Interview preparation

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I'll say one thing;
Be a normal human being. Exhibit normal emotion- but maintain composure. Try to exhibit professionalism with being as minimally robotic as possible. There's a primary care shortage, and that's why you have all these medical schools opening- I have a feeling people interviewing are going to be on the lookout for very personable students to fill that void. Interviews go a lot better if they're fluid. I know it might seem obvious, but I'm just throwing it out there. And good luck!
 
Thanks @Goro. I have been reading some of your previous threads and they have been really helpful. Looking forward to this one.
 
Here are my tips:

1) Review your whole file: focus on creating a narrative based on what is in your AACOMAS and secondary as well as what your goals are in medicine; get responses to the vague "why do you want to be a physician" type questions.
2) Review the particulars of the school: what special programs do they have that you would fit into, "why do you want to come to XYCOM"? type question.
3) Prepare to address weaknesses: better to prepare for them now and have a story about how you overcame your weaknesses.
4) Practice until comfortable.

You should be calm, collected, confident, and in my experience the only way to genuinely be that way is to be prepared. Don't go off playbook (confabulating). Above all, be honest; you've made it this far, have a little faith in yourself.

Practice is key because you want to project a collected response but you don't want it to be too staged. You don't want to seem like you are reading stock responses, even though you have gone over the response many times by now. I like to write these reponses out in word, but make sure you are able to paraphrase them on the fly.

Lastly, stop studying the day before your interview and relax. Enjoy where ever it is that you are and try to talk about it in the interview (small talk). Don't be the guy studying for the most important interview of your life while you are taking your tour. Be genuninely interested in the school. If you did your homework there will be no need to brush up or be nervous.
 
where is the thread with the stats for percent of interviewed applicants who are accepted for each school? I am digging but cant find it.
 
Just relax, be yourself! Have your clothes prepared before hand and be organized to eliminate any unnecessary stress. Practice some interview questions with some people who will give HONEST feedback. See if your advisor would be willing to do a mock interview.
 
keels99 said:
So I just read through this. I cannot believe someone would apply with an MCAT score in the 5-14 range or a GPA under a 2.0. Seriously, what the heck?
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No clue. Haha.
 
greenflash5 said:
where is the thread with the stats for percent of interviewed applicants who are accepted for each school? I am digging but cant find it.
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From what I can tell it varies depending on the school. In previous year's forums I've heard that RVUCOM accepts around 75% of the students that it interviews, and this is supported by the fact that many people on the RVUCOM thread this year (who have good stats) were not extended an II. On the other hand is LECOM, which interviews A LOT of but has a lot of applicants.
 
Eat a good breakfast. Bring two of everything you plan to wear in case of emergencies (coffee spill, unexpected shrinkage, whatever). Be yourself, and be kind to everyone (other interviewees, staff, etc). Don't rehearse your answers like crazy, because people can tell when you're just feeding them something you've been practicing like crazy and you come off as stiff and lame.
 
That is not what I was thinking of but it is still super interesting! 👍 I am looking for the post that says ___ % of people that interview get accepted at X school.
 
keels99 said:
So I just read through this. I cannot believe someone would apply with an MCAT score in the 5-14 range or a GPA under a 2.0. Seriously, what the heck?
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For the 2013 MATRICULANT profile it shows that 9 people were accepted with a cGPA sub 2.o and 48 with a sGPA sub 2.0... How is that even possible?
 
greenflash5 said:
That is not what I was thinking of but it is still super interesting! 👍 I am looking for the post that says ___ % of people that interview get accepted at X school.
Click to expand...

It changes from year to year but you can probably extrapolate info from one school to others depending on class size. For instance I know DMU interviews about 700, and accepts about 400 for a class of 215 to 225 students. DMU being one of the largest classes of any school I'd say you could guesstimate some numbers for other schools. Not anything exact, but if you're really bent on getting numbers on it, this is a rough way.
 
Would they ask applicants on their opinions for current events ? Ie obamacare, abortion, Ebola outbreak, etc
 
@fkt24. Most definitely! Put yourself in the shoes of the ADCOM trying to recruit future primary care physicians. Now think of ObamaCare and how it has/will surge millions of people into the healthcare system in the United States. I highly recommend at least knowing a bit about ObamaCare, especially if you expressed interest in being a primary care physician. When you talk about abortion, it will probably be along the lines of an ethical dilemma you might face, either as a med student or as a physician. However, think of how you would "react" if they asked about your stance on abortion. Most importantly, don't lie! Concerning Ebola, don't expect them to ask the particulars (reservoir, portal of entry, etc) about communicable and non-communicable diseases. But, they might ask you to present your opinion about bringing Ebola patients to the United States for treatment. Once again, think moral and professional dilemmas/ethics.

Hope this helps!
 
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For questions like "Why D.O.? Why xycom? etc" are they looking for very long complicated responses or can I stay short and respond I want to attend your school b/c of x, y, z and give a brief discussion of what I listed.
 
Mad Jack said:
Eat a good breakfast. Bring two of everything you plan to wear in case of emergencies (coffee spill, unexpected shrinkage, whatever). Be yourself, and be kind to everyone (other interviewees, staff, etc). Don't rehearse your answers like crazy, because people can tell when you're just feeding them something you've been practicing like crazy and you come off as stiff and lame.
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I WAS IN THE POOL!!! I WAS IN THE POOL!
 
fkt24 said:
For questions like "Why D.O.? Why xycom? etc" are they looking for very long complicated responses or can I stay short and respond I want to attend your school b/c of x, y, z and give a brief discussion of what I listed.
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Keep it short. If they ask to elaborate, elaborate.

