*EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW PREPARATION TIP* (important)

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calipremed5768

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Okay so a lot of people give advice like “practice with a friend or schedule interviews with schools you’re less excited about first to get practice.” These are okay and all but the best thing to do is start sending your resume to management consulting and finance firms (possibly tech also) ASAP. Most of these firms do case interviews (which can include case studies, brain teasers etc.). They are extremely stressful and the interviewers will be tough on you. But it will give you real experience in an actual high stakes interview context. This is infinitely more valuable than practicing with a friend on your couch or with an advisor you’re familiar with. And just think if you don’t get an acceptance you might just land a good gap year job. So start sending your applications to McKinsey/Bain/BCG and boutique healthcare consulting firms today!
 
calipremed5768 said:
Okay so a lot of people give advice like “practice with a friend or schedule interviews with schools you’re less excited about first to get practice.” These are okay and all but the best thing to do is start sending your resume to management consulting and finance firms (possibly tech also) ASAP. Most of these firms do case interviews (which can include case studies, brain teasers etc.). They are extremely stressful and the interviewers will be tough on you. But it will give you real experience in an actual high stakes interview context. This is infinitely more valuable than practicing with a friend on your couch or with an advisor you’re familiar with. And just think if you don’t get an acceptance you might just land a good gap year job. So start sending your applications to McKinsey/Bain/BCG and boutique healthcare consulting firms today!
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My husband works in finance and i showed him this. If you’re a typical pre-med with a science degree, forget it. You’d never be interviewed let alone hired. Engineering and math potentially. Basically, you need to demonstrate marketable skills which most pre-meds won’t have when it comes finance jobs.
 
I’ve heard some schools do “stress interviews.” Even if that’s not case you’re still likely to be very nervous during interview day
 
calipremed5768 said:
Okay so a lot of people give advice like “practice with a friend or schedule interviews with schools you’re less excited about first to get practice.” These are okay and all but the best thing to do is start sending your resume to management consulting and finance firms (possibly tech also) ASAP. Most of these firms do case interviews (which can include case studies, brain teasers etc.). They are extremely stressful and the interviewers will be tough on you. But it will give you real experience in an actual high stakes interview context. This is infinitely more valuable than practicing with a friend on your couch or with an advisor you’re familiar with. And just think if you don’t get an acceptance you might just land a good gap year job. So start sending your applications to McKinsey/Bain/BCG and boutique healthcare consulting firms today!
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why would management, consulting or finance firms bother to interview someone with a premed application?
 
Well this is news to me considering I graduated with a double major in biology and English yet had over 10 interviews at firms when I was looking for a gap year job. Even made a couple superdays but wasn’t strong enough to seal the deal. Glad I did clinical job in hindsight because more experience to talk about on applications
 
If your gpa and other stats are solid (namely SAT) they’ll at least interview you. Especially healthcare consulting firms.
 
calipremed5768 said:
If your gpa and other stats are solid (namely SAT) they’ll at least interview you. Especially healthcare consulting firms.
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My husband is in finance consulting. If your application reads zero business experience and alll the premed crap on it, then no, they wont.

And.. no to the SAT. It is for college admissions.
 
Most firms want to know your SAT score and expect it on your resume. This is a fact. Do a quick google search “SAT wall st. Oasis” if you’re skeptical. Second, my undergrad school didn’t have a business major and everybody in my class from philosophy to art history majors were accepting banking/consulting offers. Third, I have literally made it to final interviews at firms despite having no business experience or extracurriculars. I’m good at math. That’s it.
 
calipremed5768 said:
Most firms want to know your SAT score and expect it on your resume. This is a fact. Do a quick google search “SAT wall st. Oasis” if you’re skeptical. Second, my undergrad school didn’t have a business major and everybody in my class from philosophy to art history majors were accepting banking/consulting offers. Third, I have literally made it to final interviews at firms despite having no business experience or extracurriculars. I’m good at math. That’s it.
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Okay, yeah, im wrong. Not like i dont know anyone in consulting who does hiring or anything
 
The interviews that I've experienced at national consulting firms (n=3) were definitely very problem-based: "here's a problem, now solve it".

Medical school interviews, on the other hand, are generally not like this. The 1-on-1 interviews are almost always conversational in nature. The goal is to verify that an applicant is who they portray themselves to be on paper, and that they are someone who we can envision being our colleague and even doctor one day.

Within the medical field, the closest thing that I've heard of to these problem-based interviews is for surgical specialties. For example, some of my classmates were asked during their residency interviews to sculpt stuff or suture things together, etc. One of my former co-residents during their residency interview was asked the specifics on management of an endocrine emergency, but these stories are much less common in the non-surgical fields.

