2010-2011 University of Arizona Application Thread

[mymembernames]

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My Tucson interview was with a fourth year med student. I didn't know the librarian interviewed people at Phoenix. That's pretty cool, actually. One of them leaves copies of the NYTimes crossword puzzle for me. It's very sweet. Make friends with the librarians wherever you go.

The interviewers in Phoenix are pretty stellar, if I do say so myself.

Shep, you're lack of social networking has lured me back to SDN. Just seeing you in my dreams isn't enough anymore. Also, how was that Michael Cera movie?

Good to know. Are the students part of the admissions committee as well?

 

[Jgold]

Good to know. Are the students part of the admissions committee as well?

I have no idea, really. I assume that there are students that are part of the admissions committee. That being said, I don't go to the Tucson campus, I go to the Phoenix campus where I don't recall anybody being interviewed by a student.

Of note is that the students here at Phoenix have some say actually in the staff that gets hired. When I asked a second year if he had met a particular staff member, he replied, "I actually interviewed her for the position." (That's probably not an exact quote). The faculty not only care about the students, but respect their opinion and rely on us to contribute to the improvement of the school, staff, and facilities.

 

[shepardsun]

My Tucson interview was with a fourth year med student. I didn't know the librarian interviewed people at Phoenix. That's pretty cool, actually. One of them leaves copies of the NYTimes crossword puzzle for me. It's very sweet. Make friends with the librarians wherever you go.

The interviewers in Phoenix are pretty stellar, if I do say so myself.

Shep, you're lack of social networking has lured me back to SDN. Just seeing you in my dreams isn't enough anymore. Also, how was that Michael Cera movie?

1. I'm so stoked that you've returned! LOVING THE LOGO!!!
2. You're is the contraction of "you are" and is often followed by a present participle. Your is the second person possessive adjective, used to describe something as belonging to you. (See? Me being a jerk to you online is almost like the real thing!!!)
3. Michael Cera is awesome and Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is an instant classic.

 

[Jgold]

2. You're is the contraction of "you are" and is often followed by a present participle. Your is the second person possessive adjective, used to describe something as belonging to you. (See? Me being a jerk to you online is almost like the real thing!!!)

The downside of the familial environment in Phoenix is that you still have that really annoying little brother that you can't stand and keeps finding his way home when you leave him at the park in the next county. I guess that's an upside if you are that annoying brother though.

 

[ichy4life]

I asked around and didn't find other SDNers at today's workshop. Maybe you are "cleaning up your social image", as suggested by the HR people today.

The information from Phoenix was awesome. Some segments were more informative than others, but the first opening segment on the new process by Tara was intimidating/exciting/informative/and on. I have to say the Phoenix campus progressive attitude to making the process more sound is impressive.

It's disappointing to find out the mock interviews next by the other office won't "mock" the new format. Oh well. Practice is still practice.

 

[shepardsun]

I asked around and didn't find other SDNers at today's workshop. Maybe you are "cleaning up your social image", as suggested by the HR people today.

The information from Phoenix was awesome. Some segments were more informative than others, but the first opening segment on the new process by Tara was intimidating/exciting/informative/and on. I have to say the Phoenix campus progressive attitude to making the process more sound is impressive.

It's disappointing to find out the mock interviews next by the other office won't "mock" the new format. Oh well. Practice is still practice.

I was there! I was the mysteriously smoldering guy with all the groupies clustered around him cooing and fawning. You guys are lucky to have such an incredible admissions team advocating for you. Tara, Wendy, Jessica et al. are the coolest people ever and they are really ridiculously scary good at their jobs. Well done, ladies!

 

[shepardsun]

The downside of the familial environment in Phoenix is that you still have that really annoying little brother that you can't stand and keeps finding his way home when you leave him at the park in the next county. I guess that's an upside if you are that annoying brother though.

Jgold is one of those sensitive guys who has a lot of trouble expressing his feelings and can really only show his appreciation for people by making cruel, harsh statements, like the kid in second grade who pulls on your pigtails because he can't find a mature way to express his affection for you. Pretty pathetic, if you ask me. What Jgold means to say, and what we all know he means to say, is that I bring a unique type of sunshine into his otherwise dreary life and that the highlight of each and every day for him are the few moments where I deign to acknowledge his presence.

