Interview Demographics

[gocanes1990]

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On the interviews i have been on, i have noticed that i am in the minority, in being a student who is applying right out of undergrad. I feel as i am in the minority, being a "traditional". out of the 20 ppl there, i would say only 6 were on college.

does this represent a disadvantage or advantage for me? or nothing..

 

[gyngyn]

neutral.

 

[Lya]

It doesn't mean much. Do your best on your interviews, that's all that matters!

 

[ChemEngMD]

If you make it to the interview then they have already deemed you mature and well qualified enough on paper to handle medical school.

The only disadvantage younger applicants will have is when the ADCOM is reviewing them if they think they aren't emotionally mature enough yet (this could be just coming off too cocky or self important in your PS) or if your accomplishments don't match up to someone who has had >5 years to do things and you only had 3. My activities on my AMCAS started in 2006 when I was a freshman in college...a traditional student would have been a freshman in high school at that time...I would hope that in 7 years I would accomplish more than a traditional did in 3 lol (although I've met some balling traditional applicants who have had CRAZY ECs in 3 years...it's really impressive).

I spoke to a quite young applicant at one of the schools I interviewed at and he was concerned about this as well and I was just like, "bro, if they didn't want you they wouldn't invite you to interview."

A lot of top schools may only be ~30-40% traditional, but that's simply because there are a lot of really strong non-trad applicants.

Just smash your interview.

 

[gocanes1990]

thanks for the rseponse! I feel like I am doing well in my interviews...is there a good way to measure this.. (besides acceptances.. lol)

 

[Narmerguy]

thanks for the rseponse! I feel like I am doing well in my interviews...is there a good way to measure this.. (besides acceptances.. lol)

Not really. There are ways to tell if you're doing absolutely terribly, but that's about that. It's even hard to tell when you're just doing badly with some interviewers because they're good at carrying conversations and making them go well.

 

[gocanes1990]

i agree! i guess i will find out post oct15! Ive been trying to maintain good posture, eye contact, smile, and speak clearly, lthough i tend to talk fast.. 🙁

 

[OCDOCDOCD]

I interviewed at a top 20 a few weeks ago and I was the oldest person there at 25. Everyone else was still in school, and some were finishing up a year early (so the age range was 20-22 ignoring me). On the other hand, I had an interviewer tell me that she liked the fact that I had taken time off after college to "experience the real world" and that "to be honest, we don't even like to take kids fresh out of school. They're too immature and don't have enough experience being an adult yet".

I think it's a slight disadvantage, but considering most med school matriculants are still traditional students and that most of the "non-traditional" students are only one year out of college it's obviously not a significant one.

 

[osprey099]

I interviewed at a top 20 a few weeks ago and I was the oldest person there at 25. Everyone else was still in school, and some were finishing up a year early (so the age range was 20-22 ignoring me). On the other hand, I had an interviewer tell me that she liked the fact that I had taken time off after college to "experience the real world" and that "to be honest, we don't even like to take kids fresh out of school. They're too immature and don't have enough experience being an adult yet".

I think it's a slight disadvantage, but considering most med school matriculants are still traditional students and that most of the "non-traditional" students are only one year out of college it's obviously not a significant one.

I respectfully disagree. I interviewed at a school this week and in my closing remarks to the interviewer, I told her that I wish my age would not be a factor that hinders my candidacy when she brings me forth to the committee and for the committee to judge me based of my experiences rather than age. She actually was surprised that i was only 20; she thought i was at least 22-23. She also "honestly" told me that age never comes up in the committee'a evaluation of a candidate, at least at her school.

 

[Ismet]

I interviewed at a top 20 a few weeks ago and I was the oldest person there at 25. Everyone else was still in school, and some were finishing up a year early (so the age range was 20-22 ignoring me). On the other hand, I had an interviewer tell me that she liked the fact that I had taken time off after college to "experience the real world" and that "to be honest, we don't even like to take kids fresh out of school. They're too immature and don't have enough experience being an adult yet".

I think it's a slight disadvantage, but considering most med school matriculants are still traditional students and that most of the "non-traditional" students are only one year out of college it's obviously not a significant one.

There are mature 21-year-olds and immature 25-year-olds. Maturity does not necessarily correlate with age. The experiences you have, how you come off in your writing, your LOR writers' opinions of you, and how you interview demonstrate your maturity much more than your age does.