Originally posted by frangi:
•Don't worry at all, the people at UHS really make the effort to make you as relaxed as possible for the entire day.... The interview I had was extremely laid back, nothing interrogating or difficult to deal with. So best of luck to you, just getting the interview is a big step in itself!•
While the first part of this is true in all cases I think, I found the second part not to be true in my case -- I hear in other cases possibly as well, at least on my interview day. My interview was positively brutal: not one thing I said was accepted or acceptable. It was made worse because I was not prepared for an allopathic-type interview, so I didn't have a good night's sleep under my belt and was coming off my heavy work stretch (I have a heavy alternating with a light) interspersed with a round of midterms. Had I known I
could end up with a combative interview, I would have moved heaven and earth to get off work the night before and gotten a good night's sleep at least.
As it was, I was totally unprepared and did not advocate for myself very well, therefore (I think) I was placed on the alternate list. So.....my advice is:
Be prepared for a tough interview just in case. IMHO a tough interview is when they take your most positive experiences and try to force you to make or see something negative about it. Something they never talk about on interviewfeedback.com, but which I had - ad infinitum and ad nauseum - at both KU and UHS about everything I ever mentioned on my apps and supplementals. (O.K. that is a SLIGHT exaggeration, but only a slight one.)
If you're an older (non-traditional) student, be prepared to defend that you can handle the academic workload of med school even though you didn't take 17-18 semester hours while mom and dad supported you. (Older students often have to work while going to school and can't take more than 12 hours at a time.) This is exactly why they placed me on the alternate list and had I known that was a concern, I might have defended myself better when the question came up during my interview....I think I could have persuaded them that my ability to put in 16-20 hour days for days and weeks and even months at a time while carrying a returning GPA of 3.6
might mean I can handle JUST going to school - even something as tough as med school, especially since I literally "soak up" everything related to medicine, anyway.
DO relax and enjoy the day, however. The students are wonderful and in every case do everything to make you feel welcome....and besides you may get an interview like the one frangi had. (And YOU'll be prepared in case you don't!)
Most of all: Do whatever you have to do to GET A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP!!!!!
Good Luck!
mompremed
