It's a Marathon, Not a Sprint

Many of you are reaching the halfway point of Interview Season and I bet you are quickly realizing that it is a marathon and not a sprint. Congratulations on making it this far! Today's post is to check in with current applicants. First of, I want to encourage you to take a breather in between interviews and take some time to reflect on the ones that you have completed. What went good? What didn't go so good? What questions, if any, should I stop asking? What questions am I forgetting to ask? Am I presenting myself in the manner that I envisioned? Also, as you get to learn more about programs through the interview process, you'll find that there are issues that weren't formerly important to you but are now crucial, and you'll begin to incorporate questions about these issues into your interview.

It is also important to start ranking programs you interview at. This is particularly important for residency applicants. It can be quite overwhelming to try to rank program three months after interviewing there and many months after all of the interviews have begun to blend into one another. Start early with arranging the programs in order of how much you like them and your future self will thank you. For medical school applicants, you might have already heard back about acceptances so beginning arranging them in order of how much you like them so that you're not faced with an Herculean task by the time you're required to make your final choice on the medical school you'll be attending.

If there are program you are very interested in but have not gotten interview invites from, now is a good time to send them a professional and honest email about your continued and sincere interest in their program. You can send this letter of interest regardless of whether you're currently on their waitlist. The worst case scenario is that you still don't get an interview invite. However, it would be a shame to have never have asked and completely miss the opportunity to get an invite.

Finally, remember to be kind to yourself. Participate in activities that you find enjoyable so that you are not overcome with the stress of the season. These are strange times and you are navigating very stressful waters in the midst of it all. Reach out to advisors at your institutions about your experiences so far and certainly debrief with them as needed. As always, feel free to reach out to any of our Advisors if any questions come up during interview season, we are happy to help.

In Solidarity,

Tinu