Questions to Those Currently Being Interview for MD/PhD

[blazinfury]

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I have a few questions to those who are currently being interviewed for MD/PhD, if you do not mind.

- Most of you are currently still in college and are going to interviews now. How has this affected or impacted your academic performance during this semester? Did you take an extremely easy workload? I mean it is sort of difficult to take an "easy" workload when you are a science major.

- Are most interviews typically during the Fall semester?

- How soon does an applicant receive an acceptance/rejection/waitlist after their interview or is it solely school dependent?

- I know that they ask questions about your research during the interviews. I assume that most have worked in more than one lab. So do they expected you to describe your research in every single lab in which you have ever worked in? If so, should each description be very thoroughly in-depth, as your current research?

- Do questions about grades come up or is it solely about you, your research, goals/expectations, why you chose this school, why MD/PhD, etc?

- Do they care about ECs or awards or should that only be mentioned if they say "tell me about yourself" and then you throw it in there?

- How thoroughly do most focus or even ask about shadowing, community service, etc?

- Did any of you feel intimidated by the other interviewees there? Did the interviewers ask about your undergrad and based on that, they formed a set opinion of you?

- Did they ask about what field you want to do your MD or PhD and why?

Sorry for the questions, but I am just curious after reading some of the recent posts.

 

[GliaGirl]

My experiences so far:

"- Most of you are currently still in college and are going to interviews now. How has this affected or impacted your academic performance during this semester? Did you take an extremely easy workload? I mean it is sort of difficult to take an "easy" workload when you are a science major."

I am currently taking 6 classes, and am hoping for "B-" in one of them, "B+" in two of them, and "A" in three of them. Hopefully, I won't totally destroy my GPA (currently 3.65) completely. It has honestly been very difficult for me to keep up in some of the classes (hence hoping for a B-), especially inorganic chem with a professor who only teaches from lecture with no book or anything and no one in my class who I know to get notes from. On the flip side, a psych class I'm taking with a professor who video tapes all of his lectures and puts them online within 2 days has been easy to make up for obvious reasons. I'm also taking a lab class with many write-ups due when I'm gone, so getting those done early has been a pain, and rescheduling 5 labs has also been a pain, especially for my lab partner. Factor in a discussion ethics class where attendance is 60% of your grade, and I'm kind of stressed at the moment. All in all, I'd say it's totally doable to apply while still in school, just don't take 6 classes if you can avoid it. 😛 I'm the kind of person who likes to be busy, so I'm not going totally crazy, but I can see how this would be out of the question for most people.

"- Are most interviews typically during the Fall semester?"

I was lucky to get an even spread so far (6 in the fall and 3 in the spring), but I attribute that to a very interesting personal statement that probably interested schools to want to meet me. It is perfectly normal to get spring interviews as well. For me, it was easier to push some of hem back to the spring to avoid failing any more exams this semester. 😛

"- How soon does an applicant receive an acceptance/rejection/waitlist after their interview or is it solely school dependent?"

Depends on the school, but ususally 4-6 weeks after the interviews.

"- I know that they ask questions about your research during the interviews. I assume that most have worked in more than one lab. So do they expected you to describe your research in every single lab in which you have ever worked in? If so, should each description be very thoroughly in-depth, as your current research?"

Nah. I worked in one lab before my current lab, and no one has really asked about it. Once person wanted to know what I did, but idn't really care about the details, since it was kind of a flop. They care more baout your current project and that it is an independent project tha tyou can explain well.

"- Do questions about grades come up or is it solely about you, your research, goals/expectations, why you chose this school, why MD/PhD, etc?"

My grades are not stellar, and I had one absolute failure of a semester freshman year, so I got asked about it by probably 3 out of the 14 people I've interviewed with so far. Be prepared to explain away any super terrible grades, but other than that, they don't really care during the interview portion.

"- Do they care about ECs or awards or should that only be mentioned if they say "tell me about yourself" and then you throw it in there?"

When they say tell me about yourself, they want to know something interesting that will lead to conversation towards why you are interesting and unique. Don't make the mistake of defining yourself as simply a couple of departmental awards. If you get asked about yourself, talk about your favorite activities, what you like to do in your free time, and all of that good stuff. They know that you are impressive, but what an interview is for is proving that you are an interesting, caring human being on top of all of your awards and statistics.

