<p>^
Ohiomom, congrats on his interviews! D has found that schools are pretty flexible. She has had a couple that have not offered a range of dates, and she has called and just said she can’t make that date and what would be another that they could offer her. I would assume that interview conflicts happen all the time. </p>
<p>madamebovary, I agree that a mock interview is the best way to go. My daughter’s advisor had her do it in her interview suit as well. Are you are a female? If so, big tip is to wear in your interview heels in your dorm/apartment wearing damp white athletic type socks. That will stretch out the leather. Also consider heal guards. Any woman knows if your feet hurt that you don’t think of anything else! True story, D saw her first dead body at her first invite this year. I asked what had been “done” to it (sorry, I don’t know the correct terminology here) and what she told me what was quite graphic. I asked her if that bothered her or made her queasy, and she told me no, that all she could think about was her feet were killing her. She did the damp sock thing after that and all is well now. :)</p>
<p>^D. did not wear heels to her interviews. They told them to have comfortable shoes. And my D. is OK around cadavers, but we knew she is minority in this, never had problem with dissections. Insects, worms, frogs, were her main toys when she was little. So, you may or may not feel queasy, the thing that bothered D. was a thought that the body was a person. A bit of this is OK to maintain certain degree of respect, but too much might have negative impact. There is a fine line that they have to walk and we can only hope that it is pointed out at Med. School.</p>
<p>My daughter is to much of a girly girl to wear flat comfortable shoes. It’s my fault, I have always been a high heeled woman myself. I’m sure she heard me muttering the phrase “beauty hurts” one too many times while moaning about my feet hurting, yet still continuing to wear them. My bad. :(</p>
<p>ohiomom, i had a situation where the interview invite said the same thing that i would lose my interview spot if i couldnt make it on that day and asked for a reschedule. well, that’s exactly what happened, and i haven’t heard back since. when they state it, they mean it.</p>
<p>Thanks for your responses GA2012Mom and bigreddawgie. Bigred, that’s what he is afraid of. He called me asking for advice, but I didn’t know what to say. It seems logical that they would be reasonable and reschedule, but they do state clearly (and he said, in ALL CAPS) that this is the policy. Well, I’ll let him know that it definitely can happen – that they won’t offer you another spot. Tough decision. He may just decide to make the drive – maybe he can find a friend to ride along. If he skips it and doesn’t get accepted anywhere, I think he’d always wonder if that one could have been his one shot.</p>
<p>ohiomom24,
It is pretty stressful trying to coordinate the very tight calendar window it seems. My son is criss-crossing the country 3 times in less than two weeks, with not much time to breathe in between. He’s not complaining (even though our wallets are with the last minute travel and flight costs!), but it is going to be challenging, especially given his pretty busy fall at school both with classes and e/c’s. I’m not sure what he’d do if he got an email tomorrow from another school offering a date conflicting with his previously scheduled interviews. He wants them all and was very careful in how he applied.<br>
Good luck to your son. </p>
<p>ps: we almost had to drive 6 hours to get him, to drive him 5 hours somewhere else! Turns out we lucked out and bought the only flight that worked with his schedule, thank God, before it sold out. My husband was even considering working at an out-of-state office that week to make things easier.</p>
<p>I feel your pain CapeCod. S has already had to request a different date from one school as he already had an interview scheduled elsewhere. Amtrak is an alternative to flying we have used. Much cheaper-albeit slower. If it takes five or six hours to drive to an interview taking the train works well. S is really hoping for an acceptance on Monday so he can be more choose y about accepting interview invitations.</p>
<p>D. has driven for 6 hrs, it was OK. it was longer because she drove from her UG, not home. She did not like traffic in some places though, but she is not used to much traffic.</p>
