Save travel costs/group interviews?

[Cameron]

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I've noticed that some of the secondaries and school brochures mention that applicants are welcome to call the admissions office and inquire about an interview if you are going to be in the area. Since the cost of interview can be VERY substantial, is this something I should try?
If I receive an interview request from one school, is it OK to call up another school in the area and ask about an interview? I'm trying to find ways to cut some of my travel costs. However, I don't want to seem "pushy" and adversely affect my chances at a school by asking. What are your thoughts/experiences concerning this?

- Cameron

 

[carolyn]

It is perfectly acceptable to call up the adcom and inform them that you will be interviewing nearby on this and this date. [This is different from calling them up for merely a status check, which some schools do not recommend.] Schools are understanding about the amount of time and $$$$ involved in interviewing so they won't mind you asking. All they will do is pull up your file and either tell you that your file is still in review and the committee currently has not determined whether or not to send you an interview invite, or they will make a note in your file about your being in the neighborhood during some week so that the adcoms can keep that in mind when reviewing your file.

Unfortunately for me, most of my files were currently in review when I called, so I was unable to work out any nice groupings of interviews last year. This was mainly due to my submitting my secondaries to certain regions sporadically [eg., 2 NY schools in September, 1 in October, 1 in November]. Try to send them all together within the same week if you can [assuming you get all the secondaries at the same time]. Best of luck!

 

[Arti]

Cameron:

I applied last year while still living in California and had the same problem you did.
I was invited for interview to Albany Medical College and Harvard, since I did not want to travel multiple times I called all the schools I applied to in New York and all 6 but one (Mount Sinai) granted me an interview with-in two weeks. So I planned and did about 9 interviews in 12 days, it was hell but it was definetly worth it, I only paid 250 for travel expenses.

My advice is to call, they get these requests all the time and if they see that some schools already want you it may even help you out, make you look even more attractive that you are already.

Arti

 

[Cameron]

Thanks for the info and encouragement. I think that when the time comes I will indeed call some of the schools in the area and try to group them. Hopefully I applied to 23 schools and have finished the secondaries for 19 of them (still waiting for the others). Should I expect to begin getting interview requests in the next month or two? My academic load in the fall is VERY ligh so grouping the interviews and missing an entire week or more would still be feasable. I may find that my situation is like carolyn's, but I'd prefer to be in Arti's situation.

Incidentally, were you accepted this year? Where are you going?
I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks.

- Cameron

 

[Arti]

Cameron:

I did accepted and am lucky to say that both my girlfriend/fiancee and I will be starting Cornell this year. I would definetly try to group you interviews together, for if you do one interview after another on far away trips, you will not have time to stress out as you would when there are two weeks between each one. My first interview for example was at Albany and I was really stressed out but by the time schools like Harvard, Columbia and Cornell rolled around I was just riding the wave and it was very easy to have either a 20 or 80 minute chat. You get very exhausted after each interview, no doubt, but overall you are better prepared since you have been in this groove the entire week.

I would highly recomend visiting the interview feedback page, which will give you a better idea of what kinds of things you can expect during your interviews at particular schools.

Arti

P.S. Depending on where you applied interview requests come in either almost immediatly following your secondary apps or months later, you should not even try to guess.

 

[carolyn]

Originally posted by Cameron:
I may find that my situation is like carolyn's, but I'd prefer to be in Arti's situation.

Incidentally, were you accepted this year? Where are you going?
I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks.

Yeah, I would have preferred to be in Arti's situation too! I had to make a couple different trips to the Northeast and it all costed a pretty penny... I guess I just have my laziness and procrastination to blame for my predicament.

But to answer your question, I was very fortunate and was accepted to a Cali med school this year. Since I'm a Cali resident, this saves me tons of money and keeps me close to my family and boyfriend. I'm just so glad it worked out in the end... I hope it does for you too!