"- How thoroughly do most focus or even ask about shadowing, community service, etc?"

Every interview I have had has asked about why I want to be a doctor, and that is when you launch into your story about your meaningful clinical experiences. The important thing is to tell a good personal story, not to have saved 1000 lives when a plane crashed in your back yard.

"- Did any of you feel intimidated by the other interviewees there? Did the interviewers ask about your undergrad and based on that, they formed a set opinion of you?"

If anyone judged me based on my school, I didn't feel it. I go to a top 30 school, but I'm not at at Ivy or anything fancy like that ("New Ivy" but not Ivy). I think that if you are at an interview, it means that you are awesome, despite where you went to school. Anyone who would judge you based on that is shallow. That being said, if you went to a community college or something like that, I can imagine you being asked about it, but most interviewers are asking because they are willing to be convinced, not because they already know the answer. However, I did meet someone from Harvard at one of my interviews, and I couldn't help but think "wow" (then again, that person was also a woman AND an URM, so in my opinion that was a bit intimidating, although she was absolutely a great person). All in all, everyone I have met has been super nice and a potential BFF, so I have had no negative experiences at all. Everyone is in the same boat.

"- Did they ask about what field you want to do your MD or PhD and why?"

Not really. Most schools ask you who you want to interview with, so if you're interviewing with a neuroscience person, the asumption is that you are currently interested in neuroscience and/or neurology. But they also know that your opinion will change over the course of 2 years, so they ask about your interests, but it's ok to say "I don't know". I was asked a lot, but I don't think that's really the most important question you'll get asked. More where your interests lay than what field you want your degree in.

"Sorry for the questions, but I am just curious after reading some of the recent posts."

You SHOULD be sorry. 😛

 

[Calf]

Sorry if some of this is repetitive from what glia had to say, but I just wanted to give a few of my own experiences.

- Most of you are currently still in college and are going to interviews now. How has this affected or impacted your academic performance during this semester? Did you take an extremely easy workload? I mean it is sort of difficult to take an "easy" workload when you are a science major.

I chose to take a year off, and I'm very glad I did (working in a lab still). Not only does it make the application process easier, but I figure if you're going to be in school for the next decade you might as well have a little time off.

- Are most interviews typically during the Fall semester?

All of mine (5) have been scheduled for the fall, but I am still waiting to hear from 6 schools.

- How soon does an applicant receive an acceptance/rejection/waitlist after their interview or is it solely school dependent?

It varies from school to school. Several told me they do it in a couple of batches, one in December and one in January, while another said they invite a couple of people a few weeks after the interview season with the bulk of the invitations coming after all the interview weekends were over.

- I know that they ask questions about your research during the interviews. I assume that most have worked in more than one lab. So do they expected you to describe your research in every single lab in which you have ever worked in? If so, should each description be very thoroughly in-depth, as your current research?

No, you shouldn't talk about every single project you've done unless they ask you about them specifically. Have a 3-5 minute spiel about ONE project that went well/you participated in-depth in. If they ask you to be brief, then do so. They'll ask more questions if they're truly interested.

- Do questions about grades come up or is it solely about you, your research, goals/expectations, why you chose this school, why MD/PhD, etc?

Grades will come up rarely. I had only 2 interviewers out of 21 so far ask about grades.

- Do they care about ECs or awards or should that only be mentioned if they say "tell me about yourself" and then you throw it in there?

I've not had anyone ask about awards, but ECs definitely. You should mention one or two that were very important to you if you should get the "tell me about yourself question."

- How thoroughly do most focus or even ask about shadowing, community service, etc?

I'd say a little more than 2/3 of my interviewers ask about one or both of those.

- Did any of you feel intimidated by the other interviewees there? Did the interviewers ask about your undergrad and based on that, they formed a set opinion of you?

Not really. Most of the interviewees I've met have been very nice, and I keep seeing them throughout the season, which is kind of cool.

- Did they ask about what field you want to do your MD or PhD and why?

Most did, and nearly all asked either that or the more general "where do you see yourself going with this degree?" question.