Two interview 'weekends' within a day of one another

[bicsy]

Does anyone have experience with doing back to back recruitment visits? I have an interview weekend planned for Jan 28-30, and I just got another invite for a Jan. 31-Feb. 2 interview with another program. 

The latter program is definitely in my top 3 and there's no way I'm turning it down. Will I be too burnt out? I know the answer to that question depends solely on my own personality, but any insight would be nice. How do I best prepare myself for them?

[fuzzylogician]

I did four in a row in about two weeks, with 1-2 days off here and there. I was supposed to go on a 5th visit as well, but I decided not to go because it was too much and I already knew what my top two choices were. I came from overseas so I was only going to go once. I flew out to the West Coast, then worked my way back east, then back home. I can't say it was the most enjoyable, but it's doable. It's definitely not ideal, so if you can move one of them, you should try. If not, maybe you can have fewer things scheduled on the 30th and 31st, so you can catch your breath there in the middle. 

[bicsy]

Oh my gosh, you deserve a medal for that. Good to know that it's doable! 

If you don't mind me asking, how did the 5th program take it when you didn't attend their interview?

@fuzzylogician

[fuzzylogician]

Well, I was visiting a school in New York so it was toward the end of my trip, and I really felt like I needed a day off. This school that I chose not to visit was in New Jersey. It was good, but not the best fit for me. By that point I had already decided what my top two choices were, and they were not that school. I wrote the faculty member who had been in touch with me to let her know I was going to cancel my visit. Turned out she lived in NYC, and she invited me to visit her at her apartment. I went, we had some tea and a nice chat, and she took me out to dinner. I, being me, wasn't thinking much and ended up talked very enthusiastically about one of the other schools. She said my enthusiasm made it clear that I should go there, and had nice things to say about it. She was very gracious, which I appreciated a lot. I've interacted with other faculty from there since, and I've never felt awkward. I don't think spending their time and money when I already knew I wasn't going there would have been appreciated. 

Edited December 18, 2015 by fuzzylogician

[TakeruK]

I've done back to back as well as 3 in a row, but never 4 in a row! One thing that made it less stressful for me though, was that we don't do interview visits in my field, just recruitment ones (i.e. student is already accepted).

I did three in a row when visiting Canadian MSc programs in 2010. They were all in Eastern Canada (I lived in western Canada) so it was more convenient for me to just fly out there, then take trains between places. Luckily for me, I did this during my reading break (and since my town was hosting the 2010 winter olympics, we had a 2 week reading break!). I planned my own visits by calling the schools and asking if I could visit during this time (most of these programs had visits for each student separately, at whatever time that works). So because I was able to plan my own visits a little, even though the visits were back-to-back, there was one day that was the meet-everyone-and-talk-for-8-hours-straight day and the other day was the explore-the-city-and/or-do-social-things-with-students day. Having that "off" day in between helped space the interviews out. 

I did two in a row when visiting US PhD programs. There were two programs that only had funding for part of my flight (flying from Canada is expensive!) so I asked one school to move my visit so I could do them back to back. Again, the visits in my programs tend to have one intense day and one less-intense/more-social day, so that helped make it not so bad.

Another way to think about it is to pretend you're attending a conference! Conferences are fun but they are very tiring. For me, conferences tend to be 5 full days (8am to 10pm) of being "on it", seeing talks, networking, talking to colleagues and collaborators etc. So a back-to-back visit isn't that different. You can do it!

Other, more logistical things that might help:

- drink lots of water! I usually try to find a grocery or convenience store close to where I'm staying the first night and buy some bottles of water right away

- have snacks handy. you can pack them, or buy them when you buy your water above. have sweet things for an energy boost and things like granola in case you miss a meal or something.

- get sleep! the days are very full. you may be tempted to try to get some homework or other work done at the end of the day, but remember that while on these visits, your priority is the visit! choose sleep over catching up on missed work, in my opinion

- if it helps you, make plans that avoid extra stress: maybe get to the airport a little earlier than usual

- if reasonable, pay a little extra for less stress: if the price difference is small and you're not a morning person, consider choosing a flight that leaves a little later in the day instead of 6am, for example

Good luck!!

 

[fuzzylogician]

2 minutes ago, TakeruK said:

I've done back to back as well as 3 in a row, but never 4 in a row! One thing that made it less stressful for me though, was that we don't do interview visits in my field, just recruitment ones (i.e. student is already accepted).

Oh, yes, good point. Mine were all post-acceptance, so there wasn't any pressure to perform.

[bicsy]

Thank you for sharing, @fuzzylogician. That went over a lot better than I thought it would have. Lucky that she was in NYC at the same time you were!

@TakeruK, thank you; that helps ease my mind about attending 2 in a row. From what I've gathered so far, most/all of my interviews have one easy/social day with one busy interview day. The third day seems like it will be pretty lax and is reserved mainly for departure. What I'll be dreading the most is being on a plane for 14+ hours within 6 days, as these programs are in very different parts of the US. 

Your logistical suggestions sound very useful, I will definitely keep them in mind!

 

[bicsy]

Welp, since I originally started this thread, I got a few more invites. I am now facing FIVE back-to-back interviews.. Given the replies above, I think I can handle it, but I will probably want to crawl into a hole after they're over. 

[fuzzylogician]

3 hours ago, bicsy said:

Welp, since I originally started this thread, I got a few more invites. I am now facing FIVE back-to-back interviews.. Given the replies above, I think I can handle it, but I will probably want to crawl into a hole after they're over. 

Congrats on your interviews! This is definitely a good problem to have, so I'm sure you'll do great. Good luck! 

[TakeruK]

Congrats and good luck!

[tuckbro]

I had one at Columbia and left early to catch a flight to Houston to be at Rice on time.  It was a bit crazy but everyone was very understanding.  There is such a small window of time in which to interview, there are bound to be confllicts and overlap.