for me it's not a matter of panic, but logistics. i'd like to do a lot of interviews and fortunately i can get the money to do so. what i can't get more of is time. if programs are waiting until Nov to invite people, that only leaves so much time to actually interview, and with Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year in there, that's time lost also. interview season only runs until late Jan in most places, and there's only so much time in there. my point is that a candidate may have to turn down an interview from a program for lack of time. and had that candidate been able to interview they may have found a great fit for themselves. but with limited information we candidates have to make decisions based on the information we can get. so i guess i just wish programs would allow things to be a bit more spread out for us by simply moving things into motion in late Sept-early Oct rather than late Oct-early Nov.