USN Interview Thougts and Results

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

vanstudent1986

Full Member
10+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2007
Messages
52
Reaction score
0
Hi Everybody..Could all of those who had interviewed with USN give thoughts and comments. Give info that you did not know about school or admission process that you know now...Thanks

Members don't see this ad.
 
Sure I can help.

I have been on several interviews prior to USN. I am waitlisted for several and still waiting to hear from several others concerning their final decisions.

I went to an interview in Jan 2007. There were several things that caught my eye that I had an issue. I'm very glad I came and saw the school for myself and I would like to share a few things that were troubling, other relevant info, and the whole experience was eye opening.

When students were waiting for their interviews, I was appalled when the older P3 male PharmD student was touching female candidates by giving back massages. He didn't offer it to all the girls but he purposely picked out the more attractive ones. I felt very sick when I saw that happening. There were female staff and students around but no one said anything. I'm not sure if they saw that or just did not want to see. I felt very uncomfortable watching this happen several times to at least 2 girls. It seems very unacceptable and unprofessional. It would be appropriate at a private residence but not at a formal interview session.

The interview session started at X:00 but a student walking in at X:45. The professor at the time said that it's no big deal and they get late students all the time. It did not bother me that the student came in late but surprised that the professor was nonchalant about late people. It was as if it happens all the time at USN and it's acceptable. I thought arriving on time to your interview was supposed to be important.

At the interview itself, there were 3 people interviewing. The main person was a faculty member and that person did not seem interested in interviewing me. I felt very offend because I spent time, money, effort into the application, visiting the school. I thought USN would have professional faculty members would cared about students. Student centered education right? Wrong. But he/she was the complete OPPOSITE. He/she was very negative and condescending and unprofessional. He/she did not want to make eye contact, sighed before asking a question, sighed after asking the question, and sighed while I was answering the question. In fact he/she was telling the other interviewers to interview me. He/she seemed very disinterested and probably made a judgment about me before I even entered the room.

His/her interview questions were very difficult almost seemingly coming from left field. USN seems to know what kind of student they want and if you don't fit it your out. From my experience, they did not care about what you stand for or what you valued as a future PharmD. But it was more like if you can pay the tuition and if you're willing to be submissive with the program and let condescending and intimidating faculty tell you what is right and wrong.

Luckily I didn't cry but I did see a girl cry after she was interviewed. WOW, and I thought I had it bad.

Overall it was probably the worst interview I have ever had.

However, a few positives were the school can give you legitimate Financial Aid. Before you had to take out private loans with very high interest rates but now you can get loans from the government.

The tuition increased to 34.5K now. Dr. DeYoung said the school increased their tuition by 5%.

That's about it for the positives.

Funny thing is that USN promotes caring, leadership, and professionalism.

From my experience the interview process was very unprofessional. Male students should not be touching and giving back rubs to female students while they wait for their interview. USN should have picked a faculty member who actual cares about the person they are going to interview.

I was very disappointed and had high expectations. I'm curious to know if anyone else felt the same way or had similar experiences from the interview like I did.

For me I'm staying WAY FAR AWAY from USN because it was a very bad experience.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
I wonder also if anyone else had the same interviewing experiences there. Sorry to hear about that though.
 
Sure I can help.

The interview session started at X:00 but a student walking in at X:45. The professor at the time said that it's no big deal and they get late students all the time. It did not bother me that the student came in late but surprised that the professor was nonchalant about late people. It was as if it happens all the time at USN and it’s acceptable. I thought arriving on time to your interview was supposed to be important.
.

