Okay, so the day starts off by arriving at the admissions department's suite where they give you a folder with information about the school (e.g., financial aid, unique aspects about the school, etc) and a name tag. You'll then sit in that room while you wait for the rest of the interviewees to arrive. There's a couch and a few comfy chairs surrounding a flat screen that plays a spiel about the medical school on repeat.
Once everyone arrives, they take your picture before escorting you to a room where the admission's secretary, Stephanie Cole, gives a presentation on what sets Quillen apart from other schools. Then Joyce Underwood will give a presentation on financial aid. At the end of the financial aid presentation , two M1s or M2s will come grab you for the tour of the campus and med student center. You can ask them anything you want without fear that it'll trickle back to the committee; but be reminded that they have no idea about anything other than year one. You'll be greeted by an M3 and an M4 at the hospital for a tour and lunch, where you'll get a free ticket to eat as much as you like. This is your opportunity to really ask the questions that mean the most: How are clinicals? How prepared did you feel for the USMLE? Looking back on your experience, do you think you made a good school choice? If you ever interview at a school and never get to meet an M3 or M4, beware. The M1s are still star struck and have yet to delve into the meat of the curriculum (at least at this school, anyway, as the meat of classes begin at M2). They'll generally always be happy. The M3s and M4s on the other hand will give you their honest opinion about the entire process. Same goes for residency interviews.
Anyway, after lunch, you're escorted back to the admissions suite for your two interviews, 60 minutes max. I had two of the best interviews ever. The first one was a conversation with a non-medical administrator on the undergrad side and was entirely chill. Even though she had my file minus grades and MCAT, she shoved it aside and just started asking me relaxed questions. The time flew by!
My second interview was like sitting at a bar talking to some random, but superbly interesting dude. We actually "shot the s***" and ended up going 15 minutes over, but in a good way. I got to ask him as many questions as he asked me. Then, as I was walking to my car, one of the M1s that did the tour stopped me and started talking. He, the other M1 and I all just sat around and talked for about 30 or 45 minutes before I realized I needed to leave to avoid Knoxville traffic on the way back home. I simply cannot adequately convey how awesome my time here was.
Anyway, on to the amazing changes that have been made. Guess what? When you're in anatomy, (1) you share a cadaver with 4 students, (2) you have an iPad suspended at the foot of the dissection table to assist in identifying difficult muscles, tendons, nerves, or insertions/origins, and (3) you have 5 MDs pacing the lab to help you during class.
The student center is now finished, only accessible to med students, and complete with lounge, kitchen (that janitorial staff help keep clean), about 10 study rooms, including singles, doubles, quadruples, and two 10 seater group study rooms. They have two lecture halls, an M1 and an M2. The M2 is brand new. Each room has projector screens and such. All lectures are recorded and available online if you prefer learning on your own time. Attendance is not required (but as you probably know, don't skip labs or anatomy). Their simulation labs include a patient that can respond to injected drugs, one that allows pelvic surgery, etc.
Last, but definitely not least, this is what happens after your interview: Your interviewers immediately type up their evaluations after you finish interviewing. Those, along with your entire file, then go to a committee of 4 people, 25% of which are med students. They each assign you a score from 1, woops we made a mistake in interviewing this tool, to 9, admit this gift to our campus immediately, for a score from 4 to 36. That score is then presented to a committee and either voted upon or put on hold. As JCTWP46 said, they meet on Oct 22. For all of us that've interviewed, we'll receive notice via mail if we're accepted or rejected, or an email if we're on hold.
Feel free to ask me any questions I may've missed. Good luck!
Hopefully things will work out for the best. I felt like both of my interviews went well and that there wasn't really anything said in either one that would hurt my chances.
