As you know, for medical school applicants the interview can be make or break time. By the time a student arrives for an interview, the admissions committee has seen their MCAT scores and GPA and expressed an interest; now it’s the final leg of the admissions process – the part that your shyer or more modest students may loathe the most. Notably, in a recent Kaplan survey of medical school admissions officers an “unimpressive interview” was ranked as the biggest application killer. But just as students should look at the MCAT as an opportunity rather than an obstacle, the same can be said about the interview. They should keep in mind that by this stage in the admissions process, applicants’ academic credentials are likely very similar to one another – med schools know they can do the work, but want to know if they have what it takes to be a doctor? That is what the interview is all about. That said, here are some pieces of advice and strategies that admissions officers have shared with us recently.
Don’t Go In Unprepared
Once granted an interview, their fate is in their own hands. Unfortunately, many students go into their first few interviews with medical schools woefully unprepared, hoping to get better as time goes on. Just like running a marathon (or taking the MCAT) untrained is a bad idea, the same principle applies here. They want to anticipate the questions and formulate the key points of their responses, maximizing their potential for success. Often the interviewer will base his or her questions on their personal statement and their med school application; this is especially true if they have an “open file” interview where the interviewer sees their application beforehand. As a result, your students should be familiar with their application inside and out, and should be prepared to discuss it in detail.
On occasion, an interviewer may ask students to comment on a medically-related current event or ethical issue. It’s not expected that they be an expert on these topics—just that they have thought about them and have something reasonably intelligent to share.
Mock Interviews
Mock interviews are invaluable trial runs. This is a great opportunity for you as a pre-health adviser to step in. Evaluate your students’ speaking style, the content of their answers, their body language, and their overall presentation. Honest feedback (even if it may hurt their egos) will help them realize if they speak too quickly or softly, if they should enunciate more clearly, tone it down, tone it up, etc.
Act the Part
Whether we like it or not, physical appearance will be the first impression your students make on the interviewers. While it’s important for applicants to make a memorable impression during the interview, they want to be remembered as the self-confident candidate with loads of charm and wit – not the one with the braided facial hair, multiple visible tattoos, or tongue ring. Ultimately medical schools use the interview to evaluate a student’s professionalism, and the way a student presents him or herself is a key indicator here. This goes beyond appropriate attire; students should remember that every interaction they have with a representative of the school, whether it be with a dean, a medical student, or an administrative assistant, is considered part of the interview process and could influence the decision to offer acceptance.
Be Early for Your Med School Interview
Interview invitations usually begin to arrive in the late summer or early fall. At many schools, the sooner a student interviews the sooner they’ll be considered for acceptance, so the earlier they can schedule their interview the better.
When the time comes, it’s best for students to arrive the night before the interview in order to familiarize themselves with the area and the school. In addition to allowing time for any delays that may result from travel or being in an unfamiliar city, this will also give your students the opportunity to unwind and get a good night’s sleep. After all, few things are more underwhelming than an inattentive and dreary-eyed applicant.
Final Thoughts
One other thing: whenever possible, students should find out what kind of interview process the medical school will have. While each school runs interviews in a slightly different way, there are generally two main approaches that differ significantly: the traditional interview in which the student meets with only a few representatives of the program for longer discussions, or the Multiple Mini Interview, in which students meet with many medical school officials for less than 10 minutes each. Kaplan Test Prep’s 2012 survey of medical school admissions officers finds that the use of MMI is on the rise.
This is your students’ time to shine. Be genuine, be compelling, be confident. It’s the closing argument. This is their face-to-face time to show medical schools why they are a must-have student and would be a credit to the medical profession.
