Just wondering.
Anyone interview at their top choice & get totally turned off by the interview?
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I did, twice.
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Not turned off necessarily. My perceptions of a couple of schools changed a lot after visiting them. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse, sometimes just realizing it was different than I thought.
Happened to me. It's such an interesting process... I thought I would hate some places and I ended up loving them. Other places really let me down even though they were top schools...I'm honestly thinking of going with the mid tier school I love over the top ranked school I once loved now (if I even get in lol).
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I met people along the interview trail who also echoed this sentiment -- going in, UW was a top choice, but then got completely turned off by the interview.
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Yes! One school I had a high opinion of b/c of reputation before the interview, but when I interviewed the students and faculty members I met where very snotty and turned me off to the school. I don't need to deal with that kind of attitude for the next 4 years.
Another school I thought I would love because many others raved about it on SDN and elsewhere. When I attended the interview, it was a lot of the school talking about how great they are and expect to be in the future, and not a lot of substance. We toured facilities that they told us we would probably never use as med students. Also, the students I met were completely stressed out and seemed a little scared.
Another school I thought I would love because many others raved about it on SDN and elsewhere. When I attended the interview, it was a lot of the school talking about how great they are and expect to be in the future, and not a lot of substance. We toured facilities that they told us we would probably never use as med students. Also, the students I met were completely stressed out and seemed a little scared.
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I third that. They may be highly ranked... but their interviewing process is painful
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Would you guys mind explaining why (as a Washington resident I would be very interested to know)?
I third the being put of by UW... It was my top choice ever since I've wanted to be a doctor. I'm from Seattle and wanted to live near where I grew up, but I realized after interviewing it was not for me.
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I answered this question for someone earlier, so I'll just copy/paste-
I wasn't a fan that the UW relies primarily on a large lecture format without any kind of PBL, and the unity/community feel of the school was low because all the applicants study in their home state as a MS1 and then migrate to SEA afterwards. My impression was that the curriculum hasn't caught up with the more innovative ways med-schools have been introducing.
I did like that you could do clerkships throughout the WWAMI region, and the fact that it is a well respected in both primary care and research.
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Yep, this is what happens when you have pre-conceived notions about schools. I was also pleasantly surprised by many schools.
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The bold I can understand and have even thought about how it is kind of weird. The italic seems very surprising as UW seems to be on the cutting edge for many treatments, technology, etc. (I know you were talking about teaching style, but still). Thanks, good to know so I know not to put all my eggs in one basket that could have a hole in it.😎
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I will fifth this sentiment. I wouldve gone here if i had to but after the interview, i got a feel for the school, and became completely underwhelmed, deflated, and bleh about it.
And their whole idea of determing which candidates are -not ready- for medicine...
F them.
Seriously..
Edit: i spoke with a cardiac surgeon two days ago and he got rejected from uw too. Funny part is, he ended up TEACHING at the medical school for several years.
I wonder if he was placed in the not ready category.
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I was kind of turned off by the interview format and interviewer of one of my perceived top choices, but I still loved the school.
Yeah, definitely apply broadly, but keep UW in your application basket. Who knows? Maybe you'll be one of the people that end up liking the school.
A bunch of my friends from undergrad matriculated at UWMed. They all feel abused by the administration. Also, the facilities suck (all of HSB is a clusterf***) and the curriculum is crappy. I could go on about why I hate UWMed, but I'll leave it at that.
Oh, and during your interview, expect to be treated like the sh** stuck to the bottom of your interviewers shoe. Some of the girls in my interview class were crying as they left the office of admissions.
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I was very excited about Dartmouth initially (mostly due to their very informative and exciting recruitment website), but visiting the school I felt the atmosphere was very stuffy, the facilities unimpressive, the location terrible, and the students too vanilla for my tastes. I ended up withdrawing as soon as I got the waitlist notification.
For me my perception of PBL type learning changed alot. Going in I thought it was this awesome innovative way of teaching, and the more medical students I have talked to at PBL heavy schools the more I've heard it's a pain in the butt, a waste of time and pointless, as there are already two whole years of medical school devoted to actual pbl - patient based learning - called M3 and M4, lol.
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+1...they make it sound INCREDIBLE in the talks, and it seemed like an amazing idea, but the more people (med students, not just people who speculate) that I talk to, the more I am finding myself looking away from it
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i found most interviews to be the same?
some tours were either on or off, and sometimes only the intense students showed up or nearly none at all to almost the entire student body showed up. i think it depends on whether or not there was an exam close to schedule though.
some tours were either on or off, and sometimes only the intense students showed up or nearly none at all to almost the entire student body showed up. i think it depends on whether or not there was an exam close to schedule though.
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Lets face it, UW is a good school but "they" can get on their high horse sometimes and have a little trouble getting down.
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EXACTLY
always thought it was funny that everyone's ravin about "PBL" but really do you want to spend 3x longer to learn something when u can just go to lecture and get it all in 1 hour and free up more time to study the material on your own or with a group if you so choose?
True. I didn't find that to be true about the other UW schools (Engineering, Business, Law) though.
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I was very turned off by my second choice school when I interviewed a couple of years back. The school was in my hometown, had research opportunities I absolutely loved, and I had several friends at the school. Once I got there though, it was just a trainwreck. The school sent me to the wrong room three times (room numbers were so off that I ended up at a cold room, a computer lab, and an ER). To make matters worse, one of my interviewers was running late, and opted not to interview me at all, one of the deans made sexist jokes at least 5 times during the day (I was the only female interviewee), and the admissions office closed early and locked my coat in their closet overnight (it was snowing!).
Once I gave myself some time to get over the initial shock, I still liked the school somewhat, but it was far from the top of my list by that point.
Once I gave myself some time to get over the initial shock, I still liked the school somewhat, but it was far from the top of my list by that point.
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I am talking more about some of their admin. and public relations.
Yikes, URHere! Impressive that you made it out unscathed.
I had no top choice going in, but was really pleasantly surprised by schools I didn't expect much from - specifically, Cornell and UPitt. Otherwise, one thing I realized from the interview process was how much I would dislike going to a school with multiple affiliated campuses like UCSD. I mean, Salk, Scripps, etc, were totes worth travelling to, but on a day to day basis? Probably sleep deprived/hungry/in a rush? 😱
I had no top choice going in, but was really pleasantly surprised by schools I didn't expect much from - specifically, Cornell and UPitt. Otherwise, one thing I realized from the interview process was how much I would dislike going to a school with multiple affiliated campuses like UCSD. I mean, Salk, Scripps, etc, were totes worth travelling to, but on a day to day basis? Probably sleep deprived/hungry/in a rush? 😱
