How many people interviewed you?
| Response Average | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 1.98 | 162 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| Positively | 139 |
| Negatively | 13 |
| No change | 13 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 3.26 | 161 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 7.70 | 121 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 7.81 | 116 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| In Person | 0 |
| Virtual | 5 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 5 minutes | 0 |
| 10 minutes | 0 |
| 15 minutes | 0 |
| 20 minutes | 2 |
| 25 minutes | 2 |
| 30 minutes | 44 |
| 35 minutes | 12 |
| 40 minutes | 22 |
| 45 minutes | 26 |
| 50 minutes | 19 |
| 55 minutes | 1 |
| 60+ minutes | 38 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| At the school | 158 |
| At a regional location | 0 |
| At another location | 4 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| One-on-one | 158 |
| In a group | 2 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| Open file | 123 |
| Closed file | 9 |
| Response Average | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 1.98 | 162 |
"They asked me to expand on an assertion I made in my personal statement, challenged it, and asked me to defend it."
"What makes you think you fit our mission?"
"they asked me to explain a bad grade on my application"
"Tell me about a time when you messed up? How did you handle it?"
"asked me to describe a specific interaction with more detailing from my secondary."
"Tell of a time you made a mistake."
"Tell me about a time you took a shortcut/cut corners?"
"Tell us about a time you had to take a shortcut and were comfortable with it."
"If you could do your education over again what would you change?"
"Why Chicago?"
"Tell me about a time you were challenged?"
"I see here [this] is why you got into medicine. Could you talk a little more about that?"
"What was your most important experience and why?"
"Talk about your research"
"Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?"
"What first led you to medicine?"
"Name a time you had to interact with with people very different from yourself/ generic diversity question"
"Explain your Research"
"What is the hardest challenge you've ever overcome?"
"Ethics Question: Smoking Cessation"
"What should I tell the admissions committee about you?"
"What ethics topic do you want to talk about"
"Was asked to discuss certain personal aspects of my secondary application. Know your secondary well, they really do read it before they come in to interview you."
"Tell me a little about yourself"
"Tell me about yourself..."
"Why medicine"
"What do I need to know about you that's not in your application?"
"How have you experienced diversity?"
"First interview was much more intense, asked me everything in my primary, secondary applications, and ethical questions (open file). The second interviewer had a blank sheet of paper and asked me how I wanted him to fill it up and how I wanted him to remember me (closed file). We talked a lot about my job and goals in medicine."
"What do you do for fun?"
"Explain your research."
"What would you say your friends would say is your greatest weakness?"
"What made you choose medicine? Why Rush?"
"a lot about activities, my life story, research experience (one was a PhD)"
"As an older/nontrad applicant, how will you feel when you're still not making money at 30+ and your friends are?"
"What are you looking for in a medical school? "
"Why Should we pick you?"
"What is it that you would haven't been able to say that you would like to tell the admissions committee?"
"Why do you want to attend Rush?"
"Why do you want to become a doctor?"
"Why Rush? Why Medicine?"
"What would you do if you found out another student was cheating?"
"Describe yourself."
"Where are you from?"
"Tell me about yourself. (got to love this one)"
"tell me about your family?"
"If you had to help a patient either quit smoking or lose weight which would you choose and why?"
"Why medicine? Why study medicine at Rush?"
"Why Rush? What will keep you interested in medicine 20 years from now? How do you deal with stress?"
"Many specifics about my secondary"
"why I did poorly on a section of MCAT"
"If you could change something on your application what would it be?"
"Why medicine and not some other arena of healthcare?"
"Describe your experiences as an undergrad."
"(One of my interviewers was REALLY tough and asked me non-stop questions directly off of my primary/secondary applications. As I was answering, the interviewer was looking at my application for the next question. And I seemed to be interrupted at the end of each of my answers by the next question being asked. Just beware that you might get lots of very specific questions directly off the apps.)"
"Why medicine rather than another health care career?"
"Tell me about your research in Italy?"
"Why did you change from engineering to medicine?"
"tell me about yourself, why do u want to be a doc? y Rush? (by both)"
"Why Medicine? And what specialty if you had to choose now?"
"Why a doctor?"
"What is the most significant problem facing doctors in medicine today? (as stated above)"
"Explain why you chose to participate in some of the extra-curricular activities."
"Open file: Tell me about your research. Closed file: What was your favorite class (non-science)? Favorite overall (including science)?"
"Tell me about yourself. Name an obstacle you have encountered on your journey to medical school."
"What specialty you want to go in? what difficulty you faced when coming here, did you face problems after Sept 11th closed file interview"
"tell me about yourself?"
"Why medicine? Also: Why would you be a good doctor?"
"Interview #1: 1) What is your biggest fear? 2) If you were stuck between a train and a wall, and you were going to die as soon as they moved the train, AND you could only have one person brought to you before you died, who would you choose? 3) What is the biggest problem in healthcare today? 4) What is the most dangerous/reckless thing you have ever done? 5) Asked a lot of questions about my family."
"What would you do if you were treating an elderly patient who did not want to take a flue shot? After my answer, the interviewer pulled out a graph and asked me consider the data and respond."
"Tell me about this activitiy.... "
"Can you think of a situation in which you felt you were unfairly judged?"
"Done any community service?"
"A bunch of hypothetical questions regarding how I would handle situations as a doctor. For example: If you were a doctor and a child had diabetes and the parents were not changing the child's diet to accomodate the diabetes how would get the parents to change the diet? "
"Why the career change (I'm a non-traditional student)?"
"Tell me about yourself"
"tell me about your college experience?"
"Tell me about yourself. Why Rush, why medicine, What do your parents think about your endeavors?, Research experience? "
"What are your alternative plans if you dont' get in to med school."
"besides feeling disappointed, humbled, reflective, and motivated, how else did you feel when you did not get accepted to any med school two years ago? (see what i mean?)"
"What makes a good physician?"
"List 3 important issues in health care"
"What would someone who doesn't like you say their reason for disliking you was?"
"Name some problems you will face being a physician (besides health care)."
"Why medicine?"
"Why do I think that I didn't get in last year? Why else ((after I answered)? What do I think that I have done since then that has been positive? "
"Why do you want to be a physician?"
"If you like your research so much, why don't you just do that? Why do you want to be a doctor? "
"Why should we take you over the other candidates?"
"Describe my travels, experiences. Basically conversational."
"you have fifty hearts and one hundred patients: decide who gets the hearts"
"Starting from 11th grade, tell me all of your volunteer work?"
"What are the major issues facing medicine ?"
"Tell me about your ECs?"
"Open File: Why do you want to be a doctor? "
"Questions about my application weaknesses"
"What do you think about national healthcare?"
"What do you do in your spare time?"
"How do you know you can handle the stress of being a physician?"
"Your file does not show much "maturation" how do you explain that? (I did not do many shadowing or community activities in college)"
"What is your definition of honesty? Do you think physicians should always be honest with their patients?"
"I applied early decision so he asked me Why Rush?"
"What was the most difficult class that you took? why?"
"You discussed having several interests outside of medicine -How do you think this will affect you while you are in medical school? What strategies do you have in dealing with this?"
"Why medicine? "
"Why Rush?"
"Tell me about your research."
"Tell me about yourself."
"What was your favorite class? least favorite?"
"Why do u wanna become a doctor?"
"My open file interview was interesting in that I was asked about everything I did relating to medicine, work experience, and extracurricular even thought she had everything right there and looked through the file as we spoke"
"Why did you pick your undergrad school?"
"Talk about 9/11 and how you dealt with it."
"How would your friends describe you?"
"Why do you want to be a doctor?"
"What do your parents do?"
"Why do you want to become a physician? What area do you think you will pursue? Do you want to be more clinical or research oriented?(open interview) "
"They asked me why I transferred schools."
"What thing are we not doing to our mission that we should do?"
"why medicine/a physician specifically, why not any other career like public health"
"describe an instance in which i discussed a topic with someone else, and we did not come to an agreement."
"When did you cut corners and would do it again?"
"What might someone who doesn't like you say about you?"
"What are your thoughts on medicine today in comparison to how you felt before (relevant to personal statement)?"
"What are your hobbies?"
"Why did you take more than 4 years to graduate?"
"What interests you about Rush?"
"Ethical question-on genetic testing"
"Have you had to handle conflict and in what way?"
"Would you refuse treatment to a patient who refused to be vaccinated?"
"Tell me about your research."
"What do you feel is the biggest issue in healthcare currently?"
"What did you learn from playing your sport?"
"Explain your research"
"Do you have any updates to your application?"
"Tell me about your research"
"Elaborate on certain experiences from application"
"Tell me about your research and its implications"
"What do you have that will make you a good doctor, besides verbal what are other types of communication?"
"I'm a non-trad, we discussed how being older, and having done an SMP previously makes me different from other applicants. Also asked about diversity and how I've encountered that in my past experiences. And we discussed what my support network (family, friends) think about my decision to go into medicine."
"Your science GPA has dropped as you have gone through college, why?"
"Explain your current activities."
"no questions - just a conversation"
"What do you think about diversity?"
"When did you figure out you wanted to go into medicine?"
"An elderly person refuses to get a flu shot, what do you do?"
"Where do you see yourself in 10 years? (I was asked to be pretty specific)."
"How did you end up wanting to be a doctor?"
"Are you sure you want to be a physician?"
"If you had an alcoholic patient who continued to abuse alcohol would you continue treating that patient despite him/her taxing hospital resources?"
"What do you think will be the hardest part of being a doctor?"
"why medicine"
"What would you do if you didn't get in?"
"How did you pay for college? "
"Where do you see yourself in 20 years?"
"Elaborate on past medical experience."
"What specialty are you considering today? What makes you interested in that?"
"Are there any specific extra-curricular activities you would like me to highlight at your file review before the committee?"
"What made you chose medicine?"
"If you were the president, what issues would you address the nation on and what would you do to improve them? (He was looking for health care)"
"Tell me about yourself..."
"How were your grades in this course?"
"Describe your research experiences."
"Describe some of your leisure activities."
"What will make you a strong addition to the incoming class? "
"Tell me about your shadowing experience."
"Why Rush and not any other Chicago university?"
"Why did you choose your major? (I am a language major)"
"tell me about your youth group leadership experiences"
"Tell me about your family."
"Describe your leadership style and experiences. Describe some clinical experiences and what you learned from them."
"Describe an experience that led you to medicine."
"Ethical questions"
"How to manage AIDS"
"Tell me about yourself"
"What would you bring to the school?"
"What classes did you like the most as an undergrad?"
"(The purpose of the 2nd interview is recruitment. The person will be getting to know you with the intention of making sure you understand all the benefits of going to Rush. Not a lot of questions asked to me in the 2nd interview)"
"What about Rush makes you think this is the right medical school for you?"