But for the love of God, please don't just say "because you want to help people".
 
@qwertypie haha don't worry I know better than to give them that reason


Thank you everyone so far for the advices..I hope this thread will not only help me but all applicants as well! 🙂
 
fkt24 said:
Hi,

I was wondering if anyone can offer any advice for interviews and how to "kill it". Thank you in advance
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fkt24 -- I wrote an article on my blog about how to prepare for interviews. You can check it out here. www.road2md.com/#blog

In terms of practicing, there is nothing better than making it as realistic as possible, so I would try to get people with experience interviewing med school applicants. It helped me tremendously when I was in your shoes. Interviewing at a bunch of schools will help you get more comfortable, but you don't get feedback.

Good luck!
 
I have my first interview coming up and I feel that I am preparing well so far. I have followed the advice you have all posted in this thread (THANKS!)
I am curious if there is any thing you believe applicants generally aren't prepared for? Something you wish they knew prior to showing up on interview day? I am just hyper concerned because I have no prior experience in a med school interview.
 
Can you really prepare for an MMI? I toured MSUCHM last week and I was told my multiple students that it's just one of those things you can't prepare for. Just wing it and they want to see your thought process/personality.
 
Shinobiz11 said:
Can you really prepare for an MMI? I toured MSUCHM last week and I was told my multiple students that it's just one of those things you can't prepare for. Just wing it and they want to see your thought process/personality.
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How did you like MSUCHM by the way? Is it near MSUCOM?

I wanted to apply to MSUCHM but decided against it 🙁
 
AlteredScale said:
How did you like MSUCHM by the way? Is it near MSUCOM?

I wanted to apply to MSUCHM but decided against it 🙁
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It's a fantastic school. I have a couple of friends who just started their first year, everyone there really loves it and they say it has such a great atmosphere. That's the thing about MSUCHM, they really look at you holistically and if you fit their system they want you.

In East Lansing, the CHM and COM are just down the street from each other. The CHM also has students in Grand Rapids, while the COM has students in Detroit and Monroe county.
 
Shinobiz11 said:
Can you really prepare for an MMI? I toured MSUCHM last week and I was told my multiple students that it's just one of those things you can't prepare for. Just wing it and they want to see your thought process/personality.
Click to expand...
I know this is an old thread but I am starting to prepare for my MSUCOM interview, which is MMI style, and I was wondering if anyone had any advice on how to best prepare? It almost seems like the only thing you can do for MMI is to make sure you are up to date on healthcare issues. I am an extroverted person who likes to talk and debate people so I'm not too worried about practicing my speaking.
 
DrPatriot said:
I know this is an old thread but I am starting to prepare for my MSUCOM interview, which is MMI style, and I was wondering if anyone had any advice on how to best prepare? It almost seems like the only thing you can do for MMI is to make sure you are up to date on healthcare issues. I am an extroverted person who likes to talk and debate people so I'm not too worried about practicing my speaking.
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I had 2MMIs last year. I bombed the first one for sure, and probably the second, but anyone who thinks you can't prep for an MMI is an idiot who probably thinks you can't study for the SAT either.

1. If its exclusively MMI, they very well may have a "why medicine" or other generic questions you can memori...consider before you get there.
2. Look up all medical issues you can think of. Get pros and cons. I had 3 questions last year, in one school alone, that were just prompts about things like "oh no, theres an ebola scare! Do you tell your family or not?"
3. Always, always, always say you "understand but disagree with the other side because of different values" or something like that. Elaborate on why you disagree, but show that you empathize with the other side unless they're nazis or something. It makes them think you have empathy or something.
4. Memorize medical ethics "keywords". "Paternalism, etc.
5. Have a vague idea of key ethical/legal obligations. "13 year old girl shows up with severely painful menstrual cramps but won't tell her parents shes had sex; what do you do?" (protip: you don't tell them if she doesn't want you to).
6. Be prepared to ask questions about the school even though its an MMI; also be prepared to answer questions about the school. I had one interview that was just "you ask me things about this school."
7. Look up common MMI questions online. I haven't googled it but I probably will.
 
DrPatriot said:
I know this is an old thread but I am starting to prepare for my MSUCOM interview, which is MMI style, and I was wondering if anyone had any advice on how to best prepare? It almost seems like the only thing you can do for MMI is to make sure you are up to date on healthcare issues. I am an extroverted person who likes to talk and debate people so I'm not too worried about practicing my speaking.
Click to expand...

I had two MMI's as well. For the most part, you will be surprised on at least half of the stations. I recall that one of the MMI's actually took from the school's list for core competencies and made a question stem from that, so you could always look those up. I had one station that I don't think anyone could prepare for, it was just so out there. Anyways, I was wait listed from both, so like the rest of the internet, take what I say with a grain of salt.
 
CUSOM does three 30 minute interviews (correct me if Im wrong on that). How the heck do we talk for an hr and a half?!
 
asdf123g said:
CUSOM does three 30 minute interviews (correct me if Im wrong on that). How the heck do we talk for an hr and a half?!
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The key is to ask them questions too. You'd be surprised how long a conversation can last.
 
fkt24 said:
Hi,

I was wondering if anyone can offer any advice for interviews and how to "kill it". Thank you in advance
Click to expand...

Review your application, get a good night's sleep. Keep you cell phone off at all times!!! Dress well and appropriately. Have good manners. Smell good.
 
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