- Joined
- May 22, 2008
- Messages
- 17,394
- Reaction score
- 9,129
Good morning, everyone.
The time has finally come! You might remember seeing this pop up last year, and I think it was a great success! And this year is going to be even better.
So what's this about? In effect, a group of SDN members that are either matriculating to a medical school in the fall or are already medical students have volunteered to conduct mock interviews over a video chatting service with people that will be applying this cycle. Using information you provide from your app, your mock interviewer will interview you for 30 minutes and provide you with both positive and constructive feedback. This is NOT meant to be a comprehensive interview prep program; instead, this is designed to give you the chance to go through an interview and get a sense for what the experience is like without having to pay a ridiculous amount of money to do so. Sound interesting? Read more below.
Who can participate?
Only students applying during the upcoming (2013-2014) cycle will be interviewed. Because we are expecting a relatively high level of demand, we want to make sure that those who need this practice most - those who will be applying in the very near future - get it in the event we can't get through everyone. This is open to both MD and DO applicants.
How do I sign up?
After submitting your primary app, sign up for an interview here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1dLxcTBNoEi16ktBRsyFwIoPgDgQF83itvucjBqgm7HY/viewform. Note: all information provided in that app will be readable by me and the other mock interviewers. I understand that this might make some uncomfortable; however, you will simply have to trust that your information will be held in confidentiality. We have no reason to use your info in any malicious way, and I've tried to make the form as minimal as possible with respect to soliciting information from you. If you have any questions or concerns about this, feel free to share them here, and also see below for more info.
Who will be doing the interviews?
We have roughly 15 SDN members, ranging from incoming medical students to residents and low-profile members to pre-allo mods, that have volunteered to help out. All volunteers have submitted proof to me that they have, in fact, gone through the application process and are familiar with performing interviews. While we are by no means experts on admissions, your mock interviewer has the experience to provide you with useful, constructive feedback.
How does the process work?
After you submit your request, your name will be added to the queue. People are interviewed in a first come, first served fashion. When you're next up, an interviewer will "claim" you and get in touch with you to setup a day and time for the interview. You may work this out over SDN or your personal e-mail - whichever you prefer. Once you've agreed on a date, your interviewer will come up with some questions for you based on the information you provide in the sign-up form. Each mock interviewer will have a slightly different style, but I've recommended that interviewers try to do 20-30 minute interviews with 10-15 minutes of feedback. You're welcome to ask your interviewer any questions you'd like, but please be considerate and recognize that interviewers have limited time and that this service is being provided on a voluntary basis. Please don't abuse your interviewer and continue asking them questions for an inordinate amount of time.
At this point, we will not be doing second interviews. However, if we're able to get through everyone that has signed up and people would like to do second interviews, I'll post here to let everyone know that addition sign-ups are available. Unless that happens, though, please don't sign up more than once.
Why are you doing this?
Pay it forward and all that stuff.
In all seriousness, the interview is probably the most anxiety-provoking aspect of the application process because it can be unpredictable and requires some spontaneity. While many schools provide their students with mock interview programs, many don't, and it's those people that we're especially trying to help out. You won't be 100% prepared for any possible question after this, but you might be surprised at how helpful simply walking through the process can be. This is a way for to use our experience and perspective to try and help those out that see interviews and the medical application process generally as somewhat mysterious. Hopefully we can shine some light on what the interview is like and put your nerves at ease.
What about my personal information?
First, I have emphasized to everyone involved that keeping any information you share at any point in this process is absolutely critical. This is in accordance with SDN's terms of service in addition to simple common courtesy. However, the reality is that none of this is all that enforceable, and while I don't have any reason to believe that any of the volunteers have anything but the best intentions, you never know what can happen. Please use common sense when sharing any extremely personal information with complete strangers. In addition, please also respect the privacy of your interviewer; he/she may share some revealing or personal information in the course of the interview, and it is expected that you will keep that information confidential. If you have any questions or concerns about this, please post them here. If you do an interview and you have concerns about your privacy being violated, please PM me (or a mod) right away.
After the mock interview program is over, the Google doc in which the form info is populated will be deleted. However, if any copies have been made by any other interviewers, I will be unable to delete them. Again, you should assume that any info you provide here can potentially be disseminated everywhere.
And finally, a quick disclaimer:
As mentioned above, this service is being provided to you free of charge and voluntarily. Please keep that in mind if you decide to sign-up. We're going to do our best to do an interview with you quickly and provide you with the best experience possible, but at the end of the day we are all busy with various commitments outside of SDN. If you're looking for a service with a greater service guarantee, then please do some research on the multitude of application consulting companies that perform mock interviews for you. Because this is free and done in our free time, it's possible that you might have to wait a while to do an interview, and it's even possible that we may not even get to you if the initial demand is greater than expected. Please be patient and understand that we're going to do our best to help out as many people as possible. Unfortunately, the risk of doing something like this is that we have no idea what to expect until we get started.
Have any questions, comments or concerns? Post them here! I'll continue to watch this thread throughout the process. Good luck, and we look forward to talking with you!
P.S. I mentioned this in the other thread and think that I got in touch with everyone there, but if you have signed up to be an interviewer and haven't received any info from me, please PM me. It's entirely possible/probable that I missed a couple of you because of all of the posts and PMs I've received. Thanks!
