Interviewing with kids?

[klonoff]

Found these boards yesterday and obsessively spent some time pouring over them (hey, I'm a premed..).

Anyway, I have a question. I have my one and only interview at UWash Feb 20th (only applied to one med school this year). I got pregnant my sophomore year, and as a result took an extra year to graduate. Still have decent grades and MCAT (3.6, 35R), but with UW weighting the interview 50% do I have a chance at all with very few ECs? Is having a kid (3 years old now) and working full time enough of an EC?

Thought appreciated, thanks.

Kim

Edit to say - no working until after graduating, have a hobby (polymer clay), but no volunteer/ hospital exp

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[juddson]

I'd admit you solely on the basis of what you have already written here. I hope they will as well. But, who knows.

I wish you all the luck in the world.

Judd

 

[ZekeMD]

You had to go to the hospital to deliver, so you have some experience. I think the fact that they weigh the interview 50% will work in your favor. It will allow you to show them why you want to go into medicine since it will not be shown in EC's. I think the fact that you have a 3 year old may also work in your favor. This shows you have dedication, you overcame obstacles to achieve your goals. I wish you the best.

 

[greenie8]

Klonoff,

Have you looked at MomMd.com? It is a great resource for women who are going into medicine or who are already there. Plenty of the posters on the forum are in similar situations as you are.
Best of luck!

greenie

 

[klonoff]

juddson- Then I wish you were on my adcom. : ) Thanks for the encouragement.

zeke- Hmm, never thought of the interview actually counting in my favor. Maybe I should stop dreading it so much? But I definitely won't say how much I disliked my obstretician. Thanks for the reply.

 

[verbalassasin]

Why are you so worried an interview is basically an acceptance. They no longer care about what you put on the application. They now want to know are you really this person on the application. You are so in baby, just don't blow the interview by being rude, flashy and all that other good stuff. Just be you.

 

[lyragrl]

I'm sorry, but it is a myth that an interview is bascially an acceptance. Often, only 30-50% of interviewees are accepted (and that includes those taken off waitlists). Look at the numbers.

 

[2badr]

I thought you meant you wanted to take the kid(s) with you on the inerview.

You were granted an intervies. Remember, that's a good thing.

 

[ATPase]

I think you'll be fine in your interview, but I would caution you that they will probably ask why you don't have any clinical experience, and/or how you know you want to be a doctor if you've never had clinical experience. (Maybe you could say you've shadowed a doc or something like that.) Just be prepared for that. Other than that, I think you'll be great!

 

[velouria]

hey,
for "clinical exposure" you could also try talking with physicians about their careers - i mean, anyone!! your kid's pediatrician, your family doc, your ob/gyn (depending on how much you really didn't like her), anyone in your extended family, anyone your extended family may know...
it's a bit of a stretch, but that way if your interview asks about how you know you want to do medicine, you can talk about how you've learned about medicine by talking with many different health care providers, blah blah blah. you can make up your own explanation it's a very quick and easy way to at least have something to talk about. and, you still have a week - maybe you could try shadowing a dr, even if it's just for a few hours. that's what i did (i'm a mom with 2 little ones) and i found that it seemed to be acceptable to my interviewers.
going in as a mom, you have a lot of strengths and unique qualities (maturity, time mgmt, multitasking, etc.), just spend some time thinking about how best to present them.
GOOD LUCK!!!

 

[phenolphthalein]

Not to be the oracle of doom and gloom, but one thing to keep in mind here is that your application is largely untested. You only applied to one school, that being U. Wash. If you are a state resident with at least a 3.5, 30 you get an automatic interview from UW without any further application review. Unlike for most other med schools, for UW the interview is the first real cut of the applicant pool. This is also reflected in the way the interview is set up -- it's less of "getting to know you" and more like an oral exam. With that in mind, I would suggest you spend the next eight days until your interview reading up on public policy in healthcare and preparing for the ethical case scenarios which seem to be de rigeour at UW interviews.

