I’m trying to finalize my 4th year schedule and I can take 1 month off for interviewing, during which I’ll also take Step II CK.  What month would you guys recommend I take off?  When are the majority of interviews invitations sent now that it is no longer an early match? December?  January? 

Thanks.  I plan to also take a more laid back rotation during other interview heavy month(s) (e.g., neurorads, psych)

Any feedback is appreciated.

November, December, January were the heaviest months this year with October and February being lightest.  December can be kind of dense because of the holidays so there are more schedule conflicts.  I would take January off since its the month where you would have the most potential to interview.  Other people may disagree.

BrodieDurden - 23 April 2009 09:38 AM

I’m trying to finalize my 4th year schedule and I can take 1 month off for interviewing, during which I’ll also take Step II CK.  What month would you guys recommend I take off?  When are the majority of interviews invitations sent now that it is no longer an early match? December?  January? 

Thanks.  I plan to also take a more laid back rotation during other interview heavy month(s) (e.g., neurorads, psych)

Any feedback is appreciated.

I recommend taking off January, but understand you will have to be flexible depending on when you are offered interviews.

I also have similar question regarding interviews.
During the usual Christmas -New Year break ( around 12/20-1/10), is it safe to schedule a 2 weeks trip outside of country? Or are there interviews during that time as well?

Thank you.

Shanna - 23 April 2009 01:27 PM

I also have similar question regarding interviews.
During the usual Christmas -New Year break ( around 12/20-1/10), is it safe to schedule a 2 weeks trip outside of country? Or are there interviews during that time as well?

Thank you.

I had interviews on Jan 8,9th. I know there are some programs that interview on 12/20 as well.
Maybe think about shortening the time you are away.

Although the interview season will most likely change next year, here are a few tools that we used this past year when scheduling our interviews.  It’ll give you an idea of when most of the interviews occurred.

2008-2009 Interview dates on Google Calendar

2008-2009 Interview dates on Google Spreadsheet

SNS website on Match Information

The last link will most likely be updated with new interview dates once interview season approaches.

How many interviews did you guys do a week?  Like 2?

Did interview invites leave enough time to allow scheduling? 

How many interviews did you have to decline due to scheduling conflicts, etc?

Schophausen - 25 April 2009 07:32 AM

How many interviews did you guys do a week?  Like 2?
Did interview invites leave enough time to allow scheduling? 
How many interviews did you have to decline due to scheduling conflicts, etc?

1-3 per week

Not sure what you mean by the second question.

1 schedule conflict, 5 declines not do to schedule conflict

Schophausen - 25 April 2009 07:32 AM

How many interviews did you guys do a week?  Like 2?

Did interview invites leave enough time to allow scheduling? 

How many interviews did you have to decline due to scheduling conflicts, etc?

I had my schedule planed ahead of time to run like clockwork using the Google spreadsheet with only 2 transcontintental flights, and many strings of interviews within easy driving distance of each other. Invested a lot of time early on mapping out my schedule, but it was a great investment. Already knew exactly what date I wanted for each program so I could reply immediatly after getting each invite. Certain dates filled up within hours at some programs. When making my schedule I also created a google map of all the programs I had applied to in order to help create a logical itinerary. Without this it may not have been obvious, for example that Pittsburgh PA, is closer to Cleveland OH than Philidelpha PA, etc (OK, so I’ll admit my US geography was not the best, but it certainly improved!).

Did 4 interviews per week on 3 occasions, but had to miss 2 dinners (total) due to travel.
Declined 1 due to an advertised interview date I was relying on not eventually being offered
Declined 2 due to their interview dates not being advertised until late in the season, so had been unable to plan them into my schedule
Cancelled 3 to make time for second visits
Completed 20 interviews (+2 that had already been completed during Sub-Is) and 3 second visits. I could have physically completed about 43 if I had actually followed through on my originally mapped out schedule (admittedly spread from October to February). I had gotten it down to about 6 unavoidable conflicts (out of 51 programs I applied to), and a couple for which dates were unknown. I had been anticipating about a 50% invitation rate. Given it was much higher, I ended up cancelling / declining lots of interviews that I could have easily attended based on my schedule. Spent time just visiting family, etc, rather than attending some interviews I was already right next door to. I just felt I was doing everyone a disservice (wasting interviewer’s time and holding onto interview spots other applicants could use) if I attended more than ~20 interviews.

