How much do interviews count?

[staurry]

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hi peeps,
was wondering if you knew how important the interviews are for all of the schools? For which schools is it easy to get an interview and the interview is really the main determining factor, and for which schools is the interview just a chance to see you in person to make sure you're not really out of the loop?
your experiences are greatly appreciated.

 

[Yosh]

Once you reach the stage of the interview process...the school likes you and is REALLY interested in you...they like you on paper..and want to see how you "pan out" in person. I gave interview tours for my school...and can tell you....be relaxed...be calm...and most of all BE YOURSELF and be HONEST....They have been doing this stuff for years...and somehow can see through lies...

Look at it this way....they liked who you are in the app...just be that person in the interview...

It can and will make or break you....

 

[DOin2007]

My thought is that the interview isn't all that important unless you screw it up. If you walk in there and are 1) non-personable and can't communicate, 2) blatantly lying (i.e. when stating why you chose osteopathy), or 3) completely stressed out and frazzled, then you have reason to worry. Otherwise, just realize that the school likes you...that's why you got the interview. Not to sound cocky, but I looked at the interview as the step where I was already accepted, but they just wanted to make sure that everything was kosher. (Kinda like when you buy a car and go for that one last test drive and visual inspection before you hand over the dough).

To play the number game, here's some stats from my school (PCOM). For the class of 2007, they interviewed 800-something applicants (close to 900, I think), and our class is 264 people. I can't tell you how many people were actually accepted and went to another school versus those who were rejected, but that should give you some clue as to what the numbers are like.

As for other schools' numbers and the importance of their interviews, I don't know. I interviewed only at PCOM because I received my acceptance from them prior to my other interviews, and I withdrew my applications since PCOM was my first choice.

 

[Idiopathic]

Schools interview, on average 6 times as many people as they accept. 5 out of 6 do not screw up the interview, so I think that logic is flawed. You need to:

play up your strengths
explain clearly and concisely your flaws (everyone has at least one, do not deny having any)
show humility
have a good question ready for your interviewer
be ready to talk about your 'favorite class' and 'least favorite class'
always talk about your interest in the respective schools strengths (research, family practice)
smile, enjoy yourself, and BE PREPARED TO TALK! (i cant emphasize this enough)

 

[raptor5]

I agree with DO in 2007. I checked the the statistics for PCOM last year and if you had an interview there you had a 81% chance of getting in. I recently had an interview there (Sept 15) and the interview seemed as is if it was a mere formality. It was so laid back. Especially this early in the game. PCOM (still using PCOM for an example) right now has 255 spots open. The odds of getting accepted this early are better than December when there may be 75 spots open (Just an estimate I do know how quickly the bulk of the spots are filled.). Just think about money, if you have a $1000 in your pocket it is much easier to spend the first $100 than the last $100.

raptor5

 

[sandisk115]

raptor5 .. good to know we have someone as informative as you here ..

i have an interivew at pcom in mid october, and an umdnj-som interivew in early october .. any ideas as to how my chances look for those at this point?

 

[Idiopathic]

It blows me away that PCOM has a class that big.