Will my time abroad affect my interviews?

[DragonSalad]

Hello,

I may be abroad until early to mid August 2016, and I am applying this May for TMDSAS schools. I read that some Texas schools start having interviews in July? Would me being abroad during that time negatively affect my application?

Quick stats:
TX resident
Asian
3.65 cGPA, 3.55 sGPA
34 MCAT
Great research
Extensive clinical experience
Okay/decent LORs

Thanks!

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[DragonSalad]

Actually follow up - given my stats, what if I go abroad in early February next year (so the Spring of my application cycle).

 

[Megarooski]

I think being abroad until August would be better. If you're given a July II, it is pretty easy to reschedule that for August. However, if you're given any last minute (for TX schools at least) II in February, you can still attend those. Otherwise you would have to fly back or not attend since the February II are usually the last dates for Texas schools.

 

[KungFuPanda123]

Assuming that you submit your application early (June/July), you're middle of the line enough, where you will probably receive a lot of interviews early in the season from Texas/non-competitive schools and some interviews in Jan/Feb/March from other more competitive schools. Honestly, I wouldn't go study abroad with your stats; you probably want to be able to attend all your interviews possible.

If you really want to go study abroad, you COULD delay your interviews until February when you're back, but doing so would eliminate any advantage you had by applying early, and you'd probably be interviewing for a much more competitive pool of remaining seats. So in my opinion, studying abroad til August would be a better bet, since you could just delay any July/August interviews to September (which is still REALLY early)

 

[Megarooski]

If you really want to go study abroad, you COULD delay your interviews until February when you're back, but doing so would eliminate any advantage you had by applying early, and you'd probably be interviewing for a much more competitive pool of remaining seats.

I don't think OP plans on being abroad that long. The post makes it seem like he's planning for about 2 weeks. So he wouldn't be putting them off until February, he would just be moving them from early August to later August/September.

 

[DragonSalad]

No I am actually planning on going abroad long term. My two options are:

1. Until August 2016, but I don't prefer this - as I have a very attractive opportunity in Texas during this time.
2. After February 2017 until medical colleges start. This is what I prefer, but I'm not sure how much it would hurt me. It would not be possible to fly back for interviews.

Also I don't know that I'm going to spend too much time applying to OOS competitive schools anway. Just TMDSAS and low ranked ones OOS.

 

[MaxPlancker]

I was abroad the entire interview season this cycle (and currently am). I flew back a few times to do interviews in bunches (e.g. fly in, 10 interviews in 14 days, fly out; repeat). It would require both/either you get a ton of interviews and fit the ones you can into a compact period and/or the admissions office accommodating your schedule. I would recommend 1) schedule interviews ASAP while there are the most dates available 2) contact the office immediately if they do not fit your schedule 3) schedule them as geographically close back to back as possible and 4) send in the area emails to schools that are receptive. It is doable but can take a toll on you depending on your stamina (I had some where I finished an interview, hopped on the plane from west coast to east coast, hopped off the plane and went straight to my interview) and certainly expensive.

If you plan on applying to only TX schools, it seems very doable.

 

[DokterMom]

No I am actually planning on going abroad long term. My two options are:

1. Until August 2016, but I don't prefer this - as I have a very attractive opportunity in Texas during this time.
2. After February 2017 until medical colleges start. This is what I prefer, but I'm not sure how much it would hurt me. It would not be possible to fly back for interviews.

Also I don't know that I'm going to spend too much time applying to OOS competitive schools anway. Just TMDSAS and low ranked ones OOS.

If I recall the peak Texas interview season is August - November, with pre-match offers happening November thru year end. Then late interviews, generally for less-competitive applicants. The match is early to mid February, after which it's wait list trickle.

You've got a strong MCAT and very good GPA, so probably plenty of fall interviews and a few pre-match offers. So February 2017 would be a good time to go. Actually an August return wouldn't be bad either, so if your trip abroad would give you great things to talk about, consider that...

With your numbers, I see no need to apply OOS unless you've got a really good reason for wanting to apply elsewhere.