To those who have been through the interview process....

[postbacpremed87]

Med students or those that have been through the interview process: How long do interviews usually last?

What is the most interesting/unique question that you were asked?

Do you generally have a good feeling that you will be accepted after the interview (from their body language, how interested they are in a topic you talk about)?

Also do you talk about things outside of medicine like passions outside of medicine (for instance I am learning to play cello that is how I can get away from it all (MCAT, shadowing, volunteering, researching, classes etc)).

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[RecklessKel]

Med students or those that have been through the interview process: How long do interviews usually last?

What is the most interesting/unique question that you were asked?

Do you generally have a good feeling that you will be accepted after the interview (from their body language, how interested they are in a topic you talk about)?

Also do you talk about things outside of medicine like passions outside of medicine (for instance I am learning to play cello that is how I can get away from it all (MCAT, shadowing, volunteering, researching, classes etc)).

What would you want to put on your headstone when you die?- That threw me off a little bit.

No, I had no idea. I swore a few of my interviews were terrible and I got accepted to those schools. None of my interviews had anything major wrong with them though.

Yes, talk about things outside of medicine and what you did to prepare. This is vital to show that you are an interesting person. My applications strongest points were not my grades or classroom work or my MCAT, but the fact that I had really interesting extracurriculars. I didn't have a great volume of extracurriculars, but they were interesting and I could talk about them for hours with enthusiasm.

 

[MB333999]

hey not sure if u know this but there an interview feedback section on sdn. theres a link at the very top of the page, and you can see what people thought of the school, most interesting questions, most difficult questions, how ppl thought they did, etc for each school.

hope that helps

 

[HBSlim]

The length of interviews is extremely variable from school to school. For example, I've had very conversational one-on-one interviews (30-45 minutes), two separate interviews in one interview day (50-60 minutes each) and one with two interviewers firing questions at me (but only took 15-20 minutes).

No questions that were unique enough to stand out in my mind.

Body language is also variable. In one of the interviews the interviewers gave no response to my answers, intentionally giving me no idea as to what they were thinking. In another, the interviewer told me outright that he'd be ranking me highly.

Having outside interests and being able to articulate that you are a well-rounded person is

 

[Barcu]

Med students or those that have been through the interview process: How long do interviews usually last?

What is the most interesting/unique question that you were asked?

Do you generally have a good feeling that you will be accepted after the interview (from their body language, how interested they are in a topic you talk about)?

Also do you talk about things outside of medicine like passions outside of medicine (for instance I am learning to play cello that is how I can get away from it all (MCAT, shadowing, volunteering, researching, classes etc)).

Most last around 30 minutes (and you have two), but I had one 45 minute one.

I honestly didn't get too many interesting questions. I was ready, but it never really came up.

In terms of feeling, it really is hard to tell. I got accepted to schools I knew went well, and I got into schools that I wasn't so sure about (no bad interviews, fortunately).

And passions other than medicine come up A LOT. I even had one school where I did two interviews. Between the two interviews, we talked about medicine for literally five minutes. The rest was about other passions outside medicine. That was an extreme case, but you will pretty much always get a question about balancing your time with medicine (which they want you to talk about outside interests).

 

[denco88]

Med students or those that have been through the interview process: How long do interviews usually last?

What is the most interesting/unique question that you were asked?

Do you generally have a good feeling that you will be accepted after the interview (from their body language, how interested they are in a topic you talk about)?

Also do you talk about things outside of medicine like passions outside of medicine (for instance I am learning to play cello that is how I can get away from it all (MCAT, shadowing, volunteering, researching, classes etc)).

Yes the times are variable, but I'd say average is between 30-40 minutes.

The most interesting question I was asked was if I had a super power, what would it be and why,

Um I had a good feeling after all of mine... But I'm an optimist so that is to be expected.

I did in one of my interviews. Talked a lot about the books I have read in the past year and my gymnastics career since it has been a huge part of my life and I've been doing it since I was two.

 

[eli20]

Hmm, I'm trying to remember interesting questions. My favorite question I was asked was whether or not I thought you could teach someone to have sympathy, but I don't think that's really a "weird" question.

Individual interviews for me ranged from 25 minutes - 45. Usually they are scheduled for 30 minutes in my experience. An interview day typically lasted from 8/9am - 3/4pm.

I felt pretty good about all of my interviews except one that I got grilled during, but ended up getting accepted to that school. It really is hard to tell because different schools put different weights on your interview, and in my opinion, who your interviewer is (head of department vs newbie at the school) has an effect on its importance.

As an English lit major I think I ended up talking about books/writing for the vast majority of most of my interviews. Its important to have outside interests and interviews are where they shine - an important interview skill is making sure you get across what you want them to know about you, even if they don't ask you questions that necessarily lead you right into it.

 

[alwaysaangel]

Med students or those that have been through the interview process: How long do interviews usually last?

