2010-2011 University of Arkansas Thread

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ksmi117

ksmi117

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Reserved for prompt.

Please PM the essays or lack thereof to me (ksmi117) when the secondary is available.

:luck: with your application!
 
So where r all the 2010 applicants?
 
Unless you have strong ties to Arkansas, applying here is kind of a waste. Just making sure you guys know that.
 
Will be applying here this cycle. Attended undergrad in Fayetteville and have always had fond memories of Arkansas. I wouldn't mind spending 4 years in the natural state at all.
 
Anyone know how long it takes for them to mail out the secondary?
 
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Jtslater said:
Anyone know how long it takes for them to mail out the secondary?
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I found out last week that the first round of secondary letters will be mailed out this week. I was told by the admissions office that they wait until they have a large group of submitted applications to mail them out.
 
Received the secondary today....i'm hesitant about completing it because i am OOS and have 0 ties to arkansas......FML!
 
clhc18 said:
Received the secondary today....i'm hesitant about completing it because i am OOS and have 0 ties to arkansas......FML!
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Looks like it's time to pull out the family tree!!! 🙂
 
I went ahead and applied with 0 Arkansas ties...I was going to claim that my wife lived there for a year and she has an aunt there...but really has nothing to do with me...
 
Just talk about why you want to come to school here. There are lots of good reasons to include if you look a little bit. Whatever you do, don't just skip the ties letter. It's an opportunity to make yourself look good.
 
MilkmanAl said:
Just talk about why you want to come to school here. There are lots of good reasons to include if you look a little bit. Whatever you do, don't just skip the ties letter. It's an opportunity to make yourself look good.
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I drove through the state once, does that count as "ties"?
 
Alright im finished filling out the secondary app, except for the community /volunteer service part. The problem im having is that it says "do not complete this section if you have already entered this info on your AMCAS." I just hate leaving the section blank. Im torn between following leaving it blank and trying to be creative with something i didnt list on AMCAS (which is almost nothing)...... any Ideas??
 
Jtslater said:
Alright im finished filling out the secondary app, except for the community /volunteer service part. The problem im having is that it says "do not complete this section if you have already entered this info on your AMCAS." I just hate leaving the section blank. Im torn between following leaving it blank and trying to be creative with something i didnt list on AMCAS (which is almost nothing)...... any Ideas??
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:smack: Oops... I just listed them anyway... I didn't read that closely enough. After rereading that section, I totally butchered it... 🙁

Yeah, I'm not sure how much anyone would have that's not listed on their AMCAS.
 
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clhc18 said:
Received the secondary today....i'm hesitant about completing it because i am OOS and have 0 ties to arkansas......FML!
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Can someone that has received the secondary please post the essay prompts for both the regular MD and MD/PhD programs? Thanks!
 
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Hey guys, I'm an M1 right now (only a few weeks in so far, but it feels like a year...), so any questions you guys have from a very recent applicant's perspective, let me know! I'll try to keep an eye on the thread as time permits.

OOS guys- Yes, it's a rough process applying as a non-resident (but there are a few more slots than there used to be), but keep your chin up and just put forth the best application you possibly can! Strong ties are nice, but several of the people I know in our class are OOS have have little (or no) ties to the state, and they made it. You'll probably want to find some nice things to say about AR/UAMS/etc. of course... claiming to be interested in primary care and rural medicine wouldn't hurt either if the time comes to talk/write about that.
 
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I was told that Arkansas residents get an interview. Is there a minimum GPA or MCAT requirement to be interviewed?
 
diamondbot said:
I was told that Arkansas residents get an interview. Is there a minimum GPA or MCAT requirement to be interviewed?
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As far as I know there's no minimum, you just have to have a complete application in. Due to some questionable state legislature guidelines that require they offer all in-state applicants an interview (also the congressional districting rules), you at least get a chance to go interview. That's probably not going to outweigh a low GPA or MCAT 99.9% of the time, there are still a lot of applicants out there, but it's at least a chance to get some face time on campus.
 
Don't forget that the congressional district thing can make an absolutely gigantic difference in how competitive you are. If you're bringing a 3.5/30 from Little Rock, you're up against stiff competition. If you're from the southern part of the state, you're basically guaranteed a full ride with those numbers. Well, not really, but I'd be damn surprised if you didn't get in.
 
