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co06
I interviewed on Friday, the 23rd. I was the first interview of the morning at 9, and I was there for the GEP program. When I was there, I saw people not wearing suits, some guy who was overly dressed in green (black suit, green shirt and tie, ha ha), and the girls were dressed in skirts and pants (general business attire). The interviewers were all in suits.
I went into the holding room, where the representative from the "other side" of the Atlantic Bridge was. Basically the equivalent of Peter and Louis from ABP in Ireland. Then after the interview we went in there to chat about the actual interview. Very nice set up and comforting atmosphere.
The GEP interview was conducted by Alan Johnson and Cathal Kelly. The former is the director the GEP program and the latter is the dean of the faculty of medicine and a highly prominent surgeon. The interview was very straightforward and laidback. They had a form that they filled in as we spoke and this form is the same for all applicants to ensure consistency across all applicants.
They started off asking me about my alma mater in a very generic way: Tell us about your undergraduate institution. So I went on talking about every aspect I could. Thank God I gave tours for a semester as an undergrad so this bit was rather easy.
Then they asked about my majors and minors and why I chose those departments to study in.
Then they asked me why I switched out of pre-med and then back into it, and I expained it thoroughly because this could give them a great deal of skepticism. Then they were going to ask why medicine, but they told me that my previous answer was sufficient and thorough enough.
Then they asked why Ireland, and where I wanted to continue my practice of medicine, and if there were any particular specialties I was interested in. Then they asked which other schools I was applying to and how I heard about / what convinced me to apply to Ireland.
Then they asked me what my hobbies were and what I enjoyed doing in my spare time.
Then they asked if I was aware of the tuition and how I would pay for it.
Then they opened the floor to questions and were had a little q&a about medicine, ireland, etc.
In general, it was pretty good. The interview slots are scheduled for 30 minutes and my interview pretty much took about 25 minutes. They called the next guy in 5-10 minutes after mine was over. So I feel like the way it works is that they interview you and decide, because at this point the decision is up to the two interviewers according to the ABP representative there.
Some other questions I asked the ABP representative that might be interesting to you guys are:
1) When do we hear back? Typically 2-3 weeks after the interview.
2) How many applicants are you interviewing? Between NYC and Toronto for the first round, 140. 70 for the GEP and 70 for the 6-year program.
3) Is there a second round of interviews? Potentially. Historically there has been. It depends on how many matriculants we have from this round of interviews. First round / second round is determined by merit.
4) How many people of those interviewed are typically accepted? This varies. It is definitely a foot in the door so you are well along the way to getting a positive decision.
The other questions I asked him were more casual and questions about Dublin, social stuff etc.
Let me know if you have any more questions...
I went into the holding room, where the representative from the "other side" of the Atlantic Bridge was. Basically the equivalent of Peter and Louis from ABP in Ireland. Then after the interview we went in there to chat about the actual interview. Very nice set up and comforting atmosphere.
The GEP interview was conducted by Alan Johnson and Cathal Kelly. The former is the director the GEP program and the latter is the dean of the faculty of medicine and a highly prominent surgeon. The interview was very straightforward and laidback. They had a form that they filled in as we spoke and this form is the same for all applicants to ensure consistency across all applicants.
They started off asking me about my alma mater in a very generic way: Tell us about your undergraduate institution. So I went on talking about every aspect I could. Thank God I gave tours for a semester as an undergrad so this bit was rather easy.
Then they asked about my majors and minors and why I chose those departments to study in.
Then they asked me why I switched out of pre-med and then back into it, and I expained it thoroughly because this could give them a great deal of skepticism. Then they were going to ask why medicine, but they told me that my previous answer was sufficient and thorough enough.
Then they asked why Ireland, and where I wanted to continue my practice of medicine, and if there were any particular specialties I was interested in. Then they asked which other schools I was applying to and how I heard about / what convinced me to apply to Ireland.
Then they asked me what my hobbies were and what I enjoyed doing in my spare time.
Then they asked if I was aware of the tuition and how I would pay for it.
Then they opened the floor to questions and were had a little q&a about medicine, ireland, etc.
In general, it was pretty good. The interview slots are scheduled for 30 minutes and my interview pretty much took about 25 minutes. They called the next guy in 5-10 minutes after mine was over. So I feel like the way it works is that they interview you and decide, because at this point the decision is up to the two interviewers according to the ABP representative there.
Some other questions I asked the ABP representative that might be interesting to you guys are:
1) When do we hear back? Typically 2-3 weeks after the interview.
2) How many applicants are you interviewing? Between NYC and Toronto for the first round, 140. 70 for the GEP and 70 for the 6-year program.
3) Is there a second round of interviews? Potentially. Historically there has been. It depends on how many matriculants we have from this round of interviews. First round / second round is determined by merit.
4) How many people of those interviewed are typically accepted? This varies. It is definitely a foot in the door so you are well along the way to getting a positive decision.
The other questions I asked him were more casual and questions about Dublin, social stuff etc.
Let me know if you have any more questions...
