Preparing for interviews... what to expect?

[HybridEarth]

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Hi SDN,

I hope this post helps others in my position, and that anyone with medical school interview experiences / accepted students / ADCOMs will chime in! I received my first II a few days ago and have a little over a month to prepare for it. I have interviewed for around 6-10 different positions in my life (research, jobs, internships). My interview skills were pretty bad a few years ago, but I have been visibly much stronger at interviewing now, including at least one panel interview setting.

My concern is as follows: how much different will the medical school interview be than a job interview? What should I be doing to prepare, other than memorizing my application inside and out, being able to think out ethical dilemmas, and having the capacity to clearly communicate my reasons for pursuing medicine? Should I be brushing up on languages I'm decently fluent at speaking? Will I be talking extensively about my various hobbies? Should I be reading more (I barely read aside from scientific literature)?

Thank you kindly, any insights are appreciated. My current II happens to be at a school I would absolutely love to go to, and I don't want to blow my chances.

 

[Meeehai]

Hi SDN,

I hope this post helps others in my position, and that anyone with medical school interview experiences / accepted students / ADCOMs will chime in! I received my first II a few days ago and have a little over a month to prepare for it. I have interviewed for around 6-10 different positions in my life (research, jobs, internships). My interview skills were pretty bad a few years ago, but I have been visibly much stronger at interviewing now, including at least one panel interview setting.

My concern is as follows: how much different will the medical school interview be than a job interview? What should I be doing to prepare, other than memorizing my application inside and out, being able to think out ethical dilemmas, and having the capacity to clearly communicate my reasons for pursuing medicine? Should I be brushing up on languages I'm decently fluent at speaking? Will I be talking extensively about my various hobbies? Should I be reading more (I barely read aside from scientific literature)?

Thank you kindly, any insights are appreciated. My current II happens to be at a school I would absolutely love to go to, and I don't want to blow my chances.

First of all, I would get this idea of "blowing your chances" out of your head and think of it more in terms of the schools trying to get to know you better. Remember that if you're invited for an interview, the school likes you and they can already see you as a potential fit in their program. It's very important to be calm and collected on interview day, especially when they decide to hit you with a more difficult question. I would memorize your application and be prepared to discuss anything involving your ECs, shifts in grade performance and essays. You can anticipate some of the questions they will ask you, such as the "why medical school and not x" question, which you should have strong, rehearsed answers to. In fact, a quick google search will probably offer you some very common questions. They will also want to see how you can think on your feet - take your time, think about what you want to say and don't try to be something you're not. Most interviewers expect you to be a little nervous.

 

[panda16]

*bookmarks thread*

 

[HybridEarth]

A problem I have is not making eye contact when I'm thinking or talking (not always, but sometimes). I tend to look down at the ground when thinking... How bad is that? I tend to lose my train of thought when looking at someone

 

[nwts]

A problem I have is not making eye contact when I'm thinking or talking (not always, but sometimes). I tend to look down at the ground when thinking... How bad is that? I tend to lose my train of thought when looking at someone

Just the thoughts of another pre-med, but I think it really depends. Do you mean that you sometimes start to look off into the distance a little when talking to others, or do you mean that you get going and pretty much never look at the person for 10 minutes straight? If it's the former, it probably won't be a huge problem. If you mean the latter, that comes off as very socially awkward, and you should really work on it.

 

[HybridEarth]

Thank you, most definitely the former (my first interview was the latter 😛)

 

[nwts]

Thank you, most definitely the former (my first interview was the latter 😛)

You're welcome! Good luck in your interview, and congratulations on having been invited to one so early on.

 

[ls2412]

This might be a stupid question, but when interviewers ask you "tell me about yourself" what kind of answer are they looking for? Academic interests, hobbies?

 

[nwts]

This might be a stupid question, but when interviewers ask you "tell me about yourself" what kind of answer are they looking for? Academic interests, hobbies?

It depends on how they ask it. Some will specifically tell you not to tell them about things they can find in your AMCAS.

 

[HybridEarth]

I usually begin with a brief history of my upbringing up to college, and then I get more in depth. Along my history lesson, I emphasize key experiences and hobbies that have led to X, Y, Z. I think a common pitfall with that question is that people say "I'm enthusiastic, honest, hardworking, etc"

 

[Goro]

Go dig up my post in this forum on "guide to Interviews"...which I probably should be re-posting soon, since interview season is almost on top of us!