When are secondary applications sent out? Is it as soon as your AMCAS is received (or only after all letters of recommendation are received)? And then can you call to schedule an interview any time after AMCAS is submitted, or should you wait until the secondary is in?
 
aboynamedsooie said:
When are secondary applications sent out? Is it as soon as your AMCAS is received (or only after all letters of recommendation are received)? And then can you call to schedule an interview any time after AMCAS is submitted, or should you wait until the secondary is in?
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I got my secondary a couple weeks after submitting my AMCAS, if I remember right. I called to set up my interview date just a few days after submitting the AMCAS though. Of course you need to have everything in by interview time, but for an in-state resident, they seemed fine with setting up the interview a little early. Keep in mind they only fill appointments for one interview date at a time though, so if the earliest one doesn't work with your schedule, you'll just have to wait and call back later to see when they've opened another interview day.
 
Does anyone happen to know a general idea of the breakdown of the number of applicants per district ? .. I know this information may not be available, but I was just a little curious. I just took my MCAT , and I am slightly worried bc I let a few "gimmie" questions slip through my fingers on account of nerves. So I'm worried my MCAT will be a little lower than I wanted. I am from disrtict 1, however, which I heard can be a plus as there aren't a great number of applicants that apply from this district.So I was just curious if anyone knoew a general breakdown of the applicant pool per district. I appreicate any advice/input anyone may have ! Thanks in advance.
 
Ar2 said:
Does anyone happen to know a general idea of the breakdown of the number of applicants per district ? .. I know this information may not be available, but I was just a little curious. I just took my MCAT , and I am slightly worried bc I let a few "gimmie" questions slip through my fingers on account of nerves. So I'm worried my MCAT will be a little lower than I wanted. I am from disrtict 1, however, which I heard can be a plus as there aren't a great number of applicants that apply from this district.So I was just curious if anyone knoew a general breakdown of the applicant pool per district. I appreicate any advice/input anyone may have ! Thanks in advance.
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I have never been able to find (or hear about) a general breakdown of district numbers so far, but based off of people I know (myself included) from District 1 getting in/not getting in, it does seem to pretty much follow the average MCAT/GPA you see on their brochure for class snapshots. Naturally an excellent interview/resume/story can make a difference in that (and a bad interview can absolutely ruin you), so the game isn't just about pure numbers. On the plus side, district 1 is very likely to have less applicants than 2 or 3 (but not 4), so that might affect it a little for you, but not necessarily as much as some people think. The "why?" behind that I'll try to explain next.

To clue people in (who haven't seen this) a little bit on how the congressional districts work: The admissions committee is made up of six faculty, two people from each congressional district, and one person "from the state at large", as appointed by the trustees each year. Where the districts come into play is that state law requires that 70% of the first 150 positions be divided among the four districts equally. So you basically get 26 guaranteed spots per district, according to state law. The competitiveness of the districts results from these guaranteed spots. Beyond those 26 spots per district, 15% of the first 150 can be out of state, and the rest will be other highly qualified applicants, regardless of residency (which I've been told helps balance out the competitiveness for applicants in NWA and Central AR to a certain degree, although that of course is not explicitly stated anywhere). This last chunk is sizable and should balance things out overall for OOS applicants too, because beyond those explicit guidelines for the first 70% in-state and 15% OOS of the first 150 spots, the rest they can pretty much do what they want with. It has also allowed them a greater deal of flexibility in how many OOS applicants they accept, though I do believe it's explicitly stated they won't displace an equally qualified in-state applicant for an OOS one. (Which I've heard is why so many OOS applicants are waitlisted, and then as equally qualified in-state students either defer or attend elsewhere, they fill their spots with the OOS applicant they were "equal" to... once again, not an official policy, but it's what happens.) So, with the class now being expanded to 174, here's how it breaks down:

"Guaranteed spots"
District 1: 26
District 2: 26
District 3: 26
District 4: 26
Out of State: up to 23
"Remaining" spots filled at the discretion of UAMS by qualifications, etc.
All: 47

Hopefully that provides some insights for all applicants on how the numbers play out here. This past year UAMS had an 8% overall acceptance rate, which is actually pretty high for an allopathic school. They declined to provide an in-state vs. out-of-state breakdown for that though, so I don't know how big a difference we're exactly talking about.
 
I'm an undergrad freshman, but these are the stats I'm shooting for, conservatively. I hope to do better.