"How do you think you will be able to handle an 80 hour work week and on-call night shifts at 40 years old?"
"What was the last concert you attended?"
"They wanted to know more about my research. How did u study for the MCAT? "
"Describe a situation when you were misjudged."
"What are your friends like?"
"So, how do you like living in Arizona? How's the food? (weird... I come from Arizona so I guess it's a free for all question... but that was all we talked about was food!)"
"Tell me more about your volunteer experience."
"What do I do for fun?"
"What kind of a medical practice do you think you want to have...what specialty, what kind of a setting?"
"Open file: My interviewer wanted me to ask him questions about the school, so be prepared with a bunch. Closed file: What ethical issues do you think physicians most currently face?"
"Name an instance when you have had difficulty working with a group and how you resolved it."
"Tell me about yourself? both closed file and open file, but my open file interviewer did not let me proceed than my second sentence and started talking about someone he knew in the place I came from"
"How would your friend describe you? How would your profs describe you?"
"What will you do if you are not accepted this year? Why this school? Why medicine? (asked during both interviews)"
"What are your strengths?"
"Why medicine? Why did I choose to do my undergrad where I did? What do I know and like about Chicago?"
"Family background, school background, interests in medicine, why end up here?"
"What class are you really looking forward to/really dreading in medical school and why?"
"How would you inform a Chicago White Sox player that he would never be able to play at the same level again."
"A bunch of what is wrong with healthcare today and role of physicians in debates over euthanasia or abortion."
"What happens if you don't get in? What's your backup?"
"Why do you want to be a doctor"
"Experience with minorities, problems with medicine, any doubts about being a doctor?"
"what have you done since you graduated?"
"besides retaking the mcat, gaining more med-related experience, conducting your research, continuing your volunteer work, what else did you do the past 2 years?"
"What do you think about healthcare in this country?"
"What if you made a mistake on a patient, what would you do?"
"Why medicine? Be prepared to answer this question at least 3 times throughout the day!"
"What do you know about Rush."
"Who's to blame for the current state of healthcare in America?"
"What did I learn from working at the hospital?"
"With 50 livers and 100 people that need transplants, how do you decide who gets the organs?"
"What problems do you see in medicine today? "
"What's the biggest problem facing healthcare?"
"Why was your mark lower in this area? Explain what happened. "
"why medicine? this was asked three different times in my closed file interview"
"What are your plans for the summer?"
"You have one heart for transplant and a lot of patients who need this heart, how would you choose who gets the heart ?"
"Tell me about an experience that changed your life."
"Open File: What makes you angry?"
"Do you think you'd go into research? What specialty do you think you'll choose?"
"Discuss contraversies in medicine"
"Why do you want to be a doctor?"
"Why medicine?"
"Name a controversy in medicine and how you would fix it."
"what type of medicine do you see youself doing? why? "
"How did you prepare for the mcat?"
"What do you think is the biggest problem with health care and what do you suggest should be done to fix it?"
"Why did you choose your undergradute institution?"
"why medicine? Why did you pick the major that you did?"
"On our way out of my first interview, my interviewer cleverly pointed at a flyer about a speaker who was coming in to discuss national health insurance and said, "this may not be of any interest to you, but..." and waited to see if I had an opinion on the issue."
"What motivates you?"
"What brought you here since you have already been accepted elsewhere?"
"Why Rush?"
"What elective courses are you taking?"
"Why did you switch majors? (I was originally pre-vet)"
"What is the biggest ethical concern facing the medical field today?"
"What was your role in your research?"
"My closed file interview asked why I wanted to be a physician, what things prepared me for my career choice, and about extracurricular activites"
"What is your role in your research lab?"
"Talk about a situation in which you were misjudged."
"How do you deal with adversity in your life?"
"Is Rush your top choice and why?"
"Tell me about your most signifigant extracurricular activity."
"What would you do if you saw someone cheat on a test? "
"I was asked about research I had conducted (open interview). Also, I was asked about some of my work history and so forth (open interview)"
"How did your service activity impact you, and how do you think you impacted them?"
"What is the main issue in healthcare?"
"intelligence, empathy, and integrity -- of these 3 traits which one do you think is the most important for a physician to have and why"
"how would you describe yourself?"
"Will you be involved in political activism (not specifying when)?"
"General hobbies, activities, etc."
"What would someone who likes you say about you?"
"Was asked to clarify my specific role in an activity listed on my application."
"What attracts you to Rush?"
"Lots of specific questions about my application. Very conversational."
"What do you think of human genome sequencing? How do you think this will change the face of medicine? Is it ethical?"
"What do you look for in a school?"
"Name a specific instance from shadowing that taught you the most."
"How do you think the future of healthcare will look in 10 years."
"How do you manage stress?"
"List three of your strengths and explain why they are applicable to you"
"Elaborate on research"
"Why become a doctor?"
"What are you looking for in a medical college"
"My 2nd interview was with a MS4. He had more of a "list" of questions that he wanted to ask me. The 2nd interview was closed file, while the first was open. Even with the "list," the interview proceeded like a convo. Talked about health care (If I had a magic wand and can reform healthcare in anyway I like, what are some things that I'd like to do?) Also asked about my interests in medicine and what formed them to be that way. He wanted to know how I deal with stress, etc."
"Where do you see yourself in 15-20 years?"
"Why did you get ___ grade in O Chem???? (basically grilled me on this one grade), be preped for this and don't let it catch you off guard."
"What's the weakest part of your application?"
"Why not nursing/PA/Paramedic?"
"Tell me about yourself."
"Why did you decide to teach before medical school?"
"Talked about the case where an employer (sports team) asked an employee (athlete) to get a genetic test (for a heart abnormality) and what I thought about that."
"Why do you want to be a doctor? How's your family handling the news?"
"What are you going to do if you do not get into medical school?"
"What are they advantages and disadvantages of being a non traditional student?"
"What is the biggest problem in healthcare as you see it?"
"How do you think we can improve our current healthcare system?"
"What will you do if a patient won't listen to you?"
"why rush"
"How do you/your family feel about moving far from home?"
"What would you do if your patient refused to stop smoking? When that doesn't work what else would you do?"
"What do you like to do in your free time?"
"Why Medicine?"
"What are two weaknesses that your close friends would tell me you need to address?"
"What are you doing on your year off?"
"Tell me, why Rush?"
"If you had an elderly patient who took alternative medicine, and they were against getting the flu shot, what would you do as their physician, would you convince him/her to get it or not and why?"
"What do you like to read?"
"Where do you see yourself in ten years?"
"What other leadership experiences did you have?"
"What would you do if a child's parents were refusing treatment that would benefit the child?"
"Describe your research."
"What makes you angry? "
"Do you have any questions for me?"
"Where have you been aceepted? (Hated this question, hope it won't affect my chances here.)"
"What would you do if you don't get into Med school?"
"undergrad experience?"
"Tell me about your undergrad experience? What made you decide to apply to medical school?"
"Why Chicago? Why Rush?"
"What do we do about America's healthcare crisis?"
"Why was your MCAT Score an XX? "
"I wasn't asked any ethical questions, or questions about current healthcare issues. However, another applicant was. "
"I was given the chance to ask a number of questions. "
"Research experiences"
"Why do you think Rush would be a good fit?"
"Where did you apply...why...and where did you interview?"
"What kinds of music groups are you involved in? "
"You have an obese patient who complains of sore joints and back pain and shortness of breath. She also smokes a pack a day. She tells you that she knows she needs to quit smoking and lose weight but has only enough will power to do one. How do you respond to her. "
"What would you do if you didn't get into medical school this year?"
"Tell me about your siblings."
"Why Rush? And, I was repeatedly asked if I had any questions."
"Tell me about your family life?"
"What is your backup plan?"
"Explain your choice of major (I'm a humanities major)."
"What field of medicine are you interested in and why do you think you want to go?"
"Closed file: What are two of your strenghths/weaknesses?"
"Why Rush? Why medical school? Is there anything you would like to ask me?"
"Have you done research and volunteer? open file again did not let me proceed more than yes and gave very interesting and meaningful insight about his views. What questions do you have for me? Asked me a lot of times...I tried to think of some and in the end I just said nope thats it everyones answered all of my questions."
"What can you bring to Rush? Why should we pick you?"
"Do you have any questions for me? This was asked for both open and closed file interviews. However, the closed file he asked ME questions for about 15 minutes, then the rest of the interview I asked him stuff. Moral of the story: Come with a bunch of good, discussion-provoking questions. And LISTEN to what they say so you can ask insightful things about their responses."
"Interview #2: 1) Tell me about yourself. 2) What specialty do you want to go into? 3) What makes you unique and better than the other applicants?"
"What do you know about AIDS?"
"What questions to you have for me? My interviewer was VERY interested in my questions, and we spent a good amount of time on this. Even though most people will only get to ask 1-3 questions, I would have 5 GOOD questions (not financial aid, etc. They will answer many of your standard questions at the beginning of the day). Make sure to cover several diffent topics, not 5 related questions. EG: I have read that Rush students spend more time in class than the average medical student. Does this increased class time reflect a Rush philosophy valuing group learning over independent study? Make sure the questions exhibit careful relfection on your part. Stumping the interviewer means that you asked a question that isn't stock, and my interviewer appreciated that."
"strengths/weakness, what can you bring to the class, greatest accomplishments, etc."
"How did growing up on a farm influence your decision to become a doctor?"
"Describe an instance in which you felt you were misjudged."
"What speciality would you choose?"
"Tell me more about your research"
"what would you do if medical school does not meet your expectations? what will you do if you do not get into medical school? what do you see when you look in the mirror? d"
"Best features as a physician, what wife thought, any questions for me? "
"Tell me about your volunteer experiences."
"Besides your background, your experience, your goals, how else are you different from other applicants?"
"How many other schools did you apply to. Did you get into any of them yet?"
"What do you do for fun & have very specific examples! What was you favorite class and why? What was your least favorite class and why? "
"The physicians who interviewed me were very interested in the number of questions I had for THEM, so please make sure you have at least 2-3 good questions to ask them."
"Questions about my experiences."
"How does one get medical care in America?"
"What do I think about HMO's?"
"What are the causes of Diabetes, MI, HIV transmission, and Cancer?"
"Do you know who Frank Netter is? "
"What's your best attribute?"
"Problems with the US medical system. Any solutions?"
"What are the qualities of a good physician in your opinion? (be prepared for a follow up question such as: what about blank) Try not to leave anything out!"
"What are the strengths of an HMO and what are its weaknesses ?"
"Do you know how to play cricket?"
"Closed File: Many questions on society, politics, literature, some on medicine, and personal life. "
"What accomplishment are you most proud of?"
