the interview environment

[3bamboo]

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What is the setting during the interview?
I have been going over this for years in my head and I imagine being led into a large wooden office with a fireplace and my interviewers would be old and stern and sitting behind their huge oak desk. Clearly very intimidating..
So what is the actual setting like?

 

[chiddler]

usually a small room. table. chair you sit is opposite of interviewer chairs. that's not what you focus on, though. you focus more on the interviewers.

interviewer personalities? meh...it depends. you get lucky sometimes and other times not.

i remember NSU interviewer being particularly frown-ey and unenthusiastic.

i remember azcom, the cheerful biochem professor really made me feel at ease, but pharmacology professor seemed to stare at me ever so judgmentally.

touro-NV... those two guys were by far the friendliest interviewers and i liked them a lot.

 

[3bamboo]

fingers crossed for friendly interviewers. I'm hoping its more of a conversation than an interview.

 

[hallowmann]

fingers crossed for friendly interviewers. I'm hoping its more of a conversation than an interview.

This is really a HIGHLY school-specific question. Sometimes its one-on-one, sometimes 2 on one, sometimes its a panel, sometimes its a panel asking questions to 3 interviewees, sometimes its a group discussion interview, sometimes its MMI, sometimes its a stress interview with a good and bad guy, sometimes its strictly conversational, etc. It really depends on the school.

None of mine were how you imagined it. Most of them were friendly and at least somewhat conversational. I did have one that was really stressful, but you get through it.

When you get an ii be sure to review the interview feedback section of SDN, and look on the school-specific threads for any interview descriptions from people who have already gone through it.

 

[jm192]

In my experience, I interviewed in a professor's office.

They had us all sitting in a really fancy conference room, tons of snack goodies and water bottles. Of course, everyone talked about about medical school and interviews and I hated them all.

I interviewed at a school in a small town, so they gave us a tour of the city and a living place or 2.

 

[Orchid723]

I had six interviews this past cycle, and every single one was conducted differently. Some are one-on-one, usually me in a chair opposite the interviewer behind his/her desk. Others are group interviews--either several students and several interviewers, or me + several interviewers--all around one table. One was an MMI (multiple mini interview), with only a few minutes per station, one-on-one with a guy behind a desk.

Some are more intimidating than others. Some are downright fun. It really depends on the luck of the draw, I guess. My best advice for how to prepare for interviews is to go on several, either mock or job interviews, and get feedback from there. One of my professors used to work in industry and was in the position to hire people, so he trained me how to nail a job interview. This was great preparation for my med school interviews.

 

[LaughingMan]

I had six interviews this past cycle, and every single one was conducted differently. Some are one-on-one, usually me in a chair opposite the interviewer behind his/her desk. Others are group interviews--either several students and several interviewers, or me + several interviewers--all around one table. One was an MMI (multiple mini interview), with only a few minutes per station, one-on-one with a guy behind a desk.

Some are more intimidating than others. Some are downright fun. It really depends on the luck of the draw, I guess. My best advice for how to prepare for interviews is to go on several, either mock or job interviews, and get feedback from there. One of my professors used to work in industry and was in the position to hire people, so he trained me how to nail a job interview. This was great preparation for my med school interviews.

Wow--Several students + interviewers sounds horrible? Other students heard your answers for "Why Medicine?"

 

[Orchid723]

Wow--Several students + interviewers sounds horrible? Other students heard your answers for "Why Medicine?"

Yes. This was LECOM-Erie. I don't really like this group interview format, but I know I did well because I prepped for it. This is where the Interview Feedback sections of SDN and the school-specific threads were pure gold.

 

[gmcguitar4]

All of my DO interviews were very laid back and conversational. I consider myself very good at interviewing though..being good looking helps too 🙂

 

[abolt18]

NSU-COM -- We just went into a conference room and I sat at one end of the long table with one doc on my left and one on my right asking questions. Pretty laid back.

KCUMB -- Just some random meeting room in the administration building. Good sized table and I just sat across from the awesome interviewers (we talked about mountaineering, rock climbing, camping, hiking, etc. for half the interview). Had a thing of water bottles next to me they offered.

ATSU-SOMA -- MMI is one thing. The interview was in a small office with 2 docs, one behind the desk one next to it. Poorly lit and I felt like this one was a little bit less relaxed than others (but the rest of the day was awesome). Had some cool pediatrician guy with a long grey ponytail.

ATSU-KCOM -- 3 separate interviews, each was 1 on 1. Pretty relaxed. I knew Andrea pretty well so we just chatted it up, I talked to Dr Singh all about racketball and microbiology, and then interviewed with Dr. Halma who was super cool (he went to KCUMB). Halma was extremely conversational and helped me with my decision to attend KCOM over KCUMB. (he asked what I would do if KCOM didn't accept me, I responded with "I'll be going to KCUMB") It was cool because at the end of the interview he even said "I don't have complete say over the decision to accept you or not but you've got a yes from me and I bet your other two interviewers will say the same."

