Shoot, what do I do?

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variegata

variegata

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So, I got an interview invite from Iowa State, which I'm thrilled about, of course, but I'm now kicking myself because it is the same weekend as my Tufts interview and I made flight reservations for Boston already because I wanted to get the tickets cheap (and I did, $99 each way plus fees).

I fly into Boston on the 7th (Sunday) for a Monday interview. Those tickets were on Expedia and thus are non-refundable and they'll either charge me out the nose to change them or charge me a no-show fee. My Iowa invite is for Saturday the 6th or Sunday the 7th, meaning if I go, I can keep the return flight from Boston, but I'll have to eat the other one, pay their fees and reserve a new one (well, 2 new ones to get from CA to IA and then IA to MA). Plus, I'd have to rent another car to get from Des Moines to Ames, which is crazy expensive when you're only 22.

I'm much more excited about Tufts than Iowa, but my friend who applied last year really liked it (almost went there, but didn't), so while it's not at the tip-top of my list, I might like it if I see it. I'm not ready to rule it out just because I've gotten other interviews, since I haven't actually gotten in anywhere. I want to get in somewhere so I don't want to decline any interviews until I've actually gotten into a school. I'm not due to hear back from Kansas State until the 2nd week of February, so that doesn't help me here.

Not to mention, I'm only working part time since work can't give me more hours right now, which is making money pretty tight. I have to take off Monday the 8th to go to Tufts. If I went to Iowa State, I'd probably have to take Saturday the 6th off as well to accommodate their full-day program. Unless I want to pay my rent out of my savings, taking days off isn't really something I can do right now and I'd feel really bad going to the parents for this.

What do you guys think? Risk it and decline the interview? Or just eat the money and go?
 
Oh wow, this sounds like quite the pickle... but congrats on both interviews!!

If it were me and I had not been accepted anywhere yet, I would eat the money and go to both. Think of it this way - if you cancel Iowa, and then for some reason don't get into Tufts, you'll probably kick yourself pretty hard for not interviewing at Iowa. At least I know I would. I know how expensive traveling to interviews can get (I just declined an interview at MN to save money), especially when you have to rent a car at under 25 years old (my rental car in Ohio was $300 for 2 days... yeah...). Is there any other way for you to get from Des Moines to Ames? Bus? Commuter train? Carpool? I'm not sure what kind of job you have or what your schedule is like, but are you able to maybe switch shifts with a coworker instead of just calling out, that way you're able to make up the missed hours on someone else's shift (the person you switch with)?

Anyway, I'm not sure if this helps at all, but I wish you the best of luck with your interview(s) and getting there!!
 
Well, as much as I'd like to tell you to decline the Tufts interview because you are competition 😉 I think that if I were you, I'd eat the cost and go to both. I feel the pain as well. I've got the Ediburgh reception in NY the first week of Feb (flying), the Tufts interview the following week on the 9th (flying), and supposed to have a Glasgow interview the week after THAT in Boston as well, which I haven't booked a flight for because I might decline and withdraw my app. If I were to go to Scotland I'd probably choose Edinburgh over Glasgow anyways, and holy CRAP that's a lot of days of travel/missing work/missing class as well. Ugh.

But if you can swing it, you should. Up your chances!
 
I was sort of thinking the same thing, I just wanted to see if I was nuts.
I was gonna try to trade my Saturday for a Thursday if I could manage it. Monday's hard to get covered, but I'm gonna try to bargain with the only guy who's off on Mondays for him to do my Mon and I'll cover a Tues for him later so he'll get a 3-day weekend.

I think I have to call my mom now and break the good/complicated news to her.
 
LOL congrats on IL too! dont know how you till fit all of these in lol even i'm like uhh where is all my savings going?? seriously, if i didnt have support from my parents, after i paid for all my interviews myself id have barely any savings left. i mean, this savings is from being SUPER frugal all year its not like im loaded, i have the tiniest fellowship salary haha i wonder if they will consider skype interviews in the future lol
 
BlacKAT33 said:
LOL congrats on IL too! dont know how you till fit all of these in lol even i'm like uhh where is all my savings going?? seriously, if i didnt have support from my parents, after i paid for all my interviews myself id have barely any savings left. i mean, this savings is from being SUPER frugal all year its not like im loaded, i have the tiniest fellowship salary haha i wonder if they will consider skype interviews in the future lol
Click to expand...

I'm thanking my lucky stars that I have supportive parents...because the 20 hours/week I can get at work barely cover (or don't even cover) rent + bills + 1 tank of gas/month + groceries. But yeah, I'm saying "hello" to money in my savings account that I earned from summer jobs in high school. Thank goodness I saved it!
 
Congrats on all your interviews! I would do all of them -- how expensive/crappy would it be to have to do this all over again? Besides, it's an investment in your future that most parents would be happy to help with if they could. 🙂

I'm not planning to rent a car in Iowa. For getting from Des Moines to Ames (and back), there's a shuttle that costs $48 roundtrip. For getting around in Ames, there's CyRide, which has a whopping $1 fare.
 
You're welcome! I'm going next weekend (22-24), so we probably won't see each other unless I trip and get stuck in a snowbank. 😉
 
Iowa sent me an interview invite the same weekend I am scheduled for Kansas. However, Kansas had told me in December and I booked my flights and hotel (through Expedia) for Jan 22-24. Iowa told me just a few weeks ago at the very end of December before Christmas my interview would be Jan 23/24. However, there's no flights out of Kansas that Saturday night after my interview so I physically can't go to both only because of plane flights. So, I declined my Iowa interview. Not sure if it was the right decision, but I can't afford to go to Iowa even if they were willing to reschedule it for the early February interview.

Besides money, I felt like I may have a better chance for Kansas than Iowa and feel like I can see myself liking Kansas better than Iowa. If Tufts is where you would prefer to go over Iowa, then keep the Tufts one. Or see if Tufts can reschedule their interview (I've heard they try their best if you let them know in advance) if you can afford to go to both.

Hope this helped! Good luck with your interview(s). 🙂
 
That sucks. 🙁 I'm not going to reschedule either of them. There are flights, it just won't be cheap, but I'm trying not to dwell on that and just get into school. I'm hoping Iowa will give me a Saturday interview like I requested on my RSVP, because if I get a Sunday one, I'll have to take a red-eye into Boston and then look and feel like crap during my Tufts interview. Here's to hoping.

I'm totally not touching expedia until they give me an interview time though. Paying their ridiculous change of flight fees is bad enough one time, I will not let it happen again if I can help it!
 
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