What does it mean to get an interview?

[deleted390966]

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So if I get to the interview stage, does it mean I'm on equal grounds with everyone, and the interview will determine whether I'll get accepted?

 

[owlegrad]

No, it just means you will be considered, not that everyone is on the same exact footing.

 

[Ayuka001]

once we get to the interview, does that mean our grades/whatever's on paper is good enough and all that's left is doing well at the interview? or will they relook at the gpa/pcat/app stuff again to determine acceptance?

 

[FlavyFlav]

I have two different experiences on this. I interviewed at UofTexas and at LECOM. At Texas, I feel I did well on the interview, nailed all questions, even brought up some of their current research projects that I was interested in. However, I was not accepted because my GPA was too low, so basically there was never a point to the interview in the first place (they had already decided before I went).

At LECOM, they had all my information to begin with and a majority of the interview focused on my GPA. I feel I excelled in that interview as well, and I was accepted.

Basically, it depends on the school, some will only call you in if your stats meet their standards, some will call you in regardless and there's nothing you can do. So... good luck!

As a caveat to this, the UT interview was not a complete waste. I learned much about the interview process, and got a dry run at the experience which helped with the confidence levels.

 

[delano2000]

It means you have a chance of getting accepted. Rock that interview!

 

[deleted390966]

basically there was never a point to the interview in the first place (they had already decided before I went).

I don't even understand why the hell some schools do this. Waste of time and money for both parties 👎

 

[owlegrad]

I don't even understand why the hell some schools do this. Waste of time and money for both parties 👎

For this reason, I am skeptical that it happens.

 

[FlavyFlav]

For this reason, I am skeptical that it happens.

Because other parts of the application stand out and they bring you in on the offchance that your most recent grades would put you over their limit, I would guess.

One way or the other, I interviewed, and my letter I received stated I wasn't going to be accepted due to GPA. Whether that was true or not is anyone's guess, but it would have been the most obvious reason.

 

[EBT12]

There are residency programs that pick x number of top candidates to interview. They also will pick a percentage of people to interview who were at the bottom of the list. They can compare the most and least qualified people as they make their selection Basically, are the criteria they are using to pick the top candidates justified? If there is no difference between the top and bottom candidates, the method to pick top candidates isn't correct. Of course, if you were an applicant, you wouldn't know that you were at the bottom of the list. I'm not saying that happened here, just offering a reason why some places would interview individuals who have no shot at actually being offered a position.

 

[pharm B]

I would think of it as part of a points system (in some cases it is). At my school, your GPA was worth a certain number of points, but so was the interview, PCAT, etc. Once interviews were completed, the apps with the highest scores were sent admissions invitations.

So I wouldn't say you're on equal footing at any time, really. Your app is your app, for better or for worse. If you get an interview, you've just made it that much further in the process. Good luck! 🙂