- Joined
- Oct 11, 2007
- Messages
- 1,128
- Reaction score
- 120
General Words of Advice
When asked what it means to be granted an interview, Dr. David Wofsy, Associate Dean of Admissions at UCSF medical school said,
Listen to the entire conversation on episode 407 of Radio Rounds at https://itunes.apple.com/itunes-u/radio-rounds-radio-rounds/id428372384
Personal Statement
Dr. Wofsy's comments on the personal statement:
Listen to the entire conversation on episode 407 of Radio Rounds at https://itunes.apple.com/itunes-u/radio-rounds-radio-rounds/id428372384
How To Highlight Your Extracurriculars
Dr. Wofsy's comments on extracurricular activities:
Listen to the entire conversation on episode 407 of Radio Rounds at https://itunes.apple.com/itunes-u/radio-rounds-radio-rounds/id428372384
Other Advice
Radio Round's comments on other advice:
Listen to the entire conversation on episode 407 of Radio Rounds at https://itunes.apple.com/itunes-u/radio-rounds-radio-rounds/id428372384
What questions should I ask? [These are medical school questions but they work for dental schools just as well]
Curriculum
1. Are there any special programs for which this medical school is noted?
2. Please tell me more about the integrated curriculum.
3. What modalities are used for student lectures?
4. What are the opportunities for research? What are the policies for taking time off for research opportunities?
5. How do students get assistance if an academic need arises?
6. Is there flexibility in the coursework (the number of electives) and the timing of the courses (accelerating, decelerating, and time off) during the pre-clinical and clinical years?
7. Are standardized tests used such as the NBME shelf exams?
8. Has this medical school, or any of its clinical departments, been on probation or had its accreditation revoked?
9. How do students from this medical school perform on the National Board Examinations? How does the school assist students who do not pass?
Evaluations
10. How are students evaluated academically? How are clinical evaluations performed?
11. Is there a formal mechanism in place for students to evaluate their professors and attending physicians? What changes have been made recently as a result of this feedback?
Counseling/Student Support
12. What kind of academic, personal, financial, and career counseling is available to students? Are these services also offered to their spouses and dependents/children?
13. Is there a mentor/advisor system? Who are the advisors-faculty members, other students, or both?
14. How diverse is the student body? Are there support services or organizations for ethnic minorities and women?
Facilities
15. Tell me about the library and extracurricular facilities (i.e., housing and athletic/recreational facilities). Is designated study space available?
16. Are students required to have a laptop?
17. What type of clinical sites-ambulatory, private preceptors, private hospitals, rural settings, international-are available or required for clerkships? Does this school allow for students to do rotations at other institutions or internationally?
18. Is a car necessary for clinical rotations? Is parking a problem?
Financial Aid
19. What is the current tuition and fees? Is this expected to increase yearly? If so, at what rate?
20. Are there stable levels of federal financial aid and substantial amounts of university/medical school endowment aid available to students?
21. Are there students who have an "unmet need" factor in their budget? If so, where do these students come up with the extra funds?
22. Are spouses and dependents/children covered in a student's budget?
23. Is someone available to assist students with budgeting and financial planning?
24. Does this school provide guidance to its students, and to its graduates/alumni, on debt management?
Student Involvement
25. What medical school committees (e.g., curriculum committee) have student representation?
26. Are students involved in (required or voluntary) community service?
27. How active is the Student Council/Government? Are there other student organizations
Policies
28. What is the student medical insurance coverage and what is the cost to students?
29. Is there an established protocol for dealing with student exposure to infectious diseases?
30. Does this school provide, or does the student pay for, vaccinations against Hepatitis B or prophylactic AZT treatment in case of a needle-stick or accident?
31. Is disability insurance provided to cover exposure?
32. Is there a school Honor Code? Is there a grievance process/procedure? Are the students involved?
Residency
33. May I see a list of residency programs to which this school's recent graduates were accepted?
Questions to Ask Yourself
34. Does this school have strengths in the type of medicine (primary versus specialized care, urban versus rural practice environment, academic medicine versus private practice) that I will want to practice?
35. Would I be happy at this school for at least the next four years?
http://www.und.edu/dept/hpadvize/Thirty-five questions I wish I had asked.pdf
When asked what it means to be granted an interview, Dr. David Wofsy, Associate Dean of Admissions at UCSF medical school said,
"You are in the driver's seat, when you are an applicant. I don't think it feels that way. Right? You go into an interview and you feel like you're being judged and you feel like all the power is on the other side of the table. But that's not the truth. Schools are only interviewing people they're very interested in. Everybody we interview is somebody we are very impressed by and somebody we are quite convinced that would be an outstanding student at UCSF. And so we interview 500 people and if our class size was 500, we would have no trouble in accepting all of them. So our attitude is 'These are terrific people who have succeeded in coming through a very highly-demanding, competitive process to be among the handful of people we interview. We will want them. That's not just here, that's everywhere. The people that all medical schools are inviting to the interview are people they are really interested in. So, the first thing for an applicant to realize in, is you have some power in this interaction. And you should relax, and be confident, and be yourself. The school has already decided that it's yourself they're interested in. So I think that's the first thing and [that] is to recognize that the school is being judged as you're being judged and to take that part seriously. And I think the second piece of general advice is don't over-rehearse. I think one of the thing that plays badly in an interview is that it sounds like there is a little tape recorder in your head of the things you think you should say but really they're not being responsive to the question or to the flow of conversation. So I think it's important to do a little practicing and a little rehearsing with people and to get comfortable with the interview setting. Some people are really good at that as virtue of their personalities and for other people it's a struggle. We recognize that so a little practice is fine. But I actually think that the people who come in over-practiced and over-rehearsed look over-practiced and over-rehearsed and it doesn't work to their advantage."
