need advice

[abuTeez92]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

I have been told its still early in the interview process. I have about 8 or 9 interviews. I think about 3 of them will probably end up at the bottom of my rank list. Is it too early to start cancelling interviews if there are no scheduling conflicts?

Tickets are kind of ridiculous for a lot of these places. What is the typical expense for this whole process? I can see it reaching $10k easily. Is it normal to spend $500 on tickets for one place? People are telling me I should try to go to as many as possible because some people interview at 15 and don't match. And that there are no real safety programs in this field. I kinda wished I did not apply so broadly.

I know I'm lucky but I don't want to shoot myself in the foot and regret this later. And I would feel horrible to spend 400 bucks on a ticket and next week get offered an interview on the same day elsewhere where I would rather go.

 

[MR1]

Not an easy question to answer. If you applied to the place I would assume you have some interest of going there even if it will be on the bottom of your list. If you can see yourself there then you need to interview. On the other hand if you really have no desire, then cancel it and let someone else have a chance at it. I still think ~10-12 interviews is a good number so I would shoot for that, in my opinion 15 is excessive.

$500 bucks for one place, yeah it is more expensive every year. When I applied to residency I spent about 3000, interviewed 12, and was able to drive to half of them. For fellowship I am flying everywhere and it is gonna run me about 7000 for only 10 places.

I would try and wait as long as possible prior to booking flights in case you get an interview somewhere else. Even if you book one week out it isn't that much more than 3-4wks out usually. Also remember if you get an interview offer less than 1 wk prior you know you were sloppy seconds and need to take that into account for your chances at that program.

Good luck

 

[abuTeez92]

thanks for the advice, I appreciate it. Also, is it possible to match at a place when you are the sloppy seconds? Should we be going to these last minute interview invites if we really dont have a shot?

 

[Donald Draper]

I have struggled with the financial aspects of interviewing at some programs as well. Here are some things that I have been doing that you might find useful:

1) Booking through Southwest - They usually cost just as much as other airlines, but their tickets are 100% refundable as Southwest Credit towards a future flight (no $150 fee to change tickets that the other airlines do). So, if you cancel for one school, you can apply these funds towards flying to another.

2) Expedia - if you cancel a flight within 24 hours, they refund 100% of the cost back to you.

3) Looking up coupon codes online - there are tons for car rentals, shuttles, etc. For example, I have been using these for the Super Shuttle.

4) Alumni host program/calling friends - sleeping on a couch is less comfortable but free.

Hope this helps!

 

[abuTeez92]

I have struggled with the financial aspects of interviewing at some programs as well. Here are some things that I have been doing that you might find useful:

1) Booking through Southwest - They usually cost just as much as other airlines, but their tickets are 100% refundable as Southwest Credit towards a future flight (no $150 fee to change tickets that the other airlines do). So, if you cancel for one school, you can apply these funds towards flying to another.

2) Expedia - if you cancel a flight within 24 hours, they refund 100% of the cost back to you.

3) Looking up coupon codes online - there are tons for car rentals, shuttles, etc. For example, I have been using these for the Super Shuttle.

4) Alumni host program/calling friends - sleeping on a couch is less comfortable but free.

Hope this helps!

That southwest information is great. I will keep that in mind next time I book. Thanks so much.

 

[MstaKing10]

I have been told its still early in the interview process. I have about 8 or 9 interviews. I think about 3 of them will probably end up at the bottom of my rank list. Is it too early to start cancelling interviews if there are no scheduling conflicts?

Tickets are kind of ridiculous for a lot of these places. What is the typical expense for this whole process? I can see it reaching $10k easily. Is it normal to spend $500 on tickets for one place? People are telling me I should try to go to as many as possible because some people interview at 15 and don't match. And that there are no real safety programs in this field. I kinda wished I did not apply so broadly.

I know I'm lucky but I don't want to shoot myself in the foot and regret this later. And I would feel horrible to spend 400 bucks on a ticket and next week get offered an interview on the same day elsewhere where I would rather go.

keep in mind that places that you think you would love, based on second hand information/websites/word of mouth etc may turn out to not fit you well, whereas you may be pleasantly surprised by a program you thought would be in the middle of the pack. If there's a place you absolutely know you would hate or not want to be at (why did you apply there in the first place!?!), then you should cancel. Otherwise, hold off. I think 10 interviews is solid. More than that (and certainly 12<) is overkill.

I'm sure everyone has stories of people that interviewed at 17 programs and didn't match or interviewed only at 5 and matched their number one, but these are the exceptions, don't get caught up in all that.

oh, and $500 per ticket is WAY too much. Try southwest, priceline, or spirit for good prices.

 

[MR1]

yeah sorry I thought I read 500 bucks to go to an interview, ie flight, hotel, car, etc. 500 for a flight would be high, the most I have had to spend this year on fellowship interviews was right at 400, most are luckily around 200.

As far as your chances at a place that offered you an interview late someone else gave up. It just depends, if it was a place I was highly interested in, I would go, actually even if I was moderatly interested. If it was a bottom of the barrel and you couldn't get there cheap then I might not.

 

[DrTrish]

As a program coordinator, I'd like to assure you that not everyone who is offered a last-minute interview is "sloppy seconds".

When a program is on the smaller side but we receive well over 300 applications, it can be extremely difficult to narrow down the field to your top 35-50 candidates that you want to invite for interviewing. We have about twice that many that we want to invite. So when someone cancels, you want to give another candidate an opportunity because you just never know where that "gem" is hiding.

In the nearly 10 years I've been at this job, I've juggled a lot of schedules, and cancellations. And you know what, we've had some top-notch candidates turn out to be less than expected in residency, and we've also had some nearly-bottom-ranked candidates turn out to be superstars. Residency is what YOU make of it... no matter when you were offered your interview, or what your ranking was.