What to say in OOS interviews

[Reserved]

Most OOS interviewers always ask "why do you want to come to our school or why our state"? It has been suggested to me that I say I have family living nearby but I don't think I could lie in an interview. I also don't want to be blunt and mention the tuition. Honestly, every medical school would provide me with the resources necessary to be a physician. So really location and tuition are all that matter to me and both seem like silly answers. Is there a good answer to this question?

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[Ophthoseidon]

Just answer truthfully. Why did you actually apply there? lol. Unless your reasoning is MSAR told me so, it generally works. Personally I have not had an interviewer ask me "why our state?" And honestly I'd probably just say I want to go to the school with the best fit for me, so I did not limit myself geographically

 

[soccerman93]

What does the school's state offer that your home state doesn't? I usually say something like "going to school in your state offers an opportunity for me to work with a different patient population than what I've encountered where I'm from." Or I'll say that I've lived in the same state my whole life and wanted to branch out a bit. As long as you have a reasonable support system I don't think schools are terribly concerned about your reason for applying OOS. They know the admissions game and that we tend to apply broadly

 

[Samir Desai]

When you're answering "Why do you want to come to our school?", be as specific as possible. Try to find several things that really excite you about the school and tie it in to your own background and interests. It's okay to mention family but only after you discuss particulars about the school that you really like. Would definitely not lie about having family in the area. Location and tuition are obviously factors in the decision-making process but try to dig deeper for other reasons. For more advice on how to answer this question, take a look at point # 5 in the following article that I wrote:

http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2013/07/medical-school-interview-strategies-admissions-officer.html

Hope your interviews go well,

Samir Desai

 

[Goro]

Answer from your heart and you'll be fine. But really, applying blindly to places just because they have a medical school there might be different in living in NYC vs Omaha vs Birmingham vs Columbus vs Toledo vs Wash DC. Location matters.

Most OOS interviewers always ask "why do you want to come to our school or why our state"? It has been suggested to me that I say I have family living nearby but I don't think I could lie in an interview. I also don't want to be blunt and mention the tuition. Honestly, every medical school would provide me with the resources necessary to be a physician. So really location and tuition are all that matter to me and both seem like silly answers. Is there a good answer to this question?