I am not sure if I had the same interview with you or not. BUt I was late on my day due to a heavy snow storm in my home state. I called 4 hours prior to 1pm which was the designed starting time for the itnerview and Dr.Deyoung specifically and personally told me that it'd be OK as he was aware of such natural disaster and he would put a note into the schedule for his assistant (Laurie I think) to know to greet me and go over stuffs I missed when I came in. It might have been that the people you saw late could have called before hand or you might have seen actual tardy people (without the calls). Regarding the interview, mine went OK as the faculty seemed to have an interest in pharmacy and profesisonalism, revealing in the way he twisted my last questions on interaction with physicians. I guess you might just have had a bad interviewer. Regarding the male student, I could say I partially agree with you as one of the guy taking me on tour was a slutty jerk. He'd just talk to female USN student all the time and did not even care to introduce areas to me and let her do all the job. As we walked, he would flirt with USN students passing by or studying in the library; and by that I really mean like " I love what you are wearing today, this is new right?" or "Have you worked out lately? You look good today!". The female USN student going on tour with me told me that " (the guy name)! Oh He just talks to all the girls here"
Arriving late to your interview is a prohibition in professional world, but if you call and make accommondation with understandable reasons, it'd be acceptable. The inapropriate behaviors you mentioned was really out-of-place. I hope what you witnessed was just a minority case and should not be used to stereotype the entire student body there.
 
Sure I can help.

I have been on several interviews prior to USN. I am waitlisted for several and still waiting to hear from several others concerning their final decisions.

I went to an interview in Jan 2007. There were several things that caught my eye that I had an issue. I'm very glad I came and saw the school for myself and I would like to share a few things that were troubling, other relevant info, and the whole experience was eye opening.

When students were waiting for their interviews, I was appalled when the older P3 male PharmD student was touching female candidates by giving back massages. He didn't offer it to all the girls but he purposely picked out the more attractive ones. I felt very sick when I saw that happening. There were female staff and students around but no one said anything. I'm not sure if they saw that or just did not want to see. I felt very uncomfortable watching this happen several times to at least 2 girls. It seems very unacceptable and unprofessional. It would be appropriate at a private residence but not at a formal interview session.

The interview session started at X:00 but a student walking in at X:45. The professor at the time said that it's no big deal and they get late students all the time. It did not bother me that the student came in late but surprised that the professor was nonchalant about late people. It was as if it happens all the time at USN and it’s acceptable. I thought arriving on time to your interview was supposed to be important.

At the interview itself, there were 3 people interviewing. The main person was a faculty member and that person did not seem interested in interviewing me. I felt very offend because I spent time, money, effort into the application, visiting the school. I thought USN would have professional faculty members would cared about students. Student centered education right? Wrong. But he/she was the complete OPPOSITE. He/she was very negative and condescending and unprofessional. He/she did not want to make eye contact, sighed before asking a question, sighed after asking the question, and sighed while I was answering the question. In fact he/she was telling the other interviewers to interview me. He/she seemed very disinterested and probably made a judgment about me before I even entered the room.

His/her interview questions were very difficult almost seemingly coming from left field. USN seems to know what kind of student they want and if you don't fit it your out. From my experience, they did not care about what you stand for or what you valued as a future PharmD. But it was more like if you can pay the tuition and if you’re willing to be submissive with the program and let condescending and intimidating faculty tell you what is right and wrong.

Luckily I didn't cry but I did see a girl cry after she was interviewed. WOW, and I thought I had it bad.

Overall it was probably the worst interview I have ever had.

However, a few positives were the school can give you legitimate Financial Aid. Before you had to take out private loans with very high interest rates but now you can get loans from the government.

The tuition increased to 34.5K now. Dr. DeYoung said the school increased their tuition by 5%.

That’s about it for the positives.

Funny thing is that USN promotes caring, leadership, and professionalism.

From my experience the interview process was very unprofessional. Male students should not be touching and giving back rubs to female students while they wait for their interview. USN should have picked a faculty member who actual cares about the person they are going to interview.

I was very disappointed and had high expectations. I'm curious to know if anyone else felt the same way or had similar experiences from the interview like I did.

For me I'm staying WAY FAR AWAY from USN because it was a very bad experience.


I'm sorry to hear that...I went to the interview on Jan 20th, generally the school gives me quite a good impression. The school is small, but the people there r very nice and friendly, and the environment nearby seems good. The student who gave us a tour in my group is nice and helpful. The interviewers, which consists of one professor and two current students r also very nice, but I don't think I did too well in the interview, coz I was very nervous during the interview.
 
lvp0021,

Being late is not that big of a deal. I understand you had some circumstances. In fact we all do. For me USN did not live up to my expectations. I'm was just very flabergasted about the whole thing but I'm glad I got to go and see what its like. Very disappointing...
 
Did you interview at the Nevada campus or Utah campus?
 
didn't they say they will notify all applicants if they r accepted or not in late April?
 
