[Today's guest post was submitted by McKenzie Momany, MD, a recent graduate from the University of Washington in Seattle. She addresses a critical financial topic for MS4s. We have no financial relationship.]
As a fourth-year medical student, I was shocked to learn during my school’s residency preparation webinar that I should anticipate spending $5,000 to $20,000 on residency interview-related expenses. Up to that point, I had heard interviews would be an expensive part of my fourth-year costs (and furthermore not covered by government loans), but I did not imagine spending anywhere close to $20K. I abhorred the idea of taking out a private loan to cover these expenses because of higher interest rates and the general absurdity of $20K. Hence, I decided to tackle interview season as frugally as possible.
Now, I hope that by sharing my tips, other medical students can incorporate these ideas into planning their residency interview seasons. Here’s what I did:
7 Tips For Saving Thousands During Residency Interview Season
#1 Travel Credit Card
Picking the right travel credit card (or two) and accumulating sign-on bonuses prior to booking interview flights can save you a significant sum of money. About 12 months before interview season, I signed up for the Bank of America Travel Rewards credit card. I used its $250 sign-on bonus towards my future travel expenses. Six months before interview season, I added the Chase Sapphire Preferred card to my wallet. The sign-on bonus for this card is a substantial 60,000 points, which can be transferred directly to certain airline partners for optimal point redemption. Importantly, Southwest is one of these airline partners, and I’ll discuss below why I flew Southwest almost exclusively for interviews. These 60,000 points allowed me to purchase about $1,100 worth of flights for “free”. I also earned an additional 45,000 points by referring friends (15K points per friend), which covered even more of my interview flights.
Looking back, if I were to do this process all over again, I would have applied for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card when I began medical school – I likely would have accumulated enough points to cover all my flight costs by the time interview season rolled around.
#2 Flights
As I mentioned above, Southwest is one of Chase's preferred airline partners and I flew with them almost exclusively during interview season. The main exceptions were for my three trips to the Bay Area from Seattle (Southwest flights were nearly three times the price of Alaska flights for these West coast trips).
The primary reason I flew Southwest is because of their generous rescheduling policy. I rescheduled my interviews numerous times in order to best group them by location and convenience, thus minimizing redundant trips. I would not have been able to justify this schedule shuffling if I had been charged a hefty fine every time I rescheduled.
#3 Scheduling Interviews
Scheduling interviews in an ideal fashion can make a massive impact on interview expenses. However, the current interview system makes this very challenging to do. Interview invites occur at random times of day, and oftentimes you must respond within minutes in order to secure your preferred interview date.
My strategy was to always carry a paper copy of my calendar with me and keep it updated with interviews as they came in. I did my best to cluster interviews together by location, creating three larger “trips” that contained anywhere from two to six interviews. I had a few outlier programs that I traveled to individually.
Organizing my interviews as such was no easy feat. It involved contacting program administrators to request interview date switches and staying on waiting lists for weeks at a time in the hopes that a more convenient date would open up (which usually happened as people dropped interviews later in the season).
By grouping interviews, I reduced my number of cross-country trips, money spent on flights, and time zone changes. Furthermore, linking interviews together enabled me to take cheaper modes of transportation between nearby cities. At one point, I completed six interviews in a row in the Midwest and on the east coast but only flew three times. For interviews within a few hours of each other, I was able to take the bus or train in lieu of flying.
#4 Lodging
Although lodging can easily become one of your largest spending categories during interview season, I spent $0. Hence, there are ways to dramatically reduce or eliminate the effect it has on your credit card.
First, I avoided hotels and Airbnb’s all together and instead contacted friends and family friends in areas where I would be interviewing. When people offered to help me find places to stay in cities where I didn’t know anyone, I took them up on it; I ended up staying with friends of friends on a few occasions. I made sure to invest in nice thank-you gifts for all my hosts, bringing a variety of fine chocolates and thank-you cards with me wherever I traveled.
I was also fortunate enough to attend a medical school where our alumni relations department coordinates a “Host” program. This setup connects 4th-year medical students with alumni willing to host students. I ended up using this resource on four occasions when I could not use my personal network to find accommodations.
McKenzie Momany, MD
I would recommend that applicants use their personal network as much as possible to find hosts – even if you stay in a few Airbnb’s along the way, you'll save a substantial chunk of change compared to booking hotels everywhere you go, especially in places like NYC and the Bay Area.
#5 Local Transportation
Rideshare app costs can be deceiving during interview season. A $6 ride here and a $10 ride there do not seem like much at first. Still, when you later realize you need
- a ride from the airport to your accommodation
- from your accommodation to the pre-interview dinner
- from the dinner back to your accommodation
- from your accommodation to the interview
- from the interview back to the airport/train station
Multiply all of these rides by 10-20 interviews and the costs add up quickly.