The time has finally come! You might remember seeing this pop up last year, and I think it was a great success! And this year is going to be even better.
So what's this about? In effect, a group of SDN members that are either matriculating to a medical school in the fall or are already medical students have volunteered to conduct mock interviews over a video chatting service with people that will be applying this cycle. Using information you provide from your app, your mock interviewer will interview you for 30 minutes and provide you with both positive and constructive feedback. This is NOT meant to be a comprehensive interview prep program; instead, this is designed to give you the chance to go through an interview and get a sense for what the experience is like without having to pay a ridiculous amount of money to do so. Sound interesting? Read more below.
Who can participate?
Only students applying during the upcoming (2013-2014) cycle will be interviewed. Because we are expecting a relatively high level of demand, we want to make sure that those who need this practice most - those who will be applying in the very near future - get it in the event we can't get through everyone. This is open to both MD and DO applicants.
How do I sign up?
After submitting your primary app, sign up for an interview here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1dLxcTBNoEi16ktBRsyFwIoPgDgQF83itvucjBqgm7HY/viewform. Note: all information provided in that app will be readable by me and the other mock interviewers. I understand that this might make some uncomfortable; however, you will simply have to trust that your information will be held in confidentiality. We have no reason to use your info in any malicious way, and I've tried to make the form as minimal as possible with respect to soliciting information from you. If you have any questions or concerns about this, feel free to share them here, and also see below for more info.
Who will be doing the interviews?
We have roughly 15 SDN members, ranging from incoming medical students to residents and low-profile members to pre-allo mods, that have volunteered to help out. All volunteers have submitted proof to me that they have, in fact, gone through the application process and are familiar with performing interviews. While we are by no means experts on admissions, your mock interviewer has the experience to provide you with useful, constructive feedback.
How does the process work?
After you submit your request, your name will be added to the queue. People are interviewed in a first come, first served fashion. When you're next up, an interviewer will "claim" you and get in touch with you to setup a day and time for the interview. You may work this out over SDN or your personal e-mail - whichever you prefer. Once you've agreed on a date, your interviewer will come up with some questions for you based on the information you provide in the sign-up form. Each mock interviewer will have a slightly different style, but I've recommended that interviewers try to do 20-30 minute interviews with 10-15 minutes of feedback. You're welcome to ask your interviewer any questions you'd like, but please be considerate and recognize that interviewers have limited time and that this service is being provided on a voluntary basis. Please don't abuse your interviewer and continue asking them questions for an inordinate amount of time.
At this point, we will not be doing second interviews. However, if we're able to get through everyone that has signed up and people would like to do second interviews, I'll post here to let everyone know that addition sign-ups are available. Unless that happens, though, please don't sign up more than once.
Why are you doing this?
Pay it forward and all that stuff.
In all seriousness, the interview is probably the most anxiety-provoking aspect of the application process because it can be unpredictable and requires some spontaneity. While many schools provide their students with mock interview programs, many don't, and it's those people that we're especially trying to help out. You won't be 100% prepared for any possible question after this, but you might be surprised at how helpful simply walking through the process can be. This is a way for to use our experience and perspective to try and help those out that see interviews and the medical application process generally as somewhat mysterious. Hopefully we can shine some light on what the interview is like and put your nerves at ease.
What about my personal information?
First, I have emphasized to everyone involved that keeping any information you share at any point in this process is absolutely critical. This is in accordance with SDN's terms of service in addition to simple common courtesy. However, the reality is that none of this is all that enforceable, and while I don't have any reason to believe that any of the volunteers have anything but the best intentions, you never know what can happen. Please use common sense when sharing any extremely personal information with complete strangers. In addition, please also respect the privacy of your interviewer; he/she may share some revealing or personal information in the course of the interview, and it is expected that you will keep that information confidential. If you have any questions or concerns about this, please post them here. If you do an interview and you have concerns about your privacy being violated, please PM me (or a mod) right away.
After the mock interview program is over, the Google doc in which the form info is populated will be deleted. However, if any copies have been made by any other interviewers, I will be unable to delete them. Again, you should assume that any info you provide here can potentially be disseminated everywhere.
And finally, a quick disclaimer:
As mentioned above, this service is being provided to you free of charge and voluntarily. Please keep that in mind if you decide to sign-up. We're going to do our best to do an interview with you quickly and provide you with the best experience possible, but at the end of the day we are all busy with various commitments outside of SDN. If you're looking for a service with a greater service guarantee, then please do some research on the multitude of application consulting companies that perform mock interviews for you. Because this is free and done in our free time, it's possible that you might have to wait a while to do an interview, and it's even possible that we may not even get to you if the initial demand is greater than expected. Please be patient and understand that we're going to do our best to help out as many people as possible. Unfortunately, the risk of doing something like this is that we have no idea what to expect until we get started.
Have any questions, comments or concerns? Post them here! I'll continue to watch this thread throughout the process. Good luck, and we look forward to talking with you!
P.S. I mentioned this in the other thread and think that I got in touch with everyone there, but if you have signed up to be an interviewer and haven't received any info from me, please PM me. It's entirely possible/probable that I missed a couple of you because of all of the posts and PMs I've received. Thanks!
