why do a lot of medical schools do interviews at the end of the day?

[boltedbicorne]

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it seems really counterproductive to hold a bunch of discussions and do everything while most people are probably just focusing on and worrying about the interview. Plus if it's at the end of the day we're going to be way less energetic and the quality of interviews they receive will probably be way poorer. I had one school that just got it out of the way at the beginning of the day and that just made perfect sense and the rest of the day was stress free and actually informative. why do med schools often insist on interviewing students at the end of the day? few things sound more awful than being burnt out, jetlagged, and grilled on ethics at the end of the day. Is there something i'm missing?

 

[hoihaie]

Maybe cause you will also be dealing with patients when you're burnt out, tired, stressed...

 

[ridethecliche]

Because it'll answer questions about the school? Why would they set things up for people to ask questions easily answered by a tour and question/answer session.

Also, I'm not sure you know what jetlag is. The biggest difference on the continental US is 3 hrs. That's nothing...

 

[boltedbicorne]

Because it'll answer questions about the school? Why would they set things up for people to ask questions easily answered by a tour and question/answer session.

Also, I'm not sure you know what jetlag is. The biggest difference on the continental US is 3 hrs. That's nothing...

huh? i dont get your comment. questions asked at the interview can be beyond the scope of those answered during a tour regardless.

 

[ridethecliche]

I know you don't get my point. That's part of the issue.

 

[xffan624]

Because it'll answer questions about the school? Why would they set things up for people to ask questions easily answered by a tour and question/answer session.

Also, I'm not sure you know what jetlag is. The biggest difference on the continental US is 3 hrs. That's nothing...

Yeah I had to fly from Asia for one of my interviews. I left on a Saturday, arrived on a Saturday a couple hours later. Rested Sunday, interviewed Monday. Flew back on a Tuesday. They did the interview after lunch. Still got accepted. 🙂

 

[boltedbicorne]

I know you don't get my point. That's part of the issue.

Actually the issue is your point makes no sense at all.

Yeah I had to fly from Asia for one of my interviews. I left on a Saturday, arrived on a Saturday a couple hours later. Rested Sunday, interviewed Monday. Flew back on a Tuesday. They did the interview after lunch. Still got accepted. 🙂

nice humble brag you got going on there.

 

[Tintinnabula]

it seems really counterproductive to hold a bunch of discussions and do everything while most people are probably just focusing on and worrying about the interview. Plus if it's at the end of the day we're going to be way less energetic and the quality of interviews they receive will probably be way poorer. I had one school that just got it out of the way at the beginning of the day and that just made perfect sense and the rest of the day was stress free and actually informative. why do med schools often insist on interviewing students at the end of the day? few things sound more awful than being burnt out, jetlagged, and grilled on ethics at the end of the day. Is there something i'm missing?

OP, you are after all interviewing at a school. Most often, you're also interviewing when the school is in session; I know I did. Faculty involved in the interview process/AdCom may be unavailable until late in the day because they're teaching in classes. Other, non-faculty or non-COM faculty members may have similar but unrelated schedules - and for some AdCom members their schedules are booked months in advance, with very few interview-devoted holes available that also coincide with the interview day schedule put forth by the COM admissions folks.

 

[ridethecliche]

I like that the OP quoted themselves when saying that the point made no sense.

I rest my case.

 

[TheLionheart]

That's exactly what UA-Phoenix did, after hearing feedback from their students. They moved the MMI to early in the interview day, and I thought it was awesome when I interviewed earlier today. We got the interviews out of the way basically first thing, and we spent the rest of the day being a lot more laid back and sociable. It made the tours and talks a significantly better experience.

 

[IslandStyle808]

Because it'll answer questions about the school? Why would they set things up for people to ask questions easily answered by a tour and question/answer session.

Also, I'm not sure you know what jetlag is. The biggest difference on the continental US is 3 hrs. That's nothing...

that... does... not... help... me... feel... better... bro... (From Non-contiental US, 5-6 hour difference)

 

[boltedbicorne]

I like that the OP quoted themselves when saying that the point made no sense.

I rest my case.

Rest your case in peace because it still makes zero sense.