Hi SDN,

I hope this post helps others in my position, and that anyone with medical school interview experiences / accepted students / ADCOMs will chime in! I received my first II a few days ago and have a little over a month to prepare for it. I have interviewed for around 6-10 different positions in my life (research, jobs, internships). My interview skills were pretty bad a few years ago, but I have been visibly much stronger at interviewing now, including at least one panel interview setting.

My concern is as follows: how much different will the medical school interview be than a job interview? What should I be doing to prepare, other than memorizing my application inside and out, being able to think out ethical dilemmas, and having the capacity to clearly communicate my reasons for pursuing medicine? Should I be brushing up on languages I'm decently fluent at speaking? Will I be talking extensively about my various hobbies? Should I be reading more (I barely read aside from scientific literature)?

Thank you kindly, any insights are appreciated. My current II happens to be at a school I would absolutely love to go to, and I don't want to blow my chances.

 

[HybridEarth]

Definitely will do, didn't know you had one posted. Thank you!!

 

[Spector1]

A problem I have is not making eye contact when I'm thinking or talking (not always, but sometimes). I tend to look down at the ground when thinking... How bad is that? I tend to lose my train of thought when looking at someone

try speaking slower.

 

[Oh_Gee]

Hi SDN,

I hope this post helps others in my position, and that anyone with medical school interview experiences / accepted students / ADCOMs will chime in! I received my first II a few days ago and have a little over a month to prepare for it. I have interviewed for around 6-10 different positions in my life (research, jobs, internships). My interview skills were pretty bad a few years ago, but I have been visibly much stronger at interviewing now, including at least one panel interview setting.

My concern is as follows: how much different will the medical school interview be than a job interview? What should I be doing to prepare, other than memorizing my application inside and out, being able to think out ethical dilemmas, and having the capacity to clearly communicate my reasons for pursuing medicine? Should I be brushing up on languages I'm decently fluent at speaking? Will I be talking extensively about my various hobbies? Should I be reading more (I barely read aside from scientific literature)?

Thank you kindly, any insights are appreciated. My current II happens to be at a school I would absolutely love to go to, and I don't want to blow my chances.

A problem I have is not making eye contact when I'm thinking or talking (not always, but sometimes). I tend to look down at the ground when thinking... How bad is that? I tend to lose my train of thought when looking at someone

i'm in the exact same position as you, except for the number of job interviews.

here's goro's post
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/goro’s-guide-to-interviews.1097033/


this guy tells you to look away when you're thinking.
think about how awkward it is to stare at someone while you're thinking of something to say. ask for a few seconds/minute to think about an answer


P.S. these videos are hilarious, @Goro @gyngyn how many of these people have you interviewed before

 

[Gandyy]

*bookmarks thread*

How exactly do you bookmark a thread? I hit "watch thread." Is that all you can do? Or are you talking about bookmarking it in the actual browser?

 

[RedPhys]

In my experience,

1) know what the interviewer may ask about your file (I'm 99% I was "that kid that did [activity] and speaks [language]" to one school's AdCom because both interviewers remarked and wanted to know more about a specific activity of mine and said they were immediately drawn to it when they saw it)
2) Prepare how you'll answer. It took me a couple of times practicing what I wanted to say because I tend to go off on a tangent when telling something
3) Posture. You gotta look and feel like you own it!
4) Overall know how to sell yourself, both in general, and to the specific school you're interviewing at
5) Try to find points in common with your interviewer .. In two interviews, both the interviewer and I were of the same ethnicity and spoke a common language, so we ended up clicking over similar experiences due to a similar background. In another interview, the interviewer and I had done research that had stuff in common, and so we nerded out over possible applications of my research to his.

I really enjoyed reading Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People . I'm not a people person, so it gave me confidence in trying to understand people and be a better people person (important, especially because you're gonna be dealing with a lot of people as a doctor (unless you do Radiology...) !!)

 

[panda16]

How exactly do you bookmark a thread? I hit "watch thread." Is that all you can do? Or are you talking about bookmarking it in the actual browser?

Hehe you did it right I was exaggerating saying I'm just going to check the thread a lot haha

 

[bararaboi]

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