Med student interviewer. Ask me anything (AMA).

[Trayshawn]

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It depends on the school. My school has the interviewer fill out a one page form that has ~10 questions.

We are supposed to answer those 10 questions with supporting material that we gained from interviewing you. There is some ranking going on and also there are some lengthy prompts that require more essay-like responses from the interviewer.

Do you mean our entire applications get ranked? And then they just accept the highest ranked apps?

Also, I don't know if your school is rolling or non-rolling, but I've always been curious about non-rolling schools. Do they pick applicants as they come but just not send anything out until the end of the cycle? Or do they wait to the very end and quickly try to review the hundreds of people that interviewed throughout the cycle? The latter seems quite difficult to me.

I ask because I know some schools say that their interviewers are supposed to be "advocates" for a particular applicant at the next admissions committee meeting. It seems like this is only feasible if the decision on that applicant is made relatively soon. I doubt an interviewer will remember enough about an applicant to be able to advocate for him/her months down the line. The idea of interviewers serving as my advocate has been brought up at many of the non-rolling schools I've been to and really got me thinking about this. I suppose this problem wouldn't exist if all the interviewer had to do was add, essentially, another letter of recommendation to the applicant's file.

 

[karayaa]

Can you tell us general stuff about your school, to contextualize the (awesome) advice?
Eg NE vs Southern, research vs 1º care focus, urban vs rural, top 25 vs something else.

 

[darkjedi]

Can you tell us general stuff about your school, to contextualize the (awesome) advice?
Eg NE vs Southern, research vs 1º care focus, urban vs rural, top 25 vs something else.

It is not exactly a secret where OP goes 🙂

It is NE, research focused, urban and top 20

 

[karayaa]

It is not exactly a secret where OP goes 🙂

It is NE, research focused, urban and top 20

haha, it's a secret to me ^^
...but if his location is up to date, that answers the question 🙂

 

[MoLyko]

How are you trained to view applicants whose first language wasn't English when growing up and still aren't 100% fluent in English and would therefore struggle a little more to be eloquent in their answers, especially with all the nervousness on top of it? How do you ensure they are considered fairly in regards to this? Thank you.

 

[Frazier]

Do you mean our entire applications get ranked? And then they just accept the highest ranked apps?

Also, I don't know if your school is rolling or non-rolling, but I've always been curious about non-rolling schools. Do they pick applicants as they come but just not send anything out until the end of the cycle? Or do they wait to the very end and quickly try to review the hundreds of people that interviewed throughout the cycle? The latter seems quite difficult to me.

I ask because I know some schools say that their interviewers are supposed to be "advocates" for a particular applicant at the next admissions committee meeting. It seems like this is only feasible if the decision on that applicant is made relatively soon. I doubt an interviewer will remember enough about an applicant to be able to advocate for him/her months down the line. The idea of interviewers serving as my advocate has been brought up at many of the non-rolling schools I've been to and really got me thinking about this. I suppose this problem wouldn't exist if all the interviewer had to do was add, essentially, another letter of recommendation to the applicant's file.

When I said there was "some ranking going on" perhaps I was being unclear. As part of the form interviewers are required to turn in, at one point or another we need to rank you on a scale...perhaps "rate" would have been a better verb choice?

We are non-rolling.

I am not tuned into the intricacies of exactly when decisions are made, as I do not sit on the committee. However, whether they decide on your application the following week -- or 5 months later -- it is fairly easy to "advocate" on your behalf because the form will already be filled out with everything the committee hopes to learn from interviews.

I hope that makes sense.

 

[Frazier]

Can you tell us general stuff about your school, to contextualize the (awesome) advice?
Eg NE vs Southern, research vs 1º care focus, urban vs rural, top 25 vs something else.

I go to a T20 school with a very strong focus on research and is located in urban settings.

 

[Frazier]

It is not exactly a secret where OP goes 🙂

It is NE, research focused, urban and top 20

You beat me to it...and almost verbatim to boot. My man. 😎

 

[Ismet]

I ask because I know some schools say that their interviewers are supposed to be "advocates" for a particular applicant at the next admissions committee meeting.

Interviewers do not sit on committee meetings, unless they also happen to be members of the committee.

 

[Frazier]

How are you trained to view applicants whose first language wasn't English when growing up and still aren't 100% fluent in English and would therefore struggle a little more to be eloquent in their answers, especially with all the nervousness on top of it? How do you ensure they are considered fairly in regards to this? Thank you.

Basically, you need to be fluent enough to be successful in medical school. The reason why I don't say "be fluent enough to be a physician" is because that is over 4 years away, after 4 years more...I'd hope the fluency increased to some degree.

Back to my original point -- you need to speak English well enough that A) you will succeed in your courses (i.e. there is a lot of group work in med school and if you cannot effectively communicate with others in English, that will be a problem for you and your classmates), B) for you to succeed while working with patients and colleagues in the wards (again, if you have trouble communicating effectively/accurately, it could lead to problems).

