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And now what did you do TODAY?


morphsci

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Good luck CJ!! Just relax and be honest. Don't go crazy trying to impress them, just re-read that great application essay you wrote and remember why you're doing this. Don't forget you are interviewing them, too. They should treat you like a human and be interested in you as a person. Get to know their teaching philosophy. One school let me hang out with one of their teaching docs at his clinic and he spent some time showing me the clinic and I even saw a patient with him. I should have gone to that school. Pay attention to what school fits your personality, including which students you feel most comfortable hanging out with. Look around the school and picture yourself spending many many many hours there. Can you picture that happily? Or does that seem miserable?

Yes I think each school I interviewed was pretty much all day. But that was 25 freakin' years ago! My dementia could be kicking in ...

They want to see what you're like after being tired and stressed out all day. Make a trip out of it. Check things out. Don't freak out. Everyone else is going through the same. And everyone expects you to be nervous. I know I was.

Good luck, let us know how it goes!

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First med school interview tomorrow. WHY CAN'T I FALL ASLEEP???

Hopefully the lucky streak will continue until 4pm tomorrow.

John/Larry/other docs, did you med school interviews last all day long? 8am - 4:30pm?

Yeah, that was 28 years ago for me, but I'm pretty sure the interviews took all day. They lead us on tours of the facility and introduced us to teachers and staff. While we were distracted and overwhelmed by the process they observed us for whatever they could use to assess our interest and commitment while "selling" the school to us at the same time. Then they did a couple (or 3) one-on-one interviews asking us questions, but inviting us to ask them questions too. I think it helps to have a couple of prepared questions, that could be used to show the degree of thoughtfulness that you put into the process. And as stated before, they expect you to be nervous but want to see how you handle the stress and whether to keep it together well enough to do your part.

Don't sell yourself short, but don't act like you are perfect either. They love people that are well rounded, well versed in other subjects other than the sciences, and have been self starters most of their lives and involved in the community. I think doing things like being a math teacher after giving up on med school before, and having a real life before committing to a return to medicine could be intriguing to them. I went to med school with someone who was a PA and went back to be a doctor, another was an olympic swimmer, and another a ping pong world champion.

In my case I applied right out of a 4 year BS degree in Microbiology, but had worked in and volunteered in hospitals during high school and college. I was a founding member of a jewish greek fraternity at my college, and held 3 different jobs during college (lab assistant, pizza delivery, and printer's assistant). I held a 3.5 GPA, but got a 65 out of 70 on the MCAT (they score it differently now). I'm sure I wasn't nearly as well rounded as many other applicants, but I got into 3 out of 4 schools, so I must have some something right. I was happy that Baylor College of Medicine had an early decision process, so I interviewed in November and was accepted in December. I got to turn down Texas A&M and University of Texas Houston when their offers came in later. Texas Tech was my first interview, and I didn't do so well, so they had placed me on a wait list in case there was an opening later.

So, good luck and don't over-think it!

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