How many people interviewed you?
| Response Average | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 2.50 | 24 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| Positively | 22 |
| Negatively | 2 |
| No change | 0 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 2.33 | 24 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 8.33 | 24 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 6.88 | 24 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| In Person | 0 |
| Virtual | 7 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 5 minutes | 0 |
| 10 minutes | 0 |
| 15 minutes | 0 |
| 20 minutes | 0 |
| 25 minutes | 3 |
| 30 minutes | 8 |
| 35 minutes | 2 |
| 40 minutes | 0 |
| 45 minutes | 2 |
| 50 minutes | 0 |
| 55 minutes | 0 |
| 60+ minutes | 9 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| At the school | 13 |
| At a regional location | 0 |
| At another location | 9 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| One-on-one | 24 |
| In a group | 0 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| Open file | 23 |
| Closed file | 1 |
| Response Average | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 2.50 | 24 |
"In recent memory, what was the busiest time you experienced and how did you handle it?"
"What makes you want to attend ICOM specifically?"
"How do you choose a medical school?"
"Tell me about yourself?"
"Tell me about scrubbing experiences"
"What would I do to ensure I had a support group at ICOM?"
""Tell me more about _______ experience that I saw on your application.""
"How have you prepared to manage the rigorous demands of medical school?"
"Why ICOM? Why DO? Why move all the way out to Idaho? (I am from the east coast)"
"How do you handle stress?"
"So tell me about yourself?"
"Why D.O.?"
"What brought you here to ICOM today?"
"Why do you want to practice osteopathic medicine?"
"Why medicine, osteopathic medicine?"
"Why specifically do you want to go into osteopathic medicine?"
"What is something negative on your transcripts that you wish you could change?"
"There weren't many specific questions. The interview was extremely conversational and topics came up organically which made for an easy discussion."
"(hypothetical) If you got an exam back and you disagreed with the correct answer on a question, what would you do?"
"How do you handle setbacks?"
"Tell me about X activity in your application."
"If you are not doing well in medical school, what would you do?"
"About my physiology and patho background"
""I see you got a "C" in this course. Were there any extenuating circumstances that caused you to get that grade and how will you prevent that in medical school?""
"What do you expect to be the greatest challenge for you in medical school?"
"Who is your role model and why?"
"How do you feel about the MCAT?"
"Idaho is very different than X. You'll probably need a car to get around and in certain cases it can be a tough transition. Can you tell me about how you would transition to Idaho?"
"What will you do to focus on self-care in med school?"
"What makes you want to come to a new school?"
"What do you think will be one of your biggest challenges in medical school?"
"What specialty, as of right now, are you interested in pursuing?"
"Describe why you wrote your personal statement the way you did."
"Why osteopathic medicine?"
"What made you want to become a DO?"
"Describe a time when you had to give feedback to someone."
"Question about things physicians struggle with, in particular physician burnout"
"Why ICOM? Why Osteopathic med?"
""Are you ok with the idea of having to take risks for your patients as a doctor?""
"Where do you see yourself in 10 years?"
"Questions asking for more detail about experiences in my app"
"If you could have one super power which one would you have?"
"How many hours of sleep do you expect to get per night while attending ICOM?"
"Describe a time where things didn't go as planned, how did you handle the situation?"
"Ethics question regarding an HIV-positive patient (question was a real situation that the doctor had experienced, and was clearly testing to see if I would break HIPPA)."
"How can you uniquely contribute to ICOM?"
"Describe a specific time you dealt with conflict and how you handled it."
"If you had unlimited funding for research, what would you do with it?"
"What made you want to become a DO?"
"What would you do if you were met with a noncompliant patient?"
"Tell me a time when you receive constructive criticism and how you reacted?"
"Asked me about the sports I had played"
""What has guided your interest into manipulative medicine?" (I think this was meant to be more specific into the why DO question)"
"If you could have one super power, what would it be?"
"About one of my ECs. It was interesting to see that the interviewers knew so much about my application"
"If you could cure one disease which would you eliminate and why?"
"What are you proud of?"
"Who is your biggest role model?"
"If you were stranded on a desert island for a month, what one book or one music album would you bring with you, and why?"
"What do you do for fun?"
"If you were going to be alone on an island for 6 months and could only take a book with you, which book would you take?"
"Why did you decide to apply to medical schools instead of PhD programs?"
"What made you want to become a DO?"
"What role does a physician play in the healthcare system?"
"Question about how my biases clouded my judgment when giving care to a patient?"
"N/A"
""How would you act towards a patient with COVID-19?""
"What is your greatest strength?"
"If you could spend time with anyone, alive or dead/famous or not, who would you spend time with and why?"
"Nothing really difficult, mostly just asked about experiences in my app they found interesting"
"What is the biggest issue currently facing healthcare?"
"Why would you choose to go to a school that has only had one class so far?"
