Rush to schedule interviews? Or wait for MORE and schedule them together?

[Ronin]

When I got my first interview offer, I wanted to get the <u>earliest</u> date possible, so I scheduled right away. Surprisingly, the next day I got my second interview offer. Although the date for the second interview was fixed, I realized that I could have grouped my first interview with my second one to save on flight expenses, but it was already too late for any change. Therefore, I would have to fly two separate roundtrips to east coast.

Would anyone else have done differently?
That is, would anyone try to wait for more interviews to come <i>and <u>then</u></i> schedule them together for the sake of easier travel & lower expense?

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[Mutterkuchen]

First of all, I would not just wait for interviews to come to you so that you can schedule them together. What happens if they don't come. You'll be stuck with a late interview with diminished chances at that school. In my case, I received an interview invite in the afternoon. I called the next morning and received a Feb. interview date. Other SDNers who received the same invite, on the same day, called immediately and received a Dec. date. There is a big difference in Dec and Feb!

Regarding your current situation. . . if the dates are close together (within 2 weeks or so) I would contact the schools in quesiton and try to work something out. Interviewing is an expensive process. However, if the dates are far apart, you are definitely in better position to be accepted if you interview early. You might just have to suck it up and pay for two trips.

If the dates are close, I think you are justified in asking the schools to be accomodating. As long as you ask nice, the worst thing that could happen is that they say no. Most schools understand that flying around the country is expensive and want to help, if they can.

 

[lola]

don't wait for interviews to come in. i got my first interview a few weeks ago and scheduled it for dec 2. i got another one recently and scheduled it for march 14. had i waited, i would have had to interview at both schools in march which would have decreased my chances of getting in at the first school.

i think jbj has good advice.

 

[UCLAMAN]

Originally posted by Ronin
When I got my first interview offer, I wanted to get the <u>earliest</u> date possible, so I scheduled right away. Surprisingly, the next day I got my second interview offer. Although the date for the second interview was fixed, I realized that I could have grouped my first interview with my second one to save on flight expenses, but it was already too late for any change. Therefore, I would have to fly two separate roundtrips to east coast.

Would anyone else have done differently?
That is, would anyone try to wait for more interviews to come <i>and <u>then</u></i> schedule them together for the sake of easier travel & lower expense?

why was it too late for a change on the first invite if you got the second invite the next day?

i'm with the previous poster...i wouldn't wait around for more interviews to roll in. better to have a bird in the hand than two in the bush.

most schools will allow you to schedule your interviews anyways...so as subsequent schools send u invites just try to schedule them along with the invites you've already received. if u can't change a date with one school just try to change it with another. the worst they can say is no. but i wouldn't wait to schedule the first invite in hopes of getting it to coincide with a future invite in the same area that may never come. when playing poker you don't place a bet down before seeing your cards do you(hoping that you'll have a 4 of a kind)? why would you hold off on an earlier interview date (especially with rolling admissions) in hopes of receiving another interview in the same area? if it happens then make amends accordingly. i mean hopefully we all get royal flushes in terms of interview invites but don't hold your breath over what may or may not happen.

ok...enough talking out of my second hole... good luck!

 

[X]

I did that. I grouped together two of my east coast interviews so that I only have to fly out there once. I think it probably saved me a few hundred dollars. I took January date on one of my interviews for which I could have had a december date, I don't think it will effect chances so much that it was worth two flight. I am sure others might disagree though.
I should mention that I didn't wait to schedule the first interview - I just scheduled the second one the day after my first.

X

 

[dancer7]

i'm living on the west coast but i'm from the east coast. i grouped all my interviews together so i only had to fly one time. i ended up doing 11 interviews in 12 business days. it really really sucked with all the traveling. by the time at was at school number 9 and the other applicants were asking how many students to a cadaver and the ans always seemed to be between 6 and 8 i wanted to screem. but, it saved me a lot of money and time off of work.

one thing that helped me was that it was earlier in the year. i heard from one school in the beg sept and i didn't schedule my interview until mid oct. the schools hate this and some of them sent me letters saying i needed to schedule my int asap. after i got my first few i called all the schools that were sort of close. some of the schools told me they wanted to interview me over the phone and i didn't receive the letters until much later. other schools put it in my file that i would be i the area around a certain date, and others just told me when the committee was looking at my file and to call back by a certain date. all the secretaries were really helpful and i would encourage you to call. i was just very polite and said something like, "some schools don't like to be contacted and others ask you to let them know when you are in the area, i'll be around xxx......" the worst that can happen with calling is that they don't tell you anything and you end up scheduleing them all separately - but i think it's definately worth the try. good luck!

 

[UCSBMed1]

Waiting for multiple invites is stupid. How do you know you'll receive other invites?

And if that school is on rolling admissions, you can drastically lower your chances if you wait for a later interview.

Is the few hundred bucks you spend on another flight worth risking a rejection?

I guess thats up to you...

 

[Ronin]

According to the varied responses to this thread, I see that different SDNers have different ways of scheduling interviews; it's probably all a matter of personal situation. Since I am unlikely to receive too many interviews and the concept of rolling admissions does scare me, I think in the future I will do <i>exactly</i> what I did: scheduling interviews asap. Thanks to the input of <u>everybody</u>, though.

 

[nikoo]

here's something funny i did, though some of you might think it was stupid...i had a few interviews in the east coast/midwest area so i called a couple other schools that i hadn't heard from that were in the same area. i just asked them what the status of my application was and they both told me that i was "approved for an interview...would i mind setting up an appointment right now?" it worked out really well, i recently got my acceptance to one of those two schools! so i know it's kinda weird, but this strategy might work for you!

 

[14931]

nikoo, its not weird, many people do that but welcome to SDN