Interview request = Adcoms are fine with your GPA/MCAT scores?

[Diocletian]

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I received an interview request from a public school across the country; they interview something like <10% of their out-of-staters, so I'm pretty happy about this but also nervous.

When schools offers II's, does that mean they're evaluating you completely on your behavior/personality now, and all interviewees start on an equal playing field? Are GPA/MCAT/etc scores all "water under the bridge" at this point?

 

[saveourpens]

LizzyM mentioned somewhere that at the interview stage everyone has a different "ranking", which includes your stats, and the interview can pretty much move you a few steps up or down. I think that's pretty accurate. At interview days they may say things like they're just trying to "measure your empathy". That may be true. Still, the guy sitting next to you with a 40 MCAT is going to have a much easier time.

 

[MusicJunkie]

I received an interview request from a public school across the country; they interview something like <10% of their out-of-staters, so I'm pretty happy about this but also nervous.

When schools offers II's, does that mean they're evaluating you completely on your behavior/personality now, and all interviewees start off on an even playing field? Are GPA/MCAT/etc scores all "water under the bridge" at this point?

Each school is different. What's important to remember is that you were selected to interview, which means there is SOMETHING attractive about you as an applicant. Rock the interview. 🙂

Also, this may be helpful in helping you consider the overall trend in medicine: https://www.aamc.org/download/261106/data/aibvol11_no6.pdf

This article indicates that many medical schools put the interview feedback as the highest determinant of admission post-interview, but that other factors still come into play. Good luck!

 

[Arbor Vitae]

not necessarily "fine" with it. They may think you are capable, but it will get brought up once again after they interview as they compare you to everyone else. Most likely it will still be held against you. So even if you have a great interview, people with great numbers and great interviews will be accepted before you.

 

[cinamin]

not necessarily "fine" with it. They may think you are capable, but it will get brought up once again after they interview as they compare you to everyone else. Most likely it will still be held against you. So even if you have a great interview, people with great numbers and great interviews will be accepted before you.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

 

[pre med 2014]

About half of people interviewed are accepted. Dress nice, rehearse answers to common questions and it's all you can do.

 

[gravitywave]

As was mentioned, most schools will look at the interview as just one component of the overall picture when making an initial admissions decision (A/W/R). One constant across all schools however is that if they have extended an II, it means they are confident that you can handle the curriculum and are genuinely interested in meeting you to see how good a fit you are in person. Interview days are expensive, especially when you consider the value of people's time to come in and meet you. They do not offer interviews very lightly.

The only exception I can think of would be linkage agreements: state schools who interview all IS applicants as policy, BS-MD programs etc

 

[MedPR]

not necessarily "fine" with it. They may think you are capable, but it will get brought up once again after they interview as they compare you to everyone else. Most likely it will still be held against you. So even if you have a great interview, people with great numbers and great interviews will be accepted before you.

Also not everyone on the adcom looks at your file pre-interview. So even if you interview, others on the adcom might think your stats suck and will vote not to accept you.

Edit: I'm not a terrible interviewer (maybe I am), but I've been waitlisted post-interview 6/8 times at MD schools so I'm pretty sure it's my stats that have been preventing me from getting accepted.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using SDN Mobile

 

[I like meowmix]

Maybe not fine, but I don't think would hand you an interview if there wasn't at least some interest, so you must be in the ballpark.

 

[iforget2]

Each school is different. What's important to remember is that you were selected to interview, which means there is SOMETHING attractive about you as an applicant. Rock the interview. 🙂

Also, this may be helpful in helping you consider the overall trend in medicine: https://www.aamc.org/download/261106/data/aibvol11_no6.pdf

This article indicates that many medical schools put the interview feedback as the highest determinant of admission post-interview, but that other factors still come into play. Good luck!

Great website. What would research be classified as in that table?

 

[MedPR]

Great website. What would research be classified as in that table?

My guess would be medical/clinical work experience. I always wondered where JABSOM pulled that table from. It is in their interview day presentation.

 

[MusicJunkie]

My guess would be medical/clinical work experience. I always wondered where JABSOM pulled that table from. It is in their interview day presentation.

I agree with the "medical/clinical work experience" classification.

Also, I thought it was interesting that "Letters of Recommendation" were the second biggest factor. I didn't expect that, honestly.

