Penn State/Hershey Inteviews

[yalla22]

For those that have interviewed at Hershey, how was it? What was the day like? How were the interviews? Any questions that caught you off guard? There isn't much info on the SDN interview section so i don't know what to expect....

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[sunflwr85]

Congrats, and good luck with your interview! The whole day was very relaxed. I was in the morning interview group, so we came in, were greeted by the admissions director, and then were escorted to each interview. My interviews were both really laid back. They did have my AMCAS and seemed to have reviewed it fairly thoroughly. Quite a few of the questions were based on things listed in my application. I did get asked about how to fix health care in my second interview, but my relatively vague answer seemed to satisfy him. I think he mainly wanted to see that I'd given it some thought. After that we had a meeting with the admissions director to go over the school as a whole. Then we had lunch with students in a little room behind the cafeteria and were given a tour of the hospital by a nice older volunteer. Overall it was a really nice, relaxing day. Everyone was very warm and welcoming and honestly seemed to want to make us happy and at ease. Have a wonderful time, and good luck again!

 

[thedelicatessen]

The Penn State interview day is pretty relaxed. The people at the admissions office are very friendly, and there are opportunities to interact with the other interviewees and current students. I personally don't think I really clicked with my interviewers, but my interviews were not high stress at all. Generally, though, people said that their interviews went well. Good luck!

 

[melissainsd]

Interviews were the same as most schools with two exceptions:

1. You get a Hershey kiss when you arrive.

2. They escort you to and from your interviews.

My first interview was with the Chaplin, so that was a little odd, but it went really well. My second interviewer is retired and just gives interviews now, so he actually gave me feedback after the interview. All in all it was a really good experience. I stayed at the Hershey Lodge and it was fantastic (I'll probably bring my family to stay there again). Have fun!

 

[NYyanx28]

Interviews were the same as most schools with two exceptions:

1. You get a Hershey kiss when you arrive.

2. They escort you to and from your interviews.

My first interview was with the Chaplin, so that was a little odd, but it went really well. My second interviewer is retired and just gives interviews now, so he actually gave me feedback after the interview. All in all it was a really good experience. I stayed at the Hershey Lodge and it was fantastic (I'll probably bring my family to stay there again). Have fun!

Damnit, I didn't get a fricken Hershey kiss. Did you interview with Dr. Muller for your second? I remember him saying that he was retired and he also gave me post-interview feedback. Awesome guy, I really clicked with him.

 

[yalla22]

What type of "post interview" feedback do they give?? Thats sounds slightly akward.

 

[zimmie256]

One interviewer focused mostly on going through my AMCAS in a lot of details. Asking questions about experiences I mentioned in my PS, asking for more details about my ECs, research, etc. I got the impression that he'd actually looked up a little bit about the organism I researched, so we were able to talk a lot about that...

My second interviewer was much more general... Why medicine? Why Hershey? Plans for the future? The basic interview questions you should be ready for....

Both interviewers asked me if I had questions for them several times, so make sure you think about that beforehand...

I should also say that although my first interviewer was asking very specific questions, I don't think the intent was to grill me, and it felt very laid back the whole time. I think he was just genuinely interested in the work I had done. A lot of the questions were also geared toward understanding why I'd gotten involved with certain activities and what I got out of them, so hopefully I didn't make that interview sound more intense than it was...

That said, make sure you know your AMCAS pretty thoroughly, be prepared for the typical med school interview general questions, and you will do well.

I really loved it at Hershey, so try and relax and have some fun while you're there. The students and faculty were exceptionally friendly and helpful. Make sure you eat a good breakfast though, because you can smell chocolate from the factory at Hershey Medical Center... Your stomach will definitely be growling by lunch otherwise!

 

[melissainsd]

What type of "post interview" feedback do they give?? Thats sounds slightly akward.

He said something like, "I have been doing this a long time, so I'm going to let you know how you did. You answered my questions well. You're personable. You didn't move your hands around too much when you talk, and most girls do. You look like a mortician (I was wearing a blue suit), but most applicants do. If someone walked in here wearing purple I'd hug them. You have good extracurriculars, really good letters of reference. You have done everything you could. Let me tell you something though: It really does come down to luck. We have at least twice as many equally qualified applicants than spots. What makes us choose applicant A over B? Nothing. We just sort of pick because we have to. So if we choose applicant A is there anything wrong with B? No. Who knows, if we decided tomorrow we might have picked applicant B. Good luck on your other interviews."

It was a little awkward, but it was nice to have my suspicions of the admission process crapshoot validated. I was accepted shortly after, so I guess the dice rolled in my favor.

 

[mave]

I'm kind of curious about how long it would take for them to reschedule me. There's a huge midwestern snow storm blowing through right now, and I'm worried that I might not make my connecting flight. When I called just to make them aware, they said that they'd like to reschedule me soon, because they're getting to the end of their cycle. Eek!

 

[mave]

Pretty much just as I suspected... stranded in Charlotte.

Stupid, life-ruining snow.

 

[mcpremed]

I loved my day at penn! Good luck getting through the storm

 

[mcpremed]

anyone that interviewed in february hear back from them yet???

 

[amish42]

anyone that interviewed in february hear back from them yet???

Nope, but they said to expect a response late March/early April. Hope that helps! Good luck!