interview with below average stats

[Olivary]

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Any advice on how to succeed in interviews with below average stats? GPA 3.6 and 501 MCAT. I have two interviews so far (one is my state school). I am ORM but non-trad with killer ECs

Thanks

 

[Goro]

1) Be yourself
2) Know what's in your file
3) Be able to think beyond concrete terms
4) Do not lie or dissemble
read this:
Goro's Guide to Interviews

 

[CaptainJackSparrow83]

Try to slip in that you like cats, you have a 1/52 chance Goro is an adcom at your school.

 

[infectiousdisease101]

I know someone who got into a school with a LizzyM score of 69 and their MCAT was 499. Even if they had a 4.0, their LizzyM score would still be 65. This person had the maturity and personality adcoms were looking for so they accepted said person. If you have the right attitude to be a physician, there's still hope. But the kind of maturity and attitude I'm talking about is very rare.

 

[Pagan FutureDoc]

Remember you got your interviews because these schools think you might be a good fit. So don't doubt yourself. Be confident in yourself, know your strengths and weaknesses.
And follow goro's advice

 

[•Syzygy•]

I know someone who got into a school with a LizzyM score of 69 and their MCAT was 499. Even if they had a 4.0, their LizzyM score would still be 65. This person had the maturity and personality adcoms were looking for so they accepted said person. If you have the right attitude to be a physician, there's still hope. But the kind of maturity and attitude I'm talking about is very rare.

how was their score 69 then?

 

[•Syzygy•]

Any advice on how to succeed in interviews with below average stats? GPA 3.6 and 501 MCAT. I have two interviews so far (one is my state school). I am ORM but non-trad with killer ECs

Thanks

what killer ecs are we talkin about

 

[Goro]

I know someone who got into a school with a LizzyM score of 69 and their MCAT was 499. Even if they had a 4.0, their LizzyM score would still be 65. This person had the maturity and personality adcoms were looking for so they accepted said person. If you have the right attitude to be a physician, there's still hope. But the kind of maturity and attitude I'm talking about is very rare.

Indeed. We'
re talking about outliers. Gonnif has mention one advisee of his who was accepted with an MCAT of 14 or so (on the old exam). This was a serviceman who took the exam overseas, under conditions of great duress.

what killer ecs are we talkin about

Peace Corps, military service, working with extremely fragile populations such as the dying, elderly or developmentally disabled, TFA, AmeriCorps, prison outreach, in short, extensive service to others less fortunate than one's self.

 

[infectiousdisease101]

how was their score 69 then?

It wasn't. The school was. Their LizzyM was a 65 at best.

 

[•Syzygy•]

It wasn't. The school was. Their LizzyM was a 65 at best.

ohhh i see, i misinterpreted the wording of your post.

 

[infectiousdisease101]

Apologies

 

[Olivary]

Wow, thank you for your advice, everyone! I am reading up Goro's advice currently.

May I ask, are many state schools offering II to the residents of their state only to reject them later? I want to hope that no school would waste that many resources but my state school's average stats are way above mine. I hope it's not just a courtesy interview.

Thank you once again!

 

[IWillMakeIt1]

Wow, thank you for your advice, everyone! I am reading up Goro's advice currently.

May I ask, are many state schools offering II to the residents of their state only to reject them later? I want to hope that no school would waste that many resources but my state school's average stats are way above mine. I hope it's not just a courtesy interview.

Thank you once again!

Lucky state!! Be yourself and rock it!!

 

[•Syzygy•]

Can you elaborate what you mean about the point you made in #3 (be able to think beyond concrete terms)?

i think he’s trying to tell you to be able to think about things / be innovative / be original, forward thinking, intuitive. this helps when being asked about how you would handle ethical dilemmas and complex situations, and can probably predict how you would fare at diagnosing a patient when the answer isnt staring you in the face (which it very often is not).

 

[bioboy23]

prison outreach

I've been doing some of this in the county jail for a little over a year for personal/religious reasons and I wasn't quite sure what adcoms would think about it. It's nice to see they look at it favorably.

 

[Goro]

Can you elaborate what you mean about the point you made in #3 (be able to think beyond concrete terms)?

When you're asked a straightforward question, answer it. Unless it's a really obtuse question, you shouldn't need to ask for clarification. For example, "tell me about yourself" is one of the most common interview questions, but we've seen SDNers flummoxed by it.

TLDR, be able to think beyond black and white.

 

[mk04447]

You can set yourself apart from the average millennial if you understand finances, most fish haven't got a clue. Know how docs find work, which specialties group, who consults who and why, etc. These are things most med students don't pick up till after graduation, my peers ask all the wrong questions and think their only job is learning the clinical aspects of medicine, but there is just as much to learn on the business side of the craft. Being knowledgeable about how medicine works beyond care will allow you to answer questions more completely and put you in a different class than your competitors.