Admissions Interviews

[Seikuken]

I have searched and found contradicting advice from SDN and advisors at my school about interviews. Is everyone on the same footing after II or do stats and everything else still matter? I've heard some say the committee already leans one way or another heading into the interview while others say the interview is what matters for acceptances. I'd love to hear from adcom's perspectives. Thanks!

@Goro @gyngyn @LizzyM @gonnif

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[catmullclark]

Depending on who you ask, you'll get different responses because different schools probably have different ways of reviewing applicants.

Generally, however, I think that LizzyM had a pretty good "ladder" analogy about this. You can imagine all the applicants on a ladder, where being placed on a higher rung represents being more competitive. Before the interview, placement depends on things like stats, extracurriculars, accomplishments, and potential contributions to medicine/the school. However, after the interview, the placement for an applicant within the ladder can go up or down depending on how well the interview reflected them as an applicant. Ultimately, those who are the highest on the ladder get in.

 

[Goro]

I have searched and found contradicting advice from SDN and advisors at my school about interviews. Is everyone on the same footing after II or do stats and everything else still matter? I've heard some say the committee already leans one way or another heading into the interview while others say the interview is what matters for acceptances. I'd love to hear from adcom's perspectives. Thanks!

@Goro @gyngyn @LizzyM @gonnif

At my school, if you have a good interview, you're in. Our Dean, however, has the final say and he might pull you off the wait list if he likes your stats, or put you onto the wait list if he's worried.

Deans do NOT have this discretion at MD schools.

IF you're meh at interviews, then your stats might very well come into discussion. At my school, one will often hear an Interviewer say "nice kid, but I'm worried about that MCAT score", and then onto the wait list you go.

 

[Lawpy]

I have searched and found contradicting advice from SDN and advisors at my school about interviews. Is everyone on the same footing after II or do stats and everything else still matter? I've heard some say the committee already leans one way or another heading into the interview while others say the interview is what matters for acceptances. I'd love to hear from adcom's perspectives. Thanks!

@Goro @gyngyn @LizzyM @gonnif

It varies from school to school, but I don’t think interview performance is necessarily a major factor influencing post-interview decisions. For instance, many strong applicants get rejected post-interview from schools like Harvard and Yale. This isn’t because they interviewed poorly (especially if they got accepted into peer schools) but that the post-interview rejection threshold for these schools is unusually high given the level of competition involved. Getting waitlisted is obviously better than being rejected and it shows that the overall application, with interview performance factored in, is still good but not enough to be directly accepted.

 

[Lawpy]

Here are more concrete data from an AAMC Analysis Report

 

[Med Ed]

I have searched and found contradicting advice from SDN and advisors at my school about interviews. Is everyone on the same footing after II or do stats and everything else still matter? I've heard some say the committee already leans one way or another heading into the interview while others say the interview is what matters for acceptances. I'd love to hear from adcom's perspectives. Thanks!

@Goro @gyngyn @LizzyM @gonnif

I believe the schools that ignore metrics post-interview are few and far between, and tend to be places that don’t interview anyone with low numbers.

To my knowledge the common practice is for admissions committees to review all pertinent information before making a decision. This includes interview feedback.

 

[The Knife & Gun Club]

I can tell you that at my school everyone gets an app "score" based on their amcas, and then get points added to that score based on their interview. People with the highest total scores get admitted.

So no, you're not on equal footing after the interview, but the interview carries a lot of weight and can either jump you quite a bit forward or backward in the rankings

 

[bae2017]

I can tell you that at my school everyone gets an app "score" based on their amcas, and then get points added to that score based on their interview. People with the highest total scores get admitted.

So no, you're not on equal footing after the interview, but the interview carries a lot of weight and can either jump you quite a bit forward or backward in the rankings

Thoughts on if earlier II is roughly correlated with higher app score?

 

[The Knife & Gun Club]

Yup - every 2 weeks we take the top ~20 scorers on the list and send them IIs.

So the earlier the interview, the more points you had vs the other applicants

Thoughts on if earlier II is roughly correlated with higher app score?

 

[LizzyM]

Yup - every 2 weeks we take the top ~20 scorers on the list and send them IIs.

So the earlier the interview, the more points you had vs the other applicants

True up to a point but a late applicant can score high and rise to the top. It has happened at my place, anyway.

 

[The Knife & Gun Club]

True up to a point but a late applicant can score high and rise to the top. It has happened at my place, anyway.

Yea that's the beauty of the system.

A late rock star applicant can go straight to the top of the pile, but an early applicant also increases their chances by having more opportunities to be in the top 20 people.

PS - that feeling when LizzyM quotes your post

 

[MDPedigree]

At my school, if you have a good interview, you're in. Our Dean, however, has the final say and he might pull you off the wait list if he likes your stats, or put you onto the wait list if he's worried.

Deans do NOT have this discretion at MD schools.

IF you're meh at interviews, then your stats might very well come into discussion. At my school, one will often hear an Interviewer say "nice kid, but I'm worried about that MCAT score", and then onto the wait list you go.

You are at a DO school?

 

[NickNaylor]

This will depend on the philosophy of the individual school. I’m also not sure what you mean by “equal footing.”

