Invited to Interview, Scores/Transcript Insignificant?

[Proventus]

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Hey guys,

Just a general question about how people who are selected for an interview are either given a spot to that med school or denied one. At this stage, lets take Harvard for example, if you are one of the 1000 kids that got a chance to interview, does anyone have an ideas as to what Harvard bases their offer of acceptance (OFA) on?

To be more clear, at the interview stage is the OFA based solely on how you interview, or do you think they go back to the numbers and compare an applicants academic performance to how they conduct the interview to offer them a spot at their school? I heard its different depending on schools but anyone have an ideas to if one is more common than the other?

 

[iniquus]

Schools only interview applicants that can survive at that school based on what their application describes. Even if you do well on the interview, you may not get accepted. Although some interviews are open or blind, the admissions committee will take your performance on the interview and make a decision after reviewing your interview and your application again. It's usually some type of point system. Someone could have done equally as well as you on the interview, but has better stats and in a better spot to get accepted over you.

 

[rhesuspieces]

Depends on the school. Some schools are very serious about their interviews and they weigh really heavily into the final decision. Other schools hold very short and conversational interviews that factor only minimally into their final decision.

A heavy reliance on an interview to inform the adcom's final decision means that the committee is relying less heavily on the rest of the applicant's application, but it doesn't mean that GPA, MCAT, and EC's don't matter anymore. After all, it's not difficult to have a "good" interview.

 

[nyny87]

The interview is just another piece of the puzzle. The scores still matter when they have those mysterious adcom meetings and sort out accept/waitlist/rejection decisions. It seems to be the general consensus that a fantastic interview will only help, and not guarantee anything; while a horrible interview can toss you directly into the rejection pile.

 

[gree]

Depends on the school. Some schools are very serious about their interviews and they weigh really heavily into the final decision. Other schools hold very short and conversational interviews that factor only minimally into their final decision.

Is there a list of schools that are interview heavy or lite?

 

[flatearth22]

Is there a list of schools that are interview heavy or lite?

If you get the US News School Compass they break down each school by applied-interviewed-accepted-matriculated.

If the school has a low accepted:interviewed ratio than the interview is important (ie - Georgetown). If the school has a high accepted:interviewed ratio then the interview is less important (ie - Miami).

 

[anbuitachi]

I applied mostly NY schools and surrounding area schools. I can say that almost all of them weighed interviews very heavily. After interview invite, your application may still matter but it matters a lot less than how well you do on your interview. Some schools may only look at interview, others may weigh the interview as heavily as your GPA and MCAT combined. So it is extremely important to do well on it

 

[gettheleadout]

If you get the US News School Compass they break down each school by applied-interviewed-accepted-matriculated.

If the school has a low accepted:interviewed ratio than the interview is important (ie - Georgetown). If the school has a high accepted:interviewed ratio then the interview is less important (ie - Miami).

This has been covered before and is a faulty assumption.

 

[flatearth22]

This has been covered before and is a faulty assumption.

OK maybe "less important" was the wrong word choice.

But for UMiami which accepts 60% of their interviewees it seems that you don't have to impress as much compared to your fellow interviewees and the interviews are mainly for weeding out the socially awkward or non-genuine candidates.

Compared to Georgetown which only accepts 20% of interviewees and an interview really seems like a chance to showcase your personality and impress your way to a seat in the class.

 

[gettheleadout]

OK maybe "less important" was the wrong word choice.

But for UMiami which accepts 60% of their interviewees it seems that you don't have to impress as much compared to your fellow interviewees and the interviews are mainly for weeding out the socially awkward or non-genuine candidates.

Compared to Georgetown which only accepts 20% of interviewees and an interview really seems like a chance to showcase your personality and impress your way to a seat in the class.

No doubt there are schools where the higher % of accepted interviewees reflects the weight given to the interview in consideration of admission, but assuming this is true at every school that interviews less and accepts more is dangerous.

 

[mvenus929]

Your whole application will matter throughout the process. If you get an interview, they assume that you can do well at their school, but that doesn't necessarily mean your grades get thrown out the window. If it comes down to two identical applicants (exceedingly rare, but you never know), they may use the GPA/MCAT as a tie-breaker as to who gets in and who doesn't, even if the interview is key in their initial decision.

 

[Long Way to Go]

I have heard rumors that because Mayo is one school that the only thing that matters post-invite is the interview. Can anyone corroborate that?