GPA: 3.6
MCAT: 29
AR ties: Bachelor's degree from UA-Fayetteville, 5 years residing in AR, mother has resided in AR for 8 years, aunts and uncles for decades.

Though my course of study is not yet set in stone, I'm currently partial towards a double major in biology and philosophy. Considering all these stats, how many hours of shadowing, medical volunteering, and non-medical volunteering should I accrue in order to have a better than 50% chance of getting into UAMS?

Oh, and my official residence is in congressional district 4.
 
Buddhasmash said:
I'm an undergrad freshman, but these are the stats I'm shooting for, conservatively. I hope to do better.

GPA: 3.6
MCAT: 29
AR ties: Bachelor's degree from UA-Fayetteville, 5 years residing in AR, mother has resided in AR for 8 years, aunts and uncles for decades.

Though my course of study is not yet set in stone, I'm currently partial towards a double major in biology and philosophy. Considering all these stats, how many hours of shadowing, medical volunteering, and non-medical volunteering should I accrue in order to have a better than 50% chance of getting into UAMS?

Oh, and my official residence is in congressional district 4.
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Sorry guys, this is long again. I'm really not this long-winded in real life, but you all are asking questions that need long answers to really be helpful.

Those are oddly specific stats to shoot for as a new freshman! (Haven't you only been in class a few weeks? Also, I'm glad you're at the UofA, I did some recruiting in district 4 for the Office of Admissions this past spring!)

I'll do a quick run down on your proposed stats.

  • GPA- Admissible, but not going to be viewed as special, slightly below average admitted.
  • MCAT- Admissible, but not going to be viewed as special. Just at average this year, and it's been creeping up the last few years.
  • Arkansas Resident- Good!
  • Congressional District 4- Good!

Here's the deal with shadowing/volunteering/etc. It's not a number you need to shoot for, it's a consistent balance of service and medical exposure you want to have throughout your undergrad resume. No one expects you to be Mother Teresa your first year, but find a niche and start building on it. It's a LOT easier to build up service, involvement, leadership, and medical shadowing/exposure during your first two years and continue it into your junior and senior years than it is to slack off and then try to play catch-up your third and fourth years, when you're already busy. For service- get involved with AED, and/or the Volunteer Action Center. They have large service events, great involvement and leadership opportunities, and you can find a service project (or ongoing program) that fits your interests. Don't volunteer for the sake of hours- med schools can often figure out you did that from your interview. Find something you like, that doesn't feel like work or a "requirement", and you'll have more hours than you can count and a great story to tell in an interview about why you enjoy service. Sometimes things end up doing double duty too- what starts out as a service project may turn into an opportunity to display community involvement and leadership in your resume too.
Of course you want to make sure you have a decent amount of medical exposure (Dr. McLachlin can help you find people to shadow, just go ask) and it's often nice to have some medical volunteering (free clinics, E.R. volunteers, etc.) in there, but it's once again about quality and not just quantity.

See my previous post about how the districts work and acceptance rates for some explanation of why I won't attempt to guess what would give you a 50% or better shot at UAMS, but I will give a word of advice from experience. Just be yourself in the process, and take it seriously. Most people I know who thought they could stand on their GPA and MCAT alone got a harsh wake-up call from the process, and the ones who were in-state with decent stats and thought UAMS was their "back-up" got a severe reality check. There's a reason people stress about this process, and yes, it's hard, but if you pace yourself, prepare, and do well (overall), you'll be okay. You're in a good place for pre-med, they can put a lot of resources at your disposal to prepare, but they're not going to babysit you, you need to take the initiative a little and do more than the bare minimum. I am confident that most of what got me in was not my stats, but my resume (ECs, service, etc.), recommendations, and interview, so I'm one of those people who went from "not a shot in hell" (well, it felt like it reading posts on here anyway) to "medical student", and I'll be happy to provide input/advice any time it's helpful!
 
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MJM, thanks so much for the quick and thorough reply! I know those numbers I threw out were too specific for a freshman. I'm shooting for a slightly higher GPA (3.8 is probably the max I can realistically achieve), and a significantly higher MCAT score (32ish), but I'm trying to plan my ECs with the assumption that they'll have to make up for sub-prime scores, just in case. I like to have contingency plans. 😀

I'm signed up with the VAC already, and I just joined Habitat for Humanity today and will probably be working with them four hours each saturday. That should be a good start on the non-med hours. I'm not entirely sure what the AED is. I honestly don't know where to start when it comes medical volunteer hours, or even what is considered medical. It's not considered medical purely because it takes place at a hospital, right? I mean, if you're the bingo coordinator at a geriatric ward in a hospital, that wouldn't be considered "medical volunteering".

