For those of you that have interviewed at Columbia....

30 min interview, Open file - I think the interviewers have a sheet of paper that has all of your most relevant information (DAT scores, GPA, most significant ECs); I couldn't get a read on whether or not my interviewer had read my LORs.

Columbia was actually one of the most laid-back interviews for me, but I really think it depends on who you get and what kind of numbers you bring to the table. My interviewer was really cool, and he only asked me a few questions; I asked a few questions throughout so he actually did most of the talking.

Don't sweat it...

 

I had a pretty similar experience at Columbia. My interviewer was nice and the talking time was pretty much equal. Open file laid back and very easy.

 

I had the same experience as the others- very laid back, not stressful. Just be yourself and try to interact with the interviewer. My interviewer was very nice!

 

Hey...I had an interview at Columbia on Dec. 5. Like everyone else has been saying, it was very laid back.

Everyone meets in a board room for some "breakfast" and then we're given an hour or so presentation. Then the admissions committee comes in (all at once) and they call out the name of the person they'll be interviewing. Then you go off with your interviewer to a private room.

It was open file so be prepared to talk about your application. Also, my interviewer had a list of questions he was going to ask. Questions included: what's your proudest and least proudest academic moment?, why columbia? why dentistry? why not medicine? What can I tell the admissions committee on your behalf? Talk about your research experience? What do you do for fun?, etc.

I had a great interview and my interviewer and I hit it off really well. Unfortunately, I still haven't heard from them about an acceptance (although my interview was not even a week ago), so I don't know how important these interviews are...

Goodluck though. If you get in, please get in after me! haha jk.

 

Yeah, it was very laid-back, and it was WEIRRRRRRRRRD! my interviewer came in 10 minutes late (while everyone was already gone), and then interviewed me for only 8 minutes. He asked about my hobbies, and some very random questions (Do you play any instruments?), and I was like "WTF" twice!