In general, interviewing at a consulting or finance firm probably does not make for great practice for a medical school interview. You're better off having a medical student friend (preferably one who has been on the admissions committee) to do practice interviews with.
 
Husband chimed in - In all seriousness, you'd be an auto reject at my husbands company for so many reasons.
1. No business/math/engineering background. He wouldn't care about you 4.0 (or whatever) gpa in biology. Premeds are dime-a-dozen.
2. If you ever brought up your SAT score, he'd laugh at you. Would he potentially give you an aptitude test, yes. He cares about your ability to succeed at the job you are applying for.
3. It's not his job to build your foundation. Even as an entry level employee, you need to have a good educational foundation. Business moves too fast and time is way too valuable to give you a multiyear apprenticeship because you lack the background. You would always end up being one of the least qualified applicants.
PS: Make sure you have a good answer for your gap 10 years. Do you want to do medicine? Do you want to teach english? Do you want to be a consultant?...
 
To Mokos comment, the aptitude tests and the interviews (for that matter) are problem solving/logic driven.
 
And likewise I wouldn’t want to work for his company. Also just because he is insecure about his score or something doesn’t mean he has to denounce an industry standard practice. McKinsey Bain and BCG are the top 3 firms and every one of them will not allow you to submit an application without a score. I did clinical work during my gap year because I want to be a doctor. I made this post because I wanted to help fellow applicants get REAL interview experience which is 100x more valuable than any other type of practice.
 
ciestar said:
Husband chimed in - In all seriousness, you'd be an auto reject at my husbands company for so many reasons.
1. No business/math/engineering background. He wouldn't care about you 4.0 (or whatever) gpa in biology. Premeds are dime-a-dozen.
2. If you ever brought up your SAT score, he'd laugh at you. Would he potentially give you an aptitude test, yes. He cares about your ability to succeed at the job you are applying for.
3. It's not his job to build your foundation. Even as an entry level employee, you need to have a good educational foundation. Business moves too fast and time is way too valuable to give you a multiyear apprenticeship because you lack the background. You would always end up being one of the least qualified applicants.
PS: Make sure you have a good answer for your gap 10 years. Do you want to do medicine? Do you want to teach english? Do you want to be a consultant?...
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I would say, however, that several MBA programs do really like pre-meds, especially since Biology is known to be a difficult major. It would certainly be possible to explain certain pre-med experiences into something MBA programs would like to hear (clinical experience = people skills, research = analytical skills, scribe = written communication skills). If you have done some data-heavy work in your research, that is also a huge plus.
 
Not sure why I am being bashed for trying to give advice others might find useful. And being an “auto reject” at his company doesn’t bother me. If I was passionate about business rather than medicine I’m sure it would be easy to do much better. Sorry the post offended you.
 
calipremed5768 said:
And likewise I wouldn’t want to work for his company. Also just because he is insecure about his score or something doesn’t mean he has to denounce an industry standard practice. McKinsey Bain and BCG are the top 3 firms and every one of them will not allow you to submit an application without a score. I did clinical work during my gap year because I want to be a doctor. I made this post because I wanted to help fellow applicants get REAL interview experience which is 100x more valuable than any other type of practice.
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Alright dude, take a break. Go for a walk. Drink some tea.
 
If you are going to have career pivot and get an MBA before applying, that's very different than applying as a bio/english major touting your SATs. Everyone who applies, likely had a high SAT (90%tile+) score or they'd fail the aptitude test (tailored for the position). Beyond all of the above, you have to show in any interview that you'll be able to work well with others...*hint*
 
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Most reputable MBA programs require work experience before applying. It’s a completely different ballgame than MD/JD in that having an MBA doesn’t really qualify you to have a job in business. Most students at top MBA programs treat it kind of like a two year party for networking
 
calipremed5768 said:
Most reputable MBA programs require work experience before applying. It’s a completely different ballgame than MD/JD in that having an MBA doesn’t really qualify you to have a job in business. Most students at top MBA programs treat it kind of like a two year party for networking
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You know.....sometimes it's ok to just keep quiet about things you don't have experience in and don't understand. You don't need to have an opinion about everything.
 
Y’all do know this guy is a total punk right... ego is larger than the size of his username. Wouldn’t take advice for a second.. especially considering he is essentially advising pre-meds, with mostly science degrees, to try and apply to finance jobs (like someone not qualified will truly be offered an interview anyway), to then take the job interview with no finance or business experience/understanding so that they can get grilled in an intimidating setting as “practice” for medical school interviews that are nothing like that. Bravo.
 
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