<p>CapeCodLady8: Good luck to your son as well! Wow, I hear you about the cost of scheduling these last minute trips. He did figure out how to make it to the back to back interviews, but it involved changing the original airline tickets ($150 to change) and then flying to an airport 4 hours away from interview #2, renting a car (with a surcharge since he is only 21) and driving 4 hours – arriving at approx. 1 AM. It was the best option available and he didn’t want to skip an interview or ask to reschedule. He has only one so far that is drive-able. Cha-ching! We are feeling the cost of the travel here.</p>
<p>Thanks, guys. Ohio, I did not know that you could rent a car at 21. We thought it was 25…sigh! Oh well. Good luck to everyone who is awaiting interviews (and decisions!)</p>
<p>CapeCodLady8: Yes! That’s what we thought about the car rental, too. After investigating further, I found that there’s a surcharge, but some companies will allow 21 - 24 year olds to rent cars. They limit the types of cars they can rent – I was told no SUVs, no mini-vans. He needs to pay with a credit card in his name (no debit cards). I checked Enterprise and Budget and both had some provisions for the 21 - 24 year olds.</p>
<p>I’m not sure this is the place to post this, but perhaps someone here can advise, encourage, or direct me to the right forum if this isn’t the place… here goes…</p>
<p>My son completed secondaries and has interviewed several times, awaiting more invites (hopefully). He feels very good about three of the schools he has interviewed at. Last week, he was charged with DUI. His attorney feels that his charges can either be reduced or dropped due to a pre-trial program, since he has no prior traffic tickets or police record of any kind. Since he has not been convicted at this point, he is unsure whether to contact the schools with an undate. And if he is not convicted (which he should know by January/February), does he need to inform his school of choice, assuming he is accepted? A background check will reveal the DUI charge, even with no conviction.</p>
<p>The quandary is, would disclosing this now be premature; in the event that the charges are dropped/reduced, would disclosure be TMI? If he is accepted, and they do a background check in the future, will his acceptance be rescinded if he didn’t disclose the charge?</p>
<p>I wouldn’t notify until the case is resolved, but he will need to be upfront with it with anywhere he’s been accepted since all med students undergo a criminal background investigation as part of the enrollment process. A DUI conviction will definitely show up on his record. Dropped charges won’t show up, but any lesser charges he is convicted of will. </p>
<p>I would even report any pre-trial diversion program since often those include only a ‘conditional’ removal of the offense. (Individual has to successfully complete program before the notation is removed from the record. Sometimes there is a period of time afterward–as much as 6-12 months-- during which an individual has to maintain a clean record before the original violation is expunged. D1 went thru an alternative program for multiple speeding violations in high school. After completing traffic school, she had to keep a clean record for 6 months before her original violation was expunged. )</p>
<p>Failing to disclose ‘relevant’ information (which includes any felony and some misdemeanor convictions) will result in his acceptance being rescinded.</p>
<p>A diversion program may not ever be truly expunged from cyber space, those things, even when charges are dismissied, etc, can still show up in today’s computer searches.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies. This is so upsetting and horrifying to me and my son… he’s so down on himself and feels like he has destroyed his future. The attorney says there is a good chance of getting the charges dropped when he talks to the prosecutors, if the tape looks good. If not, he is fairly sure he’ll get the diversion program because he hasn’t had even a ticket, is a productive member of society, etc.</p>
<p>The timing is an issue. If he receives an acceptance, it will be before this is resolved. When he reveals all this, is it likely that an acceptance would be rescinded?</p>
<p>Hard to say. Medical schools take drug and alcohol offenses VERY, VERY seriously. (Because the profession as a whole has a high rate of drug abuse/alcoholism and schools want to avoid accepting people with a predilection toward those kinds of problems. Also because doctors are supposed to demonstrate maturity and good judgement–and a DUI says otherwise.)</p>
<p>I’ve heard of a MIP–minor in possession–misdemeanor derailing a candidate. A DUI conviction will certainly cause him to be rescinded. Not as sure about lesser convictions or a pre-trial diversion program, but it’s possibility he needs to be prepared for.</p>