Scholl Interview Advice

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LegendaryTurbo

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  1. Podiatry Student
Hey is anyone interviewing at Scholl on December 15th? Also, I was wondering if anyone would be able to give some advice on what I can expect from the interview process there. This will be my first interview for Pod school, so of course I'm nervous. Besides looking at material on the SDN about interviewing does anyone have any websites or videos they found helpful for interviewing?
 
Thank you for you response. I am so excited and can't wait to see what these interviews have in store for me. 🙂
 
If you want to be a podiatrist, just be honest about it all and you'll do fine. Don't rehearse specific answers in specific ways, rather go over in your head the reasons for doing what you're doing, and the attitudes and whatnot that you have towards specific questions. Don't have specifically worded responses, do make sure your responses are well articulated and clear. The worst thing to happen is to rehearse an answer over and over, and freeze up when you interview and stumble around a script. It's obvious.

Long story short, you're about to invest some substantial time into this, and they want to know that you have an idea why.


Why do you want to be a DPM? Are there any lacking credentials you have, and why? Why Scholl as opposed to other schools? What're your hobbies? What is something you're worried about regarding school? That sort of thing.

If you rehearse, it will come across that way. I don't mean to not go over answers to questions, but focus on the content and not the scripting. This ain't surgery (not yet ;-)) , it's nothing to worry about. You've already got the credentials to attend, otherwise you wouldn't have been granted an interview.

Keep it honest, and clear. Don't hold back your passion about it, or about your answers. They want quality attendance as much as you want a quality education, so understand that you have something to offer, and know what it is.

PS: Something I sort of forgot, and they seemed to expect it, are questions. Have a couple in mind about the school when you go; it gives the impression that you care enough about your future to learn a little something before you interview.

That and...Congratulations! You'll do great!
 
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bobdolerson Thank you very much for the encouragement! 🙂 Besides being unprepared for asking questions at the end were there any other situations you weren't prepared for when you interviewed their? Also, when you are being interviewed are all 3 people present and interviewing you at once or are they 3 separate little interviews with each person. I know I'm stressing about the details instead of focusing on the big picture, but it's because I'm one of those low stat students who has great experience volunteer work etc.. Also, this will be my first interview and as of right now is my only interview with me waiting to hear back from 2 more schools yet.

I am wanting to go up early and possibly meet with some students and staff to talk to them before the interview. Is this something you guys recommend and if so, what do you think would be the best way to rendezvous with these people. ie calling ahead or just show up and try to meet up with students?
 
I can't speak of experience at Scholl, I only interviewed at DMU (I had subsequent dates set up, but DMU was my first choice and I was low on funds, so when I got the acceptance, I took it).

Here's a link to the interview feedback for Scholl, I think it may answer a lot of questions you might have (specific questions asked of candidates, type of interview, etc.) The curveball questions that don't seem to be related are a bit trickier and unexpected, but as long as you know who you are and why you did what you did, and why you're doing what you're doing, you'll be good.
http://studentdoctor.net/schools/school/scholl/survey/26

Honestly, other than the few minutes taken to actually do the interview, everything else was pretty laid back. I like that apparently Scholl does the interview first thing in the morning, because when I did mine at about 2pm after a whole morning of campus tours and talking with faculty, it was after hours of nervousness.

Everything was pretty much what I expected, but I can't stress enough that you should have some questions to ask the staff (things that are a bit past the superficial level, that you could have just found if you looked online). They asked me if I had any, and I did but I just couldn't remember them, and when I said no they kind of looked at me funny and said they liked it better when students had visited other schools first because they had questions.

A couple minutes later I remembered a couple and I think that helped their impression of me because the vibe of the interview changed a bit for the better after that. The questions you ask are your opportunity to shift from being the candidate to being the consumer, and your chance to sort of demand why they make a good school and deserve your 200k.

It's a good experience. It's as much their pitch to get your business as it is your pitch as a good candidate. It's exciting to be able to see the campus, see the students (one of the main things that drew me to my particular school was the way students who had no involvement with the interview process would come up and talk to me, wish me luck, etc.. The first thing I heard upon entering the building was, "Good luck! Ah, I'm just kidding, you're already here so you don't need luck!").

From what I've heard of most people's interview experience, the field of Podiatry and our desire to become a stronger profession has led to some good community feelings, and it shows.

What I mean is, MD is the standard, you know? With MD's and some other mainstream professions, there's a lot of internal competition. With my interview day and my experiences being in school now, it's seemed that there's a lot more effort between students to help each other succeed to better the profession, rather than being happy when other people fail because you look better by comparison.

I suppose I'm rambling now, I just love where I am profession-wise, and I could talk about it all day. Anyway, good luck! Lemme know if there's any other specific questions about interview days in general. It's one of those things where you worry about it for weeks and, when the 15 minutes are over, you wondered why you worried so much.
 
Be yourself!! Is that too cliche? I still beleive this is one of the most important things to keep in mind in any interview, but especially scholl since the interview is so laid back. Goodluck!!
 
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