MMI Questions!

[safthegiraffe]

For those of you who have gone through an MMI, what kind of questions are commonly asked? I keep hearing that they challenge you, and want you to panic almost. Is this true?

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[SkiOtter]

For those of you who have gone through an MMI, what kind of questions are commonly asked? I keep hearing that they challenge you, and want you to panic almost. Is this true?

I haven't personally done one, but I'd check out this website. They describe it and have sample questions too. https://multipleminiinterview.com/

Michigan State's website also has a video that talks about the MMI and has a person answering actual MMI prompts. Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

Caution on this one. A good number of places make students sign waivers not to repeat exact questions. So let's keep things VERY general here.

 

[pinkpuppy9]

Caution on this one. A good number of places make students sign waivers not to repeat exact questions. So let's keep things VERY general here.

Yep, I signed one for Michigan State.

Best advice I got was to practice giving intelligent, well thought out answers under pressure and in a time limit. I got sample interview/situational questions somewhere online and gave myself a 5 minute window to answer.

 

[finnickthedog]

I imagine it might depend a little bit on where you're doing them. They certainly didn't try to make you panic at MSU. On the contrary it was very relaxed and had it not been a vet school interview it might have actually been fun.

I'm guessing based on your post history that you're doing MMIs at Virginia Maryland, so if you want to get a feel for what they're like in general I would advise talking to past applicants who interviewed at that school.

 

[Labrat413]

With MMIs are the questions veterinary medicine based? Or just thought provoking questions about anything?

Sent from my [device_name] using SDN mobile

 

[Teepster87]

With MMIs are the questions veterinary medicine based? Or just thought provoking questions about anything?

Sent from my [device_name] using SDN mobile

I think it may depend on where you interview. At MSU there was nothing veterinary related, but when I interviewed at UCD there were a few that were. More like general concept stuff and seeing what you've been exposed to.

 

[love2hunt]

For those of you who have gone through an MMI, what kind of questions are commonly asked? I keep hearing that they challenge you, and want you to panic almost. Is this true?

Va-Md does challenge you, but I would not say they want to make you panic. They will tell you “you can’t prepare for MMI, so just try to come relaxed.” That’s BS. Like @pinkpuppy9 suggested, work on your timing with mock MMI questionsnyou can find online. I believe we had 6 minutes in each room last year, so work on giving a solid, concise answer in less than that, as there are follow up questions they have that might help you cover something you forgot in your initial answer.

It really is important though to be yourself and be relaxed. As I was answering some of the questions, I was thinking “this probably isn’t what they want to hear, but this is what I believe, so I’m going for it.” Obviously that worked out for me. Just state your answer confidently, concisely, and stick to your guns.

 

[Lupin21]

Va-Md does challenge you, but I would not say they want to make you panic. They will tell you “you can’t prepare for MMI, so just try to come relaxed.” That’s BS. Like @pinkpuppy9 suggested, work on your timing with mock MMI questionsnyou can find online. I believe we had 6 minutes in each room last year, so work on giving a solid, concise answer in less than that, as there are follow up questions they have that might help you cover something you forgot in your initial answer.

It really is important though to be yourself and be relaxed. As I was answering some of the questions, I was thinking “this probably isn’t what they want to hear, but this is what I believe, so I’m going for it.” Obviously that worked out for me. Just state your answer confidently, concisely, and stick to your guns.

Hopefully with evidence to back up your positions.

 

[SkiOtter]

Hopefully with evidence to back up your positions.

*pulls out printed articles*
"If you look right here, Karen, it says I'm right"

 

[Lupin21]

*pulls out printed articles*
"If you look right here, Karen, it says I'm right"

I definitely get driven crazy when someone has a strong position on something but cannot actually give a logical reason why they think that. haha

 

[love2hunt]

Hopefully with evidence to back up your positions.

As much as the question will allow!

