Applying to both January and Fall Start Schools

[cmh2019]

Hi everyone.

I am a future applicant intending on applying to programs for the 2023-2024 cycle and I had a question about interview timelines.  A few of the programs I am interested in (two of my top 5 programs) both start in January, however, the rest of the programs start in the fall. I am primarily concerned with how the timeline works with this. To my knowledge the January start interviewing in September/October, but many of the fall programs won't interview until January (after the other programs already start).

Is this correct? Does anyone have any experience with this, and how did you navigate it? 

[HHPA25]

It can be tricky because some Winter start programs can start the year you are applying or a whole year later (for example I applied to a Jan 2023 program and a Jan 2024 program this cycle). I had to make a big excel sheet to track the requirements for each school on each of the schools timelines since it is all over the place. This also can lead to you getting into a program before you have even heard back from another program, and you would have to put a deposit down to save that spot. Later on if you get accepted at another program, you will have to forfeit the deposit and pay another which sucks but anything to be a PA!  

Hope this helps!