Always received invitations at least 3 weeks (sometimes months) in advance, so no problems having time to make the necessary travel arrangements. Given dates were already pencilled in on my schedule there was not much more to do after hearing from a program. I tried to let programs know as soon possible if I decided to cancel in case they may want to invite someone else.

We continually updated an UH thread (below) with a list of all the programs that had sent out invitations, and one that had sent out rejections. This helped with planning if it seemed evident you had missed the boat at a certain program. Note however, some programs sent their invitations out in multiple batches, something we eventually also started trying to document by including invite dates that could be added to.

2009 interview invitations
2009 rejections

Something we didn’t do, but I think would have been helpful is establish a message board of people interested in sharing transportation between certain cities, or interested in sharing accomodation. There were multiple times when I left an interview having learned that others besides myself were heading in their own seperate rental cars to the exact same next destination. Occasionally, I found that a bus or train made more sense than a flight or a 1-way car rental - not options I had originally considered.

Thanks for the responses.

How many interviews did you guys have to rent a car for?  I’m just trying to figure out how much dough I’m going to need to go on ~20 interviews, and so far I’m budgeting $500 ($300 for flight, $100 for hotel, $100 incidentals) per interview, or $10k total.  Is that a good estimation?

Thanks stem cell! 
This sounds like an excellent strategy.

Does anyone know when interview dates for 2010 will be posted?

1. They were posted by SNS this year in August.  So maybe the same next year, maybe later if more programs push their interview schedules back to align with the regular match.  New dates are added and some dates drop though, so nothing is set in stone. 

2.  I think that if you 20 interviews, 10k is a reasonable budget but, I would say that you would need to be able to drive to 5 of them, and have hotels paid (Memphis, BNI, Peoria) for or stay with friends at a couple as well.  If you interview in NYC, Miami, or LA I would expect to budget more for the interviews and enjoy yourself an extra day or two.  A good idea for a new thread would be to post tips on how to cut costs.  I found that bidding on priceline sometimes got me $350/night rooms for 90-100 bucks.  A $150 hotel room for $50-75.  If you are under 25 as I was, if you rent from alamo or national, use the coporate code AMSA and they give you 10% off and waive the underage driver fee.  Avoid renting a car as much as possible, I rented a car in Miami wound up using it only to drive to and from the airport.  I could have had a limo take me for less.  If you make friends during sub-Is, you may be able to eak out some roommates during the season, most rooms I slept in a room with two beds by myself.  If you use southwest as much as I did, I got 2 rapid rewards tickets and a 250 dollar voucher.  Most of the places I went, Southwest was cheaper, but for some cities it is not. 

3.  I’d bet most people who did >15 interviews probably felt they over interviewed.  I know I did.  Caution though that even though I would probably do half as many interviews as I did if I had to do it again, three of my top 5 ranks were the last three interviews I did and it was a lot of the early interviews that in retrospect were low yield.  A lot of the first programs to respond are places that are less desirable and when you have no idea how many interviews you’ll get, you’ve already been to 5 places you didn’t like before you start hearing from the places you actually want. 

4.  The week I did 3 interviews was no fun.  In retrospect, others may dissent, but I think that if you can’t make it to an interview dinner, consider making cancellations before, after, rescheduling, or not going because I felt that the dinners I missed were the hardest programs for me to gauge.

5.  Most programs gave invitations with 3 week - 3 month notice.  In reality though, I planned an entire three day trip to NYC, including hotel and airfare with less than 36hrs of my interview used a rapid reward ticket, and got a tremendous deal on Priceline.  So last minutes trips can work if you have open time.

mrb - 25 April 2009 06:14 PM

A good idea for a new thread would be to post tips on how to cut costs.

