No gap year; interviewing with classes?

[Skarl]

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Wanted to ask for advice about interviewing during the school year for applicants who applied without a gap year. I will try to take a lighter schedule with professors that are lenient on attendance, but I wanted to ask about:

1) How many "days" should I expect to miss per interview? A full day + the night before for transport reasonable? What days of the week do schools typically interview?
2) Best ways to save money? I know people suggest ITA letters and blocking multiple interviews together, but with classes I don't know how feasible it would be to miss multiple days of classes... (I plan on having MWF off/podcasted)
3) Any general logistical/financial tips?

Of course, this is assuming I receive interviews, but wanted to plan for this early to prepare.

 

[PA_dud3]

Following this thread because I am interested in this as well.

 

[Schwifty]

1) I had to fly to all of my interviews, and was taking classes at the time, so I would leave in the afternoon the day before my interview, and fly back right after, so I would be gone about a day and a half. Any time I had to miss class the professor was completely understand and would ask me how it went when I got back, so if your professors are cool it shouldn't be a problem (even my one professor who as an a** was fine with me missing class). As for days of the week, it varies, I had Monday and Friday being the most common, but I also had a Wednesday interview that I had to go on the day before an anatomy final, so that kinda sucked but whatever I got into that school and passed the final.

2/3) If you can schedule multiple interviews in the same city at once that would work, but that wasn't an option for me, so it was just expensive. I opened a new credit card for the rewards point and some travel benefits so that helped financially. Also, it is sometimes more cost effective to fly out a day early or later (even with the extra night at a hotel) because the flight tickets can carry so much. Another thing is to find airports near by where you are going and maybe fly there, and then rent a car and drive to the place you are interviewing. Again, that is compared to flying to a closer airport and using uber/lift, you will just have to see what city your are flying too and compare costs. One last travel point, I used kayak and google flights to find the best prices, its what worked best for me. I love travel, finance, and logistics so feel free to ask more questions lol

edit: I just was your LM is 82 and WARS is 95, you should get multiple interviews assuming the rest of your app is decent with no major red flags

 

[Hi_I'mPaul]

Wanted to ask for advice about interviewing during the school year for applicants who applied without a gap year. I will try to take a lighter schedule with professors that are lenient on attendance, but I wanted to ask about:

1) How many "days" should I expect to miss per interview? A full day + the night before for transport reasonable? What days of the week do schools typically interview?
2) Best ways to save money? I know people suggest ITA letters and blocking multiple interviews together, but with classes I don't know how feasible it would be to miss multiple days of classes... (I plan on having MWF off/podcasted)
3) Any general logistical/financial tips?

Of course, this is assuming I receive interviews, but wanted to plan for this early to prepare.

1) You'll definitely want to get there at least a day (or night) before so you can settle in since many interviews start early (my interviews began between 7AM to 10AM and went until 2PM to 5PM). Of course, if it is an OOS school, the time you will need to stay will also depend on flights. But, I think the night before and day of at a minimum. My interviews were either on Monday, Thursday, or Friday. There were also Saturday options for some dates.

2) You can send ITA requests (I did), but no school really responded. Many med schools allow you to stay with current medical students so you don't have to pay for a hotel. For my OOS interviews, most of my hotels had free transport within a 5 miles radius so just stay at a hotel close to the school and ask if they transport (if you need it).

 

[Skarl]

1) I had to fly to all of my interviews, and was taking classes at the time, so I would leave in the afternoon the day before my interview, and fly back right after, so I would be gone about a day and a half. Any time I had to miss class the professor was completely understand and would ask me how it went when I got back, so if your professors are cool it shouldn't be a problem (even my one professor who as an a** was fine with me missing class). As for days of the week, it varies, I had Monday and Friday being the most common, but I also had a Wednesday interview that I had to go on the day before an anatomy final, so that kinda sucked but whatever I got into that school and passed the final.

