-
CycleTrack and SDN are teaming up to make medical school admissions more transparent and accessible! Read the announcement to learn how we’re supporting the future of CycleTrack’s free application-tracking tools .
Get help with your application
Use all the free resources available to you from SDN: articles, guides, expert advising, forums discussions, and school research.
If you feel like you're talking too much, you probably are.
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
For 'tell me about yourself' I aimed for no longer than 1:30. For 'why medicine', I aimed for no more than a minute.
I am sure other people have answer that are much longer or shorter.
I am sure other people have answer that are much longer or shorter.
1 minute for why med/ tell me about yourself seems a bit short. I usually did 2.5 minutes.
1-2 minutes. The interviewer can ask you follow-up questions if they are interested in learning more, and that encourages a more conversational interview. I lose focus when an interviewee goes off on a lot of tangents and talks for 5+ minutes after just one question. 
Edit to add: When asked "tell me about yourself," which is how the majority of your interviews will start, don't also throw in why you want to be a doctor or start talking about your activities. Slow down and don't answer the interviewer's questions before they ask. "Tell me about yourself" is just a few sentences about yourself - where you're from, where you go/went to school, your major, and maybe an interesting fact or two (do you play a sport? an instrument?).
Edit to add: When asked "tell me about yourself," which is how the majority of your interviews will start, don't also throw in why you want to be a doctor or start talking about your activities. Slow down and don't answer the interviewer's questions before they ask. "Tell me about yourself" is just a few sentences about yourself - where you're from, where you go/went to school, your major, and maybe an interesting fact or two (do you play a sport? an instrument?).
Last edited:
You need to be flexible. Your time with a given interviewer may vary from 5 to 45+ minutes. You will adjust the time you spend answering depending on the time you are alloted and whether the interview started late. Your job is to keep the interview flowing, so too brief an answer for every question isn't a good idea, generally. On the other hand, don't go on and on. An interviewer generally has an agenda and has multiple topics they plan to hit on to get a full idea of "who you are." You don't do yourself any favors if they can't appreciate this fully. They will ask followup questions if they want to tease out more information on a given topic. They may be obliged to cut you off if you start droning. And definitely don't be boring.
*looks at username*
*looks at post history*
i'm suspicious.
Same here. But if this is true, think Yale could send an II my way soon? Much appreciated.
I respectfully disagree.
30 seconds sound too short. I agree with 1-2 minute mark, but at the same time you still have to offer enough, meaningful materials to the interviewer for follow-up questions to happen. "Tell me about yourself" can be brief, because you can be asked, "So you mentioned this. Tell me more about that," but for "Why medicine/doctor" has to be definitely 1-2 min mark because I don't know anyone who could summarize their whole journey in 30 seconds with specific personal anecdotes included and articulate why they are suitable to be a medical professional based on them.
D
deleted212936
As long as needed but not long enough that you're babbling like an idiot.
Last edited by a moderator:
2-3 mins should suffice
2-3 mins is a long time when you're talking isn't it?
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
It depends upon the question.
One can always vidoe oneself and see how you think you did.
One can always vidoe oneself and see how you think you did.
Oh, no. No one times themselves while they're talking during the interview. You're supposed use a phone to time yourself during your rehearsals.
Yeah, that's what I meant. Of course no one times themselves during the interview. I'm saying I don't even do rehearsals, much less time myself during them. I just give a bit of thought to the kinds of questions that I might get asked, and then go in expecting to have a normal conversation.
I am very curious about this. I have been extensively involved in research for the past 3+ years and I have worked in 3 different labs. If I were to be asked "So tell me about your research?" It would be extremely difficult to answer that question and touch upon each one of my experiences in 1-2minutes
I'm in a similar position. I mention each one, with like a 1-2 sentence topical description, and then ask if there's a particular project they'd like to hear about in more detail. Usually they tell me to just pick one to talk about.