Well, while we’re on the topic:

I’d estimate I spent just under $10,000 on the interview trail for 20 programs + 3 second visits, but I haven’t calculated an exact figure. I know people who spent about $10,000 on 12 interviews. I would say I took fairly great pains to minimize costs.
1) Find your own cheap hotel. Programs often provided or recommended “reduced” rates for convenient hotels. These were usually ~$80+ per night. I basically avoided all of these (after my first interview), and made friends with Motel 6 - doesn’t show up on priceline, but usually if the cheapest hotel I could find in a city on priceline was $60, I could find a motel 6 for $40, or sometimes less. If I had coordinated with other people, that could have gotten even lower, as I usually had 2 beds. Some smelled like smoke, most did not. I think I accomplished about the same amount of REM sleep as I would have for twice or three times the price. Note that motel6 does not have an iron in each room. If you have a shirt that doensn’t wrinkle too badly (essential anyway), hang it, and your suit if needed, on the end of the shower curtain railing, to catch some humidity before you get dressed. Works wonders. Of course, if you have friends or family you can stay with, or if you meet fellow applicants and can stay at each other’s places in the appropriate cities, this is the best!
2) Name your own price (in priceline.com) . Did this for car rentals (and also some hotels), and with some persistent bidding, often got a car for ~60% of the lowest price I could find on any website. Occasionally I could bid for a hotel to be cheaper than motel6. Though I would sometimes rent a car for a single interview, public transportation often made more sense. I did most of my driving in the northeast where there are a preponderance of programs within several hours drive of each other. A ten day car rental cost me $160 and saw me through 6 interviews in a nice cirucuit from NYC and back. When I had a car, I could also eat pretty cheaply with access to supermarkets and Taco Bell, etc (I know - beneath the dignitiy of some). Be aware that one way car rentals are often much more expensive. Also watch out for parking. Brigham parking was $60 a day. I should have parked out of the city and taken the trolley in for $3. I personally liked having a car so I could explore the city to get a feel for whether or not it was somewhere I thought I’d like to live.
3) Ask for a date that works for you… While this is probably not recommended at most places, there were a couple of places I requested to visit on a non-scheduled date. Responses ranged from “Great - please come,” to receiving an email of rejection (even after being invited!). If it’s somewhere you would otherwise have to cancel but you’d like to check it out, there is no harm in trying. You probably won’t meet everyone, but you may get to see more how the place functions on a daily basis.
4) Southwest, as noted above. The reality of interviewing is that you sometimes need to change your itinerary. Most airlines charge $150 to make any kind of change. Southwest gives you 100% credit for any canceled flight, which you can then apply toward another flight. I got burned pretty badly trying to make changes for second visits using other airlines. Even if southwest is a few dollars more (usually its cheaper), it gives you peace of mind to know you can make adjustments as needed without breaking the bank. One time when I added a program to my itinerary, I tried to use the return portion of a previously purchased round-trip flight. I hadn’t bothered trying to cancel the outbound part, in order to avoid the $150 fee. However, given I didn’t show up for the outbound, they canceled my return (without bothering to notify me), so then I ended up having to buy a new ticket. Was not pleased. If you can’t use Southwest, I found http://www.Kayak.com a very helpful website, as you can restrict your search to exact times etc very easily, helping to determine if squeezing in program X will be possible, etc. Booking directly through the airline can avoid the booking fees (and additional change fees) associated with Orbitz, travelocity and expedia.
5) GPS: If you are going to be doing any driving, you will save yourself a lot of sleep and headaches if you don’t have to worry about maps, directions, or getting totally lost if you take a wrong turn. I bought a basic refurbished Garmin on sale for $120 before launching out on the trail. Best investment I ever made. Along the same lines, if you don’t currently have internet acces on your phone, this for me was invaluable. I never had to print anything out. All flight itineraries, hotel reservations and interview addresses were in the palm of my hand at all times. Moreover, interview invitations that come in while on the trail can be accepted in a timely manner, even if you’re in the middle of lunch at another program.
6) Don’t check luggage. Unless you are flying SW, for which checked luggage is still free, most others charge $15 per bag. This adds up pretty fast, plus you have to worry about things getting lost. I used family on the East coast as a home base for basically 2 months. Thus, checked a bag to get that far, with books for USMLE study, etc, but from there just did trips with a carry-on.
7) NYC: Taxis and hotels can drain your savings in no time. After my first NYC interview, which cost an arm and a leg, I started using youth hostels ($19 for a bed in a shared room, usually with a bunch of European tourists); bring your own padlock and you can lock your stuff up for free (I know, hostels and shared bathrooms are not for everyone). I probably should have used hostels in Chicago as well. The NY subway system can get you anywhere in a reasonable amount of time for $2.
8) As I noted previously, train or bus were sometimes cheaper and more convenient than a flight if I couldn’t work it into a round trip driving circuit. With Amtrak, you also get a power outlet for your laptop.
9) Deduct your expenses: If you have an income (eg, MD/PhD students), you can claim your expenses before the new year on taxes; everyone can claim expenses after the new year from their PGY1 income the following year.
10) While I agree with the comments by mrb above, every situation is unique. The program I ended up ranking #1 / matching at, was my 4th interview for the week and a program at which I had not been able to attend the dinner due to a late night flight in from my prior interview. I would agree, however, that I learned more about most programs during the dinner with the residents than from any other part of the visit. However, even if you can’t make the dinner, still go and make the most of your visit.

