2014-2015 Albany Medical College Application Thread

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Somebody please tell me approximately total how many applicants are placed on PRE- INTERVIEW HOLD at AMC.
 
Last edited:
jonnythan said:
Well, that reflects well on your character.
Click to expand...
It does not reflect anything on my character. There are many who just watch the thread and do not post. I was referring to them. If they post I can have an idea.
 
kthxbai said:
Interviewed on 12/5.
Click to expand...
Me too! Haven't heard anything. So I guess they are releasing some acceptances and some "under consideration" decisions at a time... Ah all these adcoms are so mysterious
 
samad said:
It does not reflect anything on my character. There are many who just watch the thread and do not post. I was referring to them. If they post I can have an idea.
Click to expand...
I responded to you as well. seriously, no one knows this. none of us are on the admissions committee
 
samad said:
It does not reflect anything on my character. There are many who just watch the thread and do not post. I was referring to them. If they post I can have an idea.
Click to expand...
Actually if you say you know something is confidential (from you) .... Then asking people to tell you said confidential information sounds a tad unethical regardless of justification.
 
pj79 said:
Me too! Haven't heard anything. So I guess they are releasing some acceptances and some "under consideration" decisions at a time... Ah all these adcoms are so mysterious
Click to expand...

Were you in the first MMI group or the second? Morning interview? @kthxbai and I were interviewed in the AM as part of the first interview group.
 
Now that I have been accepted here, I feel like I can share some interview tips for the MMI.

They're not joking when they say that there are no right answers. I gave many answers that I think were pretty controversial, but I did my best to explain my reasoning, consider other viewpoints, etc. In hindsight, I definitely beat myself up over a few things that I think I shouldn't have said, but it turned out not to matter after all. Unless you say something egregiously offensive, then it's not going to hurt you as a whole though the goal should be to not do that.

Cookie cutter answers are boring. I hate that crap so I don't do it out of principle. I was brutally honest with the things I said and approached the situation like I would with friends or coworkers that I trusted and respected. I almost made one interviewer fall out of their chair when I gave an honest answer that I bet they didn't expect. If you say something you don't believe in, they will try to poke holes in your logic.

My overall advice is to approach an MMI like this:
-Restate question to interviewer.
-Discuss pros/cons of whatever is happening.
-Take a position and defend it.
-Discuss shortcomings of your position.
-Allow interviewer to ask follow up questions and leave atleast 2-4 mins for follow up stuff.

Time goes really fast in the beginning. I legit talked for 8 mins straight at the first circuit. At the end when the 1 min warning went off I was like "Woah, I can't believe that I just talked for such a long time!" and made my interviewer start laughing.

I will also say that you're allowed to be a person in these interviewers. If you have passions and interests outside of medicine, then you should talk about them if they're AT ALL related. It humanizes you and makes you more memorable.

At one of my interviews a person was talking about her nature publication and brought it up like 4 times. I've given a talk, had a paper published, and submitting a ton more, but I never said that in front of a group. I'd much rather talk about why I'm interested in my research and what motivates me to do it instead of talking about accomplishments. This process tries to weed out uberly competitive people so don't be that guy/gal. Albany didn't have anything like this in terms of open questions in front of deans or whatnot, but it's something to keep in mind.

Also, I had a lot of fun getting to know the people I was interviewing with. A bunch of us hung out afterwards till we had to travel. The interview process can be fun if you let it. I didn't have a single acceptance in hand when I got to albany but I really enjoyed meeting people there. You're interviewing at the school, but you're also interviewing the school. You should really ask questions if you have any and figure out if you think you can see yourself there. Things like curriculum, grading, etc. will have an effect on your future and you should be able to figure that out.

I loved Albany, but their grading system seems to breed competitiveness. From what I heard from current students, this doesn't end up being the case. I think that's a reflection of what the student body there do not discount this. I think culture is a huge part of fit.

