Interviews

[SnarkLA]

Hi all!

I'm relatively new to the board so I may have missed this in my search, but I was curious as to the atmosphere/culture of post-bac interviews. What kind of questions are asked? How should I dress?(male) I'll be meeting students and a prof i think, and I understand a little about the med school interviews but I was curious how formal these events are. If there are any students enrolled now that may help me out I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks

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[pumpkin123]

Hi, I only did one post-bac interview but it was not too formal. I am female and wore a nice skirt with a suit jacket and felt a little overdressed compared to the other interviewee (male) I met who wore a sweater with button down underneath and khakis. I don't think that I would change my decision though; it's never bad to wear something a bit nicer though you probably don't need to wear a suit. Questions were basically about what volunteer work I've done and how I felt about the clinical experience that I currently have. Nothing too intense. They want to see you ask questions as well I think, so that it shows you have thought about the different aspects of their particular program. Anyhow, hope this helps.

 

[lawnboy313]

I imagine it depends on the program and varies a bunch. At UConn, you get one hour with a professor, one hour with a past post-bac now medical student. With my professor we basically talked about his research for a half hour, he asked me a couple of things about my past and one problem-solving question that I totally botched. The student interview was more informal. She basically had me relay anything that the admissions committee wouldn't know from reading my application. I asked her all my remaining questions about the program. I wore a suit, and everyone else interviewing was dressed up as well. IMHO, better to be overdressed than underdressed, so wear a suit just in case.

For the Yale post-bac, my interview was conducted via overseas conference call while I was in Paris. Lasted about an hour and was with the director of the program and another related staff member. They asked me questions about what classes I was going to take, why I wanted to go into medicine, where I wanted to go to medical school, what kind of doctor I wanted to be, etc. No ethical questions or hypothetical situation questions--all pretty straightforward. Surprisingly, I didn't get a chance to ask the many questions I had about the program, and I had an impossible time getting them answered after the interview even after I was accepted.

My advice: dress up, be prepared to talk about your motivations, and have questions to ask about the program.

 

[SnarkLA]

Thanks for the advice, I guess I'd have to agree that without further knowledge better to be over-dressed. It puts me in such a better state of mind to atlest know something to expect.

 

[ilovescience]

Drexel does 30 minute phone interviews. It's really casual, and your interviewer is a student that completed the program the previous year.