"Why do I want to be a doctor"
"Why did you major in Psychology?"
"What are the 3 greatest problems facing the medical profession outside of health care providing institutions?"
"How is it possible for a scientist to also be religious?"
"tell me about you experiances working with people"
"Why do you want to be a doctor?"
"Why Rush? Why didn't you apply Early Decision?"
"When do you find time to study in your busy schedule?"
"what was your favorit non-science class?"
"What did you learn from your college years?"
"Many questions about my research."
"See most interesting above."
"You have an excellent application and are capable of getting into just about any medical school. Why did you apply here?"
"What extracurricular activities have you been involved in?"
"Why Rush?"
"What do you do to relax?"
"How do u handle stress?"
"HAve you traveled much"
"How do you think the government can fund a national healthcare plan? (answer is they cannot without raising taxes-at least that's what my interviewer thought)."
"What will you do if you do not get in this year?"
"Why did you choose your undergraduate major?"
"Why is Rush a good fit for you?"
"Was there a situation where someone misjudged or mislabled you?"
"Tell me about yourself. (closed file interview). I was also asked about what I like to do in my free time etc (closed file). "
"what will be your support system if you move to Chicago (OOS applicant)"
"About a specific hobby"
"All questions were relatively normal or were conversationally contextual."
"Hobbies, what makes you different from other applicants?"
"What do you do for fun?"
"Pretty standard questions. Nothing "out there"."
"What was your biggest failure?"
"Ethical question"
"Discuss (very thoroughly) your research projects"
"Explain an emotional situation you have been in."
"None, really."
"A patient who believes in holistic medicine argues that vaccination is bad for you. How do you convince them otherwise?"
"When did you first know you wanted to be a doctor"
"How do you feel about an employer requiring genetic testing?"
"My interviewer was a pediatrician, we discussed childhood obesity"
"What was your favorite class in undergrad and why?"
"If you were the interviewer, what would you look for in the applicant?"
"How does the fact that you did music make you a better doctor?"
"asked my thoughts about pass/fail grading"
"Ethical questions about genetic testing"
"None were particularly interesting, but the conversation we had prior to the interview was great."
"What is, or is there a difference, between learning, understanding and knowing?"
"What do you think about alternative medicine?"
"I had two ethical questions. One was about a patient and one was about a colleague."
"What does a medical school have to have for you to be happy?"
"Do you think I'm crazy?"
"I visited Israel so my interviewer asked me my opinion of the conflict in the Middle East."
"Nothing out of the ordinary..."
"none stood out"
"One of my interviewers asked me about my family background, and how I was able to pay for college. "
"I was given a scenario and had to say how I would counsel my patient."
"You get one open-file and one closed-file interview. The open-file interviewer, however, didn't seem to have read my materials very closely as I was asked questions that I had directly answered in my AMCAS application. The best question solicited my thoughts about pharmaceutical companies marketing strategies (my uncle was a pharm rep when he was younger so this was interesting to consider)."
"Given your prior experience in the pharmaceutical company, what is your opinion of pharma companies' development, marketing, and distribution of drugs?"
"''What is your opinion on the increasing percentage of female medical students and the effects this will have on residency programs?''"
"What do you think about genetic screening? (are you against or in favor of it and why?)"
"Have you ever been to St. Petersberg, Russia?"
"Ethically, if you were pricked with a needle during a surgical procedure, do you feel you're obligated to tell the patient before you run blood tests on them, or can you just do the test since you have access to their blood right there on the surgery table?"
"Nothing out of the blue."
"Why do you like to cook?"
"If a perfectly healthy elderly person came to you asking about a flu shot, but did not think them having one was necessary, what would you do?"
"Do you think that a doctor can still be selfless in a field that has become increasingly commercialized?"
"They are thinking about changing the rules for getting organ transplants from first-come first-served to an age cap, what do you think about this? "
"What video games do you like to play?"
"Why would you put yourself through 4 years of relentless gruelling work when you could just as well stay in your current career path and earn just as much? (I'm a non-trad applicant)."
"He asked my about my girlfriend and what she wants to do."
"What was you favorite class in undergrad and why?"
"What would you do if you were faced with this situation: You have great plans for the night with family...(something great)...and you get a call from ''little tommy's'' mother. She is in hysterics and says he has a fever, you know that ''little jonny'' is fine, what do you do?"
"I was asked a single question by my interviewers: ''What should I tell the admissions committee so that I can make a strong argument for you to come to this school?''"
"What qualities do you think make a good professor or educator? "
"A person comes to see you who is suffering from coughing, nausea, stomach pains, diahhrea, and is overweight. What would you do? "
"How to manage AIDS in todays world"
"What is the weakest part of your application? What would you change about your application if you could?"
"What are the biggest ethical deliemmas facing medicine today?"
"Who were you in high school?"
"what would i change about the healthcare system? (not really interesting, but in my opinion, none of the questions were too interesting to me) who do you think is going to win the big 10 basketball title? (seriously)"
"What is the most difficult ethical dilemma that you see facing physicians in the US today?"
"How do you think you would handle 80 hour work weeks and night on-call shifts when you are 40 years old?"
"Do you think doctors know how to talk to/communicate patients?"
"Who is the best guitarist you have ever seen live?"
"there were no interesting question...just typical interview questions."
"Describe a situation when someone misjudged you."
"What were you like in high school?"
"What would you do if you caught a fellow student cheating?"
"The question was about my volunteer experience and how it influenced my decision to pursue medicine."
"Nothing comes to mind"
"You are working as a physician, and a 200lb, 5'1" female patient comes to you complaining of pain in the ankles, lower back & breasts, shortness of breath, difficulty climbing stairs, high blood pressure, etc. She tells you that she used to smoke 3 packs/day, but is now down to 1 pack/day. She then says, "Doctor, I know what youre going to tell me...youre going to say that I need to quit smoking, and lose weight. Well, others have tried to get me to do those things, and I just cant. But if you tell me to do just one of those things, then I'll do it." Which one do you pick, and why?"
"Asked me questions regarding my extra-cirrular activities and both interviewers were trying to get a sense of who I was. "
"Name an instance when you have had difficulty working with a group and how you resolved it."
"what was the biggest problem you faced when you came here?"
"Unlike most of the other applicants, i was NOT asked an ethics question or "how does one get cancer?" Instead, the interviewer wanted to know why becoming a doctor is important to me."
"When I asked my interviewer about his research, he asked me to come over to his computer and browse his pubmed publications"
"If I could be any animal what would I be?"
"What was a recent book you finished. "
"What would you want me to tell the admissions committee about you?"
"nothing out of the ordinary. Topics didn't go beyond my college activities"
"Can you think of a situation in which you felt you were unfairly judged?"
"To analyze a graph showing the percentage of elderly people getting flu vaccinations varying with the number of deaths due to the flu."
"Do you have a photographic memory?"
"What do you think makes a good doctor?"
"None really"
"When was the last time you were sick?"
"you're treating a patient who won't stop smoking. eventually, the patient dies from lung cancer. what would you have done differently to save this patient's life?"
"How do you think philosophy, music, and medicine relate to one another?"
"List the three most important issues in health care today? "
"I was asked some interesting questions about how I was planning to incorporate my interst in medical journalism into my career as a physician."
"How would you solve health care problems?"
"Nothing really"
"What I think of the current trend in herbal supplements and their lack of regulation by the FDA."
"What do I think of HMO's?"
"None"
"Why do you think we push older adults aside in our culture? "
"Has anyone in your family ever needed medical attention?"
"Questions about my travels and experiences, very straight forward things."
"What could you have done differently that would make you a better physician."
"How have you coped with a difficult academic incident and how do you think this has prepared you for the study of medicine?"
"10 hearts on a wall and 100 patients enter your clinic that need a heart transplant. How do you decide who gets a heart?"
"What are the causes of Cancer ?"
"If I knew how to play cricket"
"What is the reason behind my weakness of being somewhat of a procastinator (after I confessed this fact)?"
"What would you do if you had an obese patient with hypertension that didn't think her weight was a problem?"
"What would people who know you, and don't like you, say why they don't?"
"Are there any contraversies in medicine? explain"
"What is string theory? "
"A role play that the interviewer and I had about a cheating student/friend, and would I turn them in."
"If a Jehovah's Witness (sp.) who is religiously opposed to blood transfusions gravely needed one, how would you handle the situation? How would you treat it differently if it were a child?"
"What do you think is the most important issue in world politics today?"
"How do I feel about the current situation in Israel and do I see a possible way to resolve it?"
"Why did you write the type of essay that you did? I had written an essay that was in the form of an interview bewtween myself and an ESPN sports anchor. "
"How do youl ike being in a sorority?"
"Where do you think healthcare will be in 10 years, and how do you see yourself fit into the equation?"
"Do you think it is possible for the U.S. to have nationalized medicine?"
"A difficult situation I had encountered in the past year and how I handled it...and if I was happy with the outcome.(closed file interview)"
"Where do you think you would rank among the students if you came here?"
"You have a lot of service experiences, why do you participate in such activities? What's in it for you?"
"What types of books do you enjoy reading?"
"Who's your favorite Jazz musician? (I told the interviewer I listened to Jazz to relieve stress)"
"Why do you think you will fit well into the Medical profession"
"Who is Sir Fleming? (think penicillian)"
"Your wife or child comes down with a terminal illness. Asa physician, how do you cope and still provide quality care for your patients?"
"What do you do if the family of a fragile, terminal, and comatose patient insists that extreme measures be taken to prolong life?"
"To explain Question One of my secondary--the difficult situation in the past 3-5years. It was interesting, b/c my interviewer was actually interested in my answer and wanted backgroud info on it. "
"Lots of ethical questions."
"There was no particular question that stood out. One of the interviews was open and one was closed. Rush had a faculty member (open interview) and resident(closed interview)meet with me. They were both absolutely wonderful (bright, fun, interesting etc.) The interviewers themselves were very interesting and engaging. "
"what qualities do you look for in a medical school (was specifically told to think outside of rush)"
"The one about taking a shortcut (above)"
"Tell my why you feel you were unsuccessful in your first application."
"In what ways do you think the issues in medicine (that we discussed) could be addressed?"
"Tell me about your research experience?"
"Explain this bad semester you had"
"The 10-minute interview in general was more difficult and had to provide quick answers to deep questions."
"What makes you different than all of the other applicants out there?"
"What would someone who dislikes you the most say about you?"
"Ethical question"
"An ethical question regarding genetic testing in the workplace."
"None, really."
"no difficult questions!"
"Research specific"
"Convince me to get the flu shot."
"What do you know about Rush"
"none really. The questions asked were posed to start a discussion/conversation. I was not quizzed on anything."
"Name a time when there was conflict between two people, and how you helped solve the problem."