How much emphasis do adcoms place on non-medical work experience? I have a job at the fine arts library here on campus, and was planning on keeping that job all four years I'm here. Is that a good plan, or do I need to drop that job and look for a medical job, such as an orderly?

Finally, does RSO involvement mean much to the adcoms? I've been kicking around the idea of starting a secularist organization, as there aren't any on campus.

Sorry, I know that's a crap-ton of questions.
 
Buddhasmash said:
MJM, thanks so much for the quick and thorough reply! I know those numbers I threw out were too specific for a freshman. I'm shooting for a slightly higher GPA (3.8 is probably the max I can realistically achieve), and a significantly higher MCAT score (32ish), but I'm trying to plan my ECs with the assumption that they'll have to make up for sub-prime scores, just in case. I like to have contingency plans. 😀

I'm signed up with the VAC already, and I just joined Habitat for Humanity today and will probably be working with them four hours each saturday. That should be a good start on the non-med hours. I'm not entirely sure what the AED is. I honestly don't know where to start when it comes medical volunteer hours, or even what is considered medical. It's not considered medical purely because it takes place at a hospital, right? I mean, if you're the bingo coordinator at a geriatric ward in a hospital, that wouldn't be considered "medical volunteering".

How much emphasis do adcoms place on non-medical work experience? I have a job at the fine arts library here on campus, and was planning on keeping that job all four years I'm here. Is that a good plan, or do I need to drop that job and look for a medical job, such as an orderly?

Finally, does RSO involvement mean much to the adcoms? I've been kicking around the idea of starting a secularist organization, as there aren't any on campus.

Sorry, I know that's a crap-ton of questions.
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Glad it was helpful!
I should be doing biochem right now, but this seems like a justifiable break 😀. Glad to hear you're already connected to the VAC (awesome organization, but I'm partial) and habitat. AED is the pre-med honor society and they do small service projects, among a lot of other things. As a pre-med, you'll get emails from them pretty soon I imagine. Go talk to Dr. McLachlin about medical volunteering and shadowing (email her and schedule an appointment). She can point you in the right direction on that and get you a list of physicians that let students shadow with them you might be interested in. AED and the VAC may also have some medical volunteering projects for you. What is considered "medical volunteering" in all reality has a great deal to do with how creative you are when you write it up for the AMCAS and secondary applications. I'm willing to bet there are all kinds of "it happened in a hospital!" justifications on "medical" volunteering boxes on applications out there. I was a patient runner at a free clinic, did records at another, and was an E.R. volunteer at a hospital, to give you an idea of some common opportunities out there.

Provided you get solid medical exposure through volunteering and shadowing, you do not need a medical job, plain and simple. Med schools tend to be more interested in if you're familiar with medical environments than if you've ever been paid to work there. Most applicants will not have had medical jobs, but all will have exposure (normally through volunteering). A medical job can be very useful if your shadowing/medical volunteering is weak though.

Yes, involvement matters. Just being a member of an RSO (or six)? Probably not going to raise an eyebrow. Being president of an organization, founder of an organization, some sort of leader in an organization that involved you actually doing something for it? Much more interesting now. Ideally you want something they can look at that shows them part of who you are outside of the stuff they expect to see, and something you could easily talk about during an admissions interview that lets them get to know the real you. Think of from a committee member's perspective: All applicants volunteer. All applicants volunteer in clinical settings. All applicants are desperately trying to sound impressive. But only a portion of applicants are going to have some sort of experience or involvement that makes the committee actually get an idea for how this person is "special" compared to other applicants. If starting and building an organization is what you want to do- do it, and make it the best organization you can (so you'll have something more to say than "I started an organization" during that interview). That said- keep in mind that medical school committees and medical circles in general tend to be pretty conservative (politically and socially), so try not to say anything that might insult their beliefs or views. You can have your views and talk about them, but showing respect for others' views and the ability to be objective are critical. They want to know you wouldn't let your personal beliefs or views affect how you would interact with future patients.
 
