I have a situation that I was hoping some of the Adcom members on this board could shed some light on. I was unfortunately deferred today by a medical school, but then later received an email asking to set up a short phone interview with a member of the adcom. It says they want more information about "my path to medicine and activities". Though I am extremely grateful that they want more information about me, I am confused as to the purpose of the phone interview. Did I say something that sounded off in my interviews and they're giving me a chance to redeem myself? Do they have questions on whether I'm committed to medicine? I've never heard of this before and don't know how to prepare. I really would love to attend this medical school and I want to take advantage of this opportunity, but I don't know what they're hoping to see from me in a short phone call.
Deferred, and now phone interview?
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One possibility: If there is a disagreement among admissions committee interviewers about your file and interview, and the dean thinks you have potential (perhaps after an appeal from one of the committee members on your behalf), she may initiate this sort of inquiry as a "tie breaker".
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Thanks for your input Goro. One tangentially related question -- if I am addressing an email to a Director of Admissions who does not have an MD, should I just use Mr./Ms. X or should I use Director X. Director X sounds kind of hokey, but I think I would address a dean as Dean X so I just want to make sure.
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No PhD either? I'd use "Dean" out of respect.
"Dean" for a Director of Admissions? I think you may have misread his question.
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Oh, thanks for catching that - it's 3AM here and I've been working all night. Yeah, for a director, I would just say "Director."
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Another possibility: they were not able to verify key activities and need more information to make a contact. Here is a recent thread where the OP claimed this happened, but he couldn't back up his exaggerated EC hours: https://forums.studentdoctor.net/th...-ecs-on-amcas-and-i-got-called-on-it.1162589/
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Divergent opinions was my first instinct also. Setting up another interview is time-consuming, so I don't think it happens often.
"It says they want more information about "my path to medicine and activities"."
This seems to be the area where there was a difference of opinion, so this is where I'd focus my attention. Reread your personal statement. Try to encapsulate your path to medicine into a short 'sound bite' -- then have a couple of stories from your activities to illustrate. And as @Catalystik mentions, be sure you can back up your ECs with appropriate contacts. Maybe call those contacts to refresh their memories?
"It says they want more information about "my path to medicine and activities"."
This seems to be the area where there was a difference of opinion, so this is where I'd focus my attention. Reread your personal statement. Try to encapsulate your path to medicine into a short 'sound bite' -- then have a couple of stories from your activities to illustrate. And as @Catalystik mentions, be sure you can back up your ECs with appropriate contacts. Maybe call those contacts to refresh their memories?
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One school that I interviewed at mentioned that "tiebreakers" were possible if adcom members disagreed. However, they said tiebreakers required an additional interview at the school. I guess other schools may want a phone interview, and Goro's admissions dean Dr. Wily probably just rejects the applicants that require tiebreakers in favor of the ones whose interviews are more uniformly positive.
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I suggest you try to use vocabulary different than you used during the interview to "freshen up" the information. Preparing a new anecdote or two won't hurt either, since they may not have been convinced by the entries you've already submitted. Consider practicing this with someone so you sound confident and organized in your thinking.
Thank you for the advice. The thing is, I don't think either of my interviewers ever even asked me the "why medicine" question at all, because I think I remember being surprised that the question never came up.
Maybe they asked, but in a subtle way, and you missed the intent of the question. Or, they didn't ask, and wish that they had, because in the review of your application they weren't satisfied with your written statements. Or maybe they mean that you don't have enough shadowing and volunteering and clinical experience, and want to ask about that. Or, most likely, they just need a tie breaker and that's the language they use to explain it.
Regardless, make sure you have a copy of the application in front of you, make sure you know it inside and out, and make sure that you can prove everything you said. Also, if possible, maybe line up more shadowing and volunteering and clinical experiences to talk about between now and the interview.
