Turning down interviews??

[lost-in-interpretation]

Hey guys! I'm at a complete loss of what to do! I ended up getting invited to more interviews than I expected (8), with some on the same day. Is it sensible to still try and visit every school or should I just flat out say no to the bottom couple of schools to save both them and me time? Of course, for the ones on the same day, I'll visit the school I want most for their official visit, and visit the other schools separately.

[lyonessrampant]

Yikes! First, congrats on being a victim of your own success! Next, if I were you, I think it is fair to decline the interview for the programs that, well, have an iceberg's chance in hell of being the program you select. That saves them and you time and it lets them talk to potentially a waitlist candidate faster. Good luck and I hope you find the program that suits you the best!

[khasiv]

As far as I'm aware, it's okay to not go to some interviews, especially if they're toward the bottom of your list. A good ratio of keep to total would be 5/8, if you have to throw out the bottom ones--since I'm assuming you still haven't been accepted, so you will want a bit of a cushion. Certainly people withdraw their applications at all stages of the process.

[lost-in-interpretation]

Thanks for the advice! Man, I'm so torn... the people at the "bottom" schools are being especially coaxing in their e-mails... :-/ And I don't wanna be all cocky and reject 2-3 schools and then suddenly not get into the ones I was aiming for. Aghhh so confuuuuussseeddd. I changed my mind in the past 10 minutes and might try to hit up everywhere... I mean I don't have anything better to do in my time (coming home from study abroad for a month just to do these interviews).

[khasiv]

I only did three last year (all spaced about a week apart from each other) and was pretty exhausted. Depending on how many days these interviews are a piece, you may regret trying to do all of them, unless you're made of stamina and can do the Tour Guide Barbie from Toy Story 2 thing. If you can, stack as many as you think you can tolerate.

[lost-in-interpretation]

Good advice! I guess it's easy to think "mehh I can handle it" while I'm still all cozy and getting good sleep and not stressing about much. I stupidly planned a trip with my friends to a resort without knowing when these interviews would happen, and also applied to a conference. So my schedule is looking like

2-day resort trip -> 14 hour flight to America the next day-> visit 1,2,3,4,5 (stopping at home for a couple of days between each one) -> random conference in random European country for 4 days or so -> visit 6,7,8 -> next day 14-hour flight back to study abroad

or something like that

Whee funnnnn! I mean I guess it's inevitable I'll have to do the 2-3 day visits for my top schools, but I think I'll try to keep it to quick 1-day things with the others and sleep in my bed at home. Luckily all of these schools are within a 2-3 hour train ride / flight from me. Also I don't have anything to do when I'm just chilling at home anyways.

[laurend]

Try to keep them as spread out as possible! I just had my first interview last week and had a blast, but was soo drained when I got home. I am just now feeling like I am getting over it and have to go somewhere else friday. I have 5 interviews set up and am concerned about my stamina for that! If you can set up 3-4 of your 8 that are one day, that would be GREAT! Mine on friday is just one day and I am so pumped to be able to drive home at the end of the day.

[ZeChocMoose]

I agree on the fact that these interview weekends are exhausting. I tried to do 5 when I was applying for my master's degree and I ended up withdrawing from one because I was so exhausted by the time it came around and it was the school that I was the least interested in. All of my interview weekends were typically 2.5 to 3 days and only two were close enough that I was able to drive my car there. I was also working full time so I was trying to catch up with my work and prepare for the weekends so it eventually became extremely tricky. Good luck and congrats

[phoenix245]

Maybe some schools would let you have a Skype interview instead? If you have a long distance to travel you can totally justify it..

[caezar86]

You could probably also try to find out the acceptance rate of the interviewers of the top schools you're interested in so you can decide if it's relatively safe to drop some of the "bottom" schools. Some "interviews" are more of a recruitment day, and pretty much mean you're a shoo-in as long as you're not completely catatonic and can speak English when you actually show up.