However, the flip side to this is that UW is really not that hard to get into. The competition is significantly lowered by restricting the applicant pool to the WWAMI states and rumor has it that Werner Samson, the chair of the admissions committee, tends to favor applicants who are stronger academically (like you) than EC-wise. The lack of ECs isn't something to worry about too much; you can always talk your way out of those situations. Just pick a couple of moments from your pregnancy, time with your Ob/Gyn, your time in the hospital and talk about how these experiences made you reflect on the practice of medicine and what kind of doctor you'd want to be, blah, blah, and then promptly change the subject by asking your interviewer a question, or by directing the conversation towards other semi-related things like "from my experience I've really learned how difficult it is for working women to get affordable child care", and talk about how this situation is such a travesty and it clearly impinges on the health and welfare of the kids and women involved, and then you're off and running on a topic that you control.

 

[klonoff]

Greenie- Thanks for pointing me to that forum. I checked it out and it doesn?t appear to generate that much activity, at least in the pre-med section. Still an interesting read though!

Verbalassasin- Of the 600 people interviewed at UW, only about 150 get in (although I?ve heard with wait lists you have roughly a 1/3 chance).

Lyragrl- Yup, UW is one of those 30% range ones.. I?ll just have to show them what I have to offer.

2badr- Interviews, good? I took a speech class to help prepare myself for public speaking/nervous situations, but it infortunately didn?t actually include practice speaking..

ATPase- Haven?t shadowed a doctor, but that might be just the ticket. How can I ask someone to do it within the next week without being an imposition?

Velouria- Thanks for your advice! Sounds excellent. I have a few doctors I could ask, but I?d hate to put them in a difficult position. And I agree, having children does have a way of speeding maturity.

Phenolphthalein- UW automatically grants interviews based on 27+ (9 each I think) MCAT and 3.5 weighted GPA. I didn?t qualify for that automatic cut off. It is freshmen * 1 + sophomore*2 + junior*3 / 6. Junior year I was back in school within two weeks of delivery, and let?s just say that wasn?t my most stellar year. So presumably I?ve made it past one obstacle.

?With that in mind, I would suggest you spend the next eight days until your interview reading up on public policy in healthcare and preparing for the ethical case scenarios which seem to be de rigeour at UW interviews.?

This is exactly what I had in mind, especially after studying the interview data posted by other forum members here. (thanks everyone who posts there! I?ll be sure to add my bit once I?m able)

UW is extremely hard to get into, even with the restriction of applicants. It is the only MD medical school in the entire state of Washington, and there are very very few in Alaska, Oregon, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho as well. Combine that with being #1 in primary care in the nation, and everyone who lives in Seattle wanting to stay here, makes for a tough market.

I like the way you think though. Let?s hope my wits don?t desert me when I need ?em.

Everyone- Thanks for posting! Your feedback does help my nerves. : )

 

[drlexygoat]

Originally posted by 2badr
I thought you meant you wanted to take the kid(s) with you on the inerview.

haha that's what I thought too

 

[BubbleBobble]

klonoff-

I don't know if you've seen this, but the UW Bioethics website is a very valuable source of information. My ethics question actually came directly from this website!
http://eduserv.hscer.washington.edu/bioethics/

Dr. Hunt also gave some helpful interviewing tips last year:
http://students.washington.edu/aed/archiveminutes/052703.html

Good luck on your interview!

 

[oldtimer]

According to 2002 US News, you have 31.8% chance of getting accepted after being interviewed.

 

[klonoff]

Bubbles- thanks! I went to UW as an undergrad too, so I was aware of both of those links. Still quite helpful for you to post them just in case. : )

oldtimer- but it further subdivides based on which state your from. Not to be nitpicky, but you started it.

 

[docmemi]

i think you should mention your kid and working for sure. its a plus. but obviously be prepared about answering how you will handle both med school and being a parent, what will you do with your kid while you are in school, what happened to your partner (bf, husband, ?), etc. it takes a very special and motivated person to deal with all this stuff. and your stats are excellent. makes you impressive.

i think you can try to get in some hours shadowing a phys in the next week before the interview. if not, just go and walk around the hospital observing what is going on. then you can talk about some of the things you saw.

this will def be an issue. i dont know if your kid and work will make up for the lack of clinical exp. its a valid excuse, but they will want to know that you know what you are getting into. so try to get some experience now, or if you have another answer preped to "are you sure you know what you are getting into," then you should be just fine.

just some things to think about in my opinion.
good luck!!!!