 

[lrkoehle]

I think you are mixed up - last yeat, I had several friends interview at both campuses. All but 1 of the Tucson interviews were done by 4th yr students. I was hoping this changed. Phoenix even uses the dean to interview.

disclaimer: my sister is in a grad program for library studies and once finished and employed, most libriarians are considered faculty. They do a lot more than our HS librarians.

I last year I also had several friends interview at both campuses in addition to me, and I never heard of anyone who was interviewed by a student. Now that I am a student in Tucson I know even more people who interviewed here (and were accepted) and I have heard nothing about interviews by students. I myself was interviewed by the head of admissions or the king of admissions or something like that. I don't think students are common interviewers in Tucson, because I don't remember anyone at my interview saying something like, "awww man, my interview is with a student? No one else is interviewing with a student? Damn..." Which is something I assume would have come up. All that said, I'm not saying it doesn't happen on occasion where they need a student to fill in and do an interview or two, its just that I've never met anyone in person who had it happen. Even if it does, don't be worried. The student will be a) properly trained (although maybe nervous) and b) very understanding having been in your shoes just a couple of years earlier. Also, I think I can say with confidence that if a student interviews you, their feedback to the committee positive or negative will be treated the same as feedback from any other admissions committee person.

Anyways, I'm not sure if your friends were just by chance some of few interviewed by students, but we have more than ample admissions staff/faculty members here to where almost every interviewee should be interviewed by a faculty member. Plus, 4 year students are busy during the fall doing away rotations, preparing residency applications, going to residency interviews, etc. Although I remember Pitt used 4th years, so it wouldn't be unheard of but it also wasn't the only interview. Last year applicants to both campuses had one interview at each campus, but that may change this year with the new separate applications.

Also, I do want to point out that I wasn't taking a shot a librarians by any means. I know that at this level they have to have at least a basic understanding of what we're doing, so they can help us with literature searches and organizing things in a way that would be logical to us.

No, Lrk isn't mixed up. Every single person that I know that interviewed at Tucson, including yours truly interviewed with PhD/MD faculty. I did interview with Dean Flynn at Phoenix. Several of my current classmates interviewed with the librarian, who yes, is considered to be a pretty integral part of the staff of the school (if not faculty).

That seems to mirror what I had heard about the process last year. I think I interviewed with the assistant dean or the special assistant to the dean in Phoenix.

At a school like Phoenix with a smaller class size and also a smaller campus, I'm not surprised that the librarian is an integral part of the staff. I'd assume she does a lot more than standard "librarianing." Still, even if she was "just a librarian," if they have her interviewing people, her input would be treated just like any other admissions member's input, just like I said about student interviewers above.

Never heard of applicants being interviewed by students at the school. I don't even think the students are involved in the admissions process. Well, except for just being around to give us tours, answer questions, and eat lunch/breakfast with us. 😀

Yup, and when the students are with you on tour or at lunch, we really are just there to "be around." We really aren't secret spies out to ruin your chances at getting accepted. Although if you are a really, really big jerk then we might have to make an exception, but if you just like let a fart slip out we won't report it...

My Tucson interview was with a fourth year med student. I didn't know the librarian interviewed people at Phoenix. That's pretty cool, actually. One of them leaves copies of the NYTimes crossword puzzle for me. It's very sweet. Make friends with the librarians wherever you go.

The interviewers in Phoenix are pretty stellar, if I do say so myself.

Well, there you go. We found some one interviewed by a student in Tucson, so I guess it does happen from time to time. Until I read it here on SDN, I had heard nothing of the sort at either campus. Still, as I said before, don't let that throw you off or feel like you're chances are shot because "they won't care what some student says." If they have a student doing interviews as a fourth year, you can bet that person was hand selected for a reason and that their input will be considered equal to and other ADCOM.

I asked around and didn't find other SDNers at today's workshop. Maybe you are "cleaning up your social image", as suggested by the HR people today.

The information from Phoenix was awesome. Some segments were more informative than others, but the first opening segment on the new process by Tara was intimidating/exciting/informative/and on. I have to say the Phoenix campus progressive attitude to making the process more sound is impressive.

It's disappointing to find out the mock interviews next by the other office won't "mock" the new format. Oh well. Practice is still practice.