Back on a 2010-2011 application cycle note- I saw that interview dates are set. Anyone signed up for/know when they're coming for an interview yet?
 
To be completely honest, when I first applied to UofA I did so as a Pre-Nursing major, so I'm not officially pre-med yet. That's why I haven't gotten the AED emails. I intend to officially enroll in the Liebolt program some time this week.

In regards to the RSO: One of the things I'm specifically trying to avoid is founding a "sour atheist group". From what I understand, the previous secularist organization here on campus, Occam's Razor (now defunct), was just an excuse for a handful of atheists to get together on a weekly basis and say "Argh, Jesus is stupid" to one another. My intent with this group is to put together a service-oriented organization with the goal of advocating reason as society's primary guiding principle. Ideally, we would organize and host weekly or monthly lectures on secular topics, such as "A Brief Review of Humanist Philosophy", "The Dangers of Dogmatic Atheism", or "A Materialist View of Human Consciousness". Additionally, we would organize academic rehabilitation programs for the local homeless population. I guess, at the end of the day, I'm putting together a group similar to a secular church. Or at least it would fill that social role. I'm not trying to exhibit a hostility to those holding opposing viewpoints. I just want to show that atheists, agnostics, deists, and freethinkers are capable of being humanitarians too. It's not the sole province of theists.
 
I'll be there for the Oct. 2nd interview date!
 
Buddhasmash said:
To be completely honest, when I first applied to UofA I did so as a Pre-Nursing major, so I'm not officially pre-med yet. That's why I haven't gotten the AED emails. I intend to officially enroll in the Liebolt program some time this week. My intent with this group is to put together a service-oriented organization with the goal of advocating reason as society's primary guiding principle. Ideally, we would organize and host weekly or monthly lectures on secular topics, such as "A Brief Review of Humanist Philosophy", "The Dangers of Dogmatic Atheism", or "A Materialist View of Human Consciousness". Additionally, we would organize academic rehabilitation programs for the local homeless population. I guess, at the end of the day, I'm putting together a group similar to a secular church.
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Yes, definitely need to get in the pre-med program as soon as possible so you're in the loop on the activities, speakers, etc. As for the RSO, I do have different views, but it sounds like a good goal for a group like that, I can't say I've heard of one quite like that.

takk- You're the very first group! I may or may not be giving tours that day... it's the first day of our Fall break and I hope to be somewhere other than here immediately following class on Friday, but we'll see (I need to make up my mind on that- it's less than a month away!).

As a sidenote- I noticed this thread has remarkably few posts (and even views, to an extent) compared to most similar sized schools- surely you guys have things to talk about with interviews nearing for some in-state-ers, and there are probably at least a few hundred OOS-ers wondering things too. (Like where the hell is UAMS and what is it like?) To be fair, I was a ghost on here when I applied (just read things), but this one just seems unusually slow right now.
 
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Although I attend another medical school, I would be more than happy to provide anyone with specific information about the UAMS admissions process and what you can do to boost your application and ace your interview. Good luck to everyone!
 
Since the interview is closed-file, should I expect to spend most of the interview discussing what is on my application (scores, research, community service), or is the committee typically more interested in talking about other things (ethics, personality, motivation)?

Any other tips or heads-ups on what to expect from the interview would be greatly appreciated as well. Thanks!
 
aboynamedsooie said:
Since the interview is closed-file, should I expect to spend most of the interview discussing what is on my application (scores, research, community service), or is the committee typically more interested in talking about other things (ethics, personality, motivation)?

Any other tips or heads-ups on what to expect from the interview would be greatly appreciated as well. Thanks!
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To the first part- No. Your interviewers are generally not going to be interested in your MCAT scores, GPA, etc, and will not ask about them. The whole point of the closed file interview is to provide two different looks at an applicant that then merge at the committee level. Your interviewers want to get a good impression of who you actually are (as a person, potential student, etc.) so they can provide their opinion to the committee, who has already looked at and made their own opinions based off your hard stats. You can bring up those topics if you like, but do so at your own risk. Research and community service are something you'll probably bring up or be asked about (in some manner of speaking) since as you well know, the space you're provided on applications really doesn't give you the opportunity to describe why those experiences were important to you.

