Interview Day Overlap

[kcfab12]

If 4-5 programs that you apply to have the same interview date, are you supposed to immediately accept the first invite and then request alternate dates if you get invites at the other places? Or is it safe to inquire at the place that you were first invited about alternate dates/Skype interviews?

I'm just not sure what the protocol is regarding all of this interview overlap, and while I know I won't be getting interviews to all of them, I just don't know how to navigate it when all of the dates have been posted. 

[Stressed&CoffeeObsessed]

17 minutes ago, kcfab12 said:

If 4-5 programs that you apply to have the same interview date, are you supposed to immediately accept the first invite and then request alternate dates if you get invites at the other places? Or is it safe to inquire at the place that you were first invited about alternate dates/Skype interviews?

I'm just not sure what the protocol is regarding all of this interview overlap, and while I know I won't be getting interviews to all of them, I just don't know how to navigate it when all of the dates have been posted. 

This just happened to me. I got interviews at 2 places (one Tuesday and one today) who have the same dates. I accepted the first one when it came and had to request an alternate day for the second because I’d already committed to the first. My gut feeling is to accept whenever someone invites you if you want to go; I wouldn’t ask about alternate dates right out the gate without a previously confirmed interview date unless that’s one of your lower choices. I’d worry it conveys that they’re not important to you. Just my thought process though! 

[hopefulgrad2019]

39 minutes ago, kcfab12 said:

If 4-5 programs that you apply to have the same interview date, are you supposed to immediately accept the first invite and then request alternate dates if you get invites at the other places? Or is it safe to inquire at the place that you were first invited about alternate dates/Skype interviews?

I'm just not sure what the protocol is regarding all of this interview overlap, and while I know I won't be getting interviews to all of them, I just don't know how to navigate it when all of the dates have been posted. 

Most programs will give you a deadline for when you have to accept the interview so of course thank them for the invite and express your excitement but they KNOW people applied multiple places so you don’t need to agree right away. You can wait until closer to the deadline and then if you get other invites, go in person for the one you’re most interested in. This happened to me last year and the program I asked to skype interview for never even followed up with me (after I followed up multiple times) but now I’m a student where I did interview! It’s really important to go in person to your top choice, not just who invited you first. 
 

editing to add you should never schedule then cancel an interview but if you can wait to accept, that’s respectful as long as you give you decision by the deadline. 

Edited December 19, 2019 by hopefulgrad2019
Clarification

[devpsych2020]

I second @Stressed&CoffeeObsessed on respecting the schools that you've already scheduled for (unless the later invitation is from your  top choices). I've read a few posts about this and everyone seemed to recommend doing so to be fair (again, although you should tots favor your top choices) because schools know that the appealing applicants will receive/have multiple interview invitations.

I actually just had such clash happen this week and I easily asked for an alternative skype interview for the later invitation because it was from a school that I am a little less enthusiastic about. 

[PokePsych]

And just to chip in - having the other school know that there are multiple interviews is NOT necessarily a bad thing. It partly validates that they were right to invite you because you were obviously a good candidate. 

[PsyZei]

Thank you for asking about this. I haven't had overlap yet, thankfully, but was also wondering how to best navigate the situation if it does.

[kcfab12]

Thanks everyone! I appreciate it!!

[Modulus]

Does anyone have any insight on how to communicate to a pi/University that they really are on equal footing with me at this point? There are only a few places on my list that I rank lower than the others up front. Most places I have applied I know the PI and we have a great research match so I've been scheduling interviews as they come in and not counting any chickens before they hatch.  How do I communicate to the schools I'm equally interested in at this point that my need to schedule an alternative interview day is not an indication of preference?

[Clinapp2017]

19 minutes ago, Modulus said:

Does anyone have any insight on how to communicate to a pi/University that they really are on equal footing with me at this point? There are only a few places on my list that I rank lower than the others up front. Most places I have applied I know the PI and we have a great research match so I've been scheduling interviews as they come in and not counting any chickens before they hatch.  How do I communicate to the schools I'm equally interested in at this point that my need to schedule an alternative interview day is not an indication of preference?