 

[cowgirl92]

Something I would add to what others have said is to be sure you practice in front of people at least some of the time. It is great to have the feedback on things you can do to sound more polished. The other thing I did was video myself answering practice questions. You can use that to catch little habits and odd things you may do or say without realizing it, then you can practice not doing them. It just helps you to look professional in the interviews.

 

[DVMDream]

I definitely get driven crazy when someone has a strong position on something but cannot actually give a logical reason why they think that. haha

Chili does NOT have beans.

 

[pinkpuppy9]

I think it may depend on where you interview. At MSU there was nothing veterinary related, but when I interviewed at UCD there were a few that were. More like general concept stuff and seeing what you've been exposed to.

Yeah, none of MSU's were in the slightest bit veterinary based. There is still one scenario they had us do the year I interviewed...to this day, I still don't know what the point of it was other than to put us in an extremely uncomfortable situation and see how we do (I mean, that probably was the point, but I found the execution a bit bizarre). The rest of them, you could kind of assume what they were going for when you read the prompt.

Overall, MMIs are to see how you express yourself, communicate, etc.

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

Chili does NOT have beans.

 

[vetmedhead]

For anyone concerned about MMI timing or forming an articulate answer quickly I would practice giving yourself an allotted amount of time and outlining answers to random prompts. Obviously these aren't word for word outlines, but big ideas, phrases, points, or conclusions can be helpful for keeping you on track during your answer.

I did tons of speech and debate as a high schooler and man did it help. If you want real practice keeping your speeches sharp and thinking about things to say on just about any topic I recommend googling Speech & Debate Impromptu Topics, writing a few down, stuffing them in a jar, and pulling one out to do a short speech or discussion about. You get good at it much more quickly than you'd think.

 

[vetmedhead]

Va-Md does challenge you, but I would not say they want to make you panic. They will tell you “you can’t prepare for MMI, so just try to come relaxed.” That’s BS. Like @pinkpuppy9 suggested, work on your timing with mock MMI questionsnyou can find online. I believe we had 6 minutes in each room last year, so work on giving a solid, concise answer in less than that, as there are follow up questions they have that might help you cover something you forgot in your initial answer.

It really is important though to be yourself and be relaxed. As I was answering some of the questions, I was thinking “this probably isn’t what they want to hear, but this is what I believe, so I’m going for it.” Obviously that worked out for me. Just state your answer confidently, concisely, and stick to your guns.

I would agree with this. In my MMI I had quite a few out-there opinions (in terms of the answers I think the prompts were generally looking for) that I felt strongly about. I had well thought-out reasons for why I had those opinions and the interviewers loved it.

I will also say that when they encourage you to be yourself they really mean it. I cracked so many terrible jokes during my interviews and I got in just fine.

 

[ziggyandjazzy]

Do veterinary MMIs usually do just questions that you answer or do they also do the act out a scene and group activity type stations?

 

[LabLuv004]

Do veterinary MMIs usually do just questions that you answer or do they also do the act out a scene and group activity type stations?

I think it all depends on the school. RVC told us there would be a group activity and then some individual mini interviews. We weren't asked to act out a scene as a group. They gave us a task to complete together in a set time. They watched us complete the task and kept time. The individual tasks ranged from veterinary related questions to communication tasks.

 

[pinkpuppy9]

Do veterinary MMIs usually do just questions that you answer or do they also do the act out a scene and group activity type stations?

I had one station where I was paired up with someone else, but the rest were solo. One station was more or less asking me to act out a scene, but it wasn't like I had to stand up and do something.

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

For anyone concerned about MMI timing or forming an articulate answer quickly I would practice giving yourself an allotted amount of time and outlining answers to random prompts. Obviously these aren't word for word outlines, but big ideas, phrases, points, or conclusions can be helpful for keeping you on track during your answer.

I did tons of speech and debate as a high schooler and man did it help. If you want real practice keeping your speeches sharp and thinking about things to say on just about any topic I recommend googling Speech & Debate Impromptu Topics, writing a few down, stuffing them in a jar, and pulling one out to do a short speech or discussion about. You get good at it much more quickly than you'd think.