There will definitely be questions from your interviewers trying to get a feel for your personality, and be prepared for questions about motivation and ethics. Different interviewers seem to have asked very different types of ethics questions in the past, so I think that interviewers are given some freedom in the process. Of course you're going to have the "Why do you want to be a doctor?" "What is your plan if you aren't admitted to medical school?" "How will you pay for medical school?" type questions, and probably a "Why are you interested in UAMS?" type question. They're also going to ask you to tell them about yourself, which is a good opportunity to give them some insights into your upbringing, family, etc. that they aren't going to get from the paper application.

Ultimately- be prepared for an hour with these people. I actually enjoyed my interview quite a bit (despite being nervous about my future hanging in the balance, haha), and it was more of a conversation after the first fifteen minutes than an interview. They took copious notes when I talked (even if what I thought we were talking about was unimportant), so I have no idea what they ended up telling the committee, but I guess it was mostly good. The only real downside to their relaxed conversational style is everyone leaves thinking "that went well!" since they were expecting a grilling and instead had a fireside chat, but obviously, they're not all going that well or they'd all have gotten in... So do take it seriously, but I do think it's a format that can really let you boost your desirability as an applicant.
 
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aboynamedsooie said:
Since the interview is closed-file, should I expect to spend most of the interview discussing what is on my application (scores, research, community service), or is the committee typically more interested in talking about other things (ethics, personality, motivation)?

Any other tips or heads-ups on what to expect from the interview would be greatly appreciated as well. Thanks!
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Test scores and grades will not be discussed during the interview.
Important interview questions:
1) Why do you want to go to UAMS?
2) Where do you see yourself in 20 years? (They are not allowed to ask if you will stay in Arkansas so this is their way of asking that...very important question because they want people who are going to serve Arkansas)
3) What is your support system? (Medical school can be rough at times so they want to know that you will be able to handle it)
4) What qualities do you look for in a leader? (I had planned for this question and it paid off)
5) Describe any research experiences
6) BE ABLE TO EXPLAIN THE HEALTHCARE REFORM!!! (We spent the majority of the time discussing this issue)
7) What does your family think about you wanting to be a doctor?
8) Be able to describe specific volunteer experiences (preferably healthcare related)
 
SelfTaughtDoc said:
Test scores and grades will not be discussed during the interview.
Important interview questions:
1) Why do you want to go to UAMS?
2) Where do you see yourself in 20 years? (They are not allowed to ask if you will stay in Arkansas so this is their way of asking that...very important question because they want people who are going to serve Arkansas)
3) What is your support system? (Medical school can be rough at times so they want to know that you will be able to handle it)
4) What qualities do you look for in a leader? (I had planned for this question and it paid off)
5) Describe any research experiences
6) BE ABLE TO EXPLAIN THE HEALTHCARE REFORM!!! (We spent the majority of the time discussing this issue)
7) What does your family think about you wanting to be a doctor?
8) Be able to describe specific volunteer experiences (preferably healthcare related)
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That's a great list too- I had forgotten about the healthcare reform topic- that was discussed right after we talked about what I would do if I had a patient demanding an abortion but I didn't believe in them (luckily, my pre-med advisory interview asked the exact same questions as part of their medical ethics barrage, so that was not new territory). One caveat about focusing on healthcare volunteer experience- that is not always a safe bet, and don't minimize discussion of other points if they were important to you (Big Brothers/Big Sisters, political groups, etc. that show your interests can all be great discussion points too). I had quite a bit of that (as do most applicants), so I did mention what I'd done in a healthcare environment, but my passion had been with a service-based organization that I was elected to office in and spent literally hundreds of hours building up. I talked about that with them (and they asked a lot of questions about it once we got going) for probably 15 minutes, and it really only had loose healthcare connections at best. They want to figure out what kind of person you are and what is important to you- so don't spend too much time trying to think of what they'll "like to hear" because they will know that and breeze right through it without getting to know or like you much. Pretty much everyone does some medical volunteering, think about what makes your involvement and experience unique and highlight that.
They did not ask me where I saw myself in 20 years, but they did flat out ask at one point if I'd considered rural medicine. I don't care if you want to practice in inner city Los Angeles- at least tell them you've thought about it and and maybe claim to think it "might be a good option". Arkansas (outside of NWA, Little Rock, and a couple retirement cities) is very medically underserved, and they do openly give preference to rural health candidates. (This is why people who get waitlisted but apply for the rural health scholarship program are automatically moved to the top of the wait list).
Enjoy your interviews and keep throwing the questions out there if you have them! You've got some good resources on here.
 