"How would you react if you noticed your roommate was planning on cheating on an exam?"
"n/a- all were very conversational"
"Personal biggest flaw."
"N/A - There were no difficult questions. It was very conversational and positive."
"Mock Interviews, SDN guides"
"Read SDN and talked over questions with family members"
"Studied mission statement and interview questions online."
"Mock interviews with friends, reading through the website, my application, and SDN/Reddit."
"Look at sdn, practice prompts"
"ICOM website, spoke to current students."
"Mock interviews, re-reading my application, going through the school's website to find specific info about the school"
"Review of my primary and secondary applications, and lightly rehearsed answers for common questions (e.g. why med school, why DO, why this school?)."
"Read SDN interview feedback"
"Review my app and school's website"
"Reviewed my secondary application, information about the school, and"
"Looking up the ICOM mission and their vision on their website."
"Just review your application and know your experiences"
"Read up on the area, demographics, rural medicine; went on sdn"
"Previous interview experience/researching the school."
"I reread my whole application and kind of rehearsed how I would describe certain things that would enhance my attractiveness as an applicant, such as clinical experience, volunteering, why medicine, etc."
"Reviewed my AACOMAS application and made sure I was familiar with the information provided on the school's website."
"Interviewers obviously had reviewed my file beforehand, conversation flowed easily, good follow up questions."
"Everyone seems really passionate about ICOM. The Dean and President seem fantastic and genuine, and the admissions staff and interviewers were equally a excellent."
"The students were very enthusiastic about the school."
"Everyone was friendly and willing to answer questions."
"Support of the faculty for the students is very obvious"
"The organization of the virtual interview day."
"Highly engaging faculty, staff, and students and great facilities."
"This was the most conversational interview I had! My first interview started with talking about my trip to Idaho and what I had done since I got to Boise (I arrived on Saturday for my Monday interview). My second interviewer was a huge dog lover so we spent a lot time talking about our dogs. It was a very pleasant day."
"Super nice brand new anatomy lab!! Each student gets to do each dissection. Open access all hours, plus open access to a VR anatomy lab as well. All the staff seemed to really care about the students and really want them to succeed. All the students seemed down to earth. The new dean from Wales is awesome! They seem really receptive to feedback from students and are willing to change things that aren't working. Good location too. If this school had been around longer and had more of a proven track record, it would be higher on my list."
"The warm, inclusive, and receptive atmosphere. They were completely transparent with everything and strive to constantly improve the school and student experience."
"Interviews are very conversational and relaxed. The school values the mental and physical health of its students."
"The campus and faculty are amazing. With a newly built campus, it is astounding to see the technological advancement of medical education. The faculty members and administration are very caring and willing to answer any questions you have."
"How extremely friendly and funny everyone was; the staff was very excited about the school, engaging and the interview itself was so easily- like talking to friends"
"The friendliness of the faculty and staff, the cutting edge nature of the facility, and the ability of the Dean to answer the questions/concerns about a new program."
"The campus is absolutely stunning. I love the area. And all the faculty are so positive and motivated to make this school amazing. I have a great feeling about the school ends think it will really make a name for itself."
"The faculty and their dedication to the student and the students' success. Also the state of the art facilities."
"Dean and president were supposed to be there for the welcome part but weren't, so just showed 2 pre-recorded welcomes"
"The interviewers offered very little gestural or verbal feedback on my interview answers so I had no real idea if I was doing well or not."
"Not much information from the federal loans status standpoint."
"The interview felt like it was just questions after questions, and the interviewers weren't that conversational. Felt awkward at times."
"The interviewers were rude, unenthusiastic, and condescending. I felt totally unwelcome and they made me feel grateful for being accepted elsewhere."
"It was virtual due to COVID-19, understandable but it would have been nice to have seen the campus"
"Nothing really - just wish the faculty part of the interview was longer than 30 mins."
"Nothing really."
"Honestly my main worries just come from it being a new school. No accreditation yet, no track record for board exam performance, no residency match history, not even any clinical rotations yet. They also have a 1st year repeat rate higher than the national average, however I think that stat is slightly skewed just due to on average lower stat students that attend here. Also no federal loan eligibility, which means you have to be able to get private loans which do not qualify for tax credits, and you can't defer any previous undergraduate loans. They said they are optimistically hoping to qualify for federal loans by 2021. There seems to be very minimal research here. I asked a lot of questions about it and got pretty vague answers most the time. They just finished building a research lab that will open this year, so hopefully things might pick up, but I'm not sure how much funding there is. One of my interviewers seemed to be pretty upset that he hadn't been able to continue any of his research yet when I asked him about it, and another interviewer just told me that there are opportunities for research at places outside the school. Most the affiliated sites for clinical rotations seem to be pretty small rural hospitals or clinics. This is fine if you're very interested in rural medicine, but I worry about being able to get broad enough exposure to things to build a solid enough training."