This is an excellent exercise. We had a speaking and debate class in middle school that I still remember where we did this. We had to pull out a completely random topic, and then had to speak for three minutes about said topic without saying "um", "uh", pausing too long, or going too off track.

 

[vetmedhead]

This is an excellent exercise. We had a speaking and debate class in middle school that I still remember where we did this. We had to pull out a completely random topic, and then had to speak for three minutes about said topic without saying "um", "uh", pausing too long, or going too off track.

Ours was 7 minutes to use however you liked. Most beginners would use 2-3 minutes to outline and 4-5 to speak. I knew some really talented people who could look at the prompt, get up, and give a flawless 7 minute speech though.

 

[mlew18507]

Is it bad if at the end when they say "Do you have any other thoughts you'd like to share?" to not have anything to share?

 

[ziggyandjazzy]

Is it bad if at the end when they say "Do you have any other thoughts you'd like to share?" to not have anything to share?

I don't think so. It just means you feel that you have articulated yourself well and said everything you needed to say. It might be a different story if you had a bunch of time left. I think I only had a max of 30 seconds left in any of my MMI questions but I think it could be awkward if you are sitting there for minutes on end in silence lol.

 

[Mattcj]

I didnt prepare for the MMIs at all. I did MSU on 1/12, and VA-MD on 1/14. I'm the kind of guy who can wing things and get away with it rather well. I have been a vet tech for a little over 2 years, and basically taking time off of school, and experiencing life (cliche i know), will give you the support/reasoning you need. For most of the situations there are no right or wrong answers, just be prepared to give an answer, give support, use real examples, and try to see things from all angles and not just yours. I thoroughly enjoyed both MMI sessions

P.S. Just because you spoke the entire 6 minutes does not mean you did well; and finishing early does not mean you did bad!

 

[britzen]

I didnt prepare for the MMIs at all. I did MSU on 1/12, and VA-MD on 1/14. I'm the kind of guy who can wing things and get away with it rather well. I have been a vet tech for a little over 2 years, and basically taking time off of school, and experiencing life (cliche i know), will give you the support/reasoning you need. For most of the situations there are no right or wrong answers, just be prepared to give an answer, give support, use real examples, and try to see things from all angles and not just yours. I thoroughly enjoyed both MMI sessions

P.S. Just because you spoke the entire 6 minutes does not mean you did well; and finishing early does not mean you did bad!

Were you the one wearing the uh-mazing MD state flag bowtie on Sunday?

 

[Frozenshades]

I don't think so. It just means you feel that you have articulated yourself well and said everything you needed to say. It might be a different story if you had a bunch of time left. I think I only had a max of 30 seconds left in any of my MMI questions but I think it could be awkward if you are sitting there for minutes on end in silence lol.

At one of the ones I did (I did MMI at two schools) if you finished early, which in a couple of rooms I had a minute or two to spare, they would chat with you. If you said you were definitely done, they would finish their marks/notes, and just put the file aside. It's really more about logic, reasoning, and awareness. As stressful as interviewing is I thought it was a fun process.

 

[Mattcj]

Were you the one wearing the uh-mazing MD state flag bowtie on Sunday?

Haha yes, yes I was.

 

[britzen]

Haha yes, yes I was.

I was sitting right next to you before we went upstairs for our interviews... Small world!

 

[Mattcj]

I was sitting right next to you before we went upstairs for our interviews... Small world!

Small world indeed im dying to get an answer from them!

 

[DogtorWannabe]

I certainly understand if answering this question is against the contract you sign, but I will try to be general. Could anyone who has interviewed at MSU say whether or not any of the questions were more personal? I am not asking for specific questions, but when I say "more personal," I mean more traditional interview type questions.

 

[pinkpuppy9]

I certainly understand if answering this question is against the contract you sign, but I will try to be general. Could anyone who has interviewed at MSU say whether or not any of the questions were more personal? I am not asking for specific questions, but when I say "more personal," I mean more traditional interview type questions.

If you look on their website, MSU provides several links for reading up on the MMI.