I'd suggest following that "cleaning up your social image" advice. While I highly doubt they would check on every applicant, it is not at all unreasonable to think that they might check on the select few they consider for an acceptance. Honestly, I don't think they'll be like, "wow, we were going to accept this guy/gal until we saw that one picture of them drinking alcohol on facebook," but if you have a whole bunch of them and/or pictures of you or attractive young ladies half naked they may reconsider. Still, its so freakin' easy to change your privacy settings on facebook that you'd be silly not to just do it for the 9 months you spend applying to medical school.

As for SDN, they apparently check this thread occasionally and have identified people from here, but those people were already accepted. Really, this thread, unless it gets way off topic, doesn't ever really have controversial stuff come up. Its mostly "just submitted by secondary," "yay I got an interivew," "awww man I met shep at my interview...he's not as big as his pictures in last year's thread make him look," etc., so if you're staying on topic even if they do identify you it won't be for anything bad. Unless your relevant topic was how much you hated the school, in which case you probably aren't interested in attending it anyways so it doesn't matter.

 

[mymembernames]

I asked around and didn't find other SDNers at today's workshop. Maybe you are "cleaning up your social image", as suggested by the HR people today.

The information from Phoenix was awesome. Some segments were more informative than others, but the first opening segment on the new process by Tara was intimidating/exciting/informative/and on. I have to say the Phoenix campus progressive attitude to making the process more sound is impressive.

It's disappointing to find out the mock interviews next by the other office won't "mock" the new format. Oh well. Practice is still practice.

Wish I was able to attend. I hope I didn't miss out on too much.

 

[mymembernames]

Btw, to the first years, how was week one of med school? Hectic? Easy?

 

[shepardsun]

Btw, to the first years, how was week one of med school? Hectic? Easy?

We just finished our third week of actual classes and had our first test. Somewhere between hectic and easy.

 

[Phosphorus Ylide]

We just finished our third week of actual classes and had our first test. Somewhere between hectic and easy.

Don't listen to Shep. When he said somewhere between hectic and easy, he means it was a piece of cake for him due to his almighty brain and thinks class is soooo silly that he resorts to drawing pigs on his Onenote pages.

On a more serious note, the first few weeks weren't too bad. There was just a lot of material- 23 lectures covering 28 hours of material- and we also had two CBIs which gave rise to 10 of our test questions. I didn't think the exam was too terrible. I think I probably should have paid more attention to details and started studying sooner, but there were no curve balls or mysterious questions. However I actually did, it was just nice to get the first exam out of the way so now I know what to expect for future exams. I must say, though, that taking the exam on Friday was awesome because I then got to enjoy the most relaxing, obligation-free weekend I have had since I got here.

 

[lrkoehle]

Btw, to the first years, how was week one of med school? Hectic? Easy?

Week one in Tucson is sort of an introductory week. Its different from basic orientation where they go over stuff like the honor code (which we all already know but they have to do) and the curriculum (which all of us probably already looked at before deciding to matriculate here). Our first block is called prologue, and it lasts a week. It focuses on HIV and is designed to let us get into the swing of classes before the real blocks start. We do a CBI just to see how it works, we do team learning to see how it works, and we even do a test at the end to see how those are structured too. The test doesn't count, but it is intended to allow us to see the formatting and make sure we have the testing program properly installed. Its a total BS week, but it helps us know how things will be run before getting into a block that really counts.

We just finished our first week of the first real block called foundations, which is intended to ensure everyone, especially the humanities majors, has the same basic science foundation in subjects like biochem, cell bio, etc. As a science major, I've found it to be quite easy, but I'm already getting the sense that when things pick up for real, like in neuro (the next block), that we'll be very busy. Our first test is in two weeks from tomorrow, so if I remember I'll let you guys know how that goes.

 

[Champaigne]

I asked around and didn't find other SDNers at today's workshop. Maybe you are "cleaning up your social image", as suggested by the HR people today.

The information from Phoenix was awesome. Some segments were more informative than others, but the first opening segment on the new process by Tara was intimidating/exciting/informative/and on. I have to say the Phoenix campus progressive attitude to making the process more sound is impressive.

It's disappointing to find out the mock interviews next by the other office won't "mock" the new format. Oh well. Practice is still practice.

I was there too! Unfortunately couldn't sign up for the mock interviews. I liked how the HR woman who told us not to give TMI during the interview was the same person who told a rambling ten minute story about how we should enjoy the process...I giggled inside

 

[BobtheDoc]

So, not that I'm anxious or anything, but I log in to check my status about twice a day. Has anyone else noticed that when you log in to check your status the "date submitted" changes to the last time you logged in, rather than the date you actually submitted?