Instead, I used a combination of Lyft and public transportation. Whenever I was in a time crunch or wanted to get home quickly after a pre-interview dinner to maximize sleep, I used rideshare apps. In particular, Lyft has a partnership with Chase Sapphire Preferred – you earn 5x points by using this credit card for your rides. More times than not, I was arriving or leaving a city with extra time to spare, so I took public transportation. Most of the time this saved me about $5-10 per ride, and in NYC it saved me nearly $40 in getting to the airport.
#6 Food
During my travels, I brought instant oatmeal packets and tea bags for breakfast every morning. They’re light and easy, and I knew I would always have access to hot water wherever I went. I also brought a few of Trader Joe’s non-perishable meals with me for occasions when I was pressed for time or didn’t have easy access to a grocery store.
Most of the programs where I interviewed treated applicants to gourmet pre-interview dinners and interview day lunches – these covered a large portion of my meals. I split my remaining meals between buying pre-made food at Trader Joe’s ($3-5 each) and eating out (usually less than $12 per meal. I must admit, I consider myself a foodie and really enjoy eating great food. I did not want to miss out on the eats that many cities have to offer, so I ate out more frequently in places like NYC and less often in cities that are not as well known for their culinary delights. Between these meals and the (oftentimes) 3-course dinners the residency programs provided, I didn’t feel as though I short-changed myself.
#7 Interview Attire
In conclusion, residency interview season does not have to cost the $5K-$20K that I was told to budget. It can cost far less. I do want to acknowledge that residency interview season is a highly stressful and logistically complicated time. It is tempting to take the path of least resistance, which frequently ends up being the costlier option. However, I hope my experience can demonstrate that there are many small things you can do that add up in the long run and can save you literally thousands of dollars in high-interest loan.
[Editor's Note: Given the general change in behavior with the COVID pandemic (i.e. we're all on Zoom all day), I think residency interviews may get MUCH cheaper this next year, although I'm not sure I'd feel comfortable taking a job without actually going in person to a hospital.]
What do you think? How have you saved money during residency interview season? How will Covid-19 change your plans? Comment below or continue the conversation on the WCI Forum, Facebook, or Reddit Groups!
will be interesting to see the future of residency interviews, this year it sounds like it will be video interviews which will save tons of money and time, but applicants will miss out on arguably one of the most important aspects which is the gut feeling you get from being there, seeing everything, and meeting people face to face. what will the future be, will video interviews become the norm? will there end up being a preliminary video interview, and only a small portion of people get invited for an in person interview? who knows, but should make for huge savings
This is a very nicely written piece and offers some terrific tips for medical students, residents and fellows when In- person interviews resume again. Using Southwest is a terrific idea for trips like these! For folks like me who are anxious about staying with strangers, I would add the possibility to staying at a Hyatt place using points from a chase Hyatt Credit card or from a second Chase card that earn ultimate reward points. Many of these hotels cost 5000-8000 points and a single credit card sign up can cover several nights. These points are also refundable up to 24 hours before your trip. I would also add the option of purchasing Uber gift cards when they’re on sale, and can be up to 20% off.
I personally think virtual interviews are the way to go. The current system and costs place a huge financial burden on medical students. The programs should at least offer complimentary accommodations for these candidates.
Would you really rank a place high without having even walked through the hospital? I wouldn’t.
This year, a student won’t have much choice. The Coalition for Physician Accountability Working Group (ACGME, AACOM, AMA, AOGME, AAMC, CMSS/Organization of Program Director Associations, ECFMG, NRMP) has recommended all programs commit to online interviews and virtual visits for all applicants, including local students, rather than in-person interviews for the entire cycle.
I find it fascinating that they’ve already made this decision. I would have expected it to be pushed off until September anyway. But I’d still fly out to see the community and hospital, at least for my top few. I’d try to meet the PD and some of the residents in person too.
The fellowship interview season (for pediatrics, at least) starts in late July/August. In order to provide for infrastructure to accomodate online interviews (including new recruitment materials since the interviewees won’t have the luxury of interviewing in person), many places had to make a decision a month or so ago. And if they were already building up the infrastructure for the fellowship interviews, it’s relatively easy to extend it to the residency interviews.
I’m not sure video interviews would have changed much about my rank lists. However, I’m now looking for attending jobs, and I will not sign a contract without at least visiting the city.
I suspect most MS4s will still want to visit their top 3, so now an actual visit will become the equivalent of a thank you note saying “I really love your program and plan to rank it highly”, encouraging them to still go do informal interview trips.
Jay – thanks for adding the tips about the Chase Hyatt credit cards and Uber gift cards – I didn’t realize you could buy ride share gift cards at a discounted rate. I would have considered buying $100-$200 in ride share gift cards ahead of interview season since this was a substantial portion of my interview spending.
