Interview feedback

[jj326]

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I am not sure if this falls in the interview question thread previously started or not. I thought it would be a good idea if anybody with feedback about particular places they interview posts it here. Things like crazy questions, general format of the day, amount of stress, pre/post-interview party info, anything else you think can help, etc...

Unless you are interviewing at every location on the first available date (mastery of calendar skills👍) this thread can be helpful to us all. I'll be sure to post something this weekend after my first interview on Fri.

 

[Mye Eye]

UT-Southwestern

VERY approachable faculty...the pre-interview night dinner was quite tasty though nobody really eats much since we're all nervous

Dr. Blomquist is the residency director and he seems AWESOME. UNFORTUNATELY he's a Cowboys fan (like everyone else) 🙂 hehe...(sorry I'm a Philly boy)...

the day is composed of 5 interviews each 15-25 minutes (either morning or afternoon) with the opposite half of the day a long tour of the facilities. lunch between in the faculty dining room

the facilities are incredible, residents seem very happy (but stressed as PGY2s, which seems to be the norm).

VERY strong program, nice people, happy residents, great facilities

overall I would give this place an A

and no, they dont ask the weird questions like "if you could be any animal what would you be"...they seem to just want to know you as a candidate (if they even really ask you more than 1 question)

 

[jj326]

well, not much new information from my interview at UTSW except to say that i agree with the above. i was very impressed with what they had to offer.
dr. blomquist was indeed great and the facilities really are incredible. to have everything in such close proximity and still have so much seems like an extra bonus. everyone was extremely helpful and the residents seemed to get along really well.
i toured first then had a great lunch in the faculty lounge and had 6 interviews in the afternoon. finished up around 4:30 with plenty of time to make it to dfw for my flight home.
first interview, but i would imagine it will be pretty high on my list.

 

[iamsleepy]

Hey guys, this is a great/helpful idea for a thread - I hope we get more feedback as interviews continue...

Interviewed at OSU recently - it was a very comfortable and friendly environment, really nice one to start with. The docs are in pairs/individually and you have 7 sessions of ~15 mins each. The faculty personally comes to the library/waiting area and calls you for each interview and then escorts you back - they were so so so friendly and welcoming to everyone. You get some 20 min breaks in between interviews, during which there's lots of food, info packets to read, residents to talk to.

In terms of questions, they asked standard interview Qs, nothing out of the ordinary. Eg 'why do you want to do ophtho', 'what are ur future plans', 'tell us more about [whatever is on your application re: research/experience/etc]'. VERY friendly interviewers and since you meet about 10-12 faculty members, I think overall it's a fair representation of the faculty there. The residents (three 3rd years, one 2nd, and one 1st year were there) also seemed to be happy with their experience. Just an FYI though, 5/5 of their 2nd year class was from OSU. 😎

 

[jj326]

a quick note before i go to sleep and to get this thread back on people's minds.
UAB was a short interview day starting around 12:30. no lunch so eat something beforehand. the interview is scheduled for fifteen minutes and it is a panel of about 10-15 people. it was only intimidating for like 10 seconds. very relaxed and everyone seemed genuinely interested. no crazy questions, just asked about things in my app and stuff my letter writers wrote.
then we went on the tour which involved some substantial walking but the facilities are all pretty close. i was pretty impressed by the amount of surgical training they get beginning in the second year. call first year is in house q5 but only backup after that. all in all seems like a good place to train and everyone i talked to was extremely friendly. dinner afterwards involved delicious thai food at a place downtown.
so there it is. another review of an interview. any others?