Replying to interview requests?

[vitaminj]

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Hey lads and lasses,

Should one reply immediately to an interview request or is it acceptable to wait to respond until you see if other programs in that geographic area respond? I would rather do all of my interviews in one area all at once and just am not sure of the timing obviously at this point. Welcome any and all opinions.

J 😀

 

[Scrubbs]

Early in the season (ie now) you can generally wait a few days to reply... but keep in mind that the longer you wait, the less options you may have for dates available. Later in the season, you should call immediately... otherwise there may not be a spot. Its amazing how quickly some programs fill up there interviews. I would schedule the interview and then rearrange them if you need to... or schedule the others in that area around the one you already have (if possible).

 

[DrQuinn]

I am pretty anal about my interviews, I would call within 24 hours... it assured me of getting the best possible dates for my interviews. I was up in the Mid-East in November, so I triedt o schedule as many interviews in the mid-east/midwest THEN so I didnt' have to keep flying up once i came back to FL for some of my 4th year electives.

Q, DO

 

[edinOH]

It's a tough juggling act. You want to schedule them pretty quickly before all the spots fill up. I don't think it is unheard of to receive an invite and then sit on it, only to find out later when you try to schedule that all the slots are taken up. If they don't hear from you relatively soon they may think you aren't interested.

 

[DrQuinn]

Originally posted by edinOH
It's a tough juggling act. You want to schedule them pretty quickly before all the spots fill up. I don't think it is unheard of to receive an invite and then sit on it, only to find out later when you try to schedule that all the slots are taken up. If they don't hear from you relatively soon they may think you aren't interested.

My thinking is to reserve that interview date AS SOON AS F-ING POSSIBLE. What's the worst that could happen? The Residency Coordinator tells the Program Director that you were the first one to call?!??!?!!? All that does is show you are interested in the program! Also, the Program now has one less interview spot they have to worry about filling.

I remember when I got my interview for one program, I called probably an hour after I got the email (I was on a rural medicine month, and all I did for two months was keep hitting 'refresh' on my Yahoo! email accuotn and cnn.com... as well as SDN!)... she said "Wow, that was quick!"

Q, DO

 

[P Diddy]

schedule the first one in each geographic area, and then cluster the rest around those dates accordingly.

 

[Airborne]

I agree with P Diddy:

I made a wish list of 12 programs I would be really keen on interviewing at - then compiled all of their interview dates in an Excel spreadsheet (dates on top, programs on the side) and "clustered" my wish programs into interview trips.

I find that when the interviews come in, you can pull up the spread sheet and see what dates you have available. Now, when a program comes in that I haven't placed on the wish list, I schedule it during one of the trips in that area - You can cancel that interview and replace it with one of your better choices - should the opportunity arise.

Keep in mind that I am literally applying coast to coast, north to south, so flying everywhere independently would be financially astronomical - and the multi-city fares on Orbitz are actually quite reasonable as compared with the single city return fares.

I've heard from several of the wish programs, and replied immediately to their interview offers and have received the interview dates I had hoped for - Cross fingers the trend continues.

Best of luck,

Airborne

 

[DR]

I agree with Quinn and others...schedule as soon as you can. You can always call later and move dates around. They say that this isn't always possible, but it really pretty much always is early on. Better to secure a spot and then try to change it later than to lose the spot.

P.S.- P Diddy, I think Ben and JLo are over...you can make your move now.

 

[aeneas3]

i am having a similar problem, especially with some programs limited to offering 4 interview dates total. it is not fun. What I did today was call all of the places I heard from that I have scheduled to get possible dates. They were all very nice and understand the need for good scheduling 🙂
but solidifying a spot early seems like a good idea and it will ease the stress a little