Schools that move too slow understand you've already booked another interview. You can just say that you are still very much interested in the new school inviting you, but unfortunately you've already accepted another interview offer and made travel accommodations. If they are a reasonable school, they'll understand. 

[yikespsych]

I'm having this issue right now. Briefly - I have confirmed interviews for schools A and B. School C invited to me interview on the same day as school B, and their alternate date is the day before school B. I could maybe make it work for school C if I miss the dinner/party the night before for school B, but I'm hesitant to do this as I don't want it to send the wrong message to school B... any advice? Should I just turn down the interview for school C altogether?

This is my second year applying and I was absolutely not expecting to have this issue. It's also baffling that I've seen 5-10 other schools that have scheduled their interviews for this same day....

 

[Modulus]

1 hour ago, yikespsych said:

I'm having this issue right now. Briefly - I have confirmed interviews for schools A and B. School C invited to me interview on the same day as school B, and their alternate date is the day before school B. I could maybe make it work for school C if I miss the dinner/party the night before for school B, but I'm hesitant to do this as I don't want it to send the wrong message to school B... any advice? Should I just turn down the interview for school C altogether?

This is my second year applying and I was absolutely not expecting to have this issue. It's also baffling that I've seen 5-10 other schools that have scheduled their interviews for this same day....

 

Is it Jan 31st? It's like some sort of conspiracy to not let us interview...

Edited December 21, 2019 by Modulus
Typo

[yikespsych]

26 minutes ago, Modulus said:

Is it Jan 31st? It's like some sort of conspiracy to not let us interview...

February 7th! But yeah, feels that way.

[hermm]

4 hours ago, Modulus said:

Is it Jan 31st? It's like some sort of conspiracy to not let us interview...

Right?! The 31st (and February 7th for that matter) seem to be the date of choice for all my programs.

[Scared StringBean]

Okay y'all I need help! I was admitted to a program this past week that has an admit weekend in Feb. Two potential advisors from this program already emailed me, and I responded saying I will be at this admit weekend. However, I woke up this morning to an email from a professor at another school (kind of like dream school and possibly dream advisor) to come to an interview the same weekend.  I would hate to tell the profs at the school I already got accepted into that I can't make it after all, but I also worry that asking for another day for the interview school will look bad. My current mentor said to tell the professor at the dream school that I have a conflict, but if there is no other time to interview, that I can make arrangements to come to their interview weekend. Anyone else got thoughts on what to do?

[PokePsych]

8 hours ago, Scared StringBean said:

Okay y'all I need help! I was admitted to a program this past week that has an admit weekend in Feb. Two potential advisors from this program already emailed me, and I responded saying I will be at this admit weekend. However, I woke up this morning to an email from a professor at another school (kind of like dream school and possibly dream advisor) to come to an interview the same weekend.  I would hate to tell the profs at the school I already got accepted into that I can't make it after all, but I also worry that asking for another day for the interview school will look bad. My current mentor said to tell the professor at the dream school that I have a conflict, but if there is no other time to interview, that I can make arrangements to come to their interview weekend. Anyone else got thoughts on what to do?

What your current mentor says. Academics should know how to navigate this a ton better than people on an online forum. 

[Scared StringBean]

42 minutes ago, Psygeek said:

What your current mentor says. Academics should know how to navigate this a ton better than people on an online forum. 

What a mood! Thanks, I did exactly that but was second guessing everything lol. 

[PokePsych]

9 minutes ago, Scared StringBean said:

What a mood! Thanks, I did exactly that but was second guessing everything lol. 

That's natural (: But don't make yourself crazy. Schools know this can happen. Profs now this can happen. All it says is that you're a desirable candidate, so any person common second will feel validated

[devpsych2020]

On 12/21/2019 at 9:16 PM, Psygeek said:

That's natural ? But don't make yourself crazy. Schools know this can happen. Profs now this can happen. All it says is that you're a desirable candidate, so any person common second will feel validated

Do you have any recommendation on how to deliver the message to the prior school? Just be honest and say that I now have to rearrange/cancel your school's event cause I want to go to another schools ??

