Hey guys, here's the scoop on A&M:
1. I had two very good interviews, one with an admissions PhD and one with a fourth-year med student; no ethical/philosophical/difficult questions. However, interview questions entirely depend on the interviewer. Several interviewees around me received challenging questions, i.e., "What is the difference between a positive physician and a physician?" Interviews are also open file, so they have your GPA and MCAT in front of them.
2. I very much enjoyed the campus and the interview day. Everyone at A&M, both staff and students, appeared nice, friendly, and warm. They strongly emphasize how the med students and faculty are a "family," and that is exactly what I saw. They kept us fed throughout the day, with a chicken fried steak meal for lunch and brownies/lemon tarts for dessert!
3. I have to admit that College Station and Temple are not the best places to live in the world. The cities themselves seemed very desolate and lonely. However, cost of living in both cities is cheap.
4. What really stood out in my mind is the med student to attending physician ratio during the third year of med school. It is one-to-one, unlike the other UT schools, where it is 4 to 1 or 6 to 1. Therefore, the med students truly have a chance to learn as much as possible. Because Scott and White is a private hospital, they also have more funding for nurses and techs. Therefore, the med students don't have to waste time running pointless errands and/or doing "scut work" that the staff is too lazy to do.
Anyways, this is my two cents. I didn't really expect much from A&M in the beginning, but afterwards, I was left with a positive impression. I must say that their facilities are nicer than TCOM's (TCOM is the only other interview I've had). Anyways, keep your minds open when you interview at A&M--it's not as bad as you might think 🙄
