<p>D. did not have to fly and was lucky to escape major showstorm literally by few hours while we were basking on a sunny beach in Mexico. Very scarry!! She had one very negative experience with student host and withdrew from this highly ranked Med. School after that and observing other students. This is the major reason why she wanted to stay with student hosts, she wanted to know the type of students there, very important for her. One more instance was her battery going dead in garage of one of her Med. Schools, but AAA service was awesome, D. was very impressed with it. No other adventures. She did not apply further than 4.5 hrs to drive from home. Second Look was fun, learned much more about schools in less stressful situation and changed her preferences, strongly recommend if there is uncertainty about choices. The funny thing is that even being that close, at the end she did not care to be outside of her state and has chosen in-state Med. School (however, the most expansive on her list), that interviewed her first and accepted her on Oct. 16.</p>
<p>S has had two interviews so far and has three more on tap. No horror stories about travel as interviews have all been within reasonable driving distance, although he reported that one school was in a very scary neighborhood. Tour guide said most students live elsewhere so a car is needed even though public transportation is available. He liked the school a lot but is on the fence as to location.</p>
<p>Love Miami’s idea to stay with student hosts, and many of my friends chose to do that. I’ve volunteered to host students this year, and am actually giving a tour of my school to some prospectives this afternoon!</p>
<p>I went a different route and stayed with friends from high school living in one city and a good family friend who happens to be a resident at another school where I interviewed. With how stressful interviews could be, I really liked having the perspective of someone who lived in the city but not as a med student–maybe I’m crazy. I extended each of my trips by a day or two so I could hang out with old friends and relax in a new place (and have some wiggle room if flights got delayed, etc)–what a fabulous experience. Since I didn’t have any friends in one area, mom came with me and we made a long weekend vacation out of it. We even made it to the beach! Tons of fun. No travel horror stories here.</p>
<p>kristin,
My D. actually has stayed with her best HS firend (UG) for one interview. She complained later that although they had fun, she missed an opportunity to meet Med. students in more close environment. However, D. is at this school currently and her friend is there for few more months. D’s first and most important impression of Med. School is the type of students there. She noticed a difference from school to school.</p>
<p>Just dropping by to say this cycle has been really hectic and fun. Interview 8th coming up in sunny new haven. I cant say I am not exhausted but I am really excited I hope to get some love come Oct.15th-17th</p>
<p>Horror story:
On my way to my Mayo interview the airlines lost one of my bags…Thankfully it was not my suit bag I made sure that was on me at all times!</p>
<p>Wishing luck to everybody, 10 days count down…
D. got birthday cake in shape of mutated chromosome in connection to the leukemia case …bithdays at Med. School. Her birthday celebration events lasted for 6 days.</p>
<p>^
Nice to hear they have a great sence of humor for your D’s birthday.</p>
<p>D will have had 6 interviews by the 15th (one on the 14th so don’t know if that counts) I know one is a March decision, and another has 2 dates, one January 10th and the other late March. The other 4…I have no clue. Hopefully one of those will be the Oct 15th date, would be nice to take the stress off. Invites continue to come in, and thanks to advice from one of the veteran parent posters here, she is going to start declining some. Thanks to all of the posters that have got me this far, it is the only reason I have somewhat of a clue what is going on. </p>
<p>Poor D, will have been on a bus for 10 hours of 30 when she arrives back on campus at 11 tonight (plus 2 on the subway.) Thank goodness 3 of her classes are reading intensive so she can do classwork reading during travel time. </p>
<p>Happy news that D will be home next week for the first time in a year for her instate interview, as well as another in a neighboring state the next day, Happy days for me! :)</p>
<p>Much happy news! Congrats.</p>
<p>Glad to hear D will be home. It’s tough when they go to school far away and you don’t gt to see them.</p>
<p>Good Luck to all who are awaiting interview invites and for those on the interview trail. </p>
<p>Wow GAMOM.!! I am sure it will be great to have your DD back for the first time in a year!!</p>
<p>Congrats and best wishes to all applicants on the road with interviews!</p>
<p>
GA2012MOM, Wow, “the first time IN A YEAR!” This makes me especially appreciate the fact that DS flied back home at least 4 times every year while he was still an UG. He must have suffered a lot for these long trips, especially when, sometimes, there was an upcoming test right after the long trip. However, we saw him much less often after he had been graduated and in medical school. I guess it is about the time we should “cut the cord” and be happy in our empty nest by ourselves, as he has been doing a lot of favors for us in the past several years.</p>
<p>Hopefully, your D will have some good news soon!</p>
<p>GA2012MOM</p>
<p>Congrats on the interviews…please keep us posted. Enjoy your time with your D because their free time certainly lessens as they go through Med school depending on the school.</p>