 

[Orchid723]

ATSU-KCOM -- 3 separate interviews, each was 1 on 1. Pretty relaxed. I knew Andrea pretty well so we just chatted it up, I talked to Dr Singh all about racketball and microbiology, and then interviewed with Dr. Halma who was super cool (he went to KCUMB). Halma was extremely conversational and helped me with my decision to attend KCOM over KCUMB. (he asked what I would do if KCOM didn't accept me, I responded with "I'll be going to KCUMB") It was cool because at the end of the interview he even said "I don't have complete say over the decision to accept you or not but you've got a yes from me and I bet your other two interviewers will say the same."

👍 I love when they give feedback. I got much more feedback from my DO interviews, which was awesome.

 

[Ost3oclast]

usually a small room. table. chair you sit is opposite of interviewer chairs. that's not what you focus on, though. you focus more on the interviewers.

interviewer personalities? meh...it depends. you get lucky sometimes and other times not.

i remember NSU interviewer being particularly frown-ey and unenthusiastic.

i remember azcom, the cheerful biochem professor really made me feel at ease, but pharmacology professor seemed to stare at me ever so judgmentally.

touro-NV... those two guys were by far the friendliest interviewers and i liked them a lot.

I got the same biochem professor from azcom. Super legit guy.

OP, it varies depending on the school, interviewers and even the day you interview. Sometimes you catch an interviewer on the right day....sometimes you dont. Overall the experience is probably going to be slightly stressful but not because of the interview day itself...its usually stress you put upon yourself to perform well during the day. Just relax and be yourself.

 

[Mosonik]

NSU-COM -- We just went into a conference room and I sat at one end of the long table with one doc on my left and one on my right asking questions. Pretty laid back.

KCUMB -- Just some random meeting room in the administration building. Good sized table and I just sat across from the awesome interviewers (we talked about mountaineering, rock climbing, camping, hiking, etc. for half the interview). Had a thing of water bottles next to me they offered.

ATSU-SOMA -- MMI is one thing. The interview was in a small office with 2 docs, one behind the desk one next to it. Poorly lit and I felt like this one was a little bit less relaxed than others (but the rest of the day was awesome). Had some cool pediatrician guy with a long grey ponytail.

ATSU-KCOM -- 3 separate interviews, each was 1 on 1. Pretty relaxed. I knew Andrea pretty well so we just chatted it up, I talked to Dr Singh all about racketball and microbiology, and then interviewed with Dr. Halma who was super cool (he went to KCUMB). Halma was extremely conversational and helped me with my decision to attend KCOM over KCUMB. (he asked what I would do if KCOM didn't accept me, I responded with "I'll be going to KCUMB") It was cool because at the end of the interview he even said "I don't have complete say over the decision to accept you or not but you've got a yes from me and I bet your other two interviewers will say the same."

Also loved my KCUMB interview, fantastic people... though I did hear some of the interviewers were a bit more intense than mine happened to be, though I think they do have some method behind their madness with which interviewers get paired with who based on some fact or info on the application

My SOMA interview, while by no means bad, was unique to say the least. First, the MMI was a bit of a surprise (heard about it at the social the night before since they hadn't done it ever before) and thought one of the scenarios and its actor was a little off from the goals of the med interviews. My formal/traditional part of the interview in the faculty office but was different because one of my interviewers was on some form of video chat call from one the CHC sites across the country. I actually loved that part, too bad the faculty present decided to make it a grill fest.

My others were just traditional one-on-one format. CUSOM was unique in the fact that the interview felt like they wanted to make sure I was as a good of a fit for them as they were for me, I appreciated their personal attention to each applicant and details. To me that says a lot about a school.

 

[Pharmakon]

Also loved my KCUMB interview, fantastic people... though I did hear some of the interviewers were a bit more intense than mine happened to be, though I think they do have some method behind their madness with which interviewers get paired with who based on some fact or info on the application

I also had a very relaxed and welcoming interview at KCUMB. I was nervous at first (as expected) but I was settled when we started talking. They really keyed in on my interests and experiences... even asking "softball" questions like "Tell me about yourself" and asking my favorite part about study abroad experience. I feel like I was paired with my interviewers; in my personal statement, I showed interest in OMT and Bioethics and had faculty of those disciplines in the interview.

 

[Whistle]

Regardless of how the interview style is, who interviews you, how laid back or up tight it is..the best thing you can do for yourself is just relax and be genuine and don't give rehearsed, calculated answers.

I had two interviewers from two different schools actually write back to my post-interview "thank you" e-mail with nice things to say about my interviewing. I almost can guarantee what they were complementing was HOW I answered questions and not WHAT I actually said. Just throwing it out there.

 

[Goro]

Chill...we use conference rooms. It will be interviewers on one side/interviewees on another side.



A friend wrangled an interview many moons ago at Mt Sinai...this was held one on one in a doctor's office (a little one at that, he told me).

What is the setting during the interview?
I have been going over this for years in my head and I imagine being led into a large wooden office with a fireplace and my interviewers would be old and stern and sitting behind their huge oak desk. Clearly very intimidating..
So what is the actual setting like?