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Does anyone recommend a good outline to follow for this question? Would it be wise to tie in why D.O. into this answer or wait until the "Why D.O." question?"
How to tackle the "Tell me about yourself" for DO schools?
- Thread starter Pigglyjuff
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My answer to that was, where I grew up, places I have been to, things I like and things I like to do, my hobbies, and my philosophy about life.
So, no, I would just wait until the question why DO. In my case though, they just bundled both of those questions together.
So, no, I would just wait until the question why DO. In my case though, they just bundled both of those questions together.
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No, because that is a separate place for you to talk. Most of the time, the interviewers actually want to get to know you and your character and upbringing.
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I kept it short (under a minute) with "I'm married and have a new baby, and there are 3 things I'm very passionate about; my family (and expounded a little), becoming a doc (more expounding), and everything outdoors (telling my fav things to do outdoors [i.e. everything])
They seemed to like it and I'm 2 for 2 as far as interviews and acceptances go 😀👍
+1. Keep it short and sweet. Let them know that you have other interests outside of medicine because they want to see a rounded individual. I mentioned that I love to ride my motorcycle, and that spawned a whole set of additional questions.
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Seriously! I mentioned the outdoors and they saw that in my personal statement I mentioned a goal of climbing Everest. HALF of the interview after that was spent talking about good books about mountaineering ('into thin air' for example), rock climbing, hiking, and other mountains to climb. Talked about the risks vs rewards of big ones like Everest and Denali and other peaks to summit in preparation. It was a VERY cool interview!
Conversational interviews are the best. Time flys. My AZCOM interview went by so fast, even the interviewers were like, wow it's been 20 minutes already?
Certainly boosts the ego when your interviewers are into you as a person.
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Where I'm from, what type of upbringing I had, and why that puts me in a unique position to become an excellent physician.
I suggest not repeating anything that's in your application (secondary included)
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I created a timeline and after I spoke about my early life ect I spoke to events that were relevant , semi relevant to my calling to medicine. I revised the time line and then rehearsed it in the shower for weeks until it rolled off my tongue like silk. Its your story so you tell it best but just practice the manner it which the story is delivered and you will be good to go.
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I had about a 2-3 minute introduction that briefly outlined my life. Since I am a very non-traditional applicant, I got all the important questions wrapped up in that statement. Why did I not do medicine after undergrad, what I did in the time I was out, why I decided to go back to medicine, why is now the time that I want to do medicine. The serendipitous events that happened on my path to being a doctor that I believe mean that I am going in the right direction. And, for the DO schools, that I shadowed Dr. X and Dr. Y, both DOs. One does family medicine, and the other is in an OMM practice. They helped me to learn how and why being a DO is a better fit for me.
Once I typed all that out, I edited it and made each section flow together into a coherent story. Then I practiced it A LOT until I could tell it to you in my sleep. Once it became part of me, then it can come out sounding like it is unrehearsed. If you only practice it a little bit, it will sound broken and rehearsed. That would be bad.
Know what you want to say, and practice saying it. It does not need to be perfect and saying the exact same words every time, but get the general order and meaning down cold. Make it sound like a story of your life that EVERYONE would want to hear. This is where acting classes would really help.
dsoz
Once I typed all that out, I edited it and made each section flow together into a coherent story. Then I practiced it A LOT until I could tell it to you in my sleep. Once it became part of me, then it can come out sounding like it is unrehearsed. If you only practice it a little bit, it will sound broken and rehearsed. That would be bad.
Know what you want to say, and practice saying it. It does not need to be perfect and saying the exact same words every time, but get the general order and meaning down cold. Make it sound like a story of your life that EVERYONE would want to hear. This is where acting classes would really help.
dsoz
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While I don't think you need to go into why DO, unless it happens organically, I think it would be a missed opportunity if you didn't address why medicine (at least indirectly).
And, yes, be brief...they will follow up with any questions they want answered. Don't bring up red flags here either, and do s,Ike and make good eye contact to set a good mood for the interview.
One bonus I like to do is to talk a little about something you are "expert" in, even if its photography, etc...this just gave me confidence for the rest of the interview.
Good luck
G
gmcguitar4
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Haha!
Personally, I based my intro on my family and how much they mean to me. I also talked about living in rural america. This provided me the opportunity to lead the conversation to a place where I could talk about serving a rural community when I graduate
No matter your answer, dont make it the generic "I graduated school on X with my bachelors in X". They dont need to hear that, its in your app. Talk about what makes you happy in life and relate that to why you want to pursue medicine at the end of your answer.
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This. Just be honest and answer the question. Don't over think it. They just want to hear your story.
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Straight and to the point response.
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Good advice here in this thread...
That being said, I think I really screwed up on this question on a bunch of my interviews.
🙁
That being said, I think I really screwed up on this question on a bunch of my interviews.
🙁
I think I really messed this question up, he asked me "What do you want the admissions committee to know about you?" and I took that to mean they want to know why I wanted to go into medicine/D.O. and answered it along those lines.....
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This got me good at TouroNY.....got me real good...
This was one of my favorite questions because it really gives you the opportunity to show the interviewer who you are outside of what's on paper. I made it a point to mention things that they could not know by reading my file and things that make me memorable as a person. I would suggest that whatever one does disclose, that it be meaningful and less trivial as possible.
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I was told in a practice interview that I should basically answer what led me into medicine when asked this question, she is a professional interviewer but this doesn't seem like the right question for that answer. Would it be weird if I did this when asked "tell me about yourself" ?
D
deleted357625
That's when you have to rely on your ECs to define or reinforce your character. If you treated every EC as a check-list and have nothing else to set you apart from every other applicant then you did it wrong, that's when you have to rely on embellishing on your life experiences.