Anyway, I hope that was helpful to someone. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask, but I won't give away anything re: MMI questions etc. For the record, I think preparation is helpful only in aiding one to gather thoughts quickly not to anticipate questions though I did hear other interviewees mention that they'd seen some of the questions before in preparation banks.
 
ridethecliche said:
Were you in the first MMI group or the second? Morning interview? @kthxbai and I were interviewed in the AM as part of the first interview group.
Click to expand...
I was in the second interview group in the morning. I really enjoyed AMC; felt the MMIs went well and were actually enjoyable! I learned today that they put me "under consideration" which was a little disappointing for sure, but they said it's par for the course so I'll be patient. I'm happy for you guys though! Is AMC your top choice at the moment?
 
ridethecliche said:
Now that I have been accepted here, I feel like I can share some interview tips for the MMI.

They're not joking when they say that there are no right answers. I gave many answers that I think were pretty controversial, but I did my best to explain my reasoning, consider other viewpoints, etc. In hindsight, I definitely beat myself up over a few things that I think I shouldn't have said, but it turned out not to matter after all. Unless you say something egregiously offensive, then it's not going to hurt you as a whole though the goal should be to not do that.

Cookie cutter answers are boring. I hate that crap so I don't do it out of principle. I was brutally honest with the things I said and approached the situation like I would with friends or coworkers that I trusted and respected. I almost made one interviewer fall out of their chair when I gave an honest answer that I bet they didn't expect. If you say something you don't believe in, they will try to poke holes in your logic.

My overall advice is to approach an MMI like this:
-Restate question to interviewer.
-Discuss pros/cons of whatever is happening.
-Take a position and defend it.
-Discuss shortcomings of your position.
-Allow interviewer to ask follow up questions and leave atleast 2-4 mins for follow up stuff.

Time goes really fast in the beginning. I legit talked for 8 mins straight at the first circuit. At the end when the 1 min warning went off I was like "Woah, I can't believe that I just talked for such a long time!" and made my interviewer start laughing.

I will also say that you're allowed to be a person in these interviewers. If you have passions and interests outside of medicine, then you should talk about them if they're AT ALL related. It humanizes you and makes you more memorable.

At one of my interviews a person was talking about her nature publication and brought it up like 4 times. I've given a talk, had a paper published, and submitting a ton more, but I never said that in front of a group. I'd much rather talk about why I'm interested in my research and what motivates me to do it instead of talking about accomplishments. This process tries to weed out uberly competitive people so don't be that guy/gal. Albany didn't have anything like this in terms of open questions in front of deans or whatnot, but it's something to keep in mind.

Also, I had a lot of fun getting to know the people I was interviewing with. A bunch of us hung out afterwards till we had to travel. The interview process can be fun if you let it. I didn't have a single acceptance in hand when I got to albany but I really enjoyed meeting people there. You're interviewing at the school, but you're also interviewing the school. You should really ask questions if you have any and figure out if you think you can see yourself there. Things like curriculum, grading, etc. will have an effect on your future and you should be able to figure that out.

I loved Albany, but their grading system seems to breed competitiveness. From what I heard from current students, this doesn't end up being the case. I think that's a reflection of what the student body there do not discount this. I think culture is a huge part of fit.

Anyway, I hope that was helpful to someone. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask, but I won't give away anything re: MMI questions etc. For the record, I think preparation is helpful only in aiding one to gather thoughts quickly not to anticipate questions though I did hear other interviewees mention that they'd seen some of the questions before in preparation banks.
Click to expand...

Congrats on your acceptance.. Ugh this just makes me want to have the chance to interview here so badly!!
 
pj79 said:
I was in the second interview group in the morning. I really enjoyed AMC; felt the MMIs went well and were actually enjoyable! I learned today that they put me "under consideration" which was a little disappointing for sure, but they said it's par for the course so I'll be patient. I'm happy for you guys though! Is AMC your top choice at the moment?
Click to expand...

AMC is my only acceptance.

I have 3 more interviews two of which are higher on my personal list than AMC, however I'd be totally content to go there. I could call it quits now and be content.
 
just wondering, is there any kind of portal update when you are accepted?
 
Are we thinking that everyone is (rightfully) celebrating the holidays now? Guess on more movement is first week of Jan right?
 
italiancowgirl said:
Are we thinking that everyone is (rightfully) celebrating the holidays now? Guess on more movement is first week of Jan right?
Click to expand...

Based on some of the previous cycles school threads I have seen, I would say yes. Between around December 20th until early January there was nothing said by people.
 
