Rescheduling interviews, looked upon negatively?

[mtbski]

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I just received an II from a school that sets the day and time beforehand, and says that they can not reschedule due to the large number of applicants. This falls exactly on a day when I have another interview. Would it be looked upon negatively if I rescheduled the one that is already in place? Has anyone else had this problem before? What should I say to the admissions office of the school that I might be able to reschedule at?

 

[SN12357]

I just received an II from a school that sets the day and time beforehand, and says that they can not reschedule due to the large number if applicants. This falls exactly on a day when I have another interview. Would it be looked upon negatively if I rescheduled the one that is already in place? Has anyone else had this problem before? What should I say to the admissions office of the school that I might be able to reschedule at?

Ugh, what school is that? That's horrible to applicants, especially the ones who are working. No idea how rescheduling would be viewed, though. Reasonable people should not be angry about such a thing, but medical school admissions aren't reasonable.

 

[Catalystik]

1) Would it be looked upon negatively if I rescheduled the one that is already in place?
2) Has anyone else had this problem before?
3) What should I say to the admissions office of the school that I might be able to reschedule at?

1) No.

2) It happens commonly, for reasons like trying to group interviews to maximize the benefit of expensive plane fares, an important test that can't be rescheduled, or a family event one wants to attend.

3) No need to give a reason and I doubt you'll be pressed for an explanation. But before you call, know your priorities. Which school do you prefer? Where do you have the best chance? If school #1 says the next available date is three to five months from now or they offer a date that is your brother's wedding day, are you OK with delaying or declining an offered date? Are you willing to let interview #2 go to maximize chances of a potential earlier decision at #1?

 

[Espadaleader]

By the grace of god that didn't happen to me. Def lucky. This process sucks all around

 

[mtbski]

Thanks for the advice guys. I just called and changed the interview for 1 week later. I didn't have to give any explanation -- the lady was very nice.

 

[mtbski]

Now I have to see about changing the plane ticket that I already bought...

 

[Espadaleader]

DUDE!!! Bad karma. I just received an interview that is conflicting. Ugh. One is a state school one is a top 20... So I guess I'll keep the latter.

They say this: However, legitimate reasons for rescheduling will be considered. When confirming your interview, please advise us if you have any special dietary needs. Should I lie or tell them the truth?

 

[mvenus929]

Be honest. They know that you're going to have other interviews, and some schools are more flexible than others.

I rescheduled my interview for the school I'm currently attending because I couldn't get someone to watch my sisters (I was guardian at that time), and they were fine with it. When I tried to reschedule my state school's interview because they gave me less than 2 weeks notice and I was scheduled to work that day, they told me that the reason they gave me that interview was because I was in-state and it should be easy for me to drive the 2 1/2 hours up to the school to interview, and then refused to reschedule me. Notice where I ended up.

But I do agree that you need to know your priorities, and if you can reschedule both schools, you should reschedule the one that offered you the interview later.

 

[DoktorO]

DUDE!!! Bad karma. I just received an interview that is conflicting. Ugh. One is a state school one is a top 20... So I guess I'll keep the latter.

They say this: However, legitimate reasons for rescheduling will be considered. When confirming your interview, please advise us if you have any special dietary needs. Should I lie or tell them the truth?

Tell them you already have an interview planned on that day and the flights and hotels set up already. They will be understanding and will try to work with you. Med schools are professional, and this is a very good reason. them knowing that you have multiple interviews means that they will see you as a desirable candidate, theres nothing wrong with that

 

[BABSstudent]

I just received an II from a school that sets the day and time beforehand, and says that they can not reschedule due to the large number of applicants. This falls exactly on a day when I have another interview. Would it be looked upon negatively if I rescheduled the one that is already in place? Has anyone else had this problem before? What should I say to the admissions office of the school that I might be able to reschedule at?

Relax! These things happen and it normally isn't a big deal. Just call up the school and ask to reschedule your interview. Normally, they will not even ask why. Only once did one of my interviews ask why and I just said it was a family emergency (even though I wanted to push it back to wait for a decision on my application at another school). I lied because they stated on their website they only allowed changing interview dates for family emergencies.

 

[Mt Kilimanjaro]

I've only run into this once so far. Got several interviews set up during July for early September. Then a public school where I'm in-state comes along last week and offers a date for the same time frame (that I cannot attend) with very discouraging guidance about rescheduling.

I'm sure it's a huge PITA to schedule these things for so many people, but if you're giving out dates 2-3 weeks ahead of time when other schools are scheduling for the same timeframe 2-3 months in advance, at least exercise some situational awareness and flexibility and realize that you're not the only medical school in this country. Basically their response was "we'll reschedule you, but you go to the bottom of the stack and we'll get around to it when we get around to it." It seemed unnecessarily inflexible to me and needless to say that school's not at the top of my list.

It does seem fairly personality-dependent to me. The temperament of the individual scheduler/administrative person seems to make a huge difference in how difficult it is to reschedule. I guess that's just the nature of medical education and every other bureaucracy.

 

[Amba]

Fwiw I've already re-scheduled two of my interviews and have received nothing but friendly, helpful, pleasant responses from the admissions departments of both schools.