If you mean that everyone has an equal chance of being accepted once they get to the interview, I think in nearly all cases that is likely not true. At my alma mater, final admissions decisions were ultimately based on a thorough review of the entire application - not just interviewer evaluations. Thus, those with particularly strong “paper applications” are going to be at an advantage compared to those who are weaker. Those with better numbers - to a certain extent - will have a small advantage over those who do not. On this last point, I will say that, at my school at least, this was far less important than, say, the applicant’s essays or experiences.

It’s difficult to generalize about this, though, because every school will have it’s own process. In the past, Mayo used to utilize a true “blinding” of applicants post-interview. Ultimate admissions decisions truly were dependent entirely or primarily on interview reports and interactions. I think that’s the exception, though, and at most schools the interviews are just one - but not the only - part of your application, with variable weighting applied to the interviews depending on the program.

 

[LizzyM]

Depending on who you ask, you'll get different responses because different schools probably have different ways of reviewing applicants.

Generally, however, I think that LizzyM had a pretty good "ladder" analogy about this. You can imagine all the applicants on a ladder, where being placed on a higher rung represents being more competitive. Before the interview, placement depends on things like stats, extracurriculars, accomplishments, and potential contributions to medicine/the school. However, after the interview, the placement for an applicant within the ladder can go up or down depending on how well the interview reflected them as an applicant. Ultimately, those who are the highest on the ladder get in.

I like to think of it as a broad staircase, not a ladder. Multiple people can be on the same step and moving up doesn't mean displacing someone who is above you... there can be room for more than one on the same level.

 

[Goro]

You are at a DO school?

Yup!

 

[@Hazel-rah]

Some Q's, for anyone savvy:

Is there any point in the cycle where someone gets interviewed or accepted DESPITE not being in the top twenty applicants of the week? Like, do you ever look at an app and say, "This person doesn't have a priority app-review score, but for XYZ reason, I think we should bring him/her in."

Ive heard multiple deans delineate the score system by which apps get reviewed. Are there any exceptions, or is it all numerically data driven (the IIs and the Accepts)?

And also, if your app gets re-reviewed, is it looked at by someone new? If so, could that new reviewer potentially give your app a higher score, moving you up "the list"???

 

[Med Ed]

Some Q's, for anyone savvy:

Is there any point in the cycle where someone gets interviewed or accepted DESPITE not being in the top twenty applicants of the week? Like, do you ever look at an app and say, "This person doesn't have a priority app-review score, but for XYZ reason, I think we should bring him/her in."

Ive heard multiple deans delineate the score system by which apps get reviewed. Are there any exceptions, or is it all numerically data driven (the IIs and the Accepts)?

And also, if your app gets re-reviewed, is it looked at by someone new? If so, could that new reviewer potentially give your app a higher score, moving you up "the list"???

There are over 140 accredited MD schools, so there are over 140 ways of doing things. If you looked at all of their processes I'm sure you would find many similarities, but also many variations and differences. Then sprinkle on the fact that humans are involved...

 

[@Hazel-rah]

There are over 140 accredited MD schools, so there are over 140 ways of doing things. If you looked at all of their processes I'm sure you would find many similarities, but also many variations and differences. Then sprinkle on the fact that humans are involved...

Yes, sure, but feel free to answer from your n=1 perspective or experience..........

 

[Med Ed]

Yes, sure, but feel free to answer from your n=1 perspective or experience..........

Your question boils down to "does X ever happen," and with 830,016 AMCAS applications sent in the last cycle alone I'm certain X happened somewhere at some point in time.

 

[LizzyM]

Some Q's, for anyone savvy:

Is there any point in the cycle where someone gets interviewed or accepted DESPITE not being in the top twenty applicants of the week? Like, do you ever look at an app and say, "This person doesn't have a priority app-review score, but for XYZ reason, I think we should bring him/her in."

Ive heard multiple deans delineate the score system by which apps get reviewed. Are there any exceptions, or is it all numerically data driven (the IIs and the Accepts)?

And also, if your app gets re-reviewed, is it looked at by someone new? If so, could that new reviewer potentially give your app a higher score, moving you up "the list"???

If you only have 20 interview spots per week, then sending ii's to >20 is not possible. That said, I could see a situation where the top 18 would get ii's and two courtesy interviews would be granted. (not every week but maybe once or twice in a cycle)

 

[@Hazel-rah]

I naively thought the lcme change to holistic app review would mean it isn't a numbers game as much anymore, but the more I've learned the past few months, it absolutely still is a numbers game---- with EC's reduced to numbers and added in with the the MCAT/GPA metrics.
Understandable, when schools are tryna process thousands of apps... I have so much regret for not retaking my bum fluke 1st MCAT........

 

[MDPedigree]

I naively thought the lcme change to holistic app review would mean it isn't a numbers game as much anymore, but the more I've learned the past few months, it absolutely still is a numbers game---- with EC's reduced to numbers and added in with the the MCAT/GPA metrics.
Understandable, when schools are tryna process thousands of apps... I have so much regret for not retaking my bum fluke 1st MCAT........

You have 4 interviews which is great! and a good LM. I'm sure your MCAT is fine