't care -- I got a phone call the week after this incident saying I was accepted.

 

[Jadie515]

I was about half an hour late for my interview at Penn State, and I was still accepted. They were really cool about it and even called my cell phone to see if I was lost. The interviwerer was great and we just chatted and he made a joke about my tardiness. Unless it's a really uptight school (that you wouldn't want to go to anyway) I wouldn't worry about it.