I've noticed that, and I'm starting to worry I keep knocking myself down to the bottom of the pile...

Yet I lack the self control to just sit back and wait. Curses.

 

[sweetlife]

So, not that I'm anxious or anything, but I log in to check my status about twice a day. Has anyone else noticed that when you log in to check your status the "date submitted" changes to the last time you logged in, rather than the date you actually submitted?

I've noticed that, and I'm starting to worry I keep knocking myself down to the bottom of the pile...

Yet I lack the self control to just sit back and wait. Curses.

Oh I definitely understand! I am anxiously waiting for a Phoenix interview. I wonder if they are sending out phoenix interviews in batches? Or if they are waiting my new mcat? Which is a whole ball of stress in and of itself! EEKK! September 1st hurry up!!

 

[BearDownAZ]

Oh I definitely understand! I am anxiously waiting for a Phoenix interview. I wonder if they are sending out phoenix interviews in batches? Or if they are waiting my new mcat? Which is a whole ball of stress in and of itself! EEKK! September 1st hurry up!!

From an email I received from UofA Phx.

"I appreciate your patience as there are just two of us processing hundreds of applications.

Have a good day!

Best regards,
Wendy"

 

[shepardsun]

So, not that I'm anxious or anything, but I log in to check my status about twice a day. Has anyone else noticed that when you log in to check your status the "date submitted" changes to the last time you logged in, rather than the date you actually submitted?

I've noticed that, and I'm starting to worry I keep knocking myself down to the bottom of the pile...

Yet I lack the self control to just sit back and wait. Curses.

I highly doubt that that's going to hurt you in any way, shape or form. It's a well known truth that pre-meds waiting for status changes on applications are literally THE most OCD people on the face of the planet. I probably updated my email literally every five minutes from September of 2009 to May of 2010, so you're not the only one.

From an email I received from UofA Phx.

"I appreciate your patience as there are just two of us processing hundreds of applications.

Have a good day!

Best regards,
Wendy"

Awwww Wendy is so nice. I feel bad to think of her trapped under a huge mound of applications but you guys really couldn't have a better person looking at all of them.

 

[lrkoehle]

I highly doubt that that's going to hurt you in any way, shape or form. It's a well known truth that pre-meds waiting for status changes on applications are literally THE most OCD people on the face of the planet. I probably updated my email literally every five minutes from September of 2009 to May of 2010, so you're not the only one.
.

Haha, this is so true. If I had a refresh button actually on my keyboard, I guarantee it would have been broken by mid-November.

 

[Brahms2010]

Haha, this is so true. If I had a refresh button actually on my keyboard, I guarantee it would have been broken by mid-November.

I believe F5 is a refresh key.

 

[shepardsun]

I believe F5 is a refresh key.

I wonder if you have a refresh key that we can push when you fall asleep in biostatistics today?

 

[Mentaculus]

Is anyone else terrified by the ProFitHR-Admissions Multiple Mini-Interview (MMI)? I don't really think there is any way to prepare for it, which worries me. I read online somewhere that they play games with your head and try to see how you react in stressful situations. Any advice on how to approach this type of interview?

 

[shepardsun]

Is anyone else terrified by the ProFitHR-Admissions Multiple Mini-Interview (MMI)? I don't really think there is any way to prepare for it, which worries me. I read online somewhere that they play games with your head and try to see how you react in stressful situations. Any advice on how to approach this type of interview?

You'll be fine for the following reasons:
1. Shorter time for each interview means statistically smaller chance of foot-in-mouth disorder
2. One personality conflict/trip-up/mistake will not sink you as it will be weighed against the rest of your sessions
3. Nobody will "try" on purpose to trip you up. The situations you speak of will not be stressful as much as they will give you an example to demonstrate your problem solving abilities/people skills. I don't think any will include the defusing of a nuclear warhead in 30 seconds, but I could be wrong.
4. It's super fun once you have done the first one. Once the new-ness of the format wears off and you've seen what'll be like, you can have fun with the remaining 9 and not take them too seriously. Whereas if you get deer-in-headlights syndrome in a traditional interview, that first impression might last throughout the entire process.
5. The shorter time gives you an opportunity to really distill your messages to their best parts. You won't have to sit and blabber on and on to cushion a half hour interview.
6. As far as getting ready, I would just prepare a couple of different non-cheesy ways to quickly answer the generic interview questions, and you can find most of those online by doing a google search. You could also hit up the SDN interview sections to check out the other schools that do MMI- UCLA Drew and U Cincinnati are the ones that come off the top of my head to get a better idea of what the process is like.

