2023-2024 Western Michigan (Stryker)

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Do applicants put on the waitlist get a phone call or email?
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OOS II received today, phone II mid August. N=1 but I submitted a letter of interest recently
 
OOS II received, phone interviewed late august, earliest interview slot was in January
 
Can someone who already interviewed help me out? What was the group interview like- more MMI or is it a standard interview? Feel free to DM me!

Thanks!
 
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OOS Phone Interview, completed 7/18. Anyone have any advice for the phone interview? Do they ask traditional questions?
 
banana123 said:
OOS Phone Interview, completed 7/18. Anyone have any advice for the phone interview? Do they ask traditional questions?
Click to expand...
From my experience, I felt that the phone interview was more serious/standardized as compared to the virtual interview. The phone interview really focused on the questions asked whereas the virtual interview felt very conversational and more of a "vibe check" rather than an actual interview. My guess is that they use the phone interview mainly to evaluate competencies (communication, service orientation, resilience, etc).

With that being said, for the phone interview, I would prepare by having some solid answers to typical job interview questions like "what is your greatest strength/weakness" or "tell me about a time you failed." I would also be prepared to share your thoughts on the medical field. And as others have mentioned both here and on Reddit, there are some questions that are more "unique" and require you to think on your feet. You can't really prepare for them but I personally found those questions fun to answer and I think they just want to see your thought process.

Another thing that I found helpful was to speak in an excited tone and smile throughout the interview (even though they can't see you). I think this helped with transmitting a positive energy through the phone and I think it got my interviewer to loosen up a little bit. During my prep, I read online from previous years that the phone interview was kind of awkward because the interviewers are supposed to be stoic and not give you any indication as to how they viewed your response. But for my phone interview, my interviewer conversed with me, sometimes responded with "excellent" or "great" after I finished talking, and even joked around a few times, which I wasn't expecting but I think was influenced by how I spoke to them from the moment I answered the call.

Finally, I highly recommend remembering/writing down your interviewer's name in the beginning and using their name in your responses as it makes the interview feel more personal and memorable. And definitely thank your interviewer for their time before ending the call.

Good luck and let me know if you have any other questions! More than happy to help!
 
Last edited:
biotechguru said:
Can someone who already interviewed help me out? What was the group interview like- more MMI or is it a standard interview? Feel free to DM me!

Thanks!
Click to expand...
If you're referring to the group activity, it's not really like an MMI or a standard interview. You are assigned to a small group and they ask your group to work through a task together, so it's intended to assess how you communicate and work with others and I found it to be pretty fun and light hearted. Definitely go into it with an open mind and be receptive to other people's opinions and you'll do great!
 
yaboifoggy said:
From my experience, I felt that the phone interview was more serious/standardized as compared to the virtual interview. The phone interview really focused on the questions asked whereas the virtual interview felt very conversational and more of a "vibe check" rather than an actual interview. My guess is that they use the phone interview mainly to evaluate competencies (communication, service orientation, resilience, etc).

With that being said, for the phone interview, I would prepare by having some solid answers to typical job interview questions like "what is your greatest strength/weakness" or "tell me about a time you failed." I would also be prepared to share your thoughts on the medical field. And as others have mentioned both here and on Reddit, there are some questions that are more "unique" and require you to think on your feet. You can't really prepare for them but I personally found those questions fun to answer and I think they just want to see your thought process.

Another thing that I found helpful was to speak in an excited tone and smile throughout the interview (even though they can't see you). I think this helped with transmitting a positive energy through the phone and I think it got my interviewer to loosen up a little bit. During my prep, I read online from previous years that the phone interview was kind of awkward because the interviewers are supposed to be stoic and give you any indication as to how they viewed your response. But for my phone interview, my interviewer conversed with me and even joked around a few times, which I wasn't expecting but I think was due to how I spoke from the moment I answered the call.

Finally, I highly recommend remembering/writing down your interviewer's name in the beginning and using their name in your responses as it makes the interview feel more personal and memorable. And definitely thank your interviewer for their time before ending the call.

Good luck and let me know if you have any other questions! More than happy to help!
Click to expand...
Did you send a thank you letter to your phone interviewer?
 
Does anyone have advice for those who completed their phone II back in the summer and still have not heard regarding a virtual interview? Anyone else been in a similar boat?
 
premedgirly17 said:
Does anyone have advice for those who completed their phone II back in the summer and still have not heard regarding a virtual interview? Anyone else been in a similar boat?
Click to expand...
Only 450 of you will move forward to an official interview- see the link to admissions process in the first post of this thread.
 
wysdoc said:
Only 450 of you will move forward to an official interview- see the link to admissions process in the first post of this thread.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the response, I am familiar with their process. Just was hoping to hear from either any of the current students there that were in a similar boat or from current applicants that were in a similar position but got a virtual II!
 
HollowJ@1 said:
Did you send a thank you letter to your phone interviewer?
Click to expand...
I did not but I also do not think that a thank you letter/email would’ve helped that much for the phone interview. The phone interviews are conducted by a third-party company so I think that expressing your thanks at the end of the interview is more than enough. I also wouldn’t bother to ask for a contact email for the phone interviewer but that’s just me!

But for the virtual interview, I sent thank you emails to everyone that I remember being involved in the interview day.
 
biotechguru said:
Did anyone else get a hand-written thank you postcard in the mail after interviewing from the adcoms? Such a nice touch wow
Click to expand...
I also received one today! Haven't gotten anything like that from my other interviews, super thoughtful and appreciated.
 
Only 100 more Phone II's left according to the update email sent just now 🙃
 
They emailed me this morning that they will send more virtual interviews after New Years as they are taking a short break. They said they will send roughly 230 more virtual interviews and that they don't do silent rejections. If they decide to no longer consider you, they will let you know with an e-mail. Happy holidays everyone! 🙂
 
Hello! I dont think anyone can answer this with any certainty, but would it be any good to submit my secondary now? 😅
 
Neur-out-of-my-mind said:
Do you have an application that warrants being looked at over the thousands of individuals who applied early?
Click to expand...
yikes I’m well aware of that. I should’ve been more clear with my post, I’m only wondering how far into their interview process they’ve gotten. Anyways I’m just bored waiting for other responses and just thought of asking since I got the deadline reminder email today.

Good luck future physician 😀
 
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