 

[Asyouwereatrio]

I would say that IN GENERAL, when an applicant is invited to interview, the admissions committee feels that an applicant is "competent" academically to succeed at the school. As others have said, an interview is only another piece to the puzzle, and after the interview, I would say that everything is then "pieced together" and a "final" decision is made.

I think that advice would be true at most, if not all schools--there will be varying degrees of truth to that, but I am not addressing whether an interview is more heavily weighed at certain schools or not. The bottom line is that grades do matter at one point or another, and shouldn't be "ruled out" just because you got an interview.

 

[NickNaylor]

I have heard rumors that because Mayo is one school that the only thing that matters post-invite is the interview. Can anyone corroborate that?

Once you get invited to interview, your GPA/MCAT scores are irrelevant. The rest of your application, however, continues to be important.

OP, as others mentioned this varies widely from school to school. Some schools don't place that much importance on the interview while for others it's the end all be all. There's no real easy way to figure out which schools follow which philosophy.

 

[TexasPhysician]

If you get the US News School Compass they break down each school by applied-interviewed-accepted-matriculated.

If the school has a low accepted:interviewed ratio than the interview is important (ie - Georgetown). If the school has a high accepted:interviewed ratio then the interview is less important (ie - Miami).

100% incorrect

 

[TexasPhysician]

Once you get invited to interview, your GPA/MCAT scores are irrelevant. The rest of your application, however, continues to be important.

OP, as others mentioned this varies widely from school to school. Some schools don't place that much importance on the interview while for others it's the end all be all. There's no real easy way to figure out which schools follow which philosophy.

Your scores never become irrelevant at most schools. Your entire application will continue to have weight throughout the ranking process at most schools.

 

[JJMrK]

Here everything is looked at until the final decision is made.

 

[NickNaylor]

Your scores never become irrelevant at most schools. Your entire application will continue to have weight throughout the ranking process at most schools.

Right - I was responding to Mayo's process specifically, where they say they no longer consider numbers after the interview.

 

[Proventus]

Thanks for all your responses guys. I think it makes sense that your whole application is looked at again when they are considering you for acceptance. I just hope I don't get an interviewer like the one here:

http://www.salon.com/books/it/1999/04/28/interview/print.html

 

[kautionwirez]

Thanks for all your responses guys. I think it makes sense that your whole application is looked at again when they are considering you for acceptance. I just hope I don't get an interviewer like the one here:

http://www.salon.com/books/it/1999/04/28/interview/print.html

woah, I hope I don't get one of those...

 

[Person0715]

Thanks for all your responses guys. I think it makes sense that your whole application is looked at again when they are considering you for acceptance. I just hope I don't get an interviewer like the one here:

http://www.salon.com/books/it/1999/04/28/interview/print.html

That must've been an interesting experience. I don't understand why they allow guys like her interviewer to interview aspiring docs.

 

[gettheleadout]

Thanks for all your responses guys. I think it makes sense that your whole application is looked at again when they are considering you for acceptance. I just hope I don't get an interviewer like the one here:

http://www.salon.com/books/it/1999/04/28/interview/print.html

That was an interesting read. I hope the atmosphere has changed there in the last decade.

 

[Ponger]

Once you get invited to interview, your GPA/MCAT scores are irrelevant. The rest of your application, however, continues to be important.

OP, as others mentioned this varies widely from school to school. Some schools don't place that much importance on the interview while for others it's the end all be all. There's no real easy way to figure out which schools follow which philosophy.

Not true. Adcom's are attempting to build up a class profile. That profile includes a certain average GPA, MCAT, racial/ethnic/age background, extracurriculars diversity.

If your application isn't a good fit for the profile then you could be rejected post-interview for any reason, whether it be gpa or the interview itself.

 

[mauberley]

Not true. Adcom's are attempting to build up a class profile. That profile includes a certain average GPA, MCAT, racial/ethnic/age background, extracurriculars diversity.

If your application isn't a good fit for the profile then you could be rejected post-interview for any reason, whether it be gpa or the interview itself.

Nick's quote was specifically commenting on Mayo's admissions process:

Right - I was responding to Mayo's process specifically, where they say they no longer consider numbers after the interview.

 

[gettheleadout]

Nick's quote was specifically commenting on Mayo's admissions process:

2 for 2 overlooking that lol

 

[BioBA]

Seems to me like if a school interviews tons more ppl than how many they accept, the interview must at least be very significant to their application process. Otherwise, why waste your time/money interviewing kids that you know you won't accept (since not much weight is put on the interview, little new information about the applicant is gained). The only reason I can think of is because, as a school, you think alot of kids will turn down your offer to interview.