Bottom line dude is don't stress out and realize that most of these changes were implemented for your benefit.

 

[ichy4life]

You'll be fine for the following reasons:
1. Shorter time for each interview means statistically smaller chance of foot-in-mouth disorder
2. One personality conflict/trip-up/mistake will not sink you as it will be weighed against the rest of your sessions
3. Nobody will "try" on purpose to trip you up. The situations you speak of will not be stressful as much as they will give you an example to demonstrate your problem solving abilities/people skills. I don't think any will include the defusing of a nuclear warhead in 30 seconds, but I could be wrong.
4. It's super fun once you have done the first one. Once the new-ness of the format wears off and you've seen what'll be like, you can have fun with the remaining 9 and not take them too seriously. Whereas if you get deer-in-headlights syndrome in a traditional interview, that first impression might last throughout the entire process.
5. The shorter time gives you an opportunity to really distill your messages to their best parts. You won't have to sit and blabber on and on to cushion a half hour interview.
6. As far as getting ready, I would just prepare a couple of different non-cheesy ways to quickly answer the generic interview questions, and you can find most of those online by doing a google search. You could also hit up the SDN interview sections to check out the other schools that do MMI- UCLA Drew and U Cincinnati are the ones that come off the top of my head to get a better idea of what the process is like.

Bottom line dude is don't stress out and realize that most of these changes were implemented for your benefit.

Are you a secret agent for the admissions office or the profitHR group? Medical school is your cover. Spill it before water boarding begins....

 

[cfx]

Can someone clarify what the LOR requirements are?

The website states that they want 3 letters from anyone, but then it goes on to say that they "encourage" applicants to send letters from lab PIs and from service activities. Are these in addition to the 3, or are they suggesting that these make up the 3?

Are we allowed to submit >3 letters, or is this the limit?

Finally, is the requirement the same for PHX and Tucson?
TIA

 

[Phosphorus Ylide]

Can someone clarify what the LOR requirements are?

The website states that they want 3 letters from anyone, but then it goes on to say that they "encourage" applicants to send letters from lab PIs and from service activities. Are these in addition to the 3, or are they suggesting that these make up the 3?

Are we allowed to submit >3 letters, or is this the limit?

Finally, is the requirement the same for PHX and Tucson?
TIA

I would email the individual offices and ask. I'm not sure if the 3 letters is an absolute maximum. When I applied, my premed committee wrote me a little section and then incorporated highlights from 5 writers into one letter (one PI, one science professor, one non-science professor, and two physicians I worked with). So, technically it was one letter, but the thoughts came from 6 people (if you include the committee chair). UACOM-P was fine with this, but I'm not sure how they would feel about 4 or more distinct letters.

 

[mymembernames]

For those of you who received an interview from the Tucson campus, how long did it take since the date you were complete?

 

[BearDownAZ]

I was interviewed by a 4th year student at UofA Tucson the other year.

 

[Salt and Lime]

So... everyone moved over here, I guess? I feel like no one told me they were moving the party 🙁

 

[shepardsun]

So... everyone moved over here, I guess? I feel like no one told me they were moving the party 🙁

Sorry S&L, I thought that you were too cool for SDN now that you were a hotshot medical student...can we still be BFFs?

 

[MpXnpio]

In a very successful attempt at putting off writing secondary essays, I spent the last few hours making this sweet excel sheet to help me keep track of the status of all my applications. Then I thought, "Maybe other people would also find this useful/distracting." So I put it up online here:

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?evqpv17j70olmgm

It's an excel sheet, and uses two macros (so be sure to have them enabled!). Unfortunately, I think you need to have Excel 2007 to use it because of the conditional formatting. I haven't tried it in 2003 though, so I guess I don't really know. Anyway, enjoy!

PS- I haven't tested it very much, so if there are bugs then I apologize 🙂

 

[shepardsun]

In a very successful attempt at putting off writing secondary essays, I spent the last few hours making this sweet excel sheet to help me keep track of the status of all my applications. Then I thought, "Maybe other people would also find this useful/distracting." So I put it up online here:

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?9rophppe7qgn217

It's an excel sheet, and uses two macros (so be sure to have them enabled!). Unfortunately, I think you need to have Excel 2007 to use it because of the conditional formatting. I haven't tried it in 2003 though, so I guess I don't really know. Anyway, enjoy!

