student 123456 Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 Just wanted to see what other people are doing regarding schools that offer interviews 3-4 weeks out...My patient care job (surely like many others) sets the schedule far in advance and doesn't allow for much flexibility. My first two invites were well in advance but now I got one a month out that conflicts when you account for travel time.... Not sure if it looks bad i.e not a priority to ask for other dates or talk to my boss about moving around my days (I just switched places of work so I don't feel super comfortable doing this)... what is everyone else doing for this? surely we are all in a similar boat... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JessieR Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 So far my two interview invites were given with two weeks notice..I am scrambling right now to prepare and get everything in order.I am using my personal time and my sick time to go to the interviews..because the schedules have already been made as well for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dchampigny Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 I once had an interview extended only 10 days in advance (Butler University). Needless to say, their lack of respect for my life/time warranted an immediate CYA! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly_Diana Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 The shortest notice I got for an interview when I was applying was a week. Most others I received were 2 weeks to a month out. I only had 1 interview that was a couple months in advance. When I attended interviews I flew out the night before and flew back right after my interview so that I only had to take one day off of work. Hope that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mandrew1 Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 I would personally make the interview my priority. I guess it just depends on your motivation. Also, if the program has rolling admissions, you definitely want to interview ASAP, or possibly lose your seat to someone else if you wait. Just my two cents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MTOPAC Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 I would personally make the interview my priority. I guess it just depends on your motivation. Also, if the program has rolling admissions, you definitely want to interview ASAP, or possibly lose your seat to someone else if you wait. Just my two cents. I would have to agree. Your interviews should take absolute importance over everything else. I recently received an interview invite for an out of state school with only a week notice. They also told me it was their first interview session, but being out of state, they understood if I needed more time to make travel arrangements. I declined the offer for a later interview. Luckily, my work supervisor is aware of me applying to PA school and was very understanding of the short notice I gave her. Most programs use rolling admissions..why would you risk taking a later interview date where the adcom has the opportunity to interview a handful of applicants before you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkc825 Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 I had one call me on a Friday for a following Wednesday (5 DAYS NOTICE!) but I went and was just offered a seat. I actually asked the admissions lady about it and she said "we try to accommodate but with thousands of applications, honestly we want people who make us a priority". I also work a patient care job and I have forewarned my boss about these interviews. You have to go. What if that was the only place you got in? It's getting so competitive I just don't think you can risk trying to reschedule IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
student 123456 Posted June 23, 2016 Author Share Posted June 23, 2016 thanks for the input guys! I ended up asking about other dates and am going two weeks later, which I think is close enough that hopefully it doesn't end up hurting my chances. In the future I am definitely just going to accept it and tell my boss, as she does know it is a possibility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MT2PA Posted June 24, 2016 Share Posted June 24, 2016 thanks for the input guys! I ended up asking about other dates and am going two weeks later, which I think is close enough that hopefully it doesn't end up hurting my chances. In the future I am definitely just going to accept it and tell my boss, as she does know it is a possibility. That's what sick/personal days are for. I tried to avoid them when possible, but definitely used them for interviewing. That's life. Put your future first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UWPAgrad2019 Posted June 25, 2016 Share Posted June 25, 2016 I also feel that if you work in a medical setting, most of the people you work with and for are medical professionals themselves and usually are rooting for you. That is how it is at my job. They all want me to be getting interviews and will definitely work with me if/when the time comes because they'll be excited themselves. They were in our shoes once too! Good luck at your interviews to all who have received them already! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
db_pavnp Posted June 25, 2016 Share Posted June 25, 2016 I actually asked the admissions lady about it and she said "we try to accommodate but with thousands of applications, honestly we want people who make us a priority". This is straight ego horseshit. They do it this way because they are lazy. PA programs pull from individuals with health care backgrounds. Many health care professionals work in inpatient settings with schedules that may be made up 4-6 weeks in advance. This violates one of the central tenets of a just culture in healthcare which is "patient first". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MT2PA Posted June 25, 2016 Share Posted June 25, 2016 This is straight ego horseshit. They do it this way because they are lazy. PA programs pull from individuals with health care backgrounds. Many health care professionals work in inpatient settings with schedules that may be made up 4-6 weeks in advance. This violates one of the central tenets of a just culture in healthcare which is "patient first". I agree as far as scheduling away from work goes. But I get where programs are coming from when applicants are requesting alternate/later interview dates due to OTHER interviews or personal scheduling issues. It's a maze trying to coordinate interviews (for schools and for applicants) and in that case, applicants who make a school a priority for interviewing over other schools does say something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkc825 Posted June 25, 2016 Share Posted June 25, 2016 This is straight ego horseshit. They do it this way because they are lazy. PA programs pull from individuals with health care backgrounds. Many health care professionals work in inpatient settings with schedules that may be made up 4-6 weeks in advance. This violates one of the central tenets of a just culture in healthcare which is "patient first". I didn't say I didn't agree with you (I definitely do), but thats unfortunately how it is. When programs are getting 3-6k + applications they can be choosy. You can request a new interview date but as @mandrew1 mentioned, if you ask for a new date it could be months later. At that point you're really putting yourself at a disadvantage and taking quite a gamble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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