Interview Advice

Started by azzeh123
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azzeh123

Full Member
10+ Year Member
I have been blessed to have 6 interview but I can only attend 3 due to some recent money restrictions. I would your help in ranking them and which ones I should attend.

The schools are:

Iowa
loyola
SLU
WVU
VCU
Einstein

Im a CA applicant if that helps in anyway.

Thanks
 
First off I would say I can't really rank because I don't know all these schools and what they're about. But I would definitely visit Einstein. I've also heard good things about Iowa. I also saw on the SLU school-specific thread that they accept ~50% of the people who interview so that gives you a pretty good shot already (although some of these might be off the waitlist, so I'm not entirely sure).
 
I would rank them on a couple different categories: do you have MSAR? Try to find the ratio of interviewed:accepted (might have to go off interviewed:matriculated, but I know on some school specific threads you can find numerical data). Rank #1-#6 (#1 with highest odds). Rank based on mission/impression of school after doing some research, again #1-#6, #1 being the best. Do the same for location, cost, step scores (if you wanna go that far) and so on. Add up each school's ranking for every category. Whichever 3 have the the lowest score, interview there.

This might be a bit too methodical. But congrats and good luck!
 
I went to Iowa and really liked it. They do separately compare IS to OOS, so look at the OOS stats when comparing yourself and not the overall stats of the entering class.
 
Are you sure you can't attend them all? If I was in your boat and didn't get in after 3 interviews, knowing I had 3 more shots, I would have a hard time getting over that.

You might want to consider a small, private loan to finance your other trips. Utilize student hosts whenever you can... and if you're not in school or working (and thus have a lot more travel time) consider taking a greyhound or something. The amount of money you would need to get to your other interviews is really a drop in the bucket when compared to the debt you'll probably be taking on during medical school. Just a thought... wish you the best!
 
I'd strike WVU from the list. They heavily favor their own people over outsiders.
 
I suggest that you do whatever you can to be able to attend every interview until you have an acceptance in hand. However, if you absolutely can't attend one or more interviews due to financial constraints, consider calling those schools that you plan on skipping and asking them if you could do an interview on skype. You have nothing to lose.
 
sharkbyte said:
First off I would say I can't really rank because I don't know all these schools and what they're about. But I would definitely visit Einstein. I've also heard good things about Iowa. I also saw on the SLU school-specific thread that they accept ~50% of the people who interview so that gives you a pretty good shot already (although some of these might be off the waitlist, so I'm not entirely sure).
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Really? I've heard from a lot of people who weren't impressed by the interview day there. I interviewed at SLU and really liked it, so thats my two cents on the one school from your list I have interviewed at, so far.
 
bc65 said:
I suggest that you do whatever you can to be able to attend every interview until you have an acceptance in hand. However, if you absolutely can't attend one or more interviews due to financial constraints, consider calling those schools that you plan on skipping and asking them if you could do an interview on skype. You have nothing to lose.
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I think you can check for this on the MSAR. Although might as well call to double check if it says on the MSAR they don't do over skype interviews.
 
If you must pick from the 3, I would pick those that will give you the best odds.

Compare the number of interviews given with the number of matriculants.
 
I am not familiar with how admissions works at each of these schools.
However, one approach could be to schedule the interviews at schools that have the quickest decision turnaround times first. That way, if you have an acceptance in hand, you can withdraw from other ones that you wouldn't attend over your acceptance. Personally, I would not withdraw from any interviews until you've received an acceptance.
 
Pastamahn said:
Really? I've heard from a lot of people who weren't impressed by the interview day there. I interviewed at SLU and really liked it, so thats my two cents on the one school from your list I have interviewed at, so far.
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I've heard this too (I think they don't have presentations about the school, which seems weird) but I've talked to people who have been at Einstein and they say it's a very good school. Also has a pretty good ranking, if people care about that.
 
Here's my two cents:

Einstein
Loyola
SLU
Iowa
WVU
VCU

It's hard for OOSers to lad an accept at U IA. Having lived in Richmond, avoid it like the plague.

You have to really consider where you're have your best fit and can you stand being half to a full continent away from friends/family/support groups?
Consider curriculum and the localities as well. St Louis =/= Charleston =/= the Bronx

azzeh123 said:
I have been blessed to have 6 interview but I can only attend 3 due to some recent money restrictions. I would your help in ranking them and which ones I should attend.

The schools are:

Iowa
loyola
SLU
WVU
VCU
Einstein

Im a CA applicant if that helps in anyway.

Thanks
Click to expand...
 
Pastamahn said:
Really? I've heard from a lot of people who weren't impressed by the interview day there. I interviewed at SLU and really liked it, so thats my two cents on the one school from your list I have interviewed at, so far.
Click to expand...

The facilities at Einstein aren't pretty, and the neighborhood is as Bronx as they come. It's a very rigorous, prestigious school, however. Ultimately, all of us have our ideal med school and it's up to us to realize that dream (and for adcoms to admit us, of course).

I didn't apply to Einstein, but I have spent some time there in the past.
 
Also, don't base this decision on how likely you are to get accepted. Go to the schools that interest you the most. You need to demonstrate that you are a good fit for the school and adcoms can easily tell the difference between genuine enthusiasm and "I uh heard the trauma center here was really great"-level ways of trying to justify interest that simply isn't there.
 
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