Summary of Experience:
I didn't know what to expect heading into this interview day, but found I had my two most interesting interviews yet. The day started at 8:45 with an introduction from the Director of admissions, who is a playful, grandfatherly figure full of 2 to 20 stories about everything. He had us chuckling quietly even though it was so early. This overview consisted mostly of a rollout of what was contained in our interview folders, so it was not really a forum to learn more about Yale. Each of us had a customized schedule for the day, which means some people had interviews starting as early as 9:30am (surprise!) and others didn't have their first until 3:30pm, so be prepared to be flexible on the spot. General events of the day were to have the interviews over the course of the day with adcomm members, two faculty or one student one faculty, visit a lecture, eat lunch with a faculty member and then a 4th year student, get a tour of campus, and then time for afternoon interviews for those who still had them. There were definitely gaps in my schedule when I had "unsupervised" time to wander around campus, which I felt was pretty typical for a school with the Yale System mindset.
Key advice: 1. Come prepared knowing "Why Yale" because they are not going to tell you much more about the school and you might have an interview first thing. 2. Seek out ways to talk to students - we did not have a lot of student contact (first years who had only just started at Yale gave the tours, and only one 4th year was available during lunch) 3. Be prepared for unsupervised time and explore, especially if the weather is nice! 4. Ask a lot about the impact the Yale System has on learning at Yale and school culture. Make sure it is right for you, because no one will hold your hand, and they say 2 students or so every year really struggle to direct their own learning enough to succeed. At the same time, everyone highlighted that Yale faculty love Med students, and that the school encourages you to explore and study your passions, and will do whatever it can to help you find resources. They love learners. Also, the students ketp saying that the Yale system leads to a less stressful environment in pre-clinical years and overall better quality of life. 5. Ask about their new curriculum. People kept saying it was coming, but no one seemed to be sure when (most thought it would be for the class matriculating in 2014) and no one was sure exactly what it would contain because it is being developed this year. I found this question started good dicussions with my interviewers as I tried to piece together whay kind of new program I would experience.
The interviews: One of mine asked me my opinion about the affordable care act and my strengths and weaknesses, which are typical questions that I had actually never been asked. He was pretty stone faced the whole time but opened up near the end. My other interviewer asked a lot about my childhood, upbringing and values, so perhaps be prepared to speak about your pre-college life in detail.
In general, this day was very pleasant and laid back. Yale students obviously love their school, which made me love it too.
Summary of Experience:
This interview day was incredibly relaxed. Both my faculty interviewer and student interviewer were very nice and didn't grill me at all. Pitt seems to take pride in the following:
1. It has a relaxed atmosphere 2. Its WISER simulation center is a leader in the field 3. It is the only med school in Pittsburgh, so its students have unique access and little competition for a wide variety of resources 4. Its students are well prepared for Step 1 because the curriculum often includes tests that mirror step 1 questions. 5. It is really receptive to student feedback on the curriculum. 6. It receives a ton of NIH funding and views research as a priority for their students 7. Oakland in Pittsburgh is a clean, safe, homey town
Some downsides: It somehow didn't feel very student centered - UPMC is actually separate from the medical school, and I got the feeling that the students really have to push their way into opportunities
The classrooms and anatomy lab seemed kind of depressing
Research opportunities seem to be most tailored to students interested in basic science, although I was assured that I could find any opportunity if I really sought it out.
In sum: Don't stress at all about this interview day! Half the time I didn't even have to talk about myself, because the faculty and student were willing to must chat or talk about their experiences.
Summary of Experience:
First acceptance! Amazing! I feel so lucky;
This interview day was very structured and pleasant. The entire morning was filled with an overview of the Tufts curriculum/ the school's philosophy, as well as conversations about financial aid and the importance of diversity. I have heard many of these overviews at this point, but I was very impressed that first, all of the speakers were strong speakers, and second, they actually had a conversation about diversity and the importance of recognizing the influence of culture and background when providing quality care.
Tufts had separate interview rooms, which meant we lined up single file for each of our two interviews and walked into a tiny (but pleasant) room, where our interviewer was waiting. My day, almost everyone had two faculty interviews.
Interviews were very open file - at least one of my interviewers had clearly read my file carefully and reflected on my work in order to ask insightful questions. This interview felt very non-confrontational and pleasant. My second interviewer was unfortunately quite confrontational, and seemed to hold something against me from the minute I walked in the room. I am not sure what happened there, but I unfortunately left the school with a bad taste in my mouth - I also felt like I liked Tufts more than my second interview did! Very strange....
In sum, Tufts is proud of their commitment to developing strong clinicians and in its commitment to community service. They also emphasize that there are research opportunities if you want them. Despite my semi-bad interview experience, I still enjoyed learning about the school and would be excited to attend.
Summary of Experience:
This interview was incredibly satisfying, i think that's the best way to describe it. Both of my interviewers asked really thoughtful questions, and none of them were hard because I just needed to talk about me and my true experiences. There was no fluff on this interview day - Hopkins clearly doesn't feel the need to sell itself verbally, but rather lets its facilities, reputation, and obviously brilliant students do the selling for it. Some strenths:
1. The med students are obviously brilliant and future leaders in their fields 2. The facilities are unbelieveably luxurious 3. Hopkins has made deliberate efforts to make a larger community feel smaller and supportive by creating 4 colleges and smaller "molecules" within colleges that each have their own faculty advisor. 4. They emphasized their reputation for producing students who are ready for the wards, more so than step 1, which is a perspective I appreciate. 5. Students have access to incredibly diverse cases, and can explore almost any aspect of medicine they desire
Cons: I can't think of any. I even think Baltimore is great. No one I spoke to had any real cons that had me think twice.
Summary of Experience:
Amazing place, really into their philosophy. Students seem to love this school. Could definitely see myself here. Also, this was my 7th interview and by far the most relaxed I experienced. Nothing even close to a difficult question, and the admissions committee spent the day selling their school and doing a great job of it.
LuckytobeIN took the old MCAT and scored a which is in the percentile of all old scores.
We converted this to a on the updated scale which is in the percentile of the updated MCAT. We also converted LuckytobeIN’s section scores as follows:
LuckytobeIN scored a 10 on the Biological Science section of the old MCAT which is approximately equal to a 127 on the Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems.
LuckytobeIN scored a 12 on the Physical Science section of the old MCAT which is approximately equal to a 129 on the Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems.
LuckytobeIN scored a 13 on the Verbal Reasoning section of the old MCAT which is approximately equal to a 132 on the Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills.
