Politest way to decline interviews?

[MS3er]

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Hi there,

So I've applied to ERAS and interview offers are (fortunately) slowly starting to trickle in. I had a question for some of the more experienced among us. I was one of those iffy-iffy students in the sense of, my grades aren't all that spectacular. So Ive applied far and wide, and figure if I can end up getting interviews at around 10-15 places I should hopefully be in a very good position to make sure I definitely match somewhere.

My question is, right now I'm starting to get interview offers at a few places that I had looked at as "backup" places. I have not heard back yet from other places I had a stronger interest in. Should I: 1) pick an interview date at the "secondary" places, then if offer more appealing interview offers come up later just cancel the initial invitiation or 2) Just wait a few more weeks until I hear back from some of the other places before responding to the schools that have offered me an interview date.

My inclination is to choose #1 of course, as this most benefits me most. But I'm just wondering from the other perspective if it is incredibly rude or disrespectful to say, accept an invitation date today then cancel it a month from now. Or if that is considering acceptable if you clearly decline the interview in a timely sort of way (ie, don't wait until the day before to cancel).

thanks..

 

[Winged Scapula]

Hi there,

So I've applied to ERAS and interview offers are (fortunately) slowly starting to trickle in. I had a question for some of the more experienced among us. I was one of those iffy-iffy students in the sense of, my grades aren't all that spectacular. So Ive applied far and wide, and figure if I can end up getting interviews at around 10-15 places I should hopefully be in a very good position to make sure I definitely match somewhere.

My question is, right now I'm starting to get interview offers at a few places that I had looked at as "backup" places. I have not heard back yet from other places I had a stronger interest in. Should I: 1) pick an interview date at the "secondary" places, then if offer more appealing interview offers come up later just cancel the initial invitiation or 2) Just wait a few more weeks until I hear back from some of the other places before responding to the schools that have offered me an interview date.

My inclination is to choose #1 of course, as this most benefits me most. But I'm just wondering from the other perspective if it is incredibly rude or disrespectful to say, accept an invitation date today then cancel it a month from now. Or if that is considering acceptable if you clearly decline the interview in a timely sort of way (ie, don't wait until the day before to cancel).

thanks..

If you wait a month or even a couple of weeks, it is likely that the offer will disappear. These are not open-ended, and your position to interview may be offered to another if you fail to respond.

Therefore, I would accept any offer which you are reasonably interested in and can make. If you get a better or more interesting offer at a later date which conflicts with something earlier, you can inquire if there are other open dates at both programs and try to make it to both. If you absolutely can't and have to cancel one offer, it is not unacceptable to do so. Programs realize you are applying to multiple other programs and may have some conflicts.

Thus, as soon as you know you cannot make it to an interview, call or email them and let them know so they can either invite someone else or cut down on the food they've ordered, etc.

 

[Amy]

It's definately not rude to schedule an interview and cancel it later (as long as it's not the day before or something). They can easily find someone else who wants that interview slot. People cancel interviews all the time. Just be professional throughout the entire application/interview process, thank them for the offer, etc. As Kimberly stated, you should schedule an interview ASAP after receiving the offer, because offers don't last long.

 

[Doc Ivy]

How long after you guys submitted did you start getting interview offers?

 

[redsurgeon]

a week. i applied to about 25 programs, some difficult to get into, others seemingly easy. the difficult ones have not invited me, the easiest one has not, either. i currently have about 15 invites, yet the first of november is still twenty days hence. my calendar is full, i know i cannot go to all of these, but for now, i am about to buy a plane ticket for the very first one, and try to do my best for the rest.

 

[suguha]

By not replying at all. Though not the best of manners. hehehe.