Interview Month

Which month seems to be the most popular month for interviews? I am trying to put together my 4th year schedule and I am only permitted one vacation month for interviewing. Is December or January a more popular month for interviewing?

It can actually depend on you. Most programs offer interview dates in both December and January. Keep in mind that many (if not all) programs do not interview during the Christmas/New Year season so you only have a little more than half of December to interview. For me, January was definitely the busier month, and I think that was the case for most of the interviewees I met on the trail. Good luck.

I agree with the good doctor above that January was the more busy month. If I were you I would take January as my vacation month and try to schedule a coosh elective in december - ask the current fourth years who is the coolest attending out there. I lucked out and got one that said to me the first day, "You are a fourth year, you are suppose to go interview". Good luck

January was by far the busiest. I anticipated December being the busiest and I took vacation then. Fortunately, I had an outpatient elective (Rheum) during January and the attending was cool with me missing half the month (literally). I also had one interview in October. Two in November. And I know a few guys that had one in February. Just a sidenote.

December was the busiest for me. Luckily, I scheduled a "reading elective". Highly recommended if your school give the option. This way you don't have to burn a vaction month. This was wedged right between two critical care months, and I was able to do a few interviews during those ... noo sweat.

December was far the busiest for me.
Case and Mizzou-Columbia offered interviews in November and I took those dates. Then, I tried to front load December if given interview date options. By January, I was pretty wiped out (and only went on 9 interviews total) and canceled many interviews in January.
Anyway, that's just one guy's opinion. Previous posts make good arguments re: Xmas and New Year's week, making December a little more congested. But, I found more interviews during the week in December, which was advantageous to keep coveted weekend dates open