Haha! That is completely fine Serendipity! I get confused easily 😀 I am going to give them a call and see what they say for an interview on the same day that I have my interview.
Question for ya, do you have any tips of helpful hints for the interview process that helped you?? Just trying to get as much help and prepare for this thing as much as possible!!
Pretty much everything I say is probably going to sound pretty cliche... but obviously dress nicely (okay, I say obviously, yet I'll admit I didn't really realize I should go so far as wearing a suit until I read Student Doctor a couple days before my interview
😳). Mostly, though, just be yourself! MN interviews are behavioral (as I'm sure you already know), so they ask questions like "Tell me about a time when you had to take control of a situation" or, perhaps my "favorite" "Tell me about a time when you made a committment, and then had to break it..." All the questions are aimed at trying to figure out who you are as a person and what type of a person you are (for more questions they asked, look at the interview feedback on this site -- I found them very helpful!) A lot of the questions seemed to be directed at a time when you messed up, or something didn't go right, or whatnot, so I generally tried to be honest about how I responded, and then tried to end on a good note (so yes I had to break a committment, and I felt terribly doing so, but this is how I tried to make it work the best for everyone involved.)
Now that I know the professors who did my interview, and have talked to some of my classmates about who interviewed them, I can say that I would be really surprised if this were the interview where they do good cop/bad cop or anything like that. The people who do these interviews are genuinely interested in helping the students, and they're very nice! I remember leaving my interview and telling them "man, I didn't realize this was going to be fun, but it really was!" And I wasn't lying: they made me feel relaxed from the get-go and it felt just like I was having a conversation with them.
Also, they'll tell you that you shouldn't necessarily try and direct every question back to your experience in vet med, and they mean it! I would definitely have a few questions related to it (just so they realize you do have the experience), but I think they want well rounded people. So do you like rock climbing? Great! Work that into one of your responses. Did you used to volunteer at an elementary school, reading to the kids? Fantastic, talk about that! (These are both very hypothetical, btw, neither describe me actually.
🙂 Basically, every student who's interviewing probably has animal experience, but not every student has lived the same life you have. I think they want to know what makes you special.
And by the way, if you can't think of a response right away, it's okay to ask for a few moments to think. I think I ended up doing that several times during my interview.
They will likely ask if you have any questions afterwards, and I tried to ask a couple. If there's something you're particularly interested in, go ahead and ask for a little more information about that. I tried to listen to what my interviewers did during their introductions, and I think I tried to ask each of them something in their area (for example, one of my interviewers did research, so I asked him to tell me a little more about exactly what he was researching.) I think I also asked them for any advice they'd give to a first year student, in light of all their experience both with school and practice. I actually appreciated having asked that once I became a student, as their advice helped!
🙂
Lastly, of course, just try to relax! Your interviewers aren't trying to figure out why they should keep you OUT of vet school, they're trying to figure out why they should let you in; that is, they really do want to help you! Alright, I'll stop talking now, but I hope that helps somewhat!
... I really liked the school and the city!
