Process for Determining Who to Interview?

[talkalot24]

Does anyone know?

I'm sure it varies by school, but how do schools decide who to interview or send secondaries to if they screen secondaries? Is it determined by a computer based on numbers? Is your AMCAS app reviewed by one person who decides? Is it multiple people, and the majority decide?

Thanks.

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[brianmartin]

I know some schools use a team of reviewers who rate applications using a point system. If you have more than the "threshold" of points, you get an interview, with points being determined by things like residence status, grades, MCAT, etc. Each applications goes through a certain process of checkpoints. At some schools there may be a mechanism to "make sure" certain applicants get an interview, through legacy or connections. I may be wrong but I think one reviewer can select you for an interview, but after the interview you are reviewed by the actual committee, where the committee questions the person who interviewed you, and if they like you they try to "sell" you to the rest of the committee. Then they vote.

 

[aebvd97]

The schools have an augur and oracle on staff. The oracle is particularly skilled at reading the auspices from eagle eggs. If by chance your egg has two chicks, you shall be invited to interview. The augur will watch the flight of vultures following your interview, and at seeing six vultures flying in formation to the North, you are accepted. If the vultures fly to the east or west, waitlisted, and if south, rejected. It's true, LizzyM told me.

 

[Sangria]

The schools have an augur and oracle on staff. The oracle is particularly skilled at reading the auspices from eagle eggs. If by chance your egg has two chicks, you shall be invited to interview. The augur will watch the flight of vultures following your interview, and at seeing six vultures flying in formation to the North, you are accepted. If the vultures fly to the east or west, waitlisted, and if south, rejected. It's true, LizzyM told me.

sounds accurate

 

[mmmcdowe]

The schools have an augur and oracle on staff. The oracle is particularly skilled at reading the auspices from eagle eggs. If by chance your egg has two chicks, you shall be invited to interview. The augur will watch the flight of vultures following your interview, and at seeing six vultures flying in formation to the North, you are accepted. If the vultures fly to the east or west, waitlisted, and if south, rejected. It's true, LizzyM told me.

However, if the Vultures land on a branch with an Eagles nest, you must fight to the death with your brother and found a city named after you

 

[aebvd97]

However, if the Vultures land on a branch with an Eagles nest, you must fight to the death with your brother and found a city named after you

And so you will! Your city shall be formed around the Palantine Hill, my friend!

 

[LizzyM]

For schools that screen before sending a secondary, I suspect that it is "by the numbers" for the most part with some exceptions for legacies and other "rare birds".

I would expect that most schools have several sets of eyeballs on the application before choosing to invite for interview. The readers (who may be a faculty members, a high ranking staff member like an assistant Dean, or a medical student -- or even one of each) will evaluate the application on academic strength (numbers, grades, courses taken & were, intensity of the course load, etc), extracurriculars including exposure to medicine, leadership, altruism, scholarly activity (e.g. research), and life experiences, plus written materials and LORs.

The applicants who appear to be the "best fit" are invited. It can be pretty subjective at times. That's why people apply broadly -- there is an element of chance in the whole thing and having more "tickets" means more chances to "win".