Advice to Interviewees

As I round out the residency interview season, I figure I should jot down some thoughts about the interview trail and tips I've picked up. Of course, this only helps medical students applying in the future, but hopefully it's useful.

1. I heard mixed opinions on the personal statement. Some people told me to be generic and risk-averse, others told me to try to stand out, and some said the personal statement doesn't matter. I ended up writing a boring one, scrapping it, and writing a more interesting, personal, but risk-taking one. I can't say how important or effective it was, but quite a few interviewers commented on my personal statement; some loved it, others found points of contention but it made room for good conversation.
2. Unfortunately for some specialties, there's no list of the "best" residency programs in that field. Unlike undergrad or even medical school, there's no ordering of most prestigious to least prestigious programs and indeed, such an ordering is probably silly if not impossible. I made my list by word of mouth which was subject to all the idiosyncrasies, biases, and familiarities of the people I asked. I asked both residents and attendings to get a feel of the programs out there that might be a good fit.
3. Scheduling interviews is tough. Schedule them as they come as best as you can. I didn't know this at first, but having multiple interviews in a row is exhausting. I had one week on the east coast where I did four interviews in five days and it was tough (but financially optimized). Also, by the end of the interview season (mid or late January), I was tired.
4. The unanimous advice I got and one I fully agree with is to write down impressions after the interview as soon as possible, when the information is fresh and the gut feeling visceral. Procrastinating on jotting down thoughts will dull the emotions and knowledge and will lead programs to start blurring together.
5. I had some bad experiences with certain airlines. Stick with carry-ons and avoid travel vouchers (or airlines that only give vouchers for cancellations). Cancellations (both by myself and by the airline) have frustrated me quite a bit.