I had a question for the recent applicants. I am trying to figure out the estimated cost of away rotations and interviewing. I have heard anywhere from $6K to 12K from random sources. But since you have been through this, I figured I’d ask you.
How much will it cost for:
40 applications
TWO away rotations at private and out-of-state schools (let’s say 4 wks and 2 wks, respectively)
Plane tickets, lodging, etc. for 17 interviews (if the NSG gods will it, of course)
I will stay with my family for my 4 week away rotation. And can probably stay with friends/relatives for 1/3 of the interviews. I just tried to figure it out and my calculator spit out ~$15K. I have been saving up for a long time and was hoping to put my eggs into a condo.... but that’s not going to happen if I have to drop that much on interviews.... Am I totally off?
2 aways (rotations are free) if you can drive your car there, that’s even better. the main cost will be housing. since you can live with family, there’s basically no cost.
estimate ~$400-700 per interview (~$200-400 for plane tickets, ~100 per night of hotel except some interviews force you to take 2 or even 3 nights of hotel) you can cut down somewhat on this cost if you can crash with friends and/or room up with fellow applicants. Plus if some programs (like your home program) are within driving distance, then you can save on plane tickets and hotel.
I did close to what you did: 40 applications, two away rotations far, far away from home (I went to school in florida and ended up doing sub-I’s in california and washington), factor in all the incidentals and the 340 dollar dinner (met the hottest chick on the trail and she was worth every penny) and I ended up with a 9,780 dollar tab down to the last cent. So 10 k should do it.
40 apps
2 aways (both on the other side of the country)
16 interviews
My total cost was between $5-6k. Granted that was in 2000, and gas and plane tickets are a lot more expensive now. I stayed in dormitory housing on the aways. I drove wherever I could (generally flew if >600 miles one-way). On the interviews, I stayed in crappy motels, and generally found Indian or Chinese carry-out for dinners.
All told, if you go on the cheap like I had to, and allowing for the higher travel costs now, you could probably make it for $8k. But don’t start cutting corners because of the cost; remember this is an important investment in your future.
24 apps, 21 offers, 12 interviews (mostly in the South)
1 away
drove to 3 interviews, flew to 9 interviews and rented cars
1 interview payed for hotel, stayed with host at 1 other, all others had good corporate rates
**Southwest Airlines is definately the cheapest if you can arrange it**
I spent about 9-10K by finding the best deals and being conservative.
I went to about 20 interviews. It cost me $6000. Plane tickets were not the major expense. Most were one way flights under $200. Hotel and rental cars hit my wallet the hardest. Use http://www.carrentals.com/. Also, make sure you get some kind of portable GPS navigation (like a Garmin Nuvi). It will save you a lot of time and stress. Borrow one if you don’t own one. Try to crash with friends whenever possible. If you have to stay at a hotel go for the cheapest hotel possible. All you need is a bed, a shower and an iron. When you fly, do not under any circumstance check in any bags. You are only asking for disaster. I got everything to fit in a two-piece carry-on. Worst case scenario, if your carry-on doesn’t fit in the overhead (like on some small planes), you can always gate check. Wear the same suit and casual dinner attire everywhere. You’re not going to see the same interviewer twice. Get detergent travel packets with a sink stopper. I washed my clothes in hotel sinks between interviews. I had no lost luggage, no late appearances, no missed flights, and no missed interviews. I matched at one of my top 3.