[ineedcoffee]

I recently was invited by two schools (across the country from each other ?). The first is from Wed- (technically) Friday, whereas the other one is all day Friday (with optional dinner on Thursday). I asked the first school if it was possible to shorten their interview schedule to Wed-Thursday so that I could fly out Thursday night to other location... they seem to go for it! I was honest and said that I already had a commitment to another interview day but their program was a top priority to me.

Wish me luck though -- here's to hoping for no delays those three days.

[SandpaperTongue]

I recently accepted interview invites for two schools that fall on the same week. Luckily, School A is scheduled Thursday to Saturday, and School B is scheduled Sunday to Monday. These schools are located on completely opposite sides of the U.S., so I will be spending Saturday flying from School A to School B. Both schools are reimbursing me for flights. However, I’m not sure how the reimbursement process would work since I’m flying from one interview to another. Has anyone been in or will be in a similar situation where they fly from one interview to another? How did or will the reimbursement process work? I plan on speaking with the program coordinators of both schools and asking them about the best way to go about this, but I figured it may be worth a shot to post here and see if someone had ever been or will be in a similar situation. 

[scared_and_a_freud]

36 minutes ago, SandpaperTongue said:

I recently accepted interview invites for two schools that fall on the same week. Luckily, School A is scheduled Thursday to Saturday, and School B is scheduled Sunday to Monday. These schools are located on completely opposite sides of the U.S., so I will be spending Saturday flying from School A to School B. Both schools are reimbursing me for flights. However, I’m not sure how the reimbursement process would work since I’m flying from one interview to another. Has anyone been in or will be in a similar situation where they fly from one interview to another? How did or will the reimbursement process work? I plan on speaking with the program coordinators of both schools and asking them about the best way to go about this, but I figured it may be worth a shot to post here and see if someone had ever been or will be in a similar situation. 

Hey this literally just happened to me! I spoke to the coordinator at school A and told them about my situation and they said that it would be fine to fly me to school B instead of a return flight home. I informed school B that I would only need them to pay for my flight home because of the other school (which worked out well since school B had limited funds for my travel). It never hurts to ask!

[justacigar]

As a clinical applicant listening to you talk about getting reimbursed for flights....

Edited January 10, 2020 by justacigar

[SandpaperTongue]

11 minutes ago, scared_and_a_freud said:

Hey this literally just happened to me! I spoke to the coordinator at school A and told them about my situation and they said that it would be fine to fly me to school B instead of a return flight home. I informed school B that I would only need them to pay for my flight home because of the other school (which worked out well since school B had limited funds for my travel). It never hurts to ask!

Thanks for your reply! I figure this is a common occurrence, but I haven't seen any posts covering this topic.  I'll reach out to School A next week and inquire about this. Also, I'm in cognitive, but I'll be interviewing at Utah during the same weekend as you. 

[scared_and_a_freud]

1 minute ago, SandpaperTongue said:

Thanks for your reply! I figure this is a common occurrence, but I haven't seen any posts covering this topic.  I'll reach out to School A next week and inquire about this. Also, I'm in cognitive, but I'll be interviewing at Utah during the same weekend as you. 

YAYYYY is your first interview with Utah, because they were my school A and were so so kind about helping me figure out those travel arrangements 

[amazingbutternutsquash]

On 1/6/2020 at 11:34 AM, ineedcoffee said:

I recently was invited by two schools (across the country from each other ?). The first is from Wed- (technically) Friday, whereas the other one is all day Friday (with optional dinner on Thursday). I asked the first school if it was possible to shorten their interview schedule to Wed-Thursday so that I could fly out Thursday night to other location... they seem to go for it! I was honest and said that I already had a commitment to another interview day but their program was a top priority to me.

Wish me luck though -- here's to hoping for no delays those three days.

I'm really glad you posted this! You gave me hope, lol. Two of my interviews are going to overlap, but I'm not ready to throw out either program if I can help it (I know I won't accept an offer without visiting -- that just seems like a bad idea). 

Also, I had a colleague who applied last year who said certain schools were willing to let her interview on other weekends by herself. Has anyone else heard of this/know of a tactful way of asking about it? I didn't apply to any schools I wasn't sincerely interested in, and ideally I'd like to visit any that give me the opportunity.