Was 22 program (total) too many? Sure. Even with hindsight, however, I’d probably still do about 20, though perhaps at a slightly different selection of programs. I found visiting the different programs quite fun and very educational, though I know others were ready for the psych ward after 7. I guess it depends how much you like travelling, meeting new people, refining an over-rehearsed script, and eating (usually) good food. If you applied to 50 programs and only got 15 interviews, you should probably go to all 15. If you applied to 50 programs and got 50 interviews, you’re probably fairly safe doing <10 unless you really want to do more, or don’t interview well. I will note that 2 of the top 4 programs on my rank list were programs I would not have visited had I only done 8-10 interviews. There is much more to a program than its reputation, and to fully appreciate that, you may need to visit in person.

Thank you for the useful tips!
Ever think about publishing a guide book for “matching into neurosurgery”? I’d buy it.

I actually used carrentals.com and found their prices to be just as cheap and sometimes cheaper than princeline’s name your own price.  Plus, carrentals.com allows you to cancel your reservation without any sort of fee.  Also make sure you look for coupons for the cheapest companies you find on carrentals.com and then reserve the car directly from the website with the additional coupon.  I didn’t know this until I started interviewing, but prices for rental cars change pretty frequently (and pretty drastically).  There were numerous times where I made a reservation and the price went down by 20-30 bucks a few weeks later (so I just canceled my old reservation and made a new one).  For those students who will be younger than 25 when they interview (like I was), the best company to go with is Enterprise.  They only charge 10 extra dollars per day for underage drivers (as opposed to 20-30 for all the other companies). 

Stay with friends and family as much as possible.  I initially put aside about 10k for interviews, but probably spent much closer to 5k (I only stayed in a hotel for 4/14 of my interviews and only paid for 3 of them).  My school has a HOST program that has alumni house students, so find out if your school has one.  Also, keep in contact with the people you know who have recently graduated and don’t feel shy in asking them if you can stay over.  The worst that can happen is they say no.  They will understand and remember how expensive the whole process was and won’t think any less of you if you ask.

One thing that many applicants could save money on would be to share hotel rooms.  A room with 2 twin sized beds costs the same as a room with 1 king sized bed.  If we could create some sort of matching system so that applicants could contact each other prior to interviews so that they could share rooms, it would decrease the costs tremendously.  Perhaps a wiki for each program where applicants leave the day they are interviewing and their contact information.  Applicants could also easily edit the wiki right after their interview to write their impressions about the program (instead of having the multiple threads that we have now).

During our school’s application work-up meeting, we were told that interview starts around Oct. and Nov. But I’m planning on doing externship during this time. What happenes if you get invites during your externships? Do programs always provide alternative dates? If so, going early and late interview, which is better ?

Please advise. Thank you