 

[NickNaylor]

I agree with the "medical/clinical work experience" classification.

Also, I thought it was interesting that "Letters of Recommendation" were the second biggest factor. I didn't expect that, honestly.

If one of your peers (from the perspective of an adcom member) endorses or doesn't endorse a student's application to med school, wouldn't it have a big impact on your opinion as well? This is why generic, lukewarm letters are useless while specific, very positive letters can be game-changers. They aren't going to make up for an extremely weak app or "carry" an applicant that shouldn't be in med school, but they can definitely help you out if you have great letters.

 

[EnergyDrink]

I think the minor differences (3.5 vs 3.6) are diminished, but larger gaps won't be ignored.

 

[MusicJunkie]

If one of your peers (from the perspective of an adcom member) endorses or doesn't endorse a student's application to med school, wouldn't it have a big impact on your opinion as well? This is why generic, lukewarm letters are useless while specific, very positive letters can be game-changers. They aren't going to make up for an extremely weak app or "carry" an applicant that shouldn't be in med school, but they can definitely help you out if you have great letters.

I am not debating the importance of LORs as a whole. I agree that LORs, especially non-generic LORs, can be extremely helpful in the application process. I was simply surprised that it was ranked as the second most important factor post-interview because I thought it would be weighted more significantly pre-interview.

What I am guessing is that post-interview, there is more of a focus on personal characteristics, while pre-interview there is more of a focus on GPA/MCAT/experience. Not to say that these become any less important, but that there is a focus shift.

 

[NickNaylor]

I am not debating the importance of LORs as a whole. I agree that LORs, especially non-generic LORs, can be extremely helpful in the application process. I was simply surprised that it was ranked as the second most important factor post-interview because I thought it would be weighted more significantly pre-interview.

What I am guessing is that post-interview, there is more of a focus on personal characteristics, while pre-interview there is more of a focus on GPA/MCAT/experience. Not to say that these become any less important, but that there is a focus shift.

I think that kind of evaluation scheme is true very generally, but obviously each school has the things they focus on more than others at various points of the process.

(sent from my phone)

 

[music2doc]

I received an interview request from a public school across the country; they interview something like <10% of their out-of-staters, so I'm pretty happy about this but also nervous.

When schools offers II's, does that mean they're evaluating you completely on your behavior/personality now, and all interviewees start on an equal playing field? Are GPA/MCAT/etc scores all "water under the bridge" at this point?

Absolutely..."water under the bridge"... in the anatomical sense, which means they're still pretty important and will be carefully watched for. 😉

 

[music2doc]

I am not debating the importance of LORs as a whole. I agree that LORs, especially non-generic LORs, can be extremely helpful in the application process. I was simply surprised that it was ranked as the second most important factor post-interview because I thought it would be weighted more significantly pre-interview.

What I am guessing is that post-interview, there is more of a focus on personal characteristics, while pre-interview there is more of a focus on GPA/MCAT/experience. Not to say that these become any less important, but that there is a focus shift.

I think this has some legitimacy. Think of it this way (from the AdCom's perspective:

Before the interview, they want to find the best candidates who could make excellent medical students and physicians. (They are opening their nets and trying to get the best catch.)

After the interview, the focus has shifted from getting "qualified" people to getting "excellent fitting" people. That is:

After the interview, they are working to build a class. They already have people who are largely qualified. Now, they need to find a good combination. Once you get to the waitlist stage, the class has already been "set" and they are simply working to "replace" anyone who withdraws. This is one reason many schools no longer give you a rank on the waitlist (or if they do, it may be a quartile rank or similar that allows them to pull people out of order to maintain things like ethnic and gender diversity/ratios).

 

[yellowfish]

It's also worth noting that at least at some schools, a single individual or small group of individuals might be responsible for interview invitations whereas a larger committee delegates final admissions decisions for those interviewed - the individual or small group may have considered an applicant's numbers strong enough to interview, but the committee might still see that as something that ultimately holds back an applicant from receiving an offer of admission to the school.

 

[cinamin]

My guess would be medical/clinical work experience. I always wondered where JABSOM pulled that table from. It is in their interview day presentation.

thought you didn't apply there.. caught ya in another white lie perhaps eh