2/3) If you can schedule multiple interviews in the same city at once that would work, but that wasn't an option for me, so it was just expensive. I opened a new credit card for the rewards point and some travel benefits so that helped financially. Also, it is sometimes more cost effective to fly out a day early or later (even with the extra night at a hotel) because the flight tickets can carry so much. Another thing is to find airports near by where you are going and maybe fly there, and then rent a car and drive to the place you are interviewing. Again, that is compared to flying to a closer airport and using uber/lift, you will just have to see what city your are flying too and compare costs. One last travel point, I used kayak and google flights to find the best prices, its what worked best for me. I love travel, finance, and logistics so feel free to ask more questions lol

edit: I just was your LM is 82 and WARS is 95, you should get multiple interviews assuming the rest of your app is decent with no major red flags

Thanks for the helpful tips and reassurance! Definitely happy to pick your brain further re. travel/finance/logistics:

1) "Also, it is sometimes more cost effective to fly out a day early or later (even with the extra night at a hotel) because the flight tickets can carry so much." Do you mean it's cheaper if your departure/return flight time gap is larger?
2) How early in advance did you know when you would interview?
3) Thoughts on good credit cards? I have a prime visa that gives 5% Amazon cashback, but not sure if there are cards with greater rewards considering I'll be spending up to $5k likely this cycle

 

[Schwifty]

Thanks for the helpful tips and reassurance! Definitely happy to pick your brain further re. travel/finance/logistics:

1) "Also, it is sometimes more cost effective to fly out a day early or later (even with the extra night at a hotel) because the flight tickets can carry so much." Do you mean it's cheaper if your departure/return flight time gap is larger?
2) How early in advance did you know when you would interview?
3) Thoughts on good credit cards? I have a prime visa that gives 5% Amazon cashback, but not sure if there are cards with greater rewards considering I'll be spending up to $5k likely this cycle

1) yes, meaning you stay in town a day longer (or arrive a day earlier) than needed because the flight is cheaper, I did this twice because to fly out on my interview day was >$150 more than flying out the next day, and the hotels was only like $70 for another night. However, I only did this on Friday interviews because I didn't have class the next day, so if I stay in town through Saturday instead of leaving on Friday after my interview it would not effect my classes.
2) The shortest time frame I was given was 1.5 weeks out, they literally said, on a Monday, you can come this Wednesday or next Wednesday, so I was ok I guess I'll come next Wednesday. However, you can usually contact the school if the dates they provide don't work and they can give you future ones if needed. But on average I had about 2-3 weeks advanced notice. But earlier interviews are better so I tried to always go for the earlier date if I could.
3) This really depends on your income and situation, I opened a Wells Fargo Propel card cause it had no annual fee, I was already with WF, I got 30k point after spending $3k in 3 months, and I get 3x points on travel stuff. But if you are really doing well the AMEX gold and platinum cards are good, but they have high annual fees. The only thing I wish I would have done was paid for TSA precheck so I could skip the security lines in the airpots, its only like $85 for 5 years.

 

[Gilakend]

On the flip side, I told all my professors at the beginning of the semester about that I might miss days for interviews due to travel and flights etc and ended up being able to drive to every interview and only had to stay the night at a hotel once.

So in general, it’s hard to plan. Every day I had to miss for an interview my professors were 100% okay with. Many even offered to allow me to take my exams early if it was on an exam day.

 

[Hi_I'mPaul]

1) yes, meaning you stay in town a day longer (or arrive a day earlier) than needed because the flight is cheaper, I did this twice because to fly out on my interview day was >$150 more than flying out the next day, and the hotels was only like $70 for another night. However, I only did this on Friday interviews because I didn't have class the next day, so if I stay in town through Saturday instead of leaving on Friday after my interview it would not effect my classes.
2) The shortest time frame I was given was 1.5 weeks out, they literally said, on a Monday, you can come this Wednesday or next Wednesday, so I was ok I guess I'll come next Wednesday. However, you can usually contact the school if the dates they provide don't work and they can give you future ones if needed. But on average I had about 2-3 weeks advanced notice. But earlier interviews are better so I tried to always go for the earlier date if I could.
3) This really depends on your income and situation, I opened a Wells Fargo Propel card cause it had no annual fee, I was already with WF, I got 30k point after spending $3k in 3 months, and I get 3x points on travel stuff. But if you are really doing well the AMEX gold and platinum cards are good, but they have high annual fees. The only thing I wish I would have done was paid for TSA precheck so I could skip the security lines in the airpots, its only like $85 for 5 years.

Just to add on to your number 2! The shortest turn around for me was 4 days notice. The longest was around a month. Most seemed to be about 2-3 weeks for me as well.

 

[PA_dud3]

Is it possible to drive to all of your interviews? I will only be applying to probably 12-15 (maybe 20) schools in the states bordering my home state and the schools in my state, so I would probably drive early in the morning to the interview and come back the following night.

 

[Schwifty]

Is it possible to drive to all of your interviews? I will only be applying to probably 12-15 (maybe 20) schools in the states bordering my home state and the schools in my state, so I would probably drive early in the morning to the interview and come back the following night.

