Thoughts on flying in for interviews?

[future PT from CA]

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I am extremely financially restricted and don't find it very appealing having to fly in to other schools for interviews and not having some sort of security that a school will like you. Especially when you add up flying to multiple schools, the thought of it scares me. I mean i work and make a little money, but am already forced to live a very frugal lifestyle.

I've never been outside of CA nor the west coast, what are some of your thoughts on applying to east coast schools? Hoping west coast applicants can chime in more. What have your experiences been and what do you think of the east? Are you flying in to all of your interviews or trying to offer phone/skype interviews? What's the average cost you would estimate for a trip there and back with everything included?

 

[Rgvmed]

For starters, only apply to schools that you would actually attend. Most applicants are guilty of applying to schools due to anxiety and prestige, myself included. Be honest with yourself, research the interview process for said schools, and figure out how much it will cost to get there if an in person interview is needed. There are a handful of schools that don't require an interview so I would check them out if I were you. Good luck.

 

[DesertPT]

For starters, only apply to schools that you would actually attend. Most applicants are guilty of applying to schools due to anxiety and prestige, myself included. Be honest with yourself, research the interview process for said schools, and figure out how much it will cost to get there if an in person interview is needed. There are a handful of schools that don't require an interview so I would check them out if I were you. Good luck.

Wurd

 

[tweaze]

I live on the West coast and recently flew across the country for an interview. If offered an interview, I will do the same for the other 2 schools I have applied to out of state that have interviews, though they are much closer and it will be quite a bit cheaper.
I thought it was worth it. Given how competitive it is, I'm not confident that I will be accepted to one of my two instate choices. I only applied at schools I want to attend, and I also think it's important to see the school and meet the faculty before committing to moving out of state. I also did what DPTcoasral suggested above, and researched airline/hotel costs for each school ahead of time so I knew what I was getting into.

With all of this said, my husband and I are delaying purchasing a house/having kids until I am mostly done with school, and we weighed the additional cost of paying more for interviews/applications versus waiting another year (with reduced income), and we felt the up front cost was justified. This is also from the perspective of a person with a dual income, so take it with a grain of salt.

If you are living in California, you have a lot of choices in terms of schools to apply to, especially if your application is strong. I was missing a lot of prerequisites when I applied/had prerequisites that were too old, so that limited schools nearby I could apply to and have a reasonable chance of being accepted. In terms of staying on the West coast, I don't believe any of the three schools in Washington (University of Washington, Eastern Washington, and University of Puget Sound) do interviews, and neither does the school in Oregon (Pacific University).

 

[TheDarkKnight14]

Same situation as you OP, but different sentiments. Seeing these flight costs plus hotel and what not is absolutely killer but I don't mind flying out of California for an interview. However, I applied to some east coast (northeast) and I'm questioning whether it may be worth the 4-500 bucks I would spend for one interview. If I had the monetary means, I'd be on the first freaking flight there, but student loans and other expenses are taking generous chunks from my low pay.

Recently, I got invited for an interview at UNE and just this morning, URI, so I've giving it some careful thoughts as I've also applied to eight other schools, a majority which are in California. The problem--and this might all just be from what people said and is not actually true--is that I've been told/reading about how difficult getting interviews from California schools are, especially since my application is on the lower part of the balance.

 

[BruinPT92]

I am extremely financially restricted and don't find it very appealing having to fly in to other schools for interviews and not having some sort of security that a school will like you. Especially when you add up flying to multiple schools, the thought of it scares me. I mean i work and make a little money, but am already forced to live a very frugal lifestyle.

I've never been outside of CA nor the west coast, what are some of your thoughts on applying to east coast schools? Hoping west coast applicants can chime in more. What have your experiences been and what do you think of the east? Are you flying in to all of your interviews or trying to offer phone/skype interviews? What's the average cost you would estimate for a trip there and back with everything included?

You can also ask the school if the interview is a necessary part of the application process, but also how many student they typically invite for an interview and then accept from that pool. I flew from CA to the East coast for an interview. When I was actually at the interview, the head of the program was telling us that they only invite ~120 students for interviews and then give out 80-100 acceptances so they really don't try to waste your time. Even though I didn't ask this before I flew out, I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to ask schools before applying.

 

[future PT from CA]

Same situation as you OP, but different sentiments. Seeing these flight costs plus hotel and what not is absolutely killer but I don't mind flying out of California for an interview. However, I applied to some east coast (northeast) and I'm questioning whether it may be worth the 4-500 bucks I would spend for one interview. If I had the monetary means, I'd be on the first freaking flight there, but student loans and other expenses are taking generous chunks from my low pay.

Recently, I got invited for an interview at UNE and just this morning, URI, so I've giving it some careful thoughts as I've also applied to eight other schools, a majority which are in California. The problem--and this might all just be from what people said and is not actually true--is that I've been told/reading about how difficult getting interviews from California schools are, especially since my application is on the lower part of the balance.

I agree, if money wasn't an issue, I'd fly anywhere and everywhere to meet people. It is much more difficult when you are pretty much independent. I'm having trouble even paying for PTCAS to mail my apps. Will you be making it out to UNE?

 

[future PT from CA]

You can also ask the school if the interview is a necessary part of the application process, but also how many student they typically invite for an interview and then accept from that pool. I flew from CA to the East coast for an interview. When I was actually at the interview, the head of the program was telling us that they only invite ~120 students for interviews and then give out 80-100 acceptances so they really don't try to waste your time. Even though I didn't ask this before I flew out, I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to ask schools before applying.

This is good advice. I've only been calling schools about prereq requirements, it'd be good to ask about interview requirements as well

 

[situational]

Personally I would just go to the interview, especially if you feel your in-state school chances are iffy. I think the costs are miniscule compared to your tuition + living costs in the end. With PT school getting more competitive, if you really want to do this for your career, you have to do what you have to do sometimes.