Back when I interviewed they were mostly 45m-1hr. I generally did 1-2 faculty and then 1 student. But from the other posters sounds like they're shorter now.

What is the most interesting/unique question that you were asked?

I never got a weird question. All of my interviews were really conversational. In fact, at some interviews there were hardly any questions at all, we just talked.

Do you generally have a good feeling that you will be accepted after the interview (from their body language, how interested they are in a topic you talk about)?

In general don't assume you can tell whether the interview got you accepted or not.
There are too many variables:
1) How good you are at reading people (a ton of premeds/med students SUCK at this)
2) How good they are at faking they like people.
3) How much the interview factors into that schools final decision.

Also do you talk about things outside of medicine like passions outside of medicine (for instance I am learning to play cello that is how I can get away from it all (MCAT, shadowing, volunteering, researching, classes etc)).

I often did. Although I also talked a lot about teaching and my work with free clinics which I was really excited about. Not much to talk about as far as MCAT or classes go...

 

[DrYoda]

How long do interviews usually last?

It seems most of mine were 30 minutes. The shortest was about 15minutes the longest was around an hour.

What is the most interesting/unique question that you were asked?

"what's your opinion on the Iraq war?" really the only strange question I got, and it went along with an all around strange interview day.

Do you generally have a good feeling that you will be accepted after the interview (from their body language, how interested they are in a topic you talk about)?

You can get some idea of your performance from that stuff. But remember your interviewer usually isn't the one who makes the final decision (or at least not the only person to participate in it).

Also do you talk about things outside of medicine like passions outside of medicine (for instance I am learning to play cello that is how I can get away from it all (MCAT, shadowing, volunteering, researching, classes etc)).

Be prepared to talk about outside stuff, they are going to want to know what makes you you and non-medical/academic activities are part of that.

I personally didn't have a significant research of health care background, so my interviews didn't focus much on that stuff. I imagine if someone has significant research or health care things on their app their interview would focus more on that stuff than mine did. Either way they'll still be interested in other activities you have a passion for.

 

[fishbait63]

Really depends on the format.... MMI= <10mins with a lot of them very fun.

Weirdest question?
How would you adjust from the food of San Francisco to here... it was just very random
They asked me a lot of food related questions I had to explain balut to them, that was probably my weirdest answer.

Good feeling?
Honestly I think going back to reading someone its very hard without a baseline i don't know their personality i can't make a judgement if they were excited or thats their personality. It really depends also on factors outside your control like at the end of the day they will be more tired, how was the interview before yours

Its very common to get asked how do you deal with stress, tell me about yourself, what do you do for fun... all these can be used to talk about outside interests

 

[4ksibe]

Med students or those that have been through the interview process: How long do interviews usually last? how long they last depend on the school anywhere from 25 mins to over an hour.

What is the most interesting/unique question that you were asked? i didnt really get that many interesting questions the usuals nothing came out soo out of the ordinary

Do you generally have a good feeling that you will be accepted after the interview (from their body language, how interested they are in a topic you talk about)? I would say most of the time but then again a lot of people have good interviews but obviously everyone is not accepted. I think if you have a REALLY BAD interview you would kno but a good one does not guarantee you anything as a lot of other factors count.

Also do you talk about things outside of medicine like passions outside of medicine (for instance I am learning to play cello that is how I can get away from it all (MCAT, shadowing, volunteering, researching, classes etc)) yep I actually made sure i told them i loved to dance. I think it tells them that you have other interest. They like that and I have someone who told me the only reason he thinks he got accepted to a Harvard was cuz he could DJ and boy do they use his talent there lol so yep its a plus.


Hope this helps

 

[Mbeas]

hey not sure if u know this but there an interview feedback section on sdn. theres a link at the very top of the page, and you can see what people thought of the school, most interesting questions, most difficult questions, how ppl thought they did, etc for each school.

hope that helps

qft. read it and weep.

 

[juliedi]

hey not sure if u know this but there an interview feedback section on sdn. theres a link at the very top of the page, and you can see what people thought of the school, most interesting questions, most difficult questions, how ppl thought they did, etc for each school.

hope that helps

This is definitely a great interview resource. Here's the link. Just find the school and click on Interview Feedback Responses.

 

[O2Doc]

I'm Canadian, but what the heck. Surely our interview processes aren't that different.

I had 2 interviews, one pretty generic one-on-one at a school that didn't accept me. It was questions that didn't surprise me, I really can't remember in particular but along the lines of where medicine is going in the future, my greatest weakness, stuff like that. I felt pretty neutral after that one.

At the school that accepted me it was a team interview with one faculty and a senior med student. The med student pretty much just sat there once the doc discovered I was a reservist (he was ex-military), and we chatted about our experiences. I felt pretty awesome after that one.

But it's total luck of the draw. A military colleague of mine, applying to med school (Canada doesn't have military med schools; we have some military-only spots at civilian schools now, but didn't at the time I and my colleague were applying), was asked in one interview how he would handle the transition "from killer to healer".
Dude was a Navy engineer.