That said, you don't need to be Henry Higgins. One of my classmates has a very strong accent and is difficult to understand (for me at least), while this often requires said person to repeat themselves, they appear to be doing well and succeeding.

Anyway, if you had a lot of trouble interacting with me as an interviewer due to stress-induced language barriers, I wouldn't be ripping up your application. I'd simply document my experience and the committee would make their decision.

 

[911 Turbo]

a 10/10 heavenly blessed beauty says she will do anything for you if you give her a good recommendation

what do?

 

[Frazier]

a 10/10 heavenly blessed beauty says she will do anything for you if you give her a good recommendation

what do?

Tell her to withdraw her app and go into modeling instead of applying to med school.

#EZlyfe

 

[Chir0nex]

a 10/10 heavenly blessed beauty says she will do anything for you if you give her a good recommendation

what do?

Pull out the poop hotdog.

 

[rodmichael82]

I don't think that there's been one of these this week... There are a lot of student interviewers on this forum, and if you haven't realized it already there is a lot of subjectivity in med school admissions. That said, I hope that the other interviewers that stumble into this thread feel free to answer questions and share their own perspective.

Me: MS1 at a T20 school (i.e. research-focused institution). I went on a lot of interviews as a pre-med, so pretty well-acquainted with interviewing from that end. Currently, I've gone through the "interviewer training" at my institution and am all set to start with November applicants.

Feel free to ask anything about anything.

So let me get this straight your "T20" just takes a noobie M1 and makes them into an interviewer? niceeeeeeeeee

 

[Frazier]

So let me get this straight your "T20" just takes a noobie M1 and makes them into an interviewer? niceeeeeeeeee

Yup...along with the 4 year transcript, mcat score, 15 documented AMCAS activities, personal statement along with ~3 secondary essays, and interview with a faculty member... the committee also finds value in learning the opinion of "noobie M1"s as to how an applicant will fit in with the culture of the school and if they would make a good classmate.

Also a number of schools allow MS1's to function as interviewers, my institution is not unique in that regard.

I'm glad you find this mind blowing.

 

[justAstudent]

Pull out the poop hotdog.

ROFL I usually don't reply to many threads on here, but this response cracked me up real good.

 

[Ismet]

So let me get this straight your "T20" just takes a noobie M1 and makes them into an interviewer? niceeeeeeeeee

Is there a problem with that?

The applicants get to interact with several med students throughout the day. Most of the tour guides are 4th years, some are on their research years, and they get an hour and a half tour in a group of 3-4 people, so the applicants have plenty of time to ask a lot of questions about clinical years. Plus students from all years eat lunch with the applicants. 2nd years interviewed up until this past week, and MS1s were being trained to take over starting tomorrow. I don't think you need several years of experience in med school in order to interview. The student interview is mainly to assess how the applicant will fit at the school, and having 3 solid months of interacting with classmates and upperclassmen allows MS1s to do so.

 

[shenellica]

What do you think about regional accents for Americans? I have had several people tell me I should try to get rid of my accent. Once I open my mouth most people know I'm from NY.

 

[yehhhboiii]

can you stop saying t20
it makes you sound like a tool

 

[Frazier]

can you stop saying t20
it makes you sound like a tool

Uhhhhh, I said it once on this page in direct response to someone that asked what rank my school was.

Read closer before you spew criticisms, man.

EDIT: Also I only said it once on the first page in direct response to YOU when you had a problem with it in my OP as a descriptor of where I attend.

So with that cleared up, what's your problem?

 

[Planes2Doc]

Is it easy to sniff out people who are BSing their ECs?

 

[Frazier]

What do you think about regional accents for Americans? I have had several people tell me I should try to get rid of my accent. Once I open my mouth most people know I'm from NY.

I like them. There are many people in my class with various accents. The only time they might not be great is if they are so thick that a person might have trouble understanding you.

 

[Frazier]

Is it easy to sniff out people who are BSing their ECs?

BS = exaggerating/over emphasizing what we took away from our experiences?

As someone that did a tiny bit of BSing on their EC's ("takes one to know one"?) and reviewed ~100 applications for SDN members coming into this cycle, yeah, I think it is easier to pick out than not.

That said, we're almost all at least a little bit guilty, no?

 

[NickNaylor]

BS = exaggerating/over emphasizing what we took away from our experiences?

As someone that did a tiny bit of BSing on their EC's ("takes one to know one") and reviewed ~100 applications for SDN members coming into this cycle, yeah, I think it is easier to pick out than not.

That said, we're almost all at least a little bit guilty, no?