I am so sorry to hear that you have had such a bad day. I went to interview there and the student who gave us a tour was a mature and nice guy.In general every body was really nice over there.My interview did not go as I wanted.My interview pannel was consisted of 2 professors and one student.I really prefered that it was consisted of two students and one professor !!!!!!!!!I think they will send very few acceptances in Febuary, but the majority of acceptances will be sent at the end of April which is a long wait...
 
I had an interview with them today and experienced nothing like what you stated. Just the opposite. In fact, may I be so bold to mention that if you base your entire experience off of the schovanistic behaviour of 1 student, then either you had your mind made up about the school before-hand (should've saved your flight $ for something a little more productive) or you're being a bit short-sighted.

I also think that some people expect the interview to be all flowers and praise, when it is obviously quite the opposite. Everything before and after should be towards selling you to the school; making you feel like royalty, but once the interview starts its your turn to sell yourself.

I've recieved nothing but the red carpet treatment from any of the staff or faculty, and the students were enthusiastic and extremely informative/helpful. The facilities at the Utah campus were very nice (brand new building, furnishings, etc.). The assistant dean Dr. De Young was constantly checking on us while we waited (played ping pong and air-hockey), making sure we all were given the tour of the school and access to the fridge (just water, but hey, did they offer you bottled water at any other school?). Everyone was very approachable and friendly.

Thanks to this site I felt very prepared for the interview (very little stress), and although the building seemed a little empty (they plan on adding additional departments; ie. nursing program), it was a welcoming environment.

...USN is my #1 choice thus far...
 
Spencer(shaolinRx),

I was at the USN/Utah campus pharmacy orientation and interview day yesterday too. Have you interviewed elsewhere prior to USN or do you plan to interview elsewhere? Originally I anticipated possibly having as many as five interviews but ended up not finishing or withdrawing my applications at the other three schools and settled with my two favorites. I interviewed at my other favorite school back in early December 2006. In addition to bottled water they offered us various morning beverages and snacks. Then later in the day, they also feed us lunch and cookies. As far as comparing other aspects of my experiences at each school I would overall rate the USN/Utah experience good but not extraordinary. I have been accepted to the other school I interviewed at and hope to get an acceptance at USN too. I would love to go to USN. I believe I would be a great fit-I hope they feel the same:)! USN is my number #1 choice too.

I agree with you that Rxpotency shouldn't label the whole school based on one experience. But also you must admit that first impressions are powerful. If I had the same experience as Rxpotency I would, at the very least, classify it as unprofessional behavior from a representative of USN.

Ya'll,

Here is a run down of the interview day for those that are still in the planning and/or hoping for an interview stages.
First hour-Orientation about the College of Pharmacy from Dr. DeYoung and Dean Fannin (Dr. DeYoung did say that additional members of the Administration or Faculty participate in this first hour at the Nevada campus). Most of this information I already knew from talking to Dr. DeYoung previously and from previous conversations with current students or from researching on the USN website and StudentDoctor:). I did learn some new stuff in the orientation too!

Next three to four hours-interviews scheduled every half hour till each person is done and tours of campus and hanging out in the student commons before and/or after your interview. They had our group of 36 split into six groups so that each group of interviewers conducted six interviews. Each interview lasted between ten and thirty minutes with an average time of twenty to twenty five minutes. If you had an early interview you were free to leave after your interview. If you had a late one you got to hang out...fun...fun!

I enoyed the tour a lot. USN Utah has big plans which is exciting. They just dedicated their permanent building (they've been working out of a temporary one since opening back in August 2006) and it is really nice. They plan for a lot of growth which is exciting. The Pharmacy College is growing from 50 to 80 students this coming year and they plan to keep upping it. The tour guide mentioned that thoughts of a nursing program, a PA program, a DO program and even a DDS program (although I'm not sure if the ADA or even the UDA will let that fly since they always talk of an excess of dentists in Utah) are on the drawing board. Exciting stuff!
The tour guide also said, if I understood her correctly?:), that those who got in this first interview group all had G.P.A.'s of 3.6 or above so each person that was invited has a great chance of getting in.


Later ya'll:)
 
Did you interview at the Nevada campus or Utah campus?

