Hi all!
I had the fortunate opportunity to interview at Mayo in the past few weeks, and I just wanted to share my synopsis with everyone.
Rochester, MN
I LOVED the little city of Rochester. I come from a very small town, and my wife comes from a very large city. We are looking for a change for medical school, and Rochester fits. It is very catering to an active population. There are dozens of well kept parks and I don't know how many miles in walking/running/biking trails. The trails are also very well maintained, fairly flat and smooth. We stayed for a couple of extra days and got to eat some awesome food. There were several local restaurants downtown, and none of the food was disappointing. We also ventured into a couple of pretty decent bars. One of the owners even sat and chatted with us for about an hour regarding the city, crime and the weather. People there were shockingly friendly.
The pedestrian subway was awesome (considering the winters) and the skywalks
were neat. The subway was much more extensive than the skywalks. It had great maps and tons of signs so it was pretty tough to get lost. There were several apartment options within a few blocks of the Mayo campus, and there are a handful of houses nearby as well. I imagine most of the actual houses would not be a very easy walk to campus during the rough months. The city also has great public transit with several buses as well as several Mayo-specific buses with a section for employees (for those that commute to their commuter lots) and a section for the public. Also, the colors of the city and surrounding area was beautiful. Lots of reds and yellows in the fall.
Mayo Clinic/Medical School
The school is just as awesome as most people think it is. I'm positive the majority of us are aware of the strong points, but I'm going to mention them just for those that may not know.
Mayo has a phenomenal financial aid program with the lowest average debt (~65k?) in all allopathic US medical schools. They have relatively inexpensive baseline tuition with a generous across-the-board scholarship for the students.
Lecture is required. This may be a turn off for some, but I learn well in a lecture setting so I don't mind. The selectives between each block allow for a very tailored education. The "shadowing" that occurs during selectives is much more than that. The students that talked to us actually got to be a part of the team. The first two years are true P/F with no internal ranking. They also have a good sim center that is interdisciplinary.
The Dan Abraham Healthy Living Center is a massive gym with two indoor pools, tons of cardio equipment, a large free weight sections and many rooms for classes. Membership here is included, and that extends to the spouse as well.
The facilities are incredible. The Plummer building had a library that made me feel like it was 1915... in a good way. The Gonda building ("front door to mayo clinic") looked like an elegant convention hall or resort with awesome tile floors, tons of artwork, and people singing/playing a piano downstairs. The pedi floor barely feels like a clinic. There are countless areas where a student can quietly study, and I believe students have access to almost everywhere on the campus.
The staff and students were extremely friendly and happy. I couldn't get a student to say one bad thing about the school itself. A couple of them were not fans of Rochester for various reasons.
Interviews
The interviews were pretty mellow. They both knew my application very well. The first interview was half conversation/half standard questions. The second was pretty much all conversational with a couple of questions about my PS, motivations and leadership. Come to think of it, they asked about leadership a lot. I don't know if that's common for other interviewees here, but it may have been due to my ECs.
My SO and I weren't sure about Mayo, but after visiting it is easily our top choice. I hope this helps someone in regards to interview prep or just learning about Mayo! I'm positive I forget a dozen points, but I tried to hit the highlights.
Good luck to those interviewing in the next couple of months!
tl;dr - Mayo is great.