"Why do you think you got (insert number) interviews?"
"What does it take to be a good doctor?"
"asked me the first question 3 times, so I ran out of new things to say"
"How are you going to deal with the emotional rollercoaster of being in medicine?"
"Diversity. I ended up reiterating what I said on my application."
"If you didn't receive any feedback in medical school, either in the form of grades or verbal feedback, how would you know whether you were ready to move on to the next class?"
"The genetic testing question"
"What makes you unique from all other applicants?"
"What are they advantages and disadvantages of being a non traditional student?"
"Are you sure you want to be a physician?"
"I was asked what the common denominator was between the 3 other jobs I would be if I could not be a physician. The ones from the secondary application. This wasn't really a hard question i just was not expecting it."
"Nothing too crazy..."
"none particularly, they just grilled me in general"
"My physician interviewer asked me how sure I was of entering such a difficult profession where so many negative things can occur (e.g. she mentioned parents threatening to sue her if she doesn't do a procedure right-she is a pediatrician)..."
"I was given two articles and had to explain the discrepancies of them with common knowledge."
"How do you deal with conflict? Give an example."
"Asked about a misdemeanor on my record."
"Medicine can be extremely stressful as a career. How do you anticipate managing that stress as it has an impact on your personal life?"
"How do you intend on handling the stress- the ups and downs- of medical school and work in the medical field on a personal level?"
"The same question"
"n/a"
"What are some issues with health care that you would like to resolve?"
"The above questions, since I didn't really see it as much of an ethical questions, as well as the quintessential ''why do you want to be a doctor?'' question that everyone hates."
"Nothing...all were just casual getting to know you better."
"What was the hardest thing you have ever had to do?"
"What are your thoughts on genetic testing?"
"Why did you change your major from this to that?"
"What is this (pointing to a photo taken during an operation performed earlier that day)? "
"Same as above."
"What would you do if you don't get into medical school? Would you retake your MCAT?"
"If you had to help a patient either quit smoking or lose weight which would it be and why?"
"Tell me about yourself"
"Why are your chemistry grades so low?"
"How can you alleviate America's healthcare crisis?"
"There weren't any difficult questions, honestly."
"Why there was a lack of clinical experience in my app"
"A number of ethical and political questions. "
"ethical questions"
"Nothing was very difficult... I was very relaxed and the interviewers were friendly and enthusiatic."
"Smoker, obese 35 yr old woman suffering from acid reflux...what should she do? lose weight or quit smoking, she can only do one...and for what reason?"
"Clinical senario- what would you do with a patient who has two serious lifestyle issues but is only willing to change one or the other? "
"besides academics and athletics and your job, were you involved in anything else that shaped your development as a future physician?"
"A patient scenario involving obesity and smoking."
"I evaluate my applicants based on the questions they ask me. So, what questions do you have for me? --This was 5 minutes into the interview!"
"Nothing was difficult. All the standard questions..."
"How have you rebelled?"
"Same."
"My questions were all fairly straightforward/typical, but other students were asked hypothetical/ethical questions that sounded rough."
"What are your negative traits?"
"None the questions were difficult."
"What is the most significant problem facing doctors in medicine today?"
"If I were to ask your friends about you, what would they say are your two best qualities and your two worst qualities?"
"None of the questions were difficult. Just wanted to get a sense of who I was beyond my normal academic activities. "
"If you had a patient complaining of joint pain, back pain and shortness of breath and she smoked and was 5'1" and 250lbs, would you tell her to lose weight or quit smoking (and you can only choose one)?"
"Name an instance when you have had difficulty working with a group and how you resolved it."
"same as above, it was interesting because I came here about 7 years ago, not recently but he was still interested in it. Difficult because I thought I might have bungled up the answer by using a negative word"
"What can you bring to Rush? (i am not a big fan of these type of questions because you pretty mush say the same thing for each school that asks you this question.)"
"Nothing I didn't expect"
"What is the most dangerous/reckless thing you have ever done? (This one was difficult because I didn't want to say something really stupid, because all these horrible things were coming to mind that I have done!)"
"A woman in her 70s is prescribed some blood pressure medication, when she revists your office, she still has high blood pressure. Why do you think this is and some follow up questions. "
"Hypothetical asking whether or not a sports team should be able to require a player to take a genetic test and then use the information to release them. I was asked to make ethical, legal, and medical considerations."
"Can you think of one time that you were misinterpreted or felt like you were treated unfairly? I couldn't think of an answer... (guess that's good!)"
"nothing unexpected"
"How to improve the healthcare system. Any opinions on National Healthcare System."
"What makes you different than all the other intelligent male Indian applicants?"
"If you had to decide on who receives an organ transplant from a waitlist, how would you do it?"
"We are the official physicians of the Chicago White Soxs and the Bulls, what would you say to a pro athlete if you had to tell them that they would never play again because of a sporting injury."
"None really, just stuff about my app in the open file interview, and about me in the closed file."
"when you look in the mirror, what do you see? (this was only hard because was answers were wrong according to my interviewer, and i don't know how that is possible with such an vague, open ended question. what happens if you start medical school and it doesn't meet you expectations? is your boyfriend "the one"? "
"One heart, ten people, who gets it and why? "
"assuming there is a cap on malpractice rewards. what would you say to a victim who deserves more than $250K (the cap)?"
"What will you do in the future to improve healthcare?"
"List the three most important issues in health care today? What if you made a mistake on a patient, what would you do? "
"I was asked some difficult questions concerning solving America's healthcare problems that just seemd very generic and vague. "
"When was a time you worked in a group?"
"Tell me about yourself. (I have trouble with such open ended questions)"
"You have 2 patients in need of a kidney transplant and only one kidney. All things being medically equal, how do you decide which one gets the kidney."
"Why do I think that I didn't get in last year?"
"What are the negatives for you in medicine."
"same as most interesting"
"How would you deal with a patient who is obese?"
"How I would solve a problem and how this translates to medicine"
"Why did you take a year of school off; what were you thinking etc.( I am a non-traditional, older student)?"
"What are the ethical issues involved in the growing area of artificial hemoglobin administration in trauma situations?"
"What causes CA, MI, diabetes, stroke..."
"How are the roles of the physician changing besides economically and government medicine"
"Discuss managed care"
"same"
"So, if your brother should apply, (I telling a story about how I came to realize one of my traits, because I learned through him, I do and he doesn't have it)should I hold that against him?"
"Are there any cases where you shouldn't tell a patient all the information and possible prognoses?"
"What one thing out of your file makes you a better applicant than the 4-6 people who are competing with you for this spot?"
"I was actually acting out this role play in the interviewer's office. It was fun though!"
"How do you feel about euthanasia?"
"If you got into all the schools you applied to, why would you consider coming to Rush?"
"The standard "what is the biggest problem in medicine," but with a bunch of follow-ups on the practicality of the ways I would solve that problem if I were in charge."
"None"
"How are you going to react when you make your first mistake as a doctor? "
"Same as above"
"What do you think about the recent mistake a physician made on a heart-lung transplant on a teenage girl?"
"None really"
"The guy presented me with multiple ethical scenarios, and then asked me if I still wanted to become a doctor."
"Same as above. (I guess this question was hard for me, because this was my first interview and I just wasn't prepared.....I couldn't say "becasue it looks good on an application"...you know?)"
"What is something that you have done that made you feel really "bad"?"
"When was your morale the highest?"
"What are some current challenges in healthcare"
"What is the Swedish healthcare system like? (I had no idea other than there is a national plan)."
"Role playing a student who is friend of a cheater and then role playing a student who is accused of cheating."
"see above"
"How are you going to determine which med school is right for you based on half-day first impressions?"
"Name three problems with the medical practice, excluting any insurance, economical, and money related issues. What is your opinion on each of these and what should be done to fix them?"
"None, really"
"No questions seem particularly difficult. They were just trying to learn more about me in a very positive manner. "
"Read their website, read about Rush as an anchor institution, wrote out my answers to the most common interview questions."
"SDN, Medschool HQ interview prep"
"mock interviews"
"SDN, reddit, friends, etc"
"Mock interview practice."
"Went over previous question answers and practices speaking my answers out loud."
"SDN, practice and just trying to relax"
"Mock interviews, researched the school"
"Mock interview, went over my application."
"Did not prepare much"
"Looked over my primary and secondary application briefly. Looked through the interview feedback page. Went over the school's website and prepared answers to the most common questions. Practiced answering questions with family."
"I practiced talking about myself and my resume."
"Pre-written/paraphrased answers for stock questions. Looking over school's website, etc."
"Read SDN, practiced with friends, watched multiple interview prep videos, brainstormed answers to common questions."
"Didn't..."
"SDN, Website, talked with alumni"
"2 mock interviews"
"SDN, school website, asked alumnus about his experience, reviewed application."
"Thorough review of website materials including new hospital, community outreach programs (LOTS), and history of hospital. Review of my own application materials"
"sdn interview feedback, talked to my host students a lot"
"Researched school, reviewed common questions, SDN, pretty much everything"
"Watched you tube videos."
"SDN, other interview question websites"
"Went over previous year's questions on interview feedback. Did a couple mock interviews."
"SDN, Rush website, Rush students through SDN, and friends who interviewed there before me."
"looked over SDN Interview Feedback, primary application, secondary application, Rush's website, old ethics course material, current medical ethics issues."
"Forums, Feedback, Website (which sucks)"
"re-read all my app materials"
"SDN, primary, secondary, school website and guidebook"
"Amcas app, Secondary, School website"
"SDN, Viewbook, Current students"
"SDN, Rush website, AMCAS and secondaries"
"Re-read AMCAS and secondary applications. Looked at interview feedback on SDN."
"SDN, School's Website"
"sdn, mock interviews, researched the school"
"Supplemental App, AMCAS, SDN"
"Definitely know about the school: read their website thoroughly, "
"Looked at primary and secondary apps, looked at Rush website, SDN."
"Very little"
"SDN, reviewed my application, researched the school, stayed with a student host (I think it really helps you get an insight before the interview)"
"SDN, reviewed my application and secondaries, mock interview."
"sdn, app"
"SDN interview feedback, re-read my secondary, looked up school info"
"My supplemental, SDN, mock interview"
"SDN, website"
"Reread my AMCAS and secondary (they asked me lots of questions from these so be prepared for this!), prepared ''general'' interview questions and specific ones from SDN, "
"Read about Rush, read Chicago Magazines new issue about Chicago's Top Docs."
"Reread my application, looked at reviews of Rush here, read about Chicago on the web, and read about some specialties I am thinking about in case they asked me why I am interested in cardiovascular surgery or neurosurgery."
"Re-read secondary app., AMCAS app., Rush community service statement, Rush website, talked to people doing residency at Rush and dr's who graduated from Rush."
