SEEING HOW IT WORKS.
The first thing you need to do when dealing with the medical admissions interview is to get clear on the actual process of the interview itself. By understanding the reasons for your selection, and anticipating what will happen, you’ll have a much better chance at a great interview.
BY WHAT CRITERIA ARE INTERVIEW CANDIDATES SELECTED?
Your application will get screened by a lot of people — students, attending physicians, and scientists as well. There are certain schools who only accept grades and scores that are above a certain level, so if you’re not at that level, you won’t reach the screening part.
Depending on the school you apply to, they might even use a system of points that awards certain scores to your extra curricular activities, how you did on the MCAT, and your recommendation letters. Once you hit a certain minimum, you’ll get accepted for an interview.
Normally, though, the invitation decision is quite subjective. While we’d all like to believe that bias doesn’t exist, it’s just not that simple. Whether you like it or not, you’ll be dealing with the screener’s built-in viewpoints, and this really matters when you’re an application that doesn’t have everything 100% perfect.
For example, if reviewer A always had to struggle with board scores yet managed to succeed while reviewer B always had board scores in the top 5th percentile, reviewer A is much more likely than reviewer B to screen in an application with lower-than-average board scores.
Of course, whoever interviews you will be using some objective guidelines to judge you, too. But despite all of that, there’s still a lot of subjective judgment going on here. Even though you can’t prevent it, you need to be aware of it.
WHAT CAN YOU DO TO PREPARE FOR YOUR INTERVIEWS?
1) Make sure you carefully check everything you sent in – re-read all your statements, essays, and application itself, because any and all of it will be discussed.
2) Practice, practice, practice.
Is there anything else you can do that will help you prepare for the interview?
There are absolutely tons of professionals out there ready to help with your preparation, but it’s fundamental to know you’re choosing wisely. Make sure you stay plenty skeptical, as there are lots of parties out there giving willfully bad advice. Let’s go over the kinds of professionals you’ll find online:
1) Advisors without physician credentials: There are lots of advisors and consultants out there, but if you’re dealing with one that isn’t a doctor in the first place, there’s an essential lack of insight and perspective that isn’t going to help you.
2) Actual Physician-Advisors: Plenty of qualified physicians also dispense admissions advice, but only ones who have actually done work on med school admissions committees are going to know the process inside and out. Watch out for shifty credentials that aren’t properly clear.
Just because someone went to a top notch medical school or maybe served for a year as an “admissions officer” does not mean they can provide sound guidance. Ask, specifically, if the individual with whom you work has served on a medical school admissions committee.
3) Freelance Writing Companies: There are plenty of essay-editing companies out there with some good writers working for them, but without direct experience in the medical sector, you’re risking a serious part of your life to a talented person with no practical experience in your field.
4) Major Medical-Ed Companies: These companies will often hire many credentialed people that make the entire organization seem great, but when it comes to being assigned a specific advisor, you aren’t guaranteed a spot with them.
Think long and hard when it comes to selecting someone to help you get into medical school. The best option is simple – a physician with legitimate admissions experience, a medical education background, and strong writing chops.
Here are a few questions you’ll probably see during your interview:
Tell me a joke.
What experience made you want to pursue medicine?
Why XXX school?
What has been your greatest challenge?
Tell me about your research/clinical/work/volunteer experiences.
If you’re looking for assistance with your medical school applications, your interview preparation, or just your medical school interviews in general, give MedEdits a call, and we’ll do everything we can to get you accepted.
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