PS- I haven't tested it very much, so if there are bugs then I apologize 🙂

I hereby crown you "MadeinReydn Jr." Bravo!

 

[Snarkalark]

tucson's interview schedule says afternoon interviews are at 2pm with check-in time at 11:45? i assume that's a typo because it says morning ones are at 11 with check-in at 10:30. anyone know what the times are and how long the interviews run for?

 

[lrkoehle]

tucson's interview schedule says afternoon interviews are at 2pm with check-in time at 11:45? i assume that's a typo because it says morning ones are at 11 with check-in at 10:30. anyone know what the times are and how long the interviews run for?

They used that schedule to mess me up last year too. There are interviews in the morning and there are interviews in the afternoon (I'm sure you got at least that far). Now the confusing part is that lunch and the tour are as a group. By that I mean everyone interviewing that day comes together and goes on a tour and lunch together, regardless of your interview time. Lunch and tour are at 12. Thus, if you have a "morning interview," your interview will run from 11-12ish, and if you have an "afternoon interview," your interview will go from 2-3ish. The reason they do it this way is because your student tour guides/lunch hosts always have lunch from 12-1 (like me right now), so to ensure you have time to interact with students they set it up this way.

As a side note, make sure you take advantage of the time you spend with students. We are not there as spies for admissions, so we can really answer any questions you have. Furthermore, we can tell you what its like as a student here, which I personally think means a lot more than admissions/faculty telling you how awesome their schools is.

 

[lrkoehle]

I just got an email that may be of interest to you all. Apparently, they are working on getting a student host program setup down here in Tucson. It would be similar to what other schools have where you stay with a student the night before your interview. Typically, this is most beneficial to OOS applicants, which we did not have until recently. I guess with our first group of OOS students here, the school has been informed of how beneficial a student host program would have been for those students. I really hope this program becomes a reality to help all of you OOSers save on interview costs. I'll let you know if I hear anything more about it.

Oh, it also seemed like it would be available to in state applicants too, so don't feel left out AZ residents.

 

[shepardsun]

I just got an email that may be of interest to you all. Apparently, they are working on getting a student host program setup down here in Tucson. It would be similar to what other schools have where you stay with a student the night before your interview. Typically, this is most beneficial to OOS applicants, which we did not have until recently. I guess with our first group of OOS students here, the school has been informed of how beneficial a student host program would have been for those students. I really hope this program becomes a reality to help all of you OOSers save on interview costs. I'll let you know if I hear anything more about it.

Oh, it also seemed like it would be available to in state applicants too, so don't feel left out AZ residents.

Something similar's been in the works at Phoenix for a little bit, though I don't know how far we've gotten on it. Obviously there are a lot of issues with things like liability to work out but I hope that it makes it to reality as well as I think it would definitely be of use to OOS students.

 

[Snarkalark]

weird, but i guess it makes sense. man, tucson is on top of their stuff - processed my app and sent an interview invite on the same day my check got mailed. 👍

 

[mymembernames]

weird, but i guess it makes sense. man, tucson is on top of their stuff - processed my app and sent an interview invite on the same day my check got mailed. 👍

Congrats man, when was your application complete?

 

[Snarkalark]

my primary? like mid-july. it took 3 or 4 weeks to process.

 

[mymembernames]

my primary? like mid-july. it took 3 or 4 weeks to process.

Oh no, I meant to say your secondary application to UA - Tucson.

 

[Snarkalark]

i submitted it on the 18th and mailed the payment out the next day.

 

[Brrooother]

Hi, all,

I just wanted to say that I interviewed students at the Mock Interview thing today, and overall I was very impressed! Well done, to those of you who participated, and I hope you found it helpful. And if you answered the vaccine question in the MMI, it's possible that I was your interviewer!

