Interview Update

Eight interview offers so far!! Wahoo!! The goal is 12-15, and most of my favorite programs haven't started offering yet.

The planning  process for the traveling and logistics is humorous, to say the least.  I find myself frantically asking myself (and the people who still tolerate me) things like:

"Can I put 2 interviews on back-to-back days?  What if I spill something on my suit on the first interview?  Is there a dry cleaner by the hotel?  Do dry cleaners do same-day cleaning?  Maybe I can get the menu for lunch for the first interview to make sure that there's nothing that's likely to spill or stain..."

"Is it worth it to pay the extra fee to return the rental car to a different city than I rented it from; or drive back 2 hours to my original airport?  If it saves me $50 but costs me 2 hours, is that worth it?  What would I have done with those 2 hours anyway... but it does increase the probability of me getting into an accident.... I should look at the safety report for that highway..."

"What is the probability of a snow store in either New England or Chicago in early December?  High, right? Is it high enough that I should allot arrive a few days early in case my flights get canceled?  But what if arriving a few days early means missing out on another interview? Is one in the hand better than two in the bush?  Is it better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all?"

I had my practice interview a few days ago, and I learned a few things from that experience too.  First, while trying on my suit for the interview, I decided to do a little boob experiment.  I tried on the suit once with my regular bra, and once with my super constrictive running sports bra to see which made the suit look better.  Without a doubt, smaller boobs=better looking professional suit.  It reminded me of that movie "Now and Then" where the tom-boyish girl duct tapes her boobs because she wants to be boyish.  I'm going to pretend that I'm doing it for my own comfort and because it makes me look thinner, and not let it become a sexism issue. I just need to remember to bring a separate running bra for the trips where I'm planning on both running and interviewing. Otherwise I would be a very stinky applicant.

Also, my practice interviewer said that she normally advises surgery applicants to nix activities like scrapbooking from their list of hobbies ("it's way too feminine")- BUT she said that when I mentioned scrapbooking it was fine because I made scrapbooking seem "like an activity that is extremely goal-oriented, requires great dexterity and hand-eye coordination, and is a simple, practical and pragmatic solution to a real problem of categorically storing excess pictures".  I never knew that I talked about scrapbooking in such a military-esque way, but I guess it's nice that I can sell just about anything to my surgically-minded audience. Maybe I should've been a saleman.