Just FYI, my test scores and GPA were discussed during my interview, so be prepared to share them. Other than that, agree with the above, especially the rah-rah rural family practice route. Check out the Interview Feedback section on the SDN homepage for more info and some specific questions.

On another note, I'm officially signed up for every single tour time slot, so watch out!
 
MilkmanAl said:
Just FYI, my test scores and GPA were discussed during my interview, so be prepared to share them. Other than that, agree with the above, especially the rah-rah rural family practice route. Check out the Interview Feedback section on the SDN homepage for more info and some specific questions.

On another note, I'm officially signed up for every single tour time slot, so watch out!
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Are OOS interviews not blind? (I ask because all the counseling I've done has been for in-state students, who have blinded interviews where the interviewer doesn't know your MCAT or GPA and UAMS has told them not to ask about that, so I wondered if there was a difference. If the student brings it up, it's fair game, but asking about the score or GPA are not part of the blind interview process, and in fact somewhat defeats the purpose of their blind interview method.) I had been under the impression OOS was under the same general rules.
 
MilkmanAl said:
Nope, they're just as blind as all the rest. My interviewers asked what my numbers were.
Click to expand...

Interesting. Well, they're not supposed to do that, haha, but these things happen. Maybe they were testing you to see if you were a liar 😀.

Good luck Ladoctora- I'm pretty sure I won't be giving tours that day now, so you're stuck with MilkmanAl, I'm afraid...
 
Just FYI, I'll be sticking around after my tours to answer questions and take you through the hospital and wherever else you want to go. I don't know what my tour schedule will be or what the interview day looks like, but the email soliciting volunteers says there are tours at 10:30, 11:30, and 12:30 and that each should last an hour or so. With that in mind, tentatively plan to meet in the College of Public Health 1st floor lobby around 1:30 on the day of your interview. (I believe that's where the tours leave from. If you get lost, just find the skywalk over the main street into the hospital, go into the really tall building it's attached to, and stay there.) You M1's and 2's are welcome to come, too, if you want to check out the hospital a little bit. There's only so much I can show you when you're dressed up, but it'll be more exposure than I had during my first 2 years, for sure. I'll update you all as/if the plan changes.

edit: For the record, I'll probably take you through the main (ground) floor of the hospital, to the main OR, by one-day surgery, to the cafeteria (it's important!), and into the student room. If you like, we can go to the wards, too. Anyone wanting to see more can hang around, and we'll figure it out from there.
 
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MilkmanAl, a tour with you sounds great. Hope to meet you this Saturday after my interview.
 
I just got the tour-leading email. I'm on for one of the 10:30 tours, but I'll probably hang around and either BS with people who've done their interviews/have nothing better to do or join some of the later tours. It looks like they're having people come in waves for interviews, so that kind of sucks for the people in the early tour who were looking to hang around with me. You'll basically have 2 dead hours while the other people finish up. I'm not entirely sure what to do about that. I guess I could just do multiple tours, but since I'm working nights this week, I doubt I'll be terribly interested in doing that. It'd also prevent me from being in on the other interview tours, so meh. If you can think of anything better than just keeping the time set at 1:30, let me know, but I think that's what's going to happen.

The tour itself is through the library and LRC, the cross-sectional anatomy room, and the Clinical Skills Center - not exactly the most complete tour of the school I can think of. First off, I've been to the library fewer than 5 times when not leading tours. Fortunately, there isn't a whole lot to know about it other than that they have copies of every text you're "required" to buy and where the specific rooms are. The LRC is where you'll go to review your tests, and you'll basically never go there otherwise. The cross-section rooms are cool in concept but not so much in practice. You'll only use them a couple times during the year, but it's always fun to show seriously stressed-out people body pieces. I haven't actually been anywhere near the gross lab since it got renovated, so that'll be new to me, too. The CSC is actually a pretty cool place. It's where you'll do all your physical exam training and your OSCE's (clinical exams, basically) for all 4 years. It's set up like a doctor's clinic and staffed with standardized patients who teach or administer your exams. You'll share some seriously awkward moments with your classmates in those rooms. Of course, you'll hear all this again Saturday, but at least you know what to expect now.
 
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