Order of Operations - Primary to Interview

[drdave2be]

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Hooray! I just submitted my primary!

Can a medical student or past applicant please provide a list that expains the ideal order for completing application requirements?

After spending countless hours perusing the forums, here's my current plan:

PRIMARY - then, while waiting to get verified:
BEGIN WORKING ON SECONDARY (get a head start b4 they arrive)
SEND LOR WITH SECONDARY
PREPARE FOR INTERVIEW
PRAY FOR INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
WAIT
POST STATS ON mdapps

Any advice or guidance would be greatly appreciated! 😍

 

[Gold 5]

Hooray! I just submitted my primary!

Can a medical student or past applicant please provide a list that expains the ideal order for completing application requirements?

After spending countless hours perusing the forums, here's my current plan:

PRIMARY - then, while waiting to get verified:
BEGIN WORKING ON SECONDARY (get a head start b4 they arrive)
SEND LOR WITH SECONDARY
PREPARE FOR INTERVIEW
PRAY FOR INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
WAIT
POST STATS ON mdapps

Any advice or guidance would be greatly appreciated! 😍

Get your LOR's all set up ASAP. I used Interfolio so I could make sure that the schools got a copy of my LOR's when I submitted my secondaries. Need to add MCAT if not done already.

 

[drdave2be]

Thanks for the reply, Gold 5. Anyone else have any insight on the application process? I thought people would be all over this... oh, well, maybe it's just me who's out of the loop😳

 

[Chocolate Bear]

Add "receive acceptance" to your list. 😉 😀

Other than that, it looks good. 👍

 

[rc4ch]

Make sure to call the schools in between the Secondary and Interview there in case your missing anything. They do lose LORs sometime. I know PCOM is guilty of this and don't inform you of this...

 

[danimjo]

I'm curious to see what everyone does to prepare for the interview? Any particular insight on that step?

What are some ways everyone gets through the waiting stage. Right now most of my secondaries are in but I'm waiting for my committee to finish my LOR. They are saying it will be done before the end of the month, but won't tell me anything else..... As I'm almost done with my secondaries, I'm wondering what I'm going to do to fill like I'm making progress while waiting to hear about interviews.... any suggestions?

 

[Semicolon]

I'm curious to see what everyone does to prepare for the interview? Any particular insight on that step?

What are some ways everyone gets through the waiting stage. Right now most of my secondaries are in but I'm waiting for my committee to finish my LOR. They are saying it will be done before the end of the month, but won't tell me anything else..... As I'm almost done with my secondaries, I'm wondering what I'm going to do to fill like I'm making progress while waiting to hear about interviews.... any suggestions?

There's not really much you can do except for wait and worry, honestly. There's no point in preparing for interviews without actually having any yet. You of all people should know everything on your application and how to explain it all fluently if the topic ever came up. But if you do receive an interview, my experience has been that the interview feedback for each school here on SDN is a VERY helpful resource. Personally, I made a list of questions I could be asked, and a list of questions I could ask, and would make sure that I had a clear and concise answer to each one (don't rehearse, just make sure you know what you can say).

Good luck. 👍

 

[jkmph]

There's not really much you can do except for wait and worry, honestly. There's no point in preparing for interviews without actually having any yet. You of all people should know everything on your application and how to explain it all fluently if the topic ever came up. But if you do receive an interview, my experience has been that the interview feedback for each school here on SDN is a VERY helpful resource. Personally, I made a list of a questions I could be asked, and a list of questions I could ask, and would make sure that I had a clear and concise answer to each one (don't rehearse, just make sure you know what you can say).

Good luck. 👍

I know at the Emory career center they do mock interviews with students for everything, including medical school. If this option is available to you and you are interested in preparing for an interview, I would certainly recommend it.

 

[Semicolon]

I know at the Emory career center they do mock interviews with students for everything, including medical school. If this option is available to you and you are interested in preparing for an interview, I would certainly recommend it.

You're right; mock interviews can also definitely help if you're willing to go through with them. Sometimes your school's pre-professional office and/or career services center can offer mock interviews.

 

[danimjo]

You're right; mock interviews can also definitely help if you're willing to go through with them. Sometimes your school's pre-professional office and/or career services center can offer mock interviews.

I did go through the mock interview process while in college, unfortunately I graduated in 2006 and no longer live in the same region as my undergraduate university. The mock interviews definitely did make me more comfortable, although they really didn't compare to the actual thing because I was already familiar with the people who were interviewing me.

 

[TruBlue]

But if you do receive an interview, my experience has been that the interview feedback for each school here on SDN is a VERY helpful resource. Personally, I made a list of a questions I could be asked, and a list of questions I could ask, and would make sure that I had a clear and concise answer to each one (don't rehearse, just make sure you know what you can say).

Good luck. 👍

+1

Couldn't agree more.

 

[drdave2be]

Thanks for your responses... sounds like I am on the right track (see 1st post).

 

[Octagonecology]

There is somewhere on SDN that has an interview section. It has each school broken down and people write when their interview was and each question that was asked.

I studied this relentlessly a few nights before my interviews and damn if every question I was asked was already mentioned on the site. I was prepared for whatever they were going to throw at me. I'm not sure how to find this anymore......Chocolate Bear can tell you...

 

[Chocolate Bear]

I'm not sure how to find this anymore......Chocolate Bear can tell you...

It's at the bottom of my sig, broski! 😀

For those who don't feel like scrolling up: http://more.studentdoctor.net/schoollist.php?type=1