If you're honest I don't think there's anything to feel guilty about. I used to feel guilty because I would include activities that I know appear to be and will likely be interpreted as being much more positive/impressive than they actually were, but then I realized that's just how the real world works. It's all about doing as many things as you can that are worth including on a CV. The more in-depth and "real" the better, but that's by no means a pre-req.

 

[SilentSoldier]

Is there a process to becoming a student interviewer? Do you like have to have done well in your classes or something? I would love to be part of the admissions process in some way once accepted and hope that its an option given to all students who wish to do so instead of maybe top students or something like that.

 

[yehhhboiii]

"i go to pitt". easy to say
t20 is as douchey as when people say "i went to school in new haven"
do you want us to guess southern connecticut state university before you reply NOPE IT'S YALE

 

[gtbROX]

"i go to pitt". easy to say
t20 is as douchey as when people say "i went to school in new haven"
do you want us to guess southern connecticut state university before you reply NOPE IT'S YALE

I don't get why you're being so obnoxious about 3 characters....
If he didn't put T20 or top 20 or top twenty, someone would have asked. I would not have listened to his advice the same way as I would have of someone coming from a low tier medical school. And I think most of the sensible people in this forum would agree with me.

 

[Frazier]

"i go to pitt". easy to say
t20 is as douchey as when people say "i went to school in new haven"
do you want us to guess southern connecticut state university before you reply NOPE IT'S YALE

You ignored my main question. You brought it up twice on your own accord. I mentioned it once on my own accord. Twice in direct response to members that brought it up (one of those times, coincidentally, being you).

Despite your claim, I do not "keep saying it".

So, again, my question: what's your problem?

If he didn't put T20 or top 20 or top twenty, someone would have asked. I would not have listened to his advice the same way as I would have of someone coming from a low tier medical school. And I think most of the sensible people in this forum would agree with me.

Agreed. People would have asked and, in fact, someone did ask even with me saying it in the OP, haha.

 

[Frazier]

Is there a process to becoming a student interviewer? Do you like have to have done well in your classes or something? I would love to be part of the admissions process in some way once accepted and hope that its an option given to all students who wish to do so instead of maybe top students or something like that.

This depends on the school I imagine. There is no filtering via academic performance at my school. If you want to interview and take initiative (ie attend training sessions, show up on time, etc) you can be an interviewer.

It's cool that you want to get involved in the process. As you can imagine, it's a lot less stressful on this side of things.

 

[yehhhboiii]

I don't get why you're being so obnoxious about 3 characters....
If he didn't put T20 or top 20 or top twenty, someone would have asked. I would not have listened to his advice the same way as I would have of someone coming from a low tier medical school. And I think most of the sensible people in this forum would agree with me.

thats the problem kid
he's been in med school for what
3 months?
most sensible people would disagree with you. the ones who would agree would be premeds

People would have asked and, in fact, someone did ask even with me saying it in the OP, haha.

shows you the caliber of the students asking those questions

 

[iceman55]

I would not have listened to his advice the same way as I would have of someone coming from a low tier medical school.

Wow, Seriously? No offense to the OP, but I rather receive advice from a seasoned "low tier" med student than someone that just started a few months ago, t20 or not.

 

[SweetDee04]

Hi Frazier, thanks for doing this 🙂
Next week I have an interview at an out of state school that is pretty far away from where I live. Just by coincidence, my long term boyfriend just got a job working for a professional sports team in that city. Obviously this adds to my interest in attending the school, so I was wondering how it would come across if I used this as one of the reasons if they ask "why our school?" I don't want to seem like I'm just following my boyfriend, even though it is a definite factor, but it's a great school on its own and I would have no problem coming up with other reasons.

 

[iceman55]

Wow, Seriously? No offense to the OP, but I rather receive advice from a seasoned "low tier" med student than someone that just started a few months ago, t20 or not.

Actually, any advice from someone higher up is good. I just don't think that him being at a t20, some how makes his advice more legit than those from lower ranked schools or state schools

 

[RogueUnicorn]

I don't think that there's been one of these this week... There are a lot of student interviewers on this forum, and if you haven't realized it already there is a lot of subjectivity in med school admissions. That said, I hope that the other interviewers that stumble into this thread feel free to answer questions and share their own perspective.

Me: MS1 at a T20 school (i.e. research-focused institution). I went on a lot of interviews as a pre-med, so pretty well-acquainted with interviewing from that end. Currently, I've gone through the "interviewer training" at my institution and am all set to start with November applicants.

Feel free to ask anything about anything.

so.... recap, been in med school ~3 months and have not interviewed anyone yet? 😉

 

[Frazier]

thats the problem kid
he's been in med school for what
3 months?
most sensible people would disagree with you. the ones who would agree would be premeds

shows you the caliber of the students asking those questions

We're just going to disagree. It's cool if you think I come off as a tool. I usually enjoy reading your content on here so I don't want to get in a lengthy bickering match about stuff like this that might affect how I look at your material down the road.