"SDN- reviewed possible interview questions, read my AMCAS and supplemental applications, researched the school's website, typed up my questions to ask the interviewers/students"
"SDN, read some general questions and reviewed some of my positive and negative skills/traits"
"Secondaries, Website, AMCAS, reading up on current events."
"by not worrying about it."
"reviewed my supplemental and amcas, as both interviews are open file in some manner. i also ready up on rush, which was a good thing, as they asked me a question about why i specifically wanted to go to rush. "
"SDN, Rush website. If there were two questions to definitely prepare for, it would be Why Rush? and Why Medicine?"
"SDN, applications, Rush website"
"SDN, Rush webpage, friends"
"practiced with other people, SDN, other websites"
"SDN, school website, interview coach"
"school website, SDN, reviewed secondary and AMCAS application"
"Rush Supplemental, AMCAS, SDN, this site."
"SDN, former students."
"SDN and proper sleep. "
"Studentdoc.net, Rush website, talked to friends who interviewed there, practiced sample questions."
"Read reviews, went over my application, went through school website"
"Read some interview books, mock interviewed with a friend..."
"sdn, read application"
"Reread my AMCAS application and secondary application. Prepared questions to ask and looked carefully over as much of the school's website as possible."
"mock interview, sdn, read ''the medical school interview'' by fleenor"
"SDN, school website, read over AMCAS and secondary application. "
"SDN, school website, mock interviews"
"Read Rush web site, SDN etc."
"this site and the school's website...reviewed my application material of course. "
"Read newsweek, talked to friends who go to Rush."
"some advice: DEFINITELY go over your primary/secondary application in detail and think about the possible questions you can be asked about those."
"Read the Rush website and looked at interview ratings on this site, talked to friends who attend there."
"SDN, read application and secondary, looked at school's website."
"Read website. SDN. Asked other students who had interviewed there."
"SDN, read primary and secondary, school's website"
"sdn, mock interview, reviewed 2ndary."
"mock interview, read website, SDN feeback"
"I read SDN and Rush's website. I reviewed my application (secondary and AMCAS)."
"This was my fourth interview so I was a "pro" by then... I read my AMCAS, secondary, articles about my research, and current events."
"Amcas application, SDN and secondary application."
"Browsed through the website (not helpful), read the entries on this website."
"This was my first interview, so I had a mock interview with my pre-health advisor, read Rush's website and MSAR profile, and did a google news search to find any recent items about Rush."
"Prepared by rereading AMCAS and Secondary application. Had a faculty mock interview. Talked with physicians in the field."
"Student doctor network, read my applications."
"SDN, Rush website, mock interview and read over med school application and secondary"
"Read SDN interview feedback, went on rush university website, rmstudents.com was helpful, talked to faculty who worked there and talked to people who went there"
"Read SDN, my AMCAS file, and my secondary application"
"Brainstormed responses to typical interview questions, read SDN, talked to a doctor who practices at the hospital"
"Re-read my AMCAS & secondary, read the Rush bulletin online, read NYT and SDN."
"Review my file, read through past questions on this website, ask current med students for advice. "
"SDN, read over my app, information about the school from its website and med school guide books."
"Read over apps, just relaxed. Made sure I had a reason for any low scores."
"I reviewed my AMCAS application and my Rush secondary, and I browsed through SDN."
"SDN, read over my personal statement and secondary application, Rush Website"
"SDN, med school website, application"
"Website, SDN, primary and supplemental apps."
"SDN and rush website"
"I read over my AMCAS and personal statement"
"SDN, re-read my app"
"read about the school, read my application, snd"
"SDN, etc..."
"read this website, my apps"
"sdn, school website, previous interviews"
"SDN, nespaper, Rush Website"
"I read my AMCAS, did mock-interview, read their website"
"I read my AMCAS over including personal statement, read feedback on this site, and read the Rush website in detail."
"read online material etc"
"SDN, Rush Website, and my application materials."
"SDN, AMCAS, website"
"AMCAS, Physicians, Web Site."
"mock interviews, read over AMCAS application, read school's website"
"Spoke with students, faculty; studentdoctor.net; Rush Web site; read up on current healthcare issues"
"SDN, listened to the radio, read the newspaper, reviewed ethical issues"
"Read AMCAS, Books, my supplemental applications, Rush catalog, talked to former students, reviewed my research notes"
"Rush website, MSAR, reading over my myriad secondary essays."
"internet, spoke with M1 at Rush, spoke with Rush faculty, SDN, AMCAS, books, "
"SDN, The Economist, Newspaper"
"SDN, talked to friends, not much preparation needed for this one"
"Reviewed my application, this website, Princeton Review book on medical school (very helpful), talked to people who have had similar experiences, and had a good time the previous day (proved to be a good stress reducer) "
"SDN, periodicals, UW bioethics website, Rush site"
"Mock interview"
"Read about Rush."
"Didn't prepare as well as I thought. I just read over my secondary"
"SDN feedback, Rush website, researched some world events (although I had no questions about them)"
"read over secondary, AMCAS and went to rush's website"
"I read the internet sites, my amcas and secondary applications, and also the school catalogue. "
"Read through Rush's website, my application, SDN, mock interview"
"Read my secondaries, spoke with my boss who is a PhD, and went to a party the night before"
"this website, talking to people, rush's website"
"Read AMCAS, secondary application, looked at school website, brushed up on current events, quick overview of questions from prep books"
"Read SDN, read web site, practiced interviewing, read over AMCAS (I'm glad I did this because one of my interviwers was asking me many questions on it)"
"Read AMCAS and Secondary as well as info from AMSA and the school's website."
"SDN"
"I read over my secondary application. I tried to understand what Rush was all about. I read over interview feedbacks."
"Read over info about the school, my AMCAS and secondary app, and info on this website."
"Read this website, read the Rush website, went over my supplemental app."
"Read the AMCAS and the secondary application. ADVISE: Don't forget to review the answers you gave to essay questions on the secondary applications. You'll be asked questions on them on the open file interview."
"WEnt over AMCAS ap, Secondary, read information given to me by the school, read NEws Week"
"Read my secondary, read the website."
"Read over Amcas, Research papers, SDN, and School Website."
"SDN, Rush website, read my amcas and secondary"
"read app, SDN, school website"
"Read the website, talked to friends who interviewed there, my AMCAS and secondary."
"Rush's website, interview feedback on this site, interviewed there before."
"Review my AMCAS, secondaries. School web site."
"I reviewed my application and reviewed updates on the www.rush.edu website."
"Based on their questions, my interviewers had obviously read my application carefully. I appreciated the amount of thoughtfulness they put into their questions."
"Lots of service opportunity"
"the curriculum lady was so passionate! loved her energy and the direction she is leading the rush curriculum."
"virtual tours given by students and they kept emphasizing that rush wants you--they called it recruitment day"
"interviewers were all faculty, and very clearly wanted to get to know me. they were personable and really fun to get to know as well!"
"Facilities, student reviews, new curriculum, early clinicals, research opportunities."
"Great city. Great student support. Lots of ways for students to get involved and/or develop programming."
"Admissions team was very cheerful, day was pretty well planned, loved the surrounding hospitals."
"The people at Rush are creative and smart. It's a very supportive environment."
"Interview style was very relaxed and straightforward for the open file interview. AdCom interviewer was clear in what he did like in my answers and my demeanor. Faculty interviewer was very very nice and made it clear that the interview would be relaxed. All of the staff and speakers seemed very passionate about the school and seemed genuine about their excitement."
"cool students, beautiful medical center, lively city"
"Hospitals, student camaraderie, support, diversity"
"The Dean stopped by."
"Everyone seemed genuinely happy to be there with us"
"The students we talked to had nothing but good things to say. The culture seemed to be very caring and community focused."
"The students seemed very happy with the school and the administration. I was told that the faculty is very supportive and this was the impression I received from interacting with faculty during the day. Many of the students are very actively engaged in extracurriulars (community service is big at Rush). The other students interviewing also seemed fun, friendly, and laid back. Also, the facilities are beautiful (the hospital is brand new and they are building more new facilities). Another positive is that I didn't realize that many students actually live in downtown Chicago!"
"THE FACILITIES!!! Also the enthusiasm of the staff and students"
"We were very well taken care of that day, the CEO and president of the school spoke to us, people seemed pretty great."
"The incredible things that Rush students do outside of the classroom!"
"Everything about the school is catered to its students, Rush students are the only ones rotating through County, building, location, faculty and staff, student atmosphere"
"Friendliness of students and faculty, and being able to tour both hospitals"
"New hospital, opportunities for community experiences."
"Extremely friendly staff, and students. Multiple doctors stopped by just to say hi and good luck on our application process!"
"everything! The new hospital they're building, the tour of the hospital and the medical school. Lunch was delicious too! Everyone who talked to us was so nice and the students were so pumped to be there"
"Everyone was very amicable"
"Everything."
"The positive attitude from the admissions office and students."
"The interviewers, faculty, recruiting director were all friendly and welcoming. And not in a "fake" way either, you didn't feel like they were looking over you with a microscope, but that they were really trying to get to know who YOU are."
"Comradeship. Every one, like SDN said, is very, very friendly. They are very willing to help you. Ask the students and staff anything!"
"Interviewers were very nice and were more conversational than confrontational."
"New hospital that will be finished by the time I would start rotations, all students seemed to be down to earth and positive, attention to detail of admissions, reputation of school"
"students, faculty, facilities"
"students, admissions staff, library, level of professionalism and friendliness, new curriculum"
"Location and Community Enviroment"
"Family atmosphere"
"The admissions office people, interviewers, and students were all VERY friendly."
"Both interviewers were friendly. Didn't press you on bad grades. Wanted to highlight your best attributes to the committee."
"Friendliness of the students, admissions staff and the anatomy professor"
"Everyone was so friendly and excited to show off the school. Loved lunch and meeting the admissions members, students, professors, etc. overall a great day."
"Friendliness, Clinical setting, new hospital, happy students"
"the students, the helpfulness of the admissions office -- they walk you back and forth from your interviews, which is great so you don't get lost. "
"The admissions staff was really friendly, and the interviewers were great as well."
"Very centralized, connected campus in the heart of the medical district. Rotations at Cook County Stroger. Very non-competitive, "family-like" (their term) atmosphere."
"Small close knit community, students were all fun and friendly, staff genuinely cares about the students, new hospital opening in 2012."
"They students are very happy at Rush. They all seem to have a good balance between school and social life. The new hospital will be finished by 2012. Curriculum is changing (cutting down on class, physicianship program). Chicago is AMAZING! All the professors still practice medicine and see patients."