 

[ShinyDome19]

How long do interviews usually last?
- All of the interviews at both schools I interviewed at were supposed to be 30 mins long, and there were 3 interviews at both places. However, one of my interviews lasted maybe 10 minutes...I walked in, sat down and the interviewer asked me if I believed heath care should be free to all people...I answered and she said "okay thank you, was nice to meet you." Result--> accepted

What is the most interesting/unique question that you were asked? - If your working in the ER and you have two patients, one a priest and the other a rapist that raped one of your family members, who do you treat and why.It was a tough question, but I answered honestly and said the priest, because no matter what I did for the rapist, if anything went wrong during the treatment, he could easily turn around and sue me for malpractice. --> interviewer loved the answer

Do you generally have a good feeling that you will be accepted after the interview (from their body language, how interested they are in a topic you talk about)?
- Nope, after my interview that lasted only 10 minutes, I was sure I screwed up...but got in anyhow.

Also do you talk about things outside of medicine like passions outside of medicine (for instance I am learning to play cello that is how I can get away from it all (MCAT, shadowing, volunteering, researching, classes etc)).
- Some of my interviewers were very straightforward with the questions they asked. And they asked the same questions to everyone as far as I could tell. Other interviewers were very open ended, and just gave me the old " Tell me about yourself" question. Those are the ones where I talked about fishing, paintball, my previous research topics in graduate school etc...

 

[Dianyla]

They asked me a lot of food related questions I had to explain balut to them, that was probably my weirdest answer.

Is that how you picked your SDN login name?

 

[redpanda]

Med students or those that have been through the interview process: How long do interviews usually last?

What is the most interesting/unique question that you were asked?

Do you generally have a good feeling that you will be accepted after the interview (from their body language, how interested they are in a topic you talk about)?

Also do you talk about things outside of medicine like passions outside of medicine (for instance I am learning to play cello that is how I can get away from it all (MCAT, shadowing, volunteering, researching, classes etc)).

This is an interesting, but very uncomfortable question that I got. "What do you regret most in life?"

 

[MCAT guy]

people think they ask weird questions to test how good your response is.

Often they ask weird questions to see how you respond. I was asked about midterm elections in an interview, instead of making things up or panicking, I just said, "I really don't follow politics very much. But I can talk about the state of health care policy today."

Just realize, you can't prepare for every question. So you need to just relax and be yourself.

 

[BigEast55]

Med students or those that have been through the interview process: How long do interviews usually last?

What is the most interesting/unique question that you were asked?

Do you generally have a good feeling that you will be accepted after the interview (from their body language, how interested they are in a topic you talk about)?

Also do you talk about things outside of medicine like passions outside of medicine (for instance I am learning to play cello that is how I can get away from it all (MCAT, shadowing, volunteering, researching, classes etc)).

Average time I would say is 45 minutes with a range of 20min - 1h20 (I was actually accepted at both extremes oddly enough)

I did an MMI and that was certainly the most unique

Its hard to tell if you got in or not, most interviews will go pretty well if you are a conversational person

In my interviews I probably talked more about things that weren't medically related than things that were

 

[NickNaylor]

You will have no idea how you did after an interview. It's like the MCAT: your perception of how things went is utterly useless in predicting the end result.

 

[wanderer]

You will have no idea how you did after an interview. It's like the MCAT: your perception of how things went is utterly useless in predicting the end result.

+1. Or any test for that matter. You don't really know what they look for at all, and differences between different interviewers' personalities can account for the different feel between interviewers. But in my experience the 2 times my interviewer told me "see you next year" I got in, and the few times I was told good luck I was waitlisted. That's really like your instructor telling you how you did though.

Also if you and your interviewer clicked that's a good sign but far from a guarantee. If your interviewer hated you, it's highly unlikely you'll get in.

 

[k12123]

after an interview, how long does it take for theor response if ur accepted? and also, how do they notify you? email? or phone?

 

[LEUNIT]

after an interview, how long does it take for theor response if ur accepted? and also, how do they notify you? email? or phone?

Pre-match (Nov 15 - Dec 31) or match (Feb 1). They notify you through walkie-talkies.

 

[halethsonofhama]

But in my experience the 2 times my interviewer told me "see you next year" I got in
Also if you and your interviewer clicked that's a good sign but far from a guarantee. If your interviewer hated you, it's highly unlikely you'll get in.

I've had 2 interviews at my top choice school; my first one, the Dr. interviewing me said "See you next year" so hopefully thats a good sign. The second was a male med student who really seemed to "Like-Like" me.... that may be a double edge sword

 

[wanderer]

I've had 2 interviews at my top choice school; my first one, the Dr. interviewing me said "See you next year" so hopefully thats a good sign. The second was a male med student who really seemed to "Like-Like" me.... that may be a double edge sword

You never want to keep your hopes too high, but I'd bet your odds of getting in are very good.