Listen to the entire conversation on episode 407 of Radio Rounds at https://itunes.apple.com/itunes-u/radio-rounds-radio-rounds/id428372384
Personal Statement
Dr. Wofsy's comments on the personal statement:
"People agonize over the personal statement more than they're worth. Very few people will get into medical [or dental] school because of what they wrote in the personal statement. Some people will get out of medical [or dental] school because of what they wrote in the personal statement. So be careful and be careful with the personal statement. And remember that it is more likely to hurt than help. Write a good personal statement that shows that you can string thoughts in a logical way and you can write clearly and that you can talk about something that is relevant to this experience of applying to medical school, whether it's some activity you've been involved in or why you want to be a doctor [or dentist], or who knows what. It's not that important. What's important is that it's clear. So I tell people not to take risks for the personal statement. It's not what's going to get you in. And we follow that approach in our evaluation, that is, it's not a major determining factor. We know that a lot of different things go into the writing of the personal statement. Some people are the child of an admissions dean and they show their draft to their father and their father says 'No, no, no. Let's do it this way.' And some people have no such help. So we try to recognize that those statements are coming from many different environments and that they probably how we should decide in the end."
Listen to the entire conversation on episode 407 of Radio Rounds at https://itunes.apple.com/itunes-u/radio-rounds-radio-rounds/id428372384
How To Highlight Your Extracurriculars
Dr. Wofsy's comments on extracurricular activities:
"We and most [other] places are looking for people who have done something in-depth and have done it well and really care about it because when medicine [or dentistry] is what you do then you'll do it in-depth and really care about. We're not looking for people who can check every box. I think that's a common misconception. If research isn't your thing, don't do three months in a work research lab and think you've checked that box off. It'll just look like something superficial that you didn't take seriously. Do what's really important to you and it will show in your application and it's going to be different for different people."
Listen to the entire conversation on episode 407 of Radio Rounds at https://itunes.apple.com/itunes-u/radio-rounds-radio-rounds/id428372384
Other Advice
Radio Round's comments on other advice:
"The only way to get an interview is to make it through the numbers cut. If you can't make it through the numbers cut, none of this matters. None of this advice that we are giving today is going to apply to you because you gotta have the numbers to get that interview. And interviews aren't granted on personal statements. You have to make that initial cut...The personal statement only helps when the interviewer want to know what to talk about of if they have any questions, they can get it from that."
Listen to the entire conversation on episode 407 of Radio Rounds at https://itunes.apple.com/itunes-u/radio-rounds-radio-rounds/id428372384
What questions should I ask? [These are medical school questions but they work for dental schools just as well]
Curriculum
1. Are there any special programs for which this medical school is noted?
2. Please tell me more about the integrated curriculum.
3. What modalities are used for student lectures?
4. What are the opportunities for research? What are the policies for taking time off for research opportunities?
5. How do students get assistance if an academic need arises?
6. Is there flexibility in the coursework (the number of electives) and the timing of the courses (accelerating, decelerating, and time off) during the pre-clinical and clinical years?
7. Are standardized tests used such as the NBME shelf exams?
8. Has this medical school, or any of its clinical departments, been on probation or had its accreditation revoked?
9. How do students from this medical school perform on the National Board Examinations? How does the school assist students who do not pass?
Evaluations
10. How are students evaluated academically? How are clinical evaluations performed?
11. Is there a formal mechanism in place for students to evaluate their professors and attending physicians? What changes have been made recently as a result of this feedback?
Counseling/Student Support
12. What kind of academic, personal, financial, and career counseling is available to students? Are these services also offered to their spouses and dependents/children?
13. Is there a mentor/advisor system? Who are the advisors-faculty members, other students, or both?
14. How diverse is the student body? Are there support services or organizations for ethnic minorities and women?
Facilities
15. Tell me about the library and extracurricular facilities (i.e., housing and athletic/recreational facilities). Is designated study space available?
16. Are students required to have a laptop?
17. What type of clinical sites-ambulatory, private preceptors, private hospitals, rural settings, international-are available or required for clerkships? Does this school allow for students to do rotations at other institutions or internationally?
18. Is a car necessary for clinical rotations? Is parking a problem?
Financial Aid
19. What is the current tuition and fees? Is this expected to increase yearly? If so, at what rate?
20. Are there stable levels of federal financial aid and substantial amounts of university/medical school endowment aid available to students?
21. Are there students who have an "unmet need" factor in their budget? If so, where do these students come up with the extra funds?
22. Are spouses and dependents/children covered in a student's budget?
23. Is someone available to assist students with budgeting and financial planning?
24. Does this school provide guidance to its students, and to its graduates/alumni, on debt management?
Student Involvement
25. What medical school committees (e.g., curriculum committee) have student representation?
26. Are students involved in (required or voluntary) community service?
27. How active is the Student Council/Government? Are there other student organizations
Policies
28. What is the student medical insurance coverage and what is the cost to students?
29. Is there an established protocol for dealing with student exposure to infectious diseases?
30. Does this school provide, or does the student pay for, vaccinations against Hepatitis B or prophylactic AZT treatment in case of a needle-stick or accident?
31. Is disability insurance provided to cover exposure?
32. Is there a school Honor Code? Is there a grievance process/procedure? Are the students involved?
Residency
33. May I see a list of residency programs to which this school's recent graduates were accepted?
Questions to Ask Yourself
34. Does this school have strengths in the type of medicine (primary versus specialized care, urban versus rural practice environment, academic medicine versus private practice) that I will want to practice?
35. Would I be happy at this school for at least the next four years?
http://www.und.edu/dept/hpadvize/Thirty-five questions I wish I had asked.pdf