"really good hospital, and they are building another one"
"everything. the campus was awesome, the students were really friendly, the staff was friendly, my interviewers were cool. the students who took us on the tour and ate lunch with us were awesome- but even just the ones we passed by smiled and waved and wished us luck. they all seem so happy! also, lunch was amazing (and vegetarian friendly)"
"The people, Chicago, Cook County hospital for rotations"
"The location is great!"
"The admissions staff was really friendly and as far as I heard, everybody's interviewers were extremely nice. Mine were very laid back and although they asked me specific questions, it was really just a long conversation."
"Very Low Stress, Very straight forward and honet. Very bright Gross Anatomy Lab. Best Lunch so far out of my intereviews. Having interviews first in the day made the day much easier."
"The students were very enthusiastic and the faculty seemed very nice and interested in the students. I was surprised that the admissions staff were also nice. Rush admissions staff won't take phone calls, did not respond to several emails that I sent (well, a secretary indicated she had forwarded my message and that someone would get back to me but that didn't happen), and seemed generally uninterested in me until I got an interview invitation. I tried calling and was directed to email (again). They wouldn't even take a message and call me back. Turns out the staff are nice after all (they escort you to the interview offices which was very nice as Rush is mazelike) but my earlier impression of their inaccessibility still makes me nervous about how they might treat me if I have any problems as a student."
"The students are extremely welcoming and really down to earth. Totally could see myself at a school with people like that. Faculty are all caring and welcoming. The school itself has some outdated areas (but what school doesn't) but overall I liked the campus. Beautiful views of Chicago from a lot of the windows in the hospital. I also really liked that everything was so coordinated during the day. The welcome session definitely put me at ease and staff members walked you to and from your different interviews, which was great. Lunch was provided and the Dean of the medical school stopped by to introduce himself. Everything was great."
"The true compassion the students seem to have, the collaborative environment of the students (not cut-throat competition), and the accessibility of the professors. LOTS of opportunity for community out-reach and public health service."
"How laied back the admissions staff was. There was not a bit of tension in anyone after 15 minutes into the interview day. Amazing."
"The enthusiasm of those involved during the day and the overall laid back environment of the day."
"how smoothly everything went and the enthusiasm of the students."
"The admissions office who ran the interview really kept us busy and made us feel comfortable. The interviews were very laid back, and they even had some attendings and the dean of the med school come in to speak with us. "
"Rush is ranked in some top specialties. Rush also has a large community outreach program which interested me. I also like that the school is connected to the hospital, so you never really have to go outside unless you want to go home =)"
"Everybody was very enthusiastic. All the students and faculty really seem to like being there."
"The facilities are great, everyone was helpful, friendly, and nice (even random M3 and M4 students I met later in the day), the administration and day was well organized."
"Everything. Rush is an excellent school all around."
"Great facilities"
"Everyone was knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and friendly. We were escorted to and from our interviews, thereby eliminating our fears of getting lost. The school has great facilities and is in an excellent location."
"Everyone was super nice and genuinely helped us out. Guides escorted us to and from all interviews so we wouldn't get stressed getting around their cavernous facility. Brilliantly well coordinated (nothing like their e-mail fiasco.)"
"Everybody was excited to meet us. The interviewers were great. Met with a Surgeon and a Director of a department. Both very friendly. The tours were amazing. One led by an M4 and one by M1s and M2s. Toured the hospital and school."
"The enthusiasm of the students and faculty for the school were great. My interviewers were very candid about what the school has and doesn't have in terms of the M1 and M2 years. I can' think of a better place to be for my M3 and part of my M4 years."
"The faculty and the students flat out love it there."
"Students are all very enthusiastic, school seems to stress a real effort towards taking care of students"
"Everyone was happy and loved the school, the facilities were great, curriculum seemed well thought-out, involment in free-clinics and research was encouraged (and participation was high), we got to meet a lot of differen't students and had time to chat with them over lunch and ask them anything..."
"Site of Rush is in city, near Downtown Chicago. Surrounded by activity! Students are upbeat."
"I definitely got the feeling that students really love the school and I was so encouraged by how friendly and nice everyone (and I mean everyone) was to me and to each other!"
"the number of people who wanted to answer any questions the applicants had"
"EVERYONE was so incredibly friendly and seemed to absolutely love it there. The faculty seems very approachable. And you are given packets of notes for each class that covers everything you need to know for exams--so you don't need to go to lecture if you prefer and you don't need to rely on a note-taking service. "
"student satisfactions"
"Pretty well oranized contrary to all of the fake invite emails etc. Food at lunch was A+. "
"The atmosphere was VERY inviting. The staff and students claim to be happy, and you can clearly see they enjoy their jobs and studies very much. It was a very enthusiastic place to be. Can I add the views of Chicago are breath-taking from every wing of the hospital?"
"The friendliness of the EVERYONE there. The windows are really quite nice- great views of the city from nearly every floor. The way the buildings are all connected to each other- Chicago can get really cold in the winter! The cooperativity of the students. The way the profs give the students a packet of everything they need to know for the class instead of using a notes service. The high-tech lecture halls. The location- so close to so many great Chicago things. The amount of people that have stayed at Rush for so long because they simply like it there. "
"Everything was extremely organized. I arrived there, we each had a personalized folder explaining EVERYTHING I wanted to know about the school (my interview schedule, class schedule, student organizations, financial aid, school statistics, etc). The lady coordinating the entire event was extremely fun and did a great job introducing us to the school. And then we were escorted to/from each of our interviews. Can't ask for more than that on an interview day in terms of logistics. Not only that, but everybody there seemed to love Rush. I asked some students, ''So, give it to me straight - do you like it here?'' They looked at me like I was crazy for even considering that the answer would be no. "
"The overwhelmingly positive enthusiasm of the school -- everyone -- students, faculty, administrators -- all seem to love being at Rush. The faculty seem concerned with improving the curriculum but also with how well their students do. It is a very supportive environment -- and did not feel like students competed against each other in unhealthy ways."
"The students and faculty love it there, the location is great, the view of downtown form the library."
"My interviewers were nice guys. Friendly. Interested in my record. Students were pleasant and enthusiastic about the school."
"The friendly atmosphere, the beautiful view of Chicago."
"The organization, the freindliness of everybody, the facilities...everything."
"The students seemed happy and were enthusiastic."
"The facilities are nice and the students all seemed really happy with the school."
"I was impressed by the facilities... regardless of the old elevators... The dean of admissions stopped by and greeted all of us (very personable)... I particulary loved the volunteer programs they had available for the medical students..."
"The students really liked their medical school. They seem happy and relaxed. I was told the students are very helpful and student are not cut-throat competitive. Also, Chicago is a very diverse and happening city."
"The deans' office seems very open to the students, offering a tight-knit feeling to the school. Students stopped by to talk with the deans randomly, and everyone seemed very enthusiastic about the school."
"Students seem very happy, and enthusiastic. In retrospect, I dont think I've seen another school that pampers its students like this one."
"I was impressed with the overall commitment to student satisfaction. The curriculum has adjusted to meet the students concerns. Faculty seemed very positive and supportive of students."
"Everyone is very happy at Rush, including the students and faculty. The students don't seem too stressed and everyone (faculty and staff) really wants to help the students succeed. The environment is very supportive. Also, Rush is a very clinically orientated school, which is different than some. You can have serious patient contact as early as January of year one."
"The students and faculty were very enthusiastic about the school and seemed very happy. They also have wonderful oppotunities to get involved in the community and abroad."
"Collegiality between students. Everyone said of how friendly everyone is and willing to help you out. The guide, a senior, actually said there was only one gunner in the class and the rest were all cool."
"The students were very nice and it is in a great location. The administration is really dedicated to producing excellent doctors (not neccess. physician scientists, which is a bit of a down side)."
"Atmosphere is very collegial, students seem happy with academics and happy with Rush. PLUS THEY STILL BOOZE w00t w00t w00t!!!!"
"Everyone there (students, faculty, staff) seemed genuinely happy to be there and enthusiastic about the school. The RCSIP (Rush Community Service Initiatives Program) is an amazing way to get students involved with clinical community service and all the professors/doctors encourage students to approach them to do research if they want. Also, M1s get to have clinical experience after 6 weeks."
"How happy the students and the professors were to be at the school."
"Everyone is happy there. Rush students are happy with their choice, lifestyle, and location. There seems to be much more cooperation than competition among students. The Medical center is huge and quite nice."
"Friendly & helpful students, match lists, surrounding hospitals, financial aid presentation, free lunch, admissions office was inviting (and I was even late!!)"
"The students seemed really happy with their decision to attend Rush and said that the administration is really receptive/responsive to students' needs, there are only four students per cadaver (six is more common), the facilities are quite new and additional renovations and construction is pending, there are so many opportunities to network and take advantage of Rush's medical district location, and it's really close to Chicago's downtown area (great view from the ninth floor)."
"Interviewers and staff seemed to care about their students."
"The friendliness of the faculty and students"
"The location of Rush - it's in the medical district of Chicago. "
"Both the students and staff are extremely friendly. The facilities are amazing. 4 students per cadavar. Community feel towards campus. Great network of hospitals including Cook County. Student housing is also pretty nice."
"The student body and admissions committee are super friendly. As we were touring the library ourselves, two medical students stopped studying and chatted with us. "
"The location of the school, their involvement in community service projects."
"students seemed very positive and overall i would have liked the school had my interview not been so bad."
"Everyone was so darn happy there!"
"Everyone was very enthusiastic about the school. the students enjoy the schedule of classes. "
"clinical rotations. Rush is affiliated with Rush Medical Center and Cooks County. Rush medical center predominately treats patients who are wealthy and Cooks County treats patients who are poor. Thus, students get to see a wide spectrum of patients."
"Interviewers were interested in what I had to say"
"Not too much! The director of admissions was very friendly and financial aid. But, the school is quite expensive and students spend much of the day in the classroom leaving little time for anything else. Also, the school is not in the best of neighborhoods."
"The students were really friendly, and not to sound like a pig, but the lunch really made my day! It was huge and very delicious, so if your interviews are over in the morning (as mine were), then sit back and enjoy a big, yummy lunch to celebrate! In addition, the staff was very friendly and helpful throughout the day. I felt very comfortable there."
"A good mix of clinical opportunities through private hospital and cook county."
"Students liked it there"
"The students are very happy with the school and the facilities are very up to date."
"Nice facilities, library, hospital."
"Nice Facilities"
"My open file interviewer was very straightforward and asked thought-provoking questions. It would be great if all of the teachers at the school were like him. I was also impressed with the friendliness of the students. "
"Everyone there loves Rush! Facilities are great; people are friendly."
"Very nice staff, great facilities, many opportunities to work in various clinics, interviewers were informative and pleasurable"
"The facilities were impressive. The admissions director gave a welcoming orientation. The M1's that guided the tour seemed to be very content with their school."