The cost of applying should be included in the interview process costs. For 17 interviews, Dr. Momany must have applied to at least 30-40 schools, at $15 for the first ten and $35 per school after that just sending out your application can be over $1000, and for people applying to 60+ schools in competitive specialties it can be several thousand. The MATCH system encourages applying widely, and is part of the cause of increased interview costs.
Mary – I agree that application costs have ballooned out of control and are unfortunately a non-negotiable part of the interview process. For full transparency, I spent $942 on application fees. My main focus in this article was to address variable expenses that students have more control over since the application fees can only be reduced by decreasing the number of programs applied to. As you mentioned, many students have to apply to extremely large numbers of programs if they’re in certain situations (ie applying to a competitive specialty, couples matching, etc).
Fantastic article – I did many of these things when applying and I don’t regret the money I saved for a minute. For me, avoiding lodging costs by staying with friends of friends cut down significantly on expenses. Avoiding flights was also helpful – I was fortunate enough to have a month off for interview season, so I relocated to my parents house so I could drive to half my interviews instead of having to fly. Be creative with lodging – I tapped my medical school and undergrad’s alumni network to find a place to stay in a couple cities. Of course now that I’m older I pay it forward as well. Remember you can always email a PD directly and say you will be in town such and such a weekend to see if they have availability to interview then, even if you haven’t received a formal invite yet – this helped me “bunch” a few interviews within a week in a HCOL area and saved me some on hotels. Of course I ended up not going to residency at any of those places, partially due to the HCOL!
During medical school interviews, I saved money by staying with friends or host program participants, but the sleep quality was terrible, and I believe it affected my interview performance in at least a few places. For residency interviews, I spent the extra money and stayed in a hotel where I had a big comfortable bed and lots of quiet. You only get one shot at this, and getting a restful sleep the night before the interview is worth the cash.
I find it interesting that you felt you had to “perform” at the interviews. Mine were basically composed of the PD and residents trying to sell the program to me. At that point they already knew I could hack the program, they were just trying to determine if I would be fun to work with for 3 years. Of course, in EM even if I had only slept half the night before I would have been the most well rested person in the interview room!
GK – that makes sense. I don’t fault anyone who would prefer to pay for a guaranteed good night of sleep. Choosing lodging that provides the type of space and accommodations you need to feel your best for interview day is a personal decision. I personally slept well in the majority of places I stayed at with friends/hosts and would choose to do it again.
I’ll make the obvious suggestion: do fewer interviews.
I understand that getting into medical school is a numbers game nowadays, with many qualified applicants for each slot, but unless you are applying to a highly competitive residency field, looking for the perfect program might be a little bit like looking for the perfect investment asset allocation: the perfect is the enemy of the good.
If a candidate is qualified enough to get 17 offers for interviews in her chosen field, I dare say there’s no reason to do 17 interviews. Pick the area(s) of the country where you want to be (or the specific programs you most want to get into) and call it good.
If you have unlimited funds and enjoy the process, then knock yourself out, but otherwise consider making reasonable choices.
The data suggests you want to get/do around 10 interviews on average to be ensured you’ll match. Those who get fewer are less likely to match.
Dr. Mary – to provide further context around my decision to complete 17 interviews, I was in a pseudo-couples matching situation (partner applying to medical school while I applied to residency) that warranted a higher number of interviews. For us, this was a reasonable strategy to increase the likelihood that we would be able to train in the same city – fortunately, it worked. I realize I could have reduced my costs even further by interviewing at fewer programs, but being in the same city as my partner was more important to us. If I had been interviewing for residency without this consideration, I would have done fewer than 17 interviews.
I agree 100% and were I writing the same post it would sound awfully similar. I did 26 interviews in all corners of the country and spent <3k.
The big points are the same as above. I stayed with family and friends and friends of friends. This saved a ton of money and was fun to catch up with old buddies from college I’d lost touch with. I agree 100% with using southwest whenever possible. I opened 2x southwest cards for 100k points (got to a companion pass for the year as a perk). Grouping interviews when possible was also key. I stayed in 1 hotel for 26 interviews (accommodations fell through at last minute).
Don’t fall into the trap of throwing money into the pit of debt. Even 300k in debt, that next 10k still matters just as much.
Well Well well, if MM., M.D. asked me to drop WCI from my blog subscription list to have space for just her I would in a heartbeat. After five years (at least) as a faithful WCI subscriber. I mean, even her name is made for this. Momany!? workable play on words, at any rate. come on? just me?
Very good list. I’m no credit card guru, but I did most of these others and later spent well below “normal.”
One thing to add would be driving and using rental cars. I drove to multiple interviews, and these were not short drives (multiple drives of 9-12 hours one way). I would also rent a car for local transport for about $30. It allowed me to get to know the area, visit (free) local attractions, and generally have more control over my transportation. I do know paying is an issue and an extra cost in some areas but this never applied to me.
For sure. I drove a rental car (a Mustang I believe) from Michigan to Maine while interviewing. I think I connected something like 8-10 interviews over that time period.