After you get the interview do numbers go out the window?

[kevster2001]

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One of my friends is telling me that as long as you get the interview, thats the only thing they base your admissions off of? that doesn't seem right but who knows. LizzyM where are you!

does anyone know specifically for UWSOM?

 

[RustNeverSleeps]

One of my friends is telling me that as long as you get the interview, thats the only thing they base your admissions off of? that doesn't seem right but who knows. LizzyM where are you!

does anyone know specifically for UWSOM?

This is certainly not true at all schools. I'm sure the exact practices vary from school to school. I have no idea about UWSOM, but at my school, for instance, everyone who gets an interview is considered academically suitable. However, the entire application, including grades, test scores, interviews, ECs, LORs, etc., is considered when the AdCom decides who to accept -- it's not as if everyone starts on equal footing after the interview.

 

[SlippingSloth]

One of my friends is telling me that as long as you get the interview, thats the only thing they base your admissions off of? that doesn't seem right but who knows. LizzyM where are you!

does anyone know specifically for UWSOM?

Yes and No... At MCW for example the admissions director flat out says before your interview that your interview will be the only thing that will determine acceptance. Your file in that case is required only to get the interview. At most other schools I interviewed this was not the case and your entire file is reviewed with comments from your interviewer.

 

[doctorFred]

i interviewed at robert wood johnson, where i was told that i had a good interview, but that my initial numbers/file kept me from getting an acceptence. it's like, if that's the case, why interview me at all?

 

[NotAnMD]

No.

 

[Packamylase]

One of my friends is telling me that as long as you get the interview, thats the only thing they base your admissions off of? that doesn't seem right but who knows. LizzyM where are you!

does anyone know specifically for UWSOM?

The interview isn't the only piece of your application, but while you are interviewing, it is the most important. Forget about your numbers once you walk into the interview, and give them your best!

 

[JG198]

Numbers will matter when the rest of the AdCom reviews your file. The interviewer can try to persuade them to accept you but the decision does not rest solely on him/her. His/her comments about the interview, your MCAT, grades/GPA, essays and ECs will weigh heavily (still).

 

[LabMonster]

The interview isn't the only piece of your application, but while you are interviewing, it is the most important. Forget about your numbers once you walk into the interview, and give them your best!

I would add, the interview is a great place to hammer out anything the adcom may see as unsightly, i.e. poor grades freshman year etc.

 

[Depakote]

I've had great interviews where the interviewer literally told me "You should be confident". This was followed by a rejection a few weeks later. I can only think this was a committee decision based on something in my application...

So no, an interview does not make the rest of your applicaiton invalid and a great interview does not mean an acceptance.

 

[Ilovelamp]

I would say no because at UIC, my interview could not have gone any better. Yet I find myself on the waitlist there.

 

[Carmenita79]

One of my friends is telling me that as long as you get the interview, thats the only thing they base your admissions off of? that doesn't seem right but who knows. LizzyM where are you!

does anyone know specifically for UWSOM?

At UW I have heard the interviewer's write-up about you is really important. since they have panel interviews and one person on the panel sees your numbers and the others do not, I think that one of the people can include adjectives about your stats in their write up (without actually giving the #).

 

[RustNeverSleeps]

At UW I have heard the interviewer's write-up about you is really important. since they have panel interviews and one person on the panel sees your numbers and the others do not, I think that one of the people can include adjectives about your stats in their write up (without actually giving the #).

But after the panel write up, the AdCom still makes the decision, in most cases, and the committee generally has all of the applicant's information available, including academic info.

 

[Purna]

One of my friends is telling me that as long as you get the interview, thats the only thing they base your admissions off of? that doesn't seem right but who knows. LizzyM where are you!

does anyone know specifically for UWSOM?

Here’s my take on UWSOM. Went to UW undergrad but did not bother applying since I was OOS. But the buzz around campus was that the MCAT and GPA still mattered a bit but that the interview was a HUGE factor, more than at most schools. The interviews at UW are designed to be unpleasant and to stress you out (although this can depend on panel composition). If you bomb the interview (IMHO higher likelihood at UW than almost anywhere else based on interview model), your MCAT and GPA will do little to help. My advice is to pretend they don’t even exist & focus all of your energy on preparing for and performing well on the interview. For some, the panel interview wasn’t so much of a problem. For others, let’s just say it was a real a$$ kicker. Along with all the standard med school interview questions you might expect, their tendency is to grill on current issues in medicine, as well as national and international current events. From the people I know that had horrible interviews at UW, they were rejected ~2 weeks later (with stellar MCAT/GPA #s). Those that had decent interviews, i.e., did not stress when the panel fired away with ridiculous questions they did not know the answers to, eventually they got in.

My point is that you might want to prepare a tad more for this interview than for your others just in case you end up with an unpleasant panel…and don’t stress out when it comes time for your interview. I knew a guy that didn’t know jack about current events but since he was a likable guy and did well with the panel, he got a nice place toward the back of the waitlist and got pulled off in late summer.

 

[infiniti]

I think numbers don't matter as much once you get an interview. A very good interview will certainly take priority over your numbers. This isn't to say numbers aren't used after interviews. People considered for interviews are usually considered to be smart enough to do well in the school's curriculum. Usually people with excellent interviews get in (excellent interviews happen less often than people think).

your numbers (and other aspects of your application) can however come into play when a school is forced to choose between similar applicants.


That being said, some schools are known to be hard on the number game!

 

[RustNeverSleeps]

I think numbers don't matter as much once you get an interview. A very good interview will certainly take priority over your numbers. This isn't to say numbers aren't used after interviews. People considered for interviews are usually considered to be smart enough to do well in the school's curriculum. Usually people with excellent interviews get in (excellent interviews happen less often than people think).

your numbers (and other aspects of your application) can however come into play when a school is forced to choose between similar applicants.


That being said, some schools are known to be hard on the number game!

I really don't think you can make blanket statements like this, especially that "a very good interview will certainly take priority over your numbers." I have seen people get rejected/waitlisted after great interviews due to relatively weak numbers. What you say may be true at some schools, but probably not at all schools. AdComs value different things and place different priorities on different parts of the application.

 

[Orthodoc40]

i interviewed at robert wood johnson, where i was told that i had a good interview, but that my initial numbers/file kept me from getting an acceptence. it's like, if that's the case, why interview me at all?

That's what I'm sayin'!! Same thing basically happened to me at UMass.
So, OP, I have to say the numbers don't go away once you get interviewed.

 

[Monarch Kong]

I really don't think you can make blanket statements like this, especially that "a very good interview will certainly take priority over your numbers." I have seen people get rejected/waitlisted after great interviews due to relatively weak numbers. What you say may be true at some schools, but probably not at all schools. AdComs value different things and place different priorities on different parts of the application.

Different schools have different policies, but the general feeling I get is that if you are a strong numerical applicant, then the interview matters less; if you are a borderline applicant, then the interview will help the adcoms make that final decision about you. In either case you should still prepare well for the interview.