Cheers.

 

[Frazier]

Wow, Seriously? No offense to the OP, but I rather receive advice from a seasoned "low tier" med student than someone that just started a few months ago, t20 or not.

Def agree, if I was claiming to offer advice about succeeding in med school or whatever, it would be out of my jurisdiction.

However the scope of this thread is for pre-meds to ask a medical student interviewer any questions/for advice about the process.

I don't think a MS4 would have any more authority on this...if anything they are more far removed from the process (ie I experienced it a year ago vs 4 years ago).

 

[Frazier]

so.... recap, been in med school ~3 months and have not interviewed anyone yet?

Yup, MS1 in school for ~4 months. Looking to start interviewing November applicants.

Do you have a question about the admissions process, Bleargh?

 

[RogueUnicorn]

Yup, MS1 in school for ~4 months. Looking to start interviewing November applicants.

Do you have a question, Rogue?

i'm just joshin you buddy

 

[Frazier]

i'm just joshin you buddy

Yeah yeah. 😉

Hope school is going well. Have you started rotations yet up there -- or is that still down the road?

 

[RogueUnicorn]

Yeah yeah. 😉

Hope school is going well. Have you started rotations yet up there -- or is that still down the road?

nearly done inshallah, we have that 1.5-1-1.5 thing going on

 

[SweetDee04]

I think my above question got lost amidst the dispute.

 

[TheShaker]

How long do you guys wait until you write up your evaluation of an applicant? Have you ever run into a situation where you can't quite remember who someone is or what happened during the interview?

 

[RogueUnicorn]

Hi Frazier, thanks for doing this 🙂
Next week I have an interview at an out of state school that is pretty far away from where I live. Just by coincidence, my long term boyfriend just got a job working for a professional sports team in that city. Obviously this adds to my interest in attending the school, so I was wondering how it would come across if I used this as one of the reasons if they ask "why our school?" I don't want to seem like I'm just following my boyfriend, even though it is a definite factor, but it's a great school on its own and I would have no problem coming up with other reasons.

"fiancee" is a better word even if you aren't actually engaged.

 

[yehhhboiii]

okay sorry for the sidetracking

how much of the decision to accept an applicant can be made with the first impression vs the rest of the interview?

 

[Ismet]

how much of the decision to accept an applicant can be made with the first impression

minimal to none

Edit: unless it's a bad first impression. then the rest of the interview better be awesome in order to rid yourself of that impression. but for the most part, i had good first impressions of my interviewees.

Edit 2: sorry to hijack your AMA, Frazier, but figured i could help out since you haven't interviewed yet 😉

 

[yehhhboiii]

some people spend a lot of time worrying about the length of an interview
but i've seen people get rejected with long interviews and others get accepted with 10 minute interviews as well as the other way around for both
any thoughts?

 

[rodmichael82]

I don't get why you're being so obnoxious about 3 characters....
If he didn't put T20 or top 20 or top twenty, someone would have asked. I would not have listened to his advice the same way as I would have of someone coming from a low tier medical school. And I think most of the sensible people in this forum would agree with me.

Get a life tool

 

[rodmichael82]

The student interview is mainly to assess how the applicant will fit at the school, and having 3 solid months of interacting with classmates and upperclassmen allows MS1s to do so.

Umm NO.

 

[Frazier]

Hi Frazier, thanks for doing this 🙂
Next week I have an interview at an out of state school that is pretty far away from where I live. Just by coincidence, my long term boyfriend just got a job working for a professional sports team in that city. Obviously this adds to my interest in attending the school, so I was wondering how it would come across if I used this as one of the reasons if they ask "why our school?" I don't want to seem like I'm just following my boyfriend, even though it is a definite factor, but it's a great school on its own and I would have no problem coming up with other reasons.

I agree with Rogue, fiancee would def have more weight behind it. It you are uncomfortable with that, just be ambiguous and call him your "significant other". Maybe it's just me, but I wouldn't probe any further ("Oh, tell me more, what do you mean by 'significant other'?")

Being close to a person of interest in your life should be a consideration on your part (obviously) and does play a role in admissions [to a degree] at my school (i.e. does the applicant have ties to the region/reason for coming here over other schools).

So go ahead and emphasize interest in as many ways as you can...if one facet of that interest ties to staying with your SO, certainly highlight it.

 

[Frazier]

How long do you guys wait until you write up your evaluation of an applicant? Have you ever run into a situation where you can't quite remember who someone is or what happened during the interview?

It is up to the interviewer is they do it immediately after the interview or not. I'll be doing mine ASAP though, just so things don't pile up on the to-do list.

In regards to forgetting, I'm sure that happens somewhere (i.e. if a interviewer doesn't take notes or w/e and has to "advocate" months later); however, the mandatory form kind of wards off the likelihood of that at my school.