How can I stand out at interviews?

[Dr. Brightside]

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[Goro]

I guess my question is: If you already have very high stats and solid experiences, do you also need to stand out at your interview, and if so, how? I'm starting to prepare for interviews and I'm wondering what to focus on.

I only know maybe one other pre-med in real life, so I have no idea what the personalities and experiences are like of other applicants. Right now, based on recent impressions of others, I would probably be described in interviews as professional and easy to talk to, but fairly quiet and maybe a bit boring. I just don't have many exciting stories. Is it okay to be like this if you can clearly communicate why you want to be a physician, why you would want to go to that school, and why you would be a good physician? I really don't know how interesting I am compared to other applicants, and I'm not extremely charismatic. Anyone with experiences on how most students do at interviews?

Read this:
Goro's Guide to Interviews

 

[Catalystik]

Read this:
Goro's Guide to Interviews

I was hoping you'd provide your link and save us all a lot of typing time, @Goro .

 

[Goro]

I was hoping you'd provide your link and save us all a lot of typing time, @Goro .

Glad to help...you have enough on your plate!

 

[Govols22]

Your interviewer should be excited when they see someone who presents themself in a professional manner and appears as someone geneuinly interested in medicine and in their school. Talking about that one time "x" happened and hoping the interviewer will crack a smile isn't going to be what gets you into their medical school. All you need are confident and concise answers. Dont do more than you should. If the conversation steers in a direction where you can share a unique personal experience that might be amusing, then feel free to briefly talk about it. But it's fairly common for people to ramble on too much to the point where it is hurting their interview. Just be you and don't worry about trying to "wow" the interviewer.

 

[Dr. Stalker]

Follow the instructions below:
1. No suit
2. Stand upside down

On a serious note, for you to stand out, just engage in your interviews with honesty and good (well rehearsed too) answers. Adcoms dont wanna hear the bs like "I wanna go to your school because its good and look at all this awesome information on the schools homepage! A new biophysics research clinical lab makes me want to go here!!!!"

Be honest with good answers. That's the best tip I have.

Edit: Posted the image incorrectly first time

 

[Neuroplasticity]

The vast majority of the discussion in my interviews was over my application. So I'd recommend knowing your application very well and also knowing the focus of the school's mission, for example:

If you are interviewing at a school with a research oriented mission practice explaining your projects to someone with no background, think about how your project fits in with other research in the field, what is the larger purpose of your research.

 

[Troll-like receptor 4]

Here is what I did during interview season last year
-give the appearance of confidence despite how terrified and nervous you are on the inside
-When asked an open ended question, try be concise while still fully elaborating on the question. I saw people ramble on during group interviews due to nervousness, and it was really uncomfortable to witness
-If any shortcomings are brought up by you or the interviewer, try to not dwell on that or make excuses, but show how you improved, what you learned, and how you grew as a person.
-maintain good eye contact. If it is a panel interview, make sure to shift eye contact between each interviewer and not just the one who asks the question. I had to remind myself of this constantly
-maintain good body language to show that your attentive and genuinely interested. Sit up straight/lean forward as necessary, etc.
-Avoid using filler words such us "uuh", "you know", etc
-if you need a few seconds to collect your thoughts before answering, feel free to do so. This is better than going down the wrong rabbit hole and later realize you have to rescue the conversation and steer it back in the right direction.

 

[Lawpy]

Read this:
Goro's Guide to Interviews

Additionally

• Affiche's Advice for Medical School Interviews
• bluestreaks' Advice from 20+ Interviews
• PugsAndHugs' MMI Interview Strategy
• ----x----'s MMI Interview Strategy

 

[McDreamy123]

Rule 1: Be attractive
Rule 2: Don't be non-attractive

 

[cptnjack]

Make sure when you go in for the handshake, to pull them in like such :

But really though, be friendly with everyone you meet, your fellow interviewees, your admissions staff, the janitors, anyone. Your interview starts the moment you step foot on campus and doesn't end until you get off campus.

 

[kb1900]

Honestly every person you meet WANTS TO LIKE YOU. Just be excited and professional. Don’t give them a reason to not like you.