"There are no government subsidized loans."
"nothing"
"Honestly, there was nothing overtly negative about my interview experience. Some aspects of the school curriculum, like mandatory attendance and professional dress code, were not my favorite thing but that had nothing to do with the interview."
"Obviously, having not even a first class finishing a year, I did not get to talk to any current students. However, this is expected for any new school."
"N/A"
"How rude the interviewers would be."
"Very relaxed, they already know you academically, just want to see if you are a good fit."
"Who my interviewers were. You don't find this out until you open up the virtual interview link."
"How low stress the interview is"
"that there was no federal loan eligibility"
"There is no student housing."
"It is super relaxed. Don't stress about anything, just know your application and be yourself!"
"How low-key and friendly all of the interviewers would be -- would have saved a lot of stress leading into it!"
"N/A - just no your application and why you are pursuing medicine. Be yourself and everything will click."
"Don't stress too much! They aren't there to grill you or interrogate you, they just want to get to know you."
"One thing I really liked is that 5mins before the interview, they had a student as "tech support" join the meeting early and have small talk, helped to decrease nerves."
"Seems like a decent school. Location could be a bit better perhaps."
"Everyone was warm! It was a comfortable environment and the Q&A with current students didn't have any admin in it which I think helped make it more comfortable and gather good feedback. The students were very helpful as well."
"ICOM sucks. It’s clerkships are a disaster. After interviewing I heard SO many horror stories from students and I’m sad I even spent the money to apply there."
"Newer school but I'm very impressed."
"This school is so awesome and I think people don't give it enough credit for their interest in the holistic review of the applicant. It's not just about GPA and MCAT score here - I guess we'll find out exactly how much that matters when I get my admissions decision in a couple days!"
"Overall very low stress interview day. Had a quick talk from the dean, then presentations on curriculum, financial aid, and student affairs, then tour of the new anatomy lab. Then had the interviews, tour of clinical simulations, lunch with the med students, and quick tour of the rest of the building. Had three 30-min interviews, one with the Executive Director for Undergraduate Medical Education (dean's husband), a learning specialist (like a tutor or academic assistance type person), and a physiology prof (other interviewees got med students, MDs, DOs, other staff, and really all kinds of people as interviewers). All of them were very conversational and just seemed like they wanted to get to know me; I really enjoyed speaking with them all, and there was probably 10 min in each where I was the one asking all the questions. Another interviewee who had the same prof as me said he was very standoffish and intense though and asked him questions he thought were difficult, so stay on your toes just in case."
"The school is very welcoming and relaxed, and is in a beautiful area."
"This school had me within the first few hours. The facilities are amazing and every single person I met, including the security guards, were so genuinely friendly."
"All-around had a really positive interview experience at ICOM, and will strongly be considering in the program based on the experience I had there."
"I have been accepted to 7 schools already and ICOM is still my top choice. This is because I loved the area, the faculty, and had a very good gut feeling about the school during my interview."
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| Student | 8 |
| Faculty member | 4 |
| Admissions staff | 4 |
| Other | 0 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| Enthusiastic | 16 |
| Neutral | 0 |
| Discouraging | 0 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 8.14 | 22 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| In state | 5 |
| Out of state | 14 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 0-1 hour | 5 |
| 2-3 hours | 2 |
| 4-6 hours | 3 |
| 7+ hours | 5 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| Airplane | 7 |
| Automobile | 3 |
| Train or subway | 0 |
| Other | 4 |
Virtual interview so none of this really applied to me.
BOI
Boise
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| At school facility | 0 |
| With students at the school | 0 |
| Friends or family | 3 |
| Hotel | 6 |
| Home | 3 |
| Other | 1 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| < $100 | 5 |
| $101-$200 | 4 |
| $201-$300 | 2 |
| $301-$400 | 1 |
| $401-$500 | 1 |
| $501+ | 0 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 7.09 | 22 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 7.95 | 22 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 8.05 | 22 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 9.27 | 22 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 9.45 | 22 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 8.09 | 22 |
"Get better interviewers who don’t hate themselves."
"Honestly nothing - the admissions office gets back to you super quick through emails and also makes an admission decision by the end of the week you interview (this is SO nice!). I'm really hoping I get into this school because this is somewhere I want to attend being my first choice school so I hope I get that A!!!!"
"I wish I didn't have to give them a deposit to hold my seat by November 15, because I have other interviews scheduled in December and January and would hate to forfeit a seat and then not get another acceptance. Don't know if they can change the date though."
"None, keep doing what you're currently doing."
"Keep doing what you're doing. Interview day really impressed me"
"Make deposit deadline later -- it significantly complicates the selection process and may make students relinquish their acceptance offer simply because the deposit is required so early in the cycle, depending on when you interview."
"N/A"
We help students become doctors. TM
What is one of the specific questions they asked you (question 1)?