Good luck to all of you, and great job today. 👍

 

[DancinSarah]

I'm OOS and couldn't make the mock interviews, but is it possible to know some of the questions to get an idea what the MMI is like? If you are not allowed to then no problem but it would certainly be helpful 🙂

 

[Brrooother]

I'm OOS and couldn't make the mock interviews, but is it possible to know some of the questions to get an idea what the MMI is like? If you are not allowed to then no problem but it would certainly be helpful 🙂

I interviewed about 15 people total, giving them only one scenario with a few associated questions, so I don't know what all the questions/scenarios were. We were told the questions were specifically for this training and won't be used for the actual interview, so I suppose it would be okay for me to talk about it. The question I had painted a brief scenario involving you as a physician seeing a baby for a well-baby check. The parents had refused to vaccinate the child, so the main question asked how you would handle the situation. The follow-up questions asked why you handled it that way, what other factors could have been considered, and what options you would not consider in your decision-making process.

The good interviewers (in my opinion) considered both sides of the issue, stating that they would want to both understand the parents' reasoning as well as educate the parents and address any concerns. The good answers were well-constructed as if in a written paragraph, with a beginning, middle, and end. They also were delivered in a mature, poised fashion - good eye contact and appropriate language and grammar but still conversational and friendly. One interviewer at the end put it best: if you come across as nervous, you'll make the interviewer nervous!

I believe the other scenarios dealt with similar issues. Review and be familiar with current issues in healthcare, including vaccinations, euthanasia, abortion, healthcare legislation, HIV, maybe some Medicare/Medicaid topics and even other healthcare models in other countries. Have an opinion, but be aware of all arguments. And, if you don't understand what a particular question is asking in your interview (whether MMI or traditional), ask for clarification and don't just go off on a tangent!

 

[shepardsun]

Hi, all,

I just wanted to say that I interviewed students at the Mock Interview thing today, and overall I was very impressed! Well done, to those of you who participated, and I hope you found it helpful. And if you answered the vaccine question in the MMI, it's possible that I was your interviewer!

Good luck to all of you, and great job today. 👍

It warms the snow cone machine that I had replace what was left of my heart to see you back on the boards. Oh Brrooother, how salient your wisdom is! How helpful your knowledge! Only now that I'm a MS.12 do I realize how little I truly know! Please don't ever leave us for clerkships and later residency! We neeeeeeed you!

 

[Brrooother]

It warms the snow cone machine that I had replace what was left of my heart to see you back on the boards. Oh Brrooother, how salient your wisdom is! How helpful your knowledge! Only now that I'm a MS.12 do I realize how little I truly know! Please don't ever leave us for clerkships and later residency! We neeeeeeed you!

Aw, how sweet, Shep, thanks 🙂 I think I'm a SDN addict for life, but I have been laying off the posts because it seems like you guys have things covered! Thanks, though, and I'm always here!

 

[One800Packaging]

Scheduled my interview today for Phoenix!!!!!!! 1st time applying here, first interview! For those interested....... I was notified Monday the 13th that my file was complete and being reviewed for an interview. I got an e-mail at 11:30 today saying I have been invited for an interview. I am scheduled for October 18th. Best of luck to everyone!

 

[ichy4life]

Scheduled my interview today for Phoenix!!!!!!! 3rd time applying here, first interview! For those interested....... I was notified Monday the 16th that my file was complete and being reviewed for an interview. I got an e-mail at 11:30 today saying I have been invited for an interview. I am scheduled for October 11th. Best of luck to everyone!

A classmate (ASU), who is a nonresident, also received an invite. He just happen to login and read the email invite during class - very exciting to watch someone's reaction. Residents take for granted interview invites. One800Packaging - you must be resident if you have tried for 3 years. Good luck!

 

[One800Packaging]

A classmate (ASU), who is a nonresident, also received an invite. He just happen to login and read the email invite during class - very exciting to watch someone's reaction. Residents take for granted interview invites. One800Packaging - you must be resident if you have tried for 3 years. Good luck!

Well played... I am a resident, in Grad School at ASU. Got married and bought a house in Phoenix. Put a stake in the ground and only applying to U of A and Midwestern.

 

[Dr Pepp3r]

Any OOSers receive this email yet?

"Thank you for your interest in The University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix for the entering class of 2011. After careful review of your AMCAS and Secondary Application, we have determined to keep your file active and under review for a potential interview invitation at a later time. Reviews are continuous, with no definitive date on the calendar by when we will reach a conclusion."

I think I just got the pre-interview hold email 🙁 . I'm OOS and have no ties to Arizona, but I have a strong interest in their curriculum design, clinical sites, and city of Phoenix. Does anybody know if people actually get out of this hold?