Proper Etiquette for Accepting Interview Accomodations

[OverEasy]

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I've been invited to an interview and I was wondering if I should accept/decline the hotel accomodations the program offered. It sounds like the hotel is very close to the early morning meeting place, but I have a family member about 20 mins away. Do the programs wonder why people accept the offer of hotel accomodations if they have another place to stay? I don't want the program to waste money, but it would be a great chance to get to know more people interested in the program. Not sure what to do.

Thanks.

 

[tfom08]

I've been invited to an interview and I was wondering if I should accept/decline the hotel accomodations the program offered. It sounds like the hotel is very close to the early morning meeting place, but I have a family member about 20 mins away. Do the programs wonder why people accept the offer of hotel accomodations if they have another place to stay? I don't want the program to waste money, but it would be a great chance to get to know more people interested in the program. Not sure what to do.

Thanks.

How would they know you have another place to stay? 20 minutes isn't exactly next door. I would stay where you feel the most comfortable and you think will allow you to give your best at the interview. The school is offering this, I doubt your interviewers are going to ask where you slept last night, and the school probably gets a pretty sweet bulk rate from the hotel. Don't sweat it.

 

[Doctor Bob]

I've been invited to an interview and I was wondering if I should accept/decline the hotel accomodations the program offered. It sounds like the hotel is very close to the early morning meeting place, but I have a family member about 20 mins away. Do the programs wonder why people accept the offer of hotel accomodations if they have another place to stay? I don't want the program to waste money, but it would be a great chance to get to know more people interested in the program. Not sure what to do.

Thanks.

Take the accomodations. Take them take them take them,

The interview day is half you trying to make the program like you, and half the program trying to make you like them. Offering hotel accomodations for when you visit is part of their "look how nice of a program we are" package. You'll visit enough places that don't pay for a hotel.

And usually if a program puts you up at a hotel for the interview, it's usually a fairly nice place.

 

[lazylikeapanda]

Having done this last year, I'd say accept any accomodations given you to. It lets you check out hotels, meet other people, and transportation is always provided to the hospital. I think it makes the day less stressful then staying w/ someone and then rushing to get to the site and not knowing where to go.

 

[Winged Scapula]

I would say it doesn't make any difference (outside of the chance to stay at a nice hotel).

Rather, I might see having family members in the area as a positive when interviewing a candidate. Therefore, if asked, I would respond with a polite, "thank you but I have family who live here and they've offered to show me around town, etc.". I might assume that you would be more interested in my program because of having the family connections.

I don't think any programs would be insulted if you turn down their invite for the reason of staying with family. However, I do wonder why you wouldn't take the hotel room which will be very close to the interview site and then visit with your family member later? What is the advantage to staying with family?

 

[derm83]

If a program mentions nothing about accomodation in their interview e-mail, does that mean they don't offer accomodation and don't even bother to ask?

 

[smq123]

If a program mentions nothing about accomodation in their interview e-mail, does that mean they don't offer accomodation and don't even bother to ask?

They might send you info about accomodation after you accept their interview offer and pick a date. They may also send you more info when they send a "follow up" email, that offers more details about the interview day, about the pre-interview dinner, etc.

 

[Blesbok]

If a program mentions nothing about accomodation in their interview e-mail, does that mean they don't offer accomodation and don't even bother to ask?

If you are applying to derm, I promise they are not offering hotels. Derm doesn't need to use perks to convince people to go there.

 

[medsRus]

If you are applying to derm, I promise they are not offering hotels. Derm doesn't need to use perks to convince people to go there.

Oh, the hotels are for what programs then?

 

[smq123]

I think that there is some confusion over the term "offering accomodation."

I don't think that there are many (if any at all) programs that offer free accomodation. Residency programs need that money to take care of their current residents; they rarely have much money to throw around for pre-interview perks. This is regardless of the specialty or its relative competitiveness.

Almost all programs, though, offer a list of nearby hotels that will offer a discounted rate to all interviewees.

 

[thesauce]

I've had 2 prelim interview invites so far and both have offered a free hotel and dinner. I accepted them for both.