Rxpotency interviewed at the Nevada campus.

There have been three interview days so far; two at the Nevada campus which were held on Jan 17 and 20 and one at the Utah campus which was held yesterday(Jan 31).

best wishes to you
 
Members don't see this ad :)
anyone here have any clue when the letter of acceptances will be sent?
 
I think they will send very few letters of acceptanses late February,but the majority of acceptances will be sent at late April...Please correct me if I am wrong!!!!!!
 
I think they will send very few letters of acceptanses late February,but the majority of acceptances will be sent at late April...Please correct me if I am wrong!!!!!!

Dr. DeYoung said that he will make a personal phone call to each person that will be invited to join the class of 2007. A letter will be sent after the phone call and a deposit of $1000 will be required around 10-15 business days afterward. They will likely begin granting acceptances in late February. They will let everyone know of their status(in, not, or wait) by late April/early May.
 
Does anybody know that people who have been interviewed first have a better chance to get in or not!!!
 
Read the last part of post #12 on this exact thread:)

Theoretically yes those interviewed first have a better shot cause USN is rolling admissions. Those interviewed first were chosen because they likely got their application in well before the deadline and ranked higher than others on the academic achievement score. Now as far as the interview score is concerned that is a different story. That will depend both on how well you or I interview and on how well the interviewers think you or I interviewed. Let's hope that the interviewers like what they see from you (and me:)).
 
can anyone tell me my chances of getting in?

3.55 GPA
3.4 Science GPA
Interviewed on Jan 17
From California.
Felt I did well during the Interview.

How much is GPA and the Interview weighted?
I had a chance to ask some of the students there and they told me 60% GPA and 40% Interview, something like that.
 
According to previous threads Overall GPA 28 points,Science courses GPA 28 points and interview 40 points..I think you have a good chance as you did well in your interview .One of my friends had 3.1 and did really well in interview and got acceptd last year.
 
lone ranger, may I stress that there is the felt I did well during my interview and the interview committee graded my interview well. May we all be successful with both of these is my hope...

pharm2007, I've never seen the 28, 28, 40 breakdown. What makes up the other 4 points? I know they say that they give bonus or tiebreaker points if one has a degree and the number of prerequisites done at the time of applying. hmm?
 
I am looking for the thread I can not find it.I will let you know when I found it .I asked the student who gave us the tour about interview he told me that It has 40 points.I found out through previous posts that BS degree has 5 points and GPA has some thing around 56 points.In one thread There was alsosome thing like 60% GPA, 40% interview.If any one else knows about the points please let us know.
 
lone ranger, may I stress that there is the felt I did well during my interview and the interview committee graded my interview well. May we all be successful with both of these is my hope...

pharm2007, I've never seen the 28, 28, 40 breakdown. What makes up the other 8 points? I know they say that they give bonus or tiebreaker points if one has a degree and the number of prerequisites done at the time of applying. hmm?


tiebreaker points? I have a MS degree. If BS degree is 2 points, than MS degree is 4 points. :thumbup: :laugh:
 
I am looking for the thread I can not find it.I will let you know when I found it .I asked the student who gave us the tour about interview he told me that It has 40 points.I found out through previous posts that BS degree has 5 points and GPA has some thing around 56 points.In one thread There was alsosome thing like 60% GPA, 40% interview.If any one else knows about the points please let us know.

5 points for BS? how about Masters degree?
 
I don't know if they actually give points for degrees (AS, BS or MS) or if it is just used as a tiebreaker. All I had heard was the 60% academic acheivement and the 40% interview breakdown. Anyone on the admissions committee care to respond:)
 
How about PhD? four times as many points as bachelors and twice as many as masters.

This sounds like this school has a crazy system but it may work.
 
Okay....USN uses a formula to calculate your academic score based on:
1. Overall GPA
2. Pre-req GPA
3. Degrees that you have (last I heard was 1 point for BS, 2 for Masters/PhD)
4. The number of pre-req that you have completed

I am not sure how exactly the points are assigned this year ,but I still think it is around 60 points total.