Congrats on your II!! Can you please tell me your complete date and also what dates are available for interview? Thanks!!
 
Hah, upon seeing that you had something sent to spam I checked my spam folder and saw that there was an accepted student follow up email from one of the deans hiding there.

Whoops.
 
I inquired AMC about the hold status. They replied that at this point in the application cycle, they are inviting applicants from the interview eligible category. We have not started inviting applicants in the hold category; we are not certain at this point if it will be necessary to utilize the hold category.
 
DoctorLacrosse said:
I'm trying to stay positive about it. I don't know when they'll start accepting people off the UC, but hopefully soon lol
Click to expand...

I read somewhere that they usually start taking people off in Jan/Feb. All my fingers and toes crossed!

(edit: not sure how accurate this is. Also read it might not be till they create the waitlist after everyone interviews. Hope that's not the case).
 
Last edited:
GranD14 said:
I read somewhere that they usually start taking people off in Jan/Feb. All my fingers and toes crossed!

(edit: not sure how accurate this is. Also read it might not be till they create the waitlist after everyone interviews. Hope that's not the case).
Click to expand...

grr hopefully it's the former, the latter would just be painful. thanks for the insight!
 
GranD14 said:
I read somewhere that they usually start taking people off in Jan/Feb. All my fingers and toes crossed!

(edit: not sure how accurate this is. Also read it might not be till they create the waitlist after everyone interviews. Hope that's not the case).
Click to expand...

+1 to hearing they start accepting UC people in Jan/Feb. I recall hearing it straight from the dean on interview day.
 
Has anybody had any luck contacting admissions to reschedule an interview? My spring intership just scheduled my training for the same day (mid January). I've tried calling and emailing several times over the past couple of weeks and no one has answered my emails or calls...(haven't been calling on the holidays)...
 
DoctressM said:
Is anyone else sitting on still silence? There are no updates in the portal for me. So more waiting.
Click to expand...
Yep me too! Patience is a virtue (though not one I was born with). I am trying to focus on other things to prevent a complete freak out.
 
I was complete back in September for 15 schools. I have not heard back from a single school! So frustrating!
 
Force said:
I was complete back in September for 15 schools. I have not heard back from a single school! So frustrating!
Click to expand...

Have you been checking your SPAM email? Checking portals?
Not hearing anything from ANYWHERE is simply not normal.
 
Force said:
I was complete back in September for 15 schools. I have not heard back from a single school! So frustrating!
Click to expand...

Well that makes me feel a little better, I was marked complete throughout September for the 15 schools I applied to, and I'm still waiting to hear back from 8 of them..
 
Yes I have checked everything relentlessly. I cannot believe that I have yet to hear back. I have a 31 mcat and a 3.8 GPA with good EC. DO you still think I have a chance of getting in?
 
Force said:
Yes I have checked everything relentlessly. I cannot believe that I have yet to hear back. I have a 31 mcat and a 3.8 GPA with good EC. DO you still think I have a chance of getting in?
Click to expand...

You haven't been rejected, which means there is always a chance! I would say you are FAR from needing to give up hope just yet.
 
Force said:
Yes I have checked everything relentlessly. I cannot believe that I have yet to hear back. I have a 31 mcat and a 3.8 GPA with good EC. DO you still think I have a chance of getting in?
Click to expand...

Also, don't wanna state the obvious, but I would say you should always be working to improve your application in case you don't gain acceptance. It's always good to be prepared.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

wysdoc
2024-2025 Medical College of Georgia
11 12 13 14 15
Replies
737
Views
169K
mintyrelish
mintyrelish
wysdoc
2024-2025 New York Medical College
9 10 11 12 13
Replies
603
Views
207K
HelpMeAhhHelp
H
chilly_md
2024-2025 Albany
9 10 11 12 13
Replies
642
Views
206K
Somewhat Hopeful Pre-Med
S
wysdoc
2024-2025 Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW)
11 12 13 14 15
Replies
722
Views
198K
FightingHawk123
F
chilly_md
2023-2024 New York Medical College
18 19 20 21 22
Replies
1K
Views
261K
_CaptainKaladin_
_CaptainKaladin_
Top