Backing out of an Interview

[cabbysaurus]

About two weeks ago, I got invited to visit and interview at a school (school A). I was really excited, as it was the first school I heard from and is a very good school. I did not commit right away (based on advice I saw here), but had to let them know this week and said that I would attend. 

This morning, I was invited to visit another school (school B) on the same days as school A. I think that I would rather attend school B than school A, plus would only need to take two days off of work vs. the three I would need to visit school A. However, I know it will look bad if I cancel on school A now.

I'm wondering how I should go about handling this situation. I realize that it will negatively affect my admissions decision at whichever school I choose not to visit, but just want to ensure that I turn down one (preferably school A) in the most respectful way possible.

[hockeyref24]

It will not impact your admissions decision if you tell school B that you need an alternative interview date. Schools understand that you may have commitments that you cannot back out of. This is the reason that schools offer ~4-5 interview weekends. My advice, take both interviews and ask school B if there is an alternative weekend that you can visit. 

[TakeruK]

You have two choices:

1. Ask school B if they will allow you to interview on a different date. If they have alternate dates, then you should be able to attend both interviews with no negative effect.

2. Take school B's offer and ask School A to reschedule. This would likely negatively affect your chances with A, but if you have just accepted A's offer and they have not yet booked anything, it could be possible.

You could also try #1 first and then #2 if B has no alternate dates. The longer you wait though, the less likely #2 will work though. If you want to make sure you get to B on the original date (for whatever reason), then I'd try to reschedule A sooner rather than later!