"The facilities were nice and everyone stressed that the students were happy to be there."
"facilities, affiliated with Stroger Hospital, students, faculty, location, reputation, "
"The staff and students were extremely enthusiastic about their school. School pride is happiness to me because it reflects the happiness and well being of the student body."
"The school is very laidback, esp regarding profs. The students are very happy. The school is interested in students succeeding"
"I loved the general attitude of the students. They seemed very content and I also detected a general sense of collective solidarity. "
"The facilities are pretty decent and the medical school housing sounds like it is very reasonable."
"The genuine enthusiasm of the students and the interviewers"
"Seems like a great school academically and a good match list."
"The facilities are very nice, they have an amazing view of Chicago, the one faculty member I met was very friendly. "
"Everything! Staff was wonderful. The students were nice and the library was excellent. Diversity within staff. There seemed to be all women!"
"New facilities, beautiful view of Chicago, amiable faculty and students, very efficient admissions process, Rush is the only med. school with access to Cook County Hospital"
"Students really seemed to enjoy the school"
"The students are really happy. The study rooms are awesome, each one has a p4 computer with a large TV as the monitor as well as a dvd player. "
"All the faculty I met there were extremely friendly and all had worked at Rush for many years. The students that gave the tour raved about the school."
"The happiness of everyone there. They really want to make you feel comfortable and get the real YOU interviewed."
"everything!!! Rush is awsome. the people are very nice and helpful. the students looked stressed but it was finals week. Other than this, the students were very down to earth and happy there. "
"All the students expressed a great deal of pride in their school and education, staff & faculty were very welcoming & candid; It just seems to be a place where people can learn and still enjoy themselves. Rush is a great system to do clinical rotations at, and there is access to several other neighboring systems. Chicago is a great city & parking at the school is cheap ($40/month)."
"All of the students were happy to be there"
"How incredibly nice everyone is and how happy all of the students are. Also, they have tons of community service programs for students."
"Nice facilities, the nicest administration I've seen."
"They really try to make you feel at home."
"The students were very friendly and stressed the fact that Rush really helps make sure you succeed once you are accepted."
"The friendliness of the staff and the enthusiasm that the students had for the school."
"This school has the most friendliest people -- staff, students and professor, you name it! The admission staff treat each applicant with respect. This school is the most laid back of all medical school I have visited in the past."
"THere were two interviews. BOth one on one, but one was open file and on was closed file. THe closed file interview was amazing! The doctor was really down to earth and seems to absolutely love being here"
"Students there are extremely happy."
"The enthusiasm of all the students who were there."
"The admissions office and employees seemed to be really orgaized"
"The students are really gung-ho for the school."
"How important community service is to the University. Also, they really try to make you comfortable as possible. "
"Everyone at the school was very, very nice. They all wanted to help and make sure everything went well for the day. The atmoshpere was great due to them."
"The facilities were nice, the faculty and staff seemed very helpful."
"Everyone was so friendly and happy! The students, staff, and the admissions director (Jan Schmidt) were all absolutely fantastic. Everyone at Rush has been extremely helpful and pleasant every step of the way. According to a recent survey, Rush students are among the happiest in the world and it shows! Every student we met absolutely loved Rush. The learning facilities are great too. The study areas are open 24 hours and are very nice! "
"The interview day felt extremely long. It's 30 mins per interview (2 interviews), then the remaining 5 hours consists of informational sessions or Q&A. There's also an optional student Q&A/social hour the night before for 1.5 hours. I appreciated all the opportunities for questions but it started feeling redundant."
"Follow-up questions seemed kinda harsh"
"very long interview day and the last section is simply a q&a so you can get to know the school more"
"Long day with 40 min interview at the end, I was tired, my interviewee was tired."
"Honestly, nothing."
"I felt grilled by my interviewer. He seemed preoccupied by the weaknesses in my application and focused pretty exclusively on wanting to hear about them."
"Adcom interviewer was very curt and seemed very uninterested in discerning more information from me. Asked me if I had any questions for him after only 1 or 2 questions."
"library and tech center look a bit old"
"The tours were a little rushed. Food wasn't that great."
"The formaldehyde odor in the anatomy lab is INTENSE, better ventilation would probably be nice."
"The website is poorly organized and is not representative of the materials and resources I received the actual day of the interview."
"N/a"
"Interviewers were kind of hard to read, weren't the most friendly."
"the relatively small area dedicated to students"
"the price."
"Nothing, really."
"nothing. I loved it"
"Tuition.. not surpising though"
".... It's cold in Chicago."
"Nothing except you are stuck in one lecture hall basically for two years. But, the incredible hospital and the people, and being in Chicago override all of that!"
"Traffic."
"lack of a gym, library (quite small and outdated), the sheer number of other applicants in my group interview (intimidating)"
"no gym - they use UIC's gym"
"Sort of Expensive"
"It's really expensive."
"Second interviewer received and sent text messages during interview."
"Lack of gym, Technology, and Library."
"The classroom had no windows...and you are supposedly there 9-5..."
"Weather"
"maybe the cost of tuition and the lack of a gym"
"The curriculum"
"Technophobic (though transitioning to 100% electronic charting)."
"I dont like that they are on the topic based learning model. Even my interviewer said he wished they switched to systems based. They say they are modifying the curriculum but it won't be for some time. Its also REALLY cold in Chicago."
"Length of time in class (but they are going to do something about this), housing is a bit pricey."
"so close to UIC, student housing, no gym, long hours of class"
"not much- the location is kind of a pain to get to if you go to school here (either park in an expensive lot or take the train) but they validate the parking for your interview so it's ok. also it didn't seem like the lecture hall had outlets for laptops which is kinda weak but i'll deal"
"the freezing cold "
"Too many people from U of I at the school, it takes a long time to give you a final answer, my interviewers were sort of distant and not very warm, it seemed like commuting to the school would be a suicidal idea"
"Nothing! It was my first interview and I was terrified, but they were really good at putting everyone at ease, and by the time I actually made it to the first interview, I was much calmer than when I first arrived."
"Curriculum is not systems based."
"The facilities. There is no gym -- you have to go to UIC or find your own gym. The lecture hall where you apparently live 9-5 every weekday for the first two years has no windows and is awful! Research is difficult to do at Rush. Opportunities seem limited and you have to take a lot of initiative to make ti happen or plan to give up the entire summer after M1 year. The MD-PhD program is almost dead in the water and students discouraged me from considering it. The website makes the preceptor program sound very cool but the students I talked to about it were not happy with their preceptor. One of their classmates got assigned to a doc in a Mexican neighborhood -- the patients all spoke Spanish. The doc was bilingual but didn't translate for the student. She asked to get reassigned but wasn't and felt that her time there was just a total waste."
"Ask about their office of Multicultural Affairs..."
"As I was told by one of the students, research opportunities at Rush don't jump out at you-- you have to go searching for research to do. The lecture hall that M1s spend 9-5 in has no windows and is very cavern-like."
"We didn't see the Dean and the student tour was weak."
"The interviews were in the afternoon after most everything was done."
"students are in class until 5 p.m."
"It was a little bit chaotic, running from one interview to the next; also, my second interviewer had never interviewed a med school applicant before, and it was pretty clear during the interview he didn't know what to ask me. "
"Nothing to bad. My first interviewer was straight-faced so I couldn't really tell if he liked me or not."
"Traffic, but that had nothing to do with the school."
"nothing, every expectation was fulfilled"
"Expensive tuition, but from all of the M3s and M4s they feel it was worth it"
"Tuition, obviously, but this IS a private institution. Getting around Rush is tricky--this place is one huge maze. If you wanted to play a game of hide-and-seek, I guarantee they'd never find you!"
"Cramped, no natural light, not in the best of Chicago's neighborhoods."
"The lecture hall is really large. I'm tired of that and am kind of looking for the small class size atmosphere. This was a negative to me, but may not be to you."
"Nothing!"
"School is a little small, in the hospital. Campus is a little cramped, though students share some facilities with UIC"
"There isn't a gym, high cost"
"The tuition is high!"
"the place is a maze. but we were escorted the entire day, so it wasn't a problem."
"The cost--over $50,000 per year. And while the school is in Chicago, which is great, the specific area where it's located isn't that nice. "
"one of the interviewers had to go to class so kind of rushed the interview. "
"Library looks tiny... where does everyone study? No financial aid seminar."
"The cost of living in Chicago with the tuition"
"The lack of a formal program for doing work abroad in the summer. No gym, but you can use UIC's or other gyms for a discount. The quarter system (as opposed to semesters)."
"They have a great volunteer program, but it seems like you HAVE to volunteer to get a significant amount of clinical experience in M1/M2 years. Notice I said *significant.* They still give you patient contact in your first 2 years there."
"Some of my fellow interviewees were given incorrect room information -- this was the last day of interviews and I was surprised that they were disorganized."
"Disorganization. I was one of six people who was left waiting outside of the wrong room (but the room on our confirmation email)until 5 minutes AFTER the day was to start. Also, my open-file interviewer hadn't read my file and my closed file interview was a jerk."
"The disorganization. A bunch of interviewees were left hanging at the wrong location because they were given the wrong room number. I received several e-mails asking me to confirm my interview day/time, despite responding to all of them. My interviewers were not committee members and were not instructors at the school -- what was the point of talking to them? They couldn't answer important questions, like what changes were being made in the curriculum, as reported on their website. "
"The elevators were very old and scary, and it pretty expensive."
"The interviews are in the morning. So if they don't got too well, as one did for me, you'll have that looming for the rest of the day."
"Not much really...I guess the high tuition, but it is to be expected at a private institution."
"nothing really... except the elevators were old "
"The costs!!! It's very expensive to go to Rush. "
"I heard from several students that they are really screwed when it comes to health insurance. Students can't get prescription medicine they need and they say they're paying thousands a year for coverage. You can see some bitterness in the students with that regard."
"Honestly, I loved this school and dont really have any complaints."
"Some of the elevators did not work very well."
"The facilities are a bit old and the school is not in a great neighborhood, though there are better ones nearby."
"Some of the facilities seem a little old."
"Tuition, total costs up to 50,000"
"see above"
"Rush has a wide spectrum of buildings meaning that some of them are old and dumpy but some are very new and nice. Some of the elevators suck! Some of the other interviewees seemed like they were putting on a act, which kind of bothers me sometimes. But hey, didn't affect my performance so I guess who cares."
"The school is expensive, there is no gym (they get a discount at surrounding gyms, most go to UIC's), and classes go from 9-5 every day (but are optional attendence for the most part)"
"The whole school is in one building and it can be confusing to get around, especially with elevators. "
"Cost is way up there. Financial aid meeting helped show how school is paid for, but its still going to cost about 1/4 of your paycheck for the first 10 years of work unless you land a great residency. "
"The direct in your face nature of one of the interviewers"
"No gym - that sucks. "
"they do not have a gym and there are no plans to build one. They do have discounts at private gyms though."