That's exactly what UA-Phoenix did, after hearing feedback from their students. They moved the MMI to early in the interview day, and I thought it was awesome when I interviewed earlier today. We got the interviews out of the way basically first thing, and we spent the rest of the day being a lot more laid back and sociable. It made the tours and talks a significantly better experience.

That's awesome that a school incorporated student feedback and moved it to earlier. I had one school that did the earlier interview and now every school i'm at has interviews later in the day =/.

 

[IslandStyle808]

That's exactly what UA-Phoenix did, after hearing feedback from their students. They moved the MMI to early in the interview day, and I thought it was awesome when I interviewed earlier today. We got the interviews out of the way basically first thing, and we spent the rest of the day being a lot more laid back and sociable. It made the tours and talks a significantly better experience.

One of the DO schools I interviewed at last cycle did the same thing. After feedback from the previous students, they made the interview the first part of the day. And pretty much everything you summed up was the same for that interview.

 

[Jepstein30]

Rest your case in peace because it still makes zero sense.

Maybe try to rationalize said point instead of just ignoring it? It makes perfect question.

Student has X number of questions about the school.

If the interview is early in the day, Student asks the Interviewer X questions.
If the interview is later in the day, Student will learn some of the answers to his questions and will ask the Interviewer <X questions.

Not only is this out of consideration for the interviewer who has limited time to take out of their day to interview... but you have a limited amount of time to get to know a candidate. You want to spend as little as possible on questions about the school. This also allows the candidate to get a better sense of the school so the "why us?" question actually takes more meaning.

I think it's fine either way.. but there are obvious pro's and con's to each that it doesn't take too much brainpower to distinguish.

 

[cactus8910]

So far I've interviewed at two schools. At one I interviewed at the end of the day, and at the other I interviewed first thing in the morning. Personally, I preferred having my interview at the end. I was able to have my more basic questions answered during the tour and lunch with students, and came up with more complicated/interesting questions for the interviewer based on what I'd heard throughout the day. I also felt like I had a better answer for the "Why X school?" question because I knew more about it than just what the website said.

I'm sure for some people having the interview at the ends means they're stressed out for the whole day, but for me it actually meant that I relaxed throughout the day and went into my interview feeling more calm and less jittery.

 

[ridethecliche]

Dear OP.

Hell hath no fury like a pre-med scorned. Apparently, anyway.

So far I've interviewed at two schools. At one I interviewed at the end of the day, and at the other I interviewed first thing in the morning. Personally, I preferred having my interview at the end. I was able to have my more basic questions answered during the tour and lunch with students, and came up with more complicated/interesting questions for the interviewer based on what I'd heard throughout the day. I also felt like I had a better answer for the "Why X school?" question because I knew more about it than just what the website said.

I'm sure for some people having the interview at the ends means they're stressed out for the whole day, but for me it actually meant that I relaxed throughout the day and went into my interview feeling more calm and less jittery.

And there's the answer that went over the OP's head. This way, the interviewers won't be inundated with questions about the school that are easily answered.

 

[Osteoth]

Thats like asking why do medical schools often present you with the same exact materials they have on their websites at the interview...

The answer may never be known

 

[IL Pre Med]

You got medical school interviews and you don't know what jetlag is... God help this country

 

[boltedbicorne]

Dear OP.

Hell hath no fury like a pre-med scorned. Apparently, anyway.

And there's the answer that went over the OP's head. This way, the interviewers won't be inundated with questions about the school that are easily answered.

dude, anyone with a brain can ask questions that aren't answered by a tour or quick q&a. If you cant you got far bigger issues honestly.

Thats like asking why do medical schools often present you with the same exact materials they have on their websites at the interview...

The answer may never be known

too true, preach on brother. we dont need 9 hrs of the redundant school of redundancy. but it makes me wonder if they would have anything to do if they weren't being redundant as hell.

 

[Osteoth]

dude, anyone with a brain can ask questions that aren't answered by a tour or quick q&a. If you cant you got far bigger issues honestly.




too true, preach on brother. we dont need 9 hrs of the redundant school of redundancy. but it makes me wonder if they would have anything to do if they weren't being redundant as hell.

My interviews that didn't have a bunch of redundant stuff went basically interview, lunch w/med students, interview, tour, out of there in less than 4-5 hours. Vs. the ones who drag it out all day and make you spend an entire 8-9 hour day listening to presentations