Those with the highest academic score receive an interview invite.
The interview is worth about 40%. So it is important.:) I know of people that have had 4.0s that did not get into USN due to their interview.:eek:

I am sorry to hear that someone had a bad interview experience with USN. All I can offer is that USN IS a very professional school and just because one student may have acted inappropriately, it really doesn't mean that everyone does. My classmates are awesome and I am thankful to have the opportunity to interact and learn from them each and everyday...:) And yes I know some of you are reading this..., but are too bashful to post:p
 
Overall GPA is averaged across undergrad and grad degrees if someone has both? Like hypothetically:

3.7 Grad * 37 credits + 3.9 undergrad * 130 credits = 643.9 / 167 = overall GPA 3.855?

Or is it (3.7 + 3.9) / 2 = 3.85 (with each degree GPA weighted equally rather than by number of credits).

So the criteria for interview is basically:


1. Complete all prereqs before applying.
2. Keep 3.7+ in both science GPA (just courses needed or all science?)
3. Keep 3.7+ overall.
And if overall GPA is worth 60 points let us say than (3.85 / 4.0) * 28 = 26.95 possible points and then add 3 points because I hypothetically assumed this arbitrary person has bachelor and masters so 26.95 + 1 point for bachelors + 2 points for masters = 29.95. And now let us say that the science prereqs (or maybe it is all science) is worth 28 points, and this person has let us say a 3.7. So 3.7 / 4.0 * 28 = 25.9. Hence out of the 60 that USN from this post assigns, this person has 25.9 + 29.95 = 55.85 out of 60 points. If this person had 4.0 in everything plus degrees including a bachelors, masters and, PhD they would score 28 + 28 + 1 + 2 + 2 = 61 points (but that is a contradiction since that does not add to 60).

And the cut-off for interview is some arbitrary number of points out of 60?


Is this the correct formula?


And no extracurriculars considered until interview?


Well, at least it is organized and objective!!
 
Okay....USN uses a formula to calculate your academic score based on:
1. Overall GPA
2. Pre-req GPA
3. Degrees that you have (last I heard was 1 point for BS, 2 for Masters/PhD)
4. The number of pre-req that you have completed

I am not sure how exactly the points are assigned this year ,but I still think it is around 60 points total.

Those with the highest academic score receive an interview invite.
The interview is worth about 40%. So it is important.:) I know of people that have had 4.0s that did not get into USN due to their interview.:eek:

I am sorry to hear that someone had a bad interview experience with USN. All I can offer is that USN IS a very professional school and just because one student may have acted inappropriately, it really doesn't mean that everyone does. My classmates are awesome and I am thankful to have the opportunity to interact and learn from them each and everyday...:) And yes I know some of you are reading this..., but are too bashful to post:p

Smilescali,

Thanks for the information:)

Hope your P1 year is still moving along well:)
 
From my experience some of the people at USN (student and professor) did not conduct themselves professionally. Professional conduct especially at a graduate level is important to me. I don't think that matters to some but is high on my list of priorities. My experience was based on evidence and what I saw. I am not a student, alumni. My point of view comes from a neutral position. If you’re already a student, I would hope your going to defend your school. I have no relations with USN except that I applied and got invited to an interview. I understand that others had positive impressions, and that's exactly what I heard and expected from my visit. But that is not what happened. USN wants everyone to get a positive experience from their visit but that was not the case with me. I just wanted others to share my experience with others. Getting in would be great if I don't I would not have a broken hart about it.
 
Theoretically yes those interviewed first have a better shot cause USN is rolling admissions. .
Laurie told me that USN DID NOT have rolling admission when I was there! She said that they would get around 200 people in, 100 for each campus so after the first few weeks of interview, those dudes with skyrocket scores will be placed on top and definitely there would be noone beating them so they will be sent letters to first. I don't know, that's what I was told, any correction?
 
Laurie told me that USN DID NOT have rolling admission when I was there! She said that they would get around 200 people in, 100 for each campus so after the first few weeks of interview, those dudes with skyrocket scores will be placed on top and definitely there would be noone beating them so they will be sent letters to first. I don't know, that's what I was told, any correction?

ok, im confused now. Is there rolling admissions or not? Can anyone provide official proof?
 
Hi I am really confused too.Please some body let us know about it.
 