Well most interviews start around 8am, so I recommend being there the night before, just incase of traffic or missed flight or something (and I did miss a connecting flight once which was a nightmare), but yes you could drive to all of them, just be careful about giving yourself enough time to get there

 

[jamaica jan sun princess]

The Chase Sapphire Preferred is easily the best travel rewards with intro bonus card. Capital One Venture Rewards is really good too.

 

[PA_dud3]

1) absolutely drive night before for anything more than an hour or two away
2) make sure your professors are aware you applying and asking them ahead of time, what we would to do if missing classes.
3) do not automatically assume profs will be okay with all this. Most will but I had a Biochem prof in college who clearly stated that no excuses would be given for med school interviews.

Thank you for this. Another question, around what time of year do applicant interviews typically occurr for MD/DO schools? Would it be possible to schedule interviews ahead of fall classes? I would be fine missing some classes here and there so long as my profs were notified and okay with it, I would just feel bad about missing two consecutive days. In your experience, are most professors likely to be fine with this? During interview time I should just be working on foreign language/major stuff mostly, maybe one or two last prereqs after MCAT.

 

[M&L]

Wanted to ask for advice about interviewing during the school year for applicants who applied without a gap year. I will try to take a lighter schedule with professors that are lenient on attendance, but I wanted to ask about:

1) How many "days" should I expect to miss per interview? A full day + the night before for transport reasonable? What days of the week do schools typically interview?
2) Best ways to save money? I know people suggest ITA letters and blocking multiple interviews together, but with classes I don't know how feasible it would be to miss multiple days of classes... (I plan on having MWF off/podcasted)
3) Any general logistical/financial tips?

Of course, this is assuming I receive interviews, but wanted to plan for this early to prepare.

So, my experience: i am a non-traditional student, but this spring (while finishing interviewing) i WAS finishing my last semester of BS in Chemistry degree, and i was in school full time and working full time.
1) depends how close the interview is. I tried to schedule majority of classes in the morning, - it gave me a chance to finish the day at school, hop in my car in the afternoon, and drive to the location i needed, check into hotel, and skip only the actual interview day of classes. Usually interview finishes early enough that you will be able to fly out or drive out back home the day of the interview, so yeah, the night before and full day is enough.
The days of the week vary. Some schools give you options to choose from, - only one of the schools that i had didnt (but they had interview on saturday). My interviews were on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. So i guess it really depends. All my professors were really understanding about me missing classes, and i NEVER had a problem. It sort of makes them look good too, you know? The more graduates get into medical schools, and other prestigious programs, the better they look.

2) To two of the interviews i drove in the morning, and drove right back, - so i never stayed in the hotel for that interview. It is an option if the school is not far.

3) bring snacks with you to not buy food. Find out ahead of time if there will be good amount of free food, that really helps. I bought my suit in thrift shop - that saved money. If you are driving, and you live in the big city, wait till to leave the city line to gas up, - gas will be cheaper outside. Bring snacks with you for road trips, - will save money.If you do have to stop for snacks - buy them in grocery stores, not on gas stations. If you are stopping for coffee. - look for police cars parked upfront. Police always goes to the cheapest coffee shops with best coffee. Learned that trick a while ago.

 

[TurtleyReady4Med]

Also be careful with professors who are incredibly inflexible. I had a lab class where if you missed one class it was an automatic fail, so I ended up dropping the class.

 

[M&L]

To add to @M&L comments. I strongly concur on food. Invest in a cheap cooler. And bring food that you know agrees with you. You will be under stress, under cost worried, under time worries. What you dont need is buying some quick food, that bothers your stomach, makes you less sharp for interview.

An aside, I have been flying very frequently by these past 6 months for sick relative and I much prefer to pack my own dependable sandwiches than risk airport food

Yes . And NEVER leave the house without PEPTO and breath mints !!!! Seriously !!!!! And hands cream

 

[Hi_I'mPaul]

Ooooo I have good advice! If you're flying, carry on your full suit with you! I had an OOS interview and the airline lost my luggage. I got in really late the night before and the only things I had were my sports coat, jeans, sneaker, and a T-Shirt... which is what I wore to my interview... I was accepted though 🙂 Super embarrassing for me at first.

 

[PA_dud3]

1)Most applications are not fully evaluated and reviewed until after Labor Day
2) applicants are lucky to get a few interviews. With over a million individual applications, less than 20% will get acted upon

Thank you for your help!