<p>My S is 19 miles away and we have seen him twice since July. Life as a MS4 who is also a TA for anatomy makes for not much face time these days. I can’t blame him right now because he’s been making scads of money doing extra tutoring…including back to back days of 10 hours per day the last two days. </p>
<p>It’s funny because on one of the sites that outlines residency programs it also breaks out their income on a per hour basis (based on 80 hour week) at $15 an hour. As a TA he makes $40 an hour in addition to his monthly salary from the Med school. He’s going to be taking a serious hourly pay cut next year ;)</p>
<p>
Say what? :eek: My kid is a TA this year and I don’t think she gets any of that. But then again, we haven’t discussed it. She must be a TA Jr. or TA Lite 
I’ll check.</p>
<p>Congrats, GA2012, your D. will get in somewhere on Oct. 16, I am sure.<br>
My D. had 3 interviews before Oct. 16 (one 2 days earlier) and got in 2 of them. Later, we learned that it was not possible to get into 3rd as it was connected to one of where she was accepted. Her UG classmate had opposite, he was accepted to where my D’s wtl’d and got wtl’d at where she was accepted. These 2 schools are really connected, it was nice to have 2 interviews on one trip.</p>
<p>It took a while of waiting, but finally got some invites. I have an interview coming up soon. Do you guys suggest doing a mock interview with your school’s career center? I was planning on having some of my friends interview me and give me critiques.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>It depends on the class. The school pays all TAs the same amount, in fact this year they increased the anatomy TAs amount to make it equivalent to other classes. </p>
<p>Due to the nature of the subject and the amount to learn, anatomy requires a lot of extra time in the lab. At his school, anatomy runs for virtually the entire first semester. He draws a monthly salary from the school which IMO is a pretty nice amount and then on top of that, the students pay the TAs for extra lab time and tutoring as needed. The going rate (which is the same as when he was an MS1) is $40 an hour which is divided by the number of people in a group with no more than 4 per group at a time.</p>
<p>He and the other TAs put together a practice lab practical for them a few days ago and they have been extremely busy since (he’s booked 8-10 hrs a day right now) because the MS1s have their first exam next Friday and some of the students just found out how much they really don’t know yet. ;)</p>
<p>I’m glad he’s raking it in right now because it will help cover/defray travel costs to his interviews. He’s got five scheduled so far and his fourth LOR just posted a day ago plus many schools have said they don’t start sending out invitations until after the 10th with some not until after Nov 1. From what I’ve heard, he needs to get 8-10 to virtually guarantee a match. </p>
<p>The “pucker factor” in our house is starting to get intense. :(</p>
<p>madamebovary,
I would definitely do a mock interview with your career center if possible. They will have better questions and better feedback. Also, I mock interviewed in my actual suit, which I think helps get you into the serious interview mode and makes you more comfortable for the actual med school interview.</p>
<p>Mock or not, the most important is to be true to yourself. Do not answer anything the way you think it is expected to be answered. Your answer need to be your authentic answer. They are after certain personalities much more that after any kind of knowledge. Your personality may or may not fit with what specific school is looking for. It is OK, some of them will be a good fit at the end. By interview time, adcoms already decided that most of the invited ones qualify to be in Med. School. They need to choose the ones that belong with them specifically. Do not take anything personally. Some have techiniques to see how you react to seeming put downs. Just stay cool and be assured that by that point you have accomplished what it takes already. Interview is one of the ways to find the best student/school combination.</p>
<p>I very much agree with Miami! Be yourself. It is fit they are looking for at the interview stage. The committees know their schools and how your personality would fit.</p>
<p>Happened to son many times, where he knew at the interview and meeting his fellow to-be students where he wanted to be. And surprise, it wasn’t where he thought initially. Seems like many of the schools knew as well, and probably ones where he didn’t get an invite.</p>
<p>And the fit wasn’t just the school/academics itself, but their actual location/weather/climate/surrounding culture all played into, including finances. He didn’t see it so much as a 1 way interview rather a fact finding mission, and again like Miami said, a good fit all around.</p>
<p>Kat</p>
<p>I haven’t posted in a while, but have a question for you experienced folks. My son, who applied to only DO schools, so far has received 5 interview invitations. The most recent, which he received yesterday, specified the date of the interview and said that if he couldn’t make it that day to let them know right away. The letter said that they would give his interview spot to someone else and he would not have the opportunity to reschedule. Well, he has an interview scheduled the day before and was going to flying back that night. He can’t find a flight that would allow him to fly from interview #1 to interview #2 and make it on time. At this point, he could fly back from interview #1 (arriving at 10 PM) and drive 6 1/2 hours through the night to interview #2, or he could contact the interview #2 school and ask (pretty please!) that they make an exception to their policy. Right now, this is not his #1 choice, but he has had no interviews yet so no acceptances, and should probably keep his options open. What would you advise him to do?</p>