Interview recap

My first interview was a couple of weeks ago and it was absolutely exhausting. I think most of that exhaustion stemmed from having to get up at 5:30 am to get to the interview site on time, but being "on" for whole hours on end drained me.

The day consisted of an introduction in the morning by the charismatic dean of admissions followed by two 30-minute interviews. With my group assignment, I had half an hour before my interviews began to hang out and talk with everyone else in my group and we were a pretty jovial bunch. We stayed away from the "How many interview invitations have you gotten?" questions and instead talked about where we were from and what we were doing in life.

Since this school is very non-traditional student friendly, the stories of my fellow interviewees were interesting and engaging so time flew. Next thing I knew I was headed to my first interview.

My first interrogator was a surgeon (Dr. S) who was in private practice and was not affiliated with the medical school at all. Her style of questioning was more conversational and she seemed to honestly want to understand my thought-process and decision-making regarding choosing medicine as a career, especially after giving up on it in undergrad. She asked questions very specific to my application and only threw in one ethical question that was super easy and had an obvious correct answer.

The interview was also being "observed" by a second year medical student (Mr. M), and I put that word in quotations because he did ask me a few questions instead of just seeing how to conduct an interview.

At the end of my interview, I struggled to find questions to ask Dr. S because she had nothing to do with the school. Eventually I figured out that she had done her residency here and so I asked what had brought her out here. That's all I had for her and then I turned my attention to Mr. M who was very helpful in explaining his opinions regarding the unique curriculum. I hope not having anything for Dr. S isn't going to hurt me too badly but I really couldn't come up with anything.

Overall, I think I did well enough. I definitely didn't knock it out of the park because I could've answered some questions better, either stated things more concisely or made my point clearer. But I also didn't do poorly so really I have no idea how to grade myself. I found Mr. M much easier to read with regards to how I was doing than Dr. S but since I don't think his opinion carries any weight I'm in limbo about this one.

My second interview was with a different M2 (Ms. T) and it had the standard, "What are you strengths and weaknesses?" questions. Essentially the whole thing was like that. There was one mention of something on my application but the rest of the questions were incredibly general, especially "Tell me about your clinical experiences." What about them? Can you be a bit more specific? Haven't you read my application?

In the end, I was able to emphasize the one point I wish I'd done better on in the first interview so hopefully that'll help. I think my answers were sufficient but definitely not ones Ms. T would mention as memorable.

And by that I mean, I don't think either interviewer will say that they really enjoyed talking with me. That doesn't mean the conversation wasn't enjoyable because it was, especially with the first one, but I don't think it stuck out to them as awesome. There were a couple times in the first interview when I felt Dr. S wanted to call me out on my bullsh-t but thought better of it (for example, she thought I had no idea what I was talking about, which I did but whatever). Or that could just be my insecurities rearing their ugly heads.

Anywhos, I handed each interviewer an update letter to take to the admissions committee that discussed my recent research accomplishments (poster presentation at a major conference in my field and submission of a paper for publication) and wished them a good day.

The rest of the day included a lunch with current medical students, more presentations, a tour of the campus, and a Q&A with even more medical students. No one really had any questions for them because we were completely drained, and also because the presentations and other opportunities to speak with students had answered all of our questions.

Honestly, after my interviews I just wanted to go home. This is my local medical school and I've heard their spiel many times before. It's my absolute top choice and if I get in then I am definitely going here. No doubts. So the rest of the day seemed almost like a waste of time to me mostly because I was tired and wanted to go home, but I had to put on my happy face and look excited.

Overall, I have no idea what my chances are at this school right now. The dean of admissions said that those invited for interviews have a 2 to 1 chance of getting in, so I like my odds. Also, if you assume they offer 2 spots for every 1 in-state person that matriculates, then my chances go up to > 75%. I like those odds.

The school is pretty quick about sending out acceptances post-interview if they really like you so I guess I'll know soon enough. But plenty of people don't get in until mid-March, meaning this application process could just drag on forever.

If I don't hear back by early January, I will send a letter of intent that further elaborates on my strengths, my commitment to medicine, as well as my huge desire to go there. So there are options.

I plan on fighting for this school with all my might.