"nothing"
"The price, this schol is super expensive, but its private so what do u expect. Also the tour guides seemed like the kids in undergrad that slacked off the whole time and got into med school."
"my open file interview was very intense and lasted over 90 minutes. the interviewer took every opportunity to probe me- and when he felt it wasn't working, he took the opportunity to get into my personal life and express his opinions about that, which i found very frusterating and inappropriate. I was told that I wasn't altruistic enough for the school- making why they would have interviewed me in the first place. However, the closed file interview when very well, but seemed unimportant in comparison to the longer, earlier interview"
"Crowded elevators, very urban setting. "
"They don't take very many out-of-state students"
"9-5 schedule pre-clinical years. the campus is pretty much 2 floors in a building. "
"Campus (pretty much one building, students didn't seem that into it)"
"There were two interviews, each ~50 minutes; one open file and one closed file. The open file went much smoother. The closed file interviewer did not go as smoothly. I was asked about what would happen if I made a mistake, & what I do for fun. It wasn't anything he said, it just seemed that he was not a very positive, nice man. Admissions just pointed us in the direction of where we were suppossed to go & didn't take us there. I had to go across the street to another building & got lost coming back! I also couldn't find my car in their parking garage when I was trying to leave!!! "
"My first interview was very short, while my second interview was very long. I was therefore left feeling like I really didn't know how I had done overall."
"So many Illinois students"
"Just a gut feeling that it didn't fit me."
"My open-file interviewer was rather brusque and cut me off mid-sentence repeatedly and essentially answered his own questions for me."
"They go to school from 8am-5pm every day. When do you study?"
" Bad Tour Guides, Interviewer Apathy, High Tuition"
"Director of admissions was supposed to address us, and didn't leave her meeting to do so."
"The non-theme based curriculum."
"Nothing."
"Research and academic medicine are heavily de-emphasized."
"lunch"
"Nothing !"
"There was not enough time to interact with students, but they said there was a lot of class time (about 9-5 daily)"
"Nothing really. I was quite impressed with the school."
"The students who did my tour were not very impressive. One bragged about sleeping in class all the time and another asked all of us whether we really wanted to come to Rush or if our interview was just a test-drive. Also, they didn't have a good place for us to have lunch because the room they usually use was full and they didn't want to ask the people in there to leave."
"The closed-file interview process was a bit disorganized. When I went to his office, he thought I was a Pharm Rep."
"The student tour guide didn't show up and the organization was just so-so."
"My open-file interviewer seemed to discourage me from doing medicine. He really stressed the fact that I might have to give up music in medical school and he didn't think I was prepared to face that. It was incredibly intimidating."
"Library closes at 12am. The financial aid packet and cost of tuition (although this is expected at a private school)"
"Annual expenses total about $50,000. M1's attend class daily from 9-5."
"Admissions office seemed very disorganized. One of the interviewers was a physician who didnt seem to know I was coming"
"Even some of the male students call for security escorts if they are going to leave the school at night."
"I wish I could have seen some of the clinical facilities. "
"nothing really. I guess I don't like the fact that they look at your parents' financial situation before giving you financial aid. that's kinda odd."
"The labs could use a little work. Also, the removal of the alternate curriculum, which included more PBL, was a negative for me. I was under the impression, however, that the revised curriculum is still quite acceptable (97% match in their top three choices & the students do well on Steps 1 & 2)."
"No gym"
"The facilities were not the greatest."
"Price, not sure if the school carries a reputable name, especially for how much you're spending"
"The entire campus is one building with a few rooms."
"One of my interviews was with a practicing physician who kept staring at her watch, pager, and computer instead of listening to me. I mean, I know she was busy, but I felt really bad about that interview afterwards. I thought she hated me, but I still ended up getting accepted the following week, so don't feel bad if this happens to you."
"There was a lot of downtime throughout the day because everyone's interviews were spread out."
"Nothing in particular. "
"THe long waiting periods in between interviews and tour"
"The school is set up in a few floors on one building, it seemed like they never leave that area. However, most the students, and even on of my interviewers, commented on how virtually no one actually goes to class."
"Finding out that students are in class all day from 9-5."
"The school is basically located on 3 floors of an office building."
"Surroundings & lack of services at school like a gym."
"The area, very urban but without any cool features. Just buildings. "
"Everything was wonderful. "
"Know your application extremely well and be able to back up any assertions you make. Same goes for your responses during interview day-- they will ask you to elaborate and defend your position."
"The "closed file" interview isn't that closed"
"no mmi's or situation-specific ethical questions were asked"
"They accepted too many already prior to interview"
"To be more succinct with my answers for the 10 minute interview. It just goes by so quick there's barely time to say anything."
"That I would be scrutinized. Other friends of mine that interviewed here had a much friendlier interviewer. Mine was a bit standoffish and critical."
"Interview is VERY relaxed and conversational for the 40-minute interview. Application-specific topics and medical topics are discussed, but much of it is a natural progression of conversation (i.e. we talked about reading, music, etc)."
"They they serve a great lunch, really delicious"
"The 2nd interview only lasts 10 minutes, rapid-fire style"
"I wish I would have had questions written down to ask the admission team"
"Uber is your friend to and from the airport, if you can try to ride back with other interviewees. Water was provided, but you should probably bring a bottle just in case. Eat breakfast beforehand although they did provide snacks (granola bars/muffins) and coffee. Bring flats for the tour if you are wearing heels. And RELAX, it was actually a very fun interview."
"I wish I had known that I wouldn't be asked any tough questions about the healthcare industry or ethics! I was worried about this, and at least for my interview, I wasn't asked any questions on these topics. Note that this was just my personal experience."
"Relax, enjoy the day."
"TRAFFIC"
"A TON OF WALKING. bring comfy shoes"
"Searle Conference Center is Home Base My schedule: 830am-- Arrive-Welcome 845am--Rush Medical College Overview 930am--Closed File/Co-Curricular with an M4 student 1130am-- Clinical Tours-- Tour Floor with M3 and M4 students 1200pm-- Academic Tour and Lunch with Students 1:10pm-- Reflect on Day, The Next Steps, Q and A 1:30pm-- Dr. Anderson-- Open File/Academic Interview Department of Internal Medicine -30 minutes."
"If I needed to look over ethics or not."
"how in love i would be with rush"
"N/A they told us what we needed to know"
"How cold it would be in Feb"
"nothing really - i felt pretty prepared but nervous nonetheless"
"I just wish I had more info on the school rather than having to wait until the morning of for them to give us some info."
"How cold it would be...I clearly did wear enough layers."
"nothing. i was really excited for this interview and tried not to psych myself out for it, but it was even more amazing than i expected"
"None..."
"Wear warmer shoes"
"Even though my parents live in the suburbs and I stayed with them, I wish I would have stayed instead with a student in one of the Rush apartments. I think I would have learned more about the school on a less formal basis. They are building a new hospital but it won't be open until I am done with medical school."
"I wish I had known more about how important community involvement was. I would have found more info on their programs. They pride themselves on patient care (well above research), so take note."
"You get a tour of the hospital and the med school, so I wish I had known more about both so I could ask more questions. "
"That the interview would be laid back..I didn't have any ethical questions, all q's were just getting to know me better as a person. Although, from talking to other interviewees some got all ethics q's at their interviews."
"How laid back and stress free the whole day would be."
"How great the school really is."
"the sheer awesomeness that is Rush"
"I wish I had known how stress-free the experience would be. I was really nervous about the interviews, and so I barely slept the night before. RELAX, they're not out to get you! "
"That my open-file interview would actually be a closed-file interview because my interviewer didn't have the time to read my file."
"How nice everyone would be and how friendly the students were. These were the best students I've seen of the 4 schools to which I interviewed. "
"Traffic was a nightmare. Arrive the night before if you're driving. I hit fog and black ice conditions. I doubled my trip time and still arrived 15 minutes late for orientation. Granted, I had the worst luck ever but still. Don't make the mistake I did."
"Rush is adjacent to UIC!"
"That the interviews would be SO laid-baid and stress-free."
"wear comfortable shoes, because there are two tours."
"I debated over whether to stay in a hotel right by the school or to stay downtown (which I did) and enjoy the city while I was there. In the end, the cab ride from downtown took no more than 15 minutes and cost around $10, so there was little advantage to staying right near the school. "
"Too many ethical questions"
"It is a pass-fail grading system in the first two years. Also, they like IL applicants better. "
"The Rush has a good ID department. "
"All of the questions I had for my interviewers were already answered by the time the interview started!!"
"The high debt load graduates leave with from Rush."
"The interviews were at the end of the day, so you already have so much information about Rush prior to asking your questions to your interviewers. I also wish I would have known that our day was the last interview day of the year (with rolling admissions, I leave little room for hope of an acceptance)."
"No big revelations."
"How easy going the interviewers were going to be."
"nothing really..."
"That the interviews were in the morning."
"I could wear a regular coat, over my suit coat, and not feel underdressed...this was my first interview.. ;)"
"It's right next to UIC... "
"Its very cold so be prepared."
"they wouldn't ask me any questions about anything of my application or anything about medicine. I guess it depends on your individual interviewer though. However I didn't go home thanksgiving break because of this thing"
"That there was going to be music playing and a picture slide show in the morning. It was pretty funny. I have no idea why i "wish i had known of this ahead of time" but i just wanted to share this with others."
"Interviews immediately follow the welcome session! Also, they say 30 minutes/interview but mine were 1 hour / 40 minutes. The doctors either don't know about time limits or don't care."
"That their pediatric department is no good."
"It takes a while to get there, so leave early in the morning?"
"They have changed the interview format this year. There are two 30 minute interviews; one open and one closed file. Interviews are all over the place, but a staff member personally takes you to and picks you up from each interview. They make the day as stress free as possible, and this was a nice touch."
"Chicago Traffic!! Literally took me 1 hour 30 minutes to go about 15 miles. Plan to be there well in advance. Also make sure you have an alternate route in case highways are locked up. "
"Rush has a lot of institutional grant and loan monies available--it appears to help offset the REALLY high tuition. Also, Rush has migrated to a paperless admissions committee review process this year--and it's been LOADED with problems. As a result, they didn't interview anyone for nearly three months. I asked about the delay in my application (six months) and whether it corresponded to Rush's level of interest in me. My interviewer said that because of the computer glitches, it did not (although in any other year, it would). So--don't despair if you haven't heard from Rush yet."
"nothing really"
"How friendly everyone is."
"Doctors are the