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My friend did this. Is it hard to do so?
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Working abroad entire application cycle
- Thread starter medhopeful14
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Yes, that was a stupid decision. I've heard of people going abroad for a month or two during the cycle, but being away for the entire cycle is a whole other thing. Even in the event that you can take time off to return to the US for interviews, the cost of air fare is going to start building up astronomically fast, especially if you're a desirable applicant. Not to mention the jet lag and fatigue from constant travel that may be a factor in your interviewing skills.
If money's not an object and you are actually able to take time off to return to the States for one, two, or even more interviews, then go wild. It's your money and time, and I can't tell you what to do with it. Otherwise, I strongly suggest reconsidering either this job or your application. The way I see it, it has to be one or the other.
If money's not an object and you are actually able to take time off to return to the States for one, two, or even more interviews, then go wild. It's your money and time, and I can't tell you what to do with it. Otherwise, I strongly suggest reconsidering either this job or your application. The way I see it, it has to be one or the other.
How many secondaries did you submit? Are there some schools you have a very high chance at on your list?
I have been in grad school abroad for a year and will continue to do so until next summer, but I only applied to schools in my state (3 schools) and tailored my application very specifically for those schools. I'm very confident I will get interviews at 2/3 of them (got one so far), the third is a toss-up. Which means I'm coming back for a max of 3 interviews. Point is if you are abroad and not extremely wealthy you need to be very choosy with your interviews. Would have been better if you could have set your application up that way, but I would recommend picking a few schools that you are very competitive at to return to interviews for, should you be invited.
Is what you are going abroad for a serious part of your eventual career path? If it's just "a job" or an adventure, you don't have a lot of money, and you want to get in to med school this year, maybe reconsider. But none of us have all of your details--maybe this job is paying well enough that you will do better financially to take it and dish out the extra money for interviews?
Things to think about regarding traveling back for interviews specifically:
-set up some sort of miles reward program/credit card.
-make sure you are able to take the time off from your job, depending where you are coming from this may be as much as 3 business days per interview (and that's assuming the interview falls on a monday or friday and you can use the weekend for travel).
-make sure to send "in the area" emails or phone calls for schools that are near to each other. I think this is appropriate especially for students coming from abroad.
-plan around jet lag, try to arrive a couple days before your interview if at all possible. If you are coming from europe/africa/mid east this might be less of a big deal, I've always found it easier to adjust coming back to the states than heading this direction. Obviously coming from south america should be even easier. (although that 30-minute Hugo Chavez timezone offset coming from Venezuela can be brutal, let me tell ya.)
-I really like skyscanner.com, geziko, and if those fail, kayak for finding flights.
Would you mind telling us where you are headed?
I have been in grad school abroad for a year and will continue to do so until next summer, but I only applied to schools in my state (3 schools) and tailored my application very specifically for those schools. I'm very confident I will get interviews at 2/3 of them (got one so far), the third is a toss-up. Which means I'm coming back for a max of 3 interviews. Point is if you are abroad and not extremely wealthy you need to be very choosy with your interviews. Would have been better if you could have set your application up that way, but I would recommend picking a few schools that you are very competitive at to return to interviews for, should you be invited.
Is what you are going abroad for a serious part of your eventual career path? If it's just "a job" or an adventure, you don't have a lot of money, and you want to get in to med school this year, maybe reconsider. But none of us have all of your details--maybe this job is paying well enough that you will do better financially to take it and dish out the extra money for interviews?
Things to think about regarding traveling back for interviews specifically:
-set up some sort of miles reward program/credit card.
-make sure you are able to take the time off from your job, depending where you are coming from this may be as much as 3 business days per interview (and that's assuming the interview falls on a monday or friday and you can use the weekend for travel).
-make sure to send "in the area" emails or phone calls for schools that are near to each other. I think this is appropriate especially for students coming from abroad.
-plan around jet lag, try to arrive a couple days before your interview if at all possible. If you are coming from europe/africa/mid east this might be less of a big deal, I've always found it easier to adjust coming back to the states than heading this direction. Obviously coming from south america should be even easier. (although that 30-minute Hugo Chavez timezone offset coming from Venezuela can be brutal, let me tell ya.)
-I really like skyscanner.com, geziko, and if those fail, kayak for finding flights.
Would you mind telling us where you are headed?
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Hi,
I also spent a year abroad when I was considering my first application cycle and if I had to give myself advice it would be to not even waste the money or time. You will miss out on so many things about living abroad if you're spending all your time doing applications, and you will not be able to put together the best application you possibly could if you're not even on the same time zone as the schools/people you're talking to for rec letters etc. I would take the time to do living abroad right, then come back and write all about it for your secondaries. 🙂
I also spent a year abroad when I was considering my first application cycle and if I had to give myself advice it would be to not even waste the money or time. You will miss out on so many things about living abroad if you're spending all your time doing applications, and you will not be able to put together the best application you possibly could if you're not even on the same time zone as the schools/people you're talking to for rec letters etc. I would take the time to do living abroad right, then come back and write all about it for your secondaries. 🙂