 

[Blesbok]

Oh, the hotels are for what programs then?

Most are for things like family practice that are really hurting for residents considering the relative surplus of programs and sparsity of people entering the field.

 

[krodUT]

Anesthesia programs provide accommodations.

 

[WhoisJohnGalt]

I think that there is some confusion over the term "offering accomodation."

I don't think that there are many (if any at all) programs that offer free accomodation. Residency programs need that money to take care of their current residents; they rarely have much money to throw around for pre-interview perks. This is regardless of the specialty or its relative competitiveness.

Almost all programs, though, offer a list of nearby hotels that will offer a discounted rate to all interviewees.

I have been offered free hotel rooms at 3 out of the 4 interviews I've scheduled. It seems like it definitely is specialty/program dependent. (I'm applying to psych if anyone's curious.)

 

[Rogue Synapse]

My neurology invites so far have included accomodations.

 

[Man In White]

Even if you don't intend on staying at their accommodations take them anyway and then sell them - make back your ERAS fees. 😀

 

[mcl]

I've been invited to an interview and I was wondering if I should accept/decline the hotel accomodations the program offered. It sounds like the hotel is very close to the early morning meeting place, but I have a family member about 20 mins away. Do the programs wonder why people accept the offer of hotel accomodations if they have another place to stay? I don't want the program to waste money, but it would be a great chance to get to know more people interested in the program. Not sure what to do.

It can be a fine line. Yes, the program appreciates saving money, and to that effect I don't offer accommodations to applicants from our home program since they live here and know their way around. If your relatives are close by and staying in their home won't interfere with your full participation in the interview activities, I can't imagine the program will mind. However, don't give the program the impression that you're just using the interview as an excuse to visit your relatives.

This is an example of what not to do: Last year I had an applicant accept the interview but decline the accommodations because she was going to stay with her aunt and uncle. She didn't attend the dinner the night before because she didn't want to disrupt their evening. She didn't come to Grand Rounds on her interview day because she didn't want to ask them to get up early. She did make it for her interviews, but our residents don't have as much time to talk during lunch as they have at the pre-interview dinner, so none gave me any feedback about her. The Selection Committee felt that her actions indicated that she wasn't serious about our program, and she ended up on the low end of our rank list.

 

[tfom08]

It can be a fine line. Yes, the program appreciates saving money, and to that effect I don't offer accommodations to applicants from our home program since they live here and know their way around. If your relatives are close by and staying in their home won't interfere with your full participation in the interview activities, I can't imagine the program will mind. However, don't give the program the impression that you're just using the interview as an excuse to visit your relatives.

This is an example of what not to do: Last year I had an applicant accept the interview but decline the accommodations because she was going to stay with her aunt and uncle. She didn't attend the dinner the night before because she didn't want to disrupt their evening. She didn't come to Grand Rounds on her interview day because she didn't want to ask them to get up early. She did make it for her interviews, but our residents don't have as much time to talk during lunch as they have at the pre-interview dinner, so none gave me any feedback about her. The Selection Committee felt that her actions indicated that she wasn't serious about our program, and she ended up on the low end of our rank list.

Interesting comments, that makes sense. What is your take on the pre-interview dinner? Some say it doesn't matter as far as rank list from the school, but it just helps you get an idea of the program, do you think it makes a difference as far as how the program sees your interest level? I'm assuming many candidates simply can't arrive in the city soon enough to attend the dinner. Or does it only hurt you not to attend if it appears that it is part of a pattern (e.g. no dinner, no grand rounds, nothing besides the interview?)

 

[gutonc]

Interesting comments, that makes sense. What is your take on the pre-interview dinner? Some say it doesn't matter as far as rank list from the school, but it just helps you get an idea of the program, do you think it makes a difference as far as how the program sees your interest level? I'm assuming many candidates simply can't arrive in the city soon enough to attend the dinner. Or does it only hurt you not to attend if it appears that it is part of a pattern (e.g. no dinner, no grand rounds, nothing besides the interview?)

Whenever I couldn't make the pre-interview dinner, I made sure that the PC knew that I couldn't be there for travel reasons and was very sorry I'd miss the chance to meet more of the residents. On more than one occasion, they offered to set up another dinner for me with one or more residents the night after the interview.

As long as you have a good reason and you let them know ahead of time, it should be good. That said, you should give yourself as much face time with the program as possible.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

I wonder if the paying for hotel rooms is a regional thing, too, because I've only had one program out of 6 so far offer. Most of the rest have offered places nearby with discounts but no free rooms. I'm applying in psych and mainly on the west coast.

 

[mcl]

Interesting comments, that makes sense. What is your take on the pre-interview dinner? Some say it doesn't matter as far as rank list from the school, but it just helps you get an idea of the program, do you think it makes a difference as far as how the program sees your interest level? I'm assuming many candidates simply can't arrive in the city soon enough to attend the dinner. Or does it only hurt you not to attend if it appears that it is part of a pattern (e.g. no dinner, no grand rounds, nothing besides the interview?)

Travel is about the only reason not to attend--and to be honest it's really hard to get around the disadvantage on both sides. As a candidate, you won't get to see the residents informally in order to assess how they interact with each other, and you won't get a chance to ask questions in an environment where the residents might be more forthcoming about their experiences. From the program's standpoint, the residents don't really get a feel for how well you would fit into the program, and to be honest, at rank list time they are less likely to have strongly positive memories of candidates who did not attend the dinner.

To the extent possible, make travel plans to include the pre-interview dinner whenever it is offered. Arriving late and wearing the clothes you wore on the plane is probably preferable to not attending--at least in my experience. If you absolutely can't attend, be sure to position yourself to talk extensively to the residents during lunch and send follow up emails to the residents with whom you spoke. If you are definitely interested in the program, a second look in order to meet more of the residents would be worth the effort.

 

[Ashers]

I wonder if the paying for hotel rooms is a regional thing, too, because I've only had one program out of 6 so far offer. Most of the rest have offered places nearby with discounts but no free rooms. I'm applying in psych and mainly on the west coast.

Comparing notes with my friends last year with different specialties and applying to different areas, a lot of places on the West Coast don't provide accommodation (peds, medicine, ortho, anesthesia, EM), but they might have a program discount.

My friends in peds and anesthesia seemed to have a lot of hotels paid for all over except West Coast and NY. My friends applying to EM had most hotels paid for except in Chicago (they didn't apply out West).

I applied ortho, and had 2 hotels paid for which surprised me -- 1 in Akron, Ohio and 1 in East Central Texas.

 

[Doctor Bob]

I got free hotel accomodations at half of the places I applied and I was going for emergency medicine... I didn't notice any relation between accomodations offered and competitiveness of the program or regional distribution.

 

[Rogue Synapse]

I will say that none of the neuro programs I'm interviewing on the west coast have offered rooms. All of the programs in the midwest/east coast have provided accommodations except for the ones in Boston. Overall, I have more than 2/3 of my hotels paid for by programs. This is an interesting discussion - it sounds like some people are getting none of their hotels paid for.

 

[ResidentMD]

I will say that none of the neuro programs I'm interviewing on the west coast have offered rooms. All of the programs in the midwest/east coast have provided accommodations except for the ones in Boston. Overall, I have more than 2/3 of my hotels paid for by programs. This is an interesting discussion - it sounds like some people are getting none of their hotels paid for.

I am interviewing for IM and I was discussing my invites with a senior of mine, and a few of the invites overlapped. From that discussion, I made out that a lot of the programs that paid for the hotels last year arent doing so this year.
I guess they figure that if you really want to come there, you would anyway.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

I am interviewing for IM and I was discussing my invites with a senior of mine, and a few of the invites overlapped. From that discussion, I made out that a lot of the programs that paid for the hotels last year arent doing so this year.
I guess they figure that if you really want to come there, you would anyway.

I've had the same experience. I think I'm going to go on 13 interviews and still only one free hotel room.

 

[Bitsy]

I'm applying peds and have had all but 1 of the 13 places I am interviewing at pay for my hotel. I am not applying on either coast though, so that may make a difference but even competitive programs in peds have offerred me free rooms.