When to start declining interviews?

[LongDocDong]

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Hey all, hoping for some advice on declining interviews.
I set out into the cycle hoping to attend no more than 6-8 interviews due to time and financial constraints; however so far it's going a lot better than I could've hoped. I have high stats but no research experience, so I was only expecting maybe 1 or 2 T20 interviews, but after 1 month of completion I've received 5 T20 invites. My only other invite so far is to an unranked school (FIU) which I applied to due to location and to make sure I had a broad school list. It's pretty far down my list (25 schools total) in terms of preferred schools, so I was wondering if it's a good idea to decline it, to make sure I can attend interviews for those higher on my list if they come. My worry in declining it, is that I feel I have a munch stronger chance getting in there, whereas I may walk away from the 5 T20 interviews empty handed due to my lack of research, and not get any more invites. I'm OOS for Florida if that makes any difference (FIU accepts less than 20% OOS). Any advice is much appreciated!

Lastly, do you guys think it would be possible for me to push back the interview? Right now all the available days are in october, but maybe if I email them asking to push it back to November I would have more time to see if more invites come in? I don't want to be an inconvenience to the school, but would that be a possibility?
Thanks in advance

 

[Toutie]

You can decline after you have an acceptance to a school you are happy to go to. First acceptance go out Oct 15, maybe you will be lucky and get one. And after that continue to only keep those you would prefer to that school.

As for FIU, push it back as far as you can, but don't decline it quite yet.

 

[DokterMom]

@Toutie nailed it.

Until you have an acceptance, you've got nothing. (Actually, you've got lots of reasons for optimism, but really, only hope...) Postpone your less-preferred and more-expensive-to-get-to interviews until a bit later in the season until you have an acceptance in hand. Then get picky. You might also look at which schools have a reputation for giving financial aid.

 

[Goro]

Hey all, hoping for some advice on declining interviews.
I set out into the cycle hoping to attend no more than 6-8 interviews due to time and financial constraints; however so far it's going a lot better than I could've hoped. I have high stats but no research experience, so I was only expecting maybe 1 or 2 T20 interviews, but after 1 month of completion I've received 5 T20 invites. My only other invite so far is to an unranked school (FIU) which I applied to due to location and to make sure I had a broad school list. It's pretty far down my list (25 schools total) in terms of preferred schools, so I was wondering if it's a good idea to decline it, to make sure I can attend interviews for those higher on my list if they come. My worry in declining it, is that I feel I have a munch stronger chance getting in there, whereas I may walk away from the 5 T20 interviews empty handed due to my lack of research, and not get any more invites. I'm OOS for Florida if that makes any difference (FIU accepts less than 20% OOS). Any advice is much appreciated!

Lastly, do you guys think it would be possible for me to push back the interview? Right now all the available days are in october, but maybe if I email them asking to push it back to November I would have more time to see if more invites come in? I don't want to be an inconvenience to the school, but would that be a possibility?
Thanks in advance

As of right now, you are NOT going to medical school next Fall.

Hence, as beggars can't be choosers, you are in no position to turn down interviews.

 

[LongDocDong]

You can decline after you have an acceptance to a school you are happy to go to. First acceptance go out Oct 15, maybe you will be lucky and get one. And after that continue to only keep those you would prefer to that school.

As for FIU, push it back as far as you can, but don't decline it quite yet.

@Toutie nailed it.

Until you have an acceptance, you've got nothing. (Actually, you've got lots of reasons for optimism, but really, only hope...) Postpone your less-preferred and more-expensive-to-get-to interviews until a bit later in the season until you have an acceptance in hand. Then get picky. You might also look at which schools have a reputation for giving financial aid.

As of right now, you are NOT going to medical school next Fall.

Hence, as beggars can't be choosers, you are in no position to turn down interviews.

Ok thank you all for knocking some sense into me! I'll definitely be keeping the interview!

 

[Pagan FutureDoc]

There may be some validity to deciding to cancel an interview later in the cycle (mostly that going would constitute an extreme hardship on you) but there’s no real reason to decline an II and schedule an interview before an acceptance.

 

[LongDocDong]

@Toutie nailed it.

Until you have an acceptance, you've got nothing. (Actually, you've got lots of reasons for optimism, but really, only hope...) Postpone your less-preferred and more-expensive-to-get-to interviews until a bit later in the season until you have an acceptance in hand. Then get picky. You might also look at which schools have a reputation for giving financial aid.

Is there a good way to determine "reputation for giving financial aid" other than the average indebtedness on MSAR?

 

[ClimbsRox]

Taking a less competitive interview earlier in the cycle is worth a few hundred bucks if you ask me (and I am a FAP applicant). If nothing else, its good practice. I have received mixed advice from people about rejecting interviews. Some say don't reject any. Some say after 8 invites you are pretty safe. Some say after 12. With 5 invites though, its definitely a roll of the dice.

 

[The Knife & Gun Club]

For me I stopped at 10, because I ran out of money lol.

I would go to FIU - they’re famous for giving big scholarships.