Hi I am really confused too.Please some body let us know about it.

this may be a very stupid question, but i'm wondering what's rolling admission?? please let me know
 
this may be a very stupid question, but i'm wondering what's rolling admission?? please let me know

Rolling admission is kinda like a first come, first served type thing. It means that the sooner you submit your app, the better chance you have of getting in, because they admit students as they go. So, the later you submit your app, the more spots that have already been filled, which means you have a lower chance of getting in
 
I need help clarifying too... When I was there, the Laurie lady also told me the same thing as she did to pharmdA07. Any one haing insight, please help?
 
I would like to have just some idea what my chance is to get in USN.
I sew from one post that there were 36 interviewers on the interview day.
If this is correct. USN is calling approximately 360 interviews and will accept two hundred student for both campus. Then chance of getting in USN is less than 2:1 ratio.

ANyone disagree??????
 
Can anyone tell me what future dates the school has setup to conduct interviews? And are they really only interviewing 350 prospective students?:thumbup:
 
Rolling admission is kinda like a first come, first served type thing. It means that the sooner you submit your app, the better chance you have of getting in, because they admit students as they go. So, the later you submit your app, the more spots that have already been filled, which means you have a lower chance of getting in

Good summary cycloketocaine.

To others,

If Laurie said USN doesn't do rolling admissions then I'd say trust that as reliable source. She is Dr. DeYoung's administrative assistant. But to a minor extent I'd say they do. I believe they have a quasi rolling admissions process. Here is thought on the subject from Princeton Review: "Colleges with Rolling Admissions...What does this mean? In the most basic terms, it means that the admissions offices at these schools review and decide on applications as they are received until there are no openings left in the entering class."

At the Jan 31st interview Dr. DeYoung stated that the admissions committee still hadn't reviewed all the applications yet. I took that as meaning that either those who had lower academic achivement scores or those who applied extremley close to the deadline still had not had their applications looked over completely. That sounds like some semblance of rolling admissions to me.
 
Dr. DeYoung told us that for next year the Henderson (Nevada) campus will have 140 spots available and the South Jordan (Utah) campus will have 80 spots available. That is a total of 220 total spots for the 2007 USN entering PharmD class.
 
Dr. DeYoung told us that for next year the Henderson (Nevada) campus will have 140 spots available and the South Jordan (Utah) campus will have 80 spots available. That is a total of 220 total spots for the 2007 USN entering PharmD class.

Dr. DeYoung said they were going to try to interview 500 applicants.
So far, how many have been interviewed?
 
Dr. DeYoung told us that for next year the Henderson (Nevada) campus will have 140 spots available and the South Jordan (Utah) campus will have 80 spots available. That is a total of 220 total spots for the 2007 USN entering PharmD class.

Next year is 2008.

This year is 2007.

220 for 2007 class or 2008 class????
 
Hello every body,First of all thank you all very much for providing such a great information here.I am really happy that I have found out about this website.In my interview student who gave us a tour told us that they are going to take 220 students(140+80) and they are going to interview over 500 people.I think 2.3 : 1 is a the exact ratio.There is a possibility that some students who get accepted do not come, so I think 2:1 is a reasonable ratio.Please let us know what do you think??????
 
220 for the 2007 Class and likely more for the 2008 class as they say they'll continue to expand the South Jordan, Utah campus. I had not heard the 500 interviews bit but Dr. DeYoung, on 1/31/07, did say that although he didn't have a final count yet he was confident they received over 1600 applications.
 
Laurie told me that USN DID NOT have rolling admission when I was there! She said that they would get around 200 people in, 100 for each campus so after the first few weeks of interview, those dudes with skyrocket scores will be placed on top and definitely there would be noone beating them so they will be sent letters to first. I don't know, that's what I was told, any correction?

Correct me if am wrong but when i went for my interview on jan 20th i was the last person interviewed on my list so laura stayed with me for a while there and this is what she said.
"We usually invite 500 student thats is our cut point and this year,we will accept 220 student, 140 for nevada and 80 for Utah." thats is a direct qoute. I know coz i wrote it down.
 
220 is the correct number..Does anybody know how many they accept in feberuary and exactly when Dr. Deyoung will call in feb.?
 
Rumor has it that Dr. DeYoung has already called a few people to offer them a seat for 2007. Has anyone recieved a call yet?
 
Top