Interview preparation guide
Scheduling interviews strategically: residency interview preparation guide
AAMC's scheduling guidance treats interview season as a planning problem, not just a backlog of invitations. Minimising time away from your final-year curriculum, weighing financial cost, using advisors and keeping an open mind about programs are the four considerations it names for a smart scheduling strategy.
How to prepare
- 1
Protect your curriculum first
The AAMC guide's first scheduling consideration is minimising time away from the curriculum: residency interviews matter, but so do final-year clinical rotations and electives, and your priority in medical school is to become the best physician possible before you graduate. Cluster interviews where you can instead of scattering single days across the whole season.
- 2
Budget the season honestly
The guide lists financial cost as a core consideration: interviewing costs add up quickly, and financial constraints can restrict your options. Cost out travel and time before accepting dates, so money decides early rather than in a panic cancellation later.
- 3
Use advisors and keep an open mind
The guide points you to advisors for help with anxiety, stress and burnout and for talking through options, and it advises learning about your chosen programs while staying open. You may not feel ready to dismiss a program until after interviewing there, and flexibility tends to produce better decisions than early certainty.
A practical exercise
Curriculum impact per week: [..]. Season budget and cost per interview: [..]. Advisor conversation had: [yes/no]. Programs kept genuinely open: [..].
This is an editorial exercise to adapt to your own interview, not a script or a program requirement.
What the source guidance supports
AAMC's scheduling guidance treats interview season as a planning problem, not just a backlog of invitations. Minimising time away from your final-year curriculum, weighing financial cost, using advisors and keeping an open mind about programs are the four considerations it names for a smart scheduling strategy.
The exercises and checklists are editorial applications of the cited guidance, not required program procedures or predictions of interview outcomes. Formats and policies vary by program, so follow your actual invitation and school guidance.
Mistakes to avoid
- Accepting dates in invitation order and discovering in November that the calendar no longer fits rotations or budget.
- Treating every week of interview season as equal; wave weeks cluster and conflict, so the plan needs the specialty's invitation timing.
- Dropping a program from the schedule on a forum rumour before you have interviewed there.
Check your preparation
- Does my interview calendar leave room for rotations and electives?
- Do I know what this season costs me, and which interviews are worth that cost?
- Have I talked the plan through with an advisor?
Questions for your practice review
- How much time will this interview take away from my current rotation?
- What is the realistic total cost of attending, and does this program justify it?
- Am I still open enough about this program for the interview to change my mind?
Common questions
How many interviews should I keep on the calendar?
The AAMC scheduling guidance does not set a number; it gives you the considerations to weigh. For the data side, our blog guide on how many interviews it takes to match sets your count against NRMP's 2026 rank-list data.
Should I accept first and decide later?
Accepting with a genuine intention to attend is normal; accepting slots you never meant to use is what AAMC calls interview hoarding, and our guide on deciding which interviews to accept covers the implications.
Is this current for the 2027 ERAS season?
AAMC publishes this interview preparation guide as current guidance for applicants interviewing in the 2027 ERAS season. Program formats and policies change year to year, so confirm the details with each program that invites you.
Related guides
Sources
This page is general editorial guidance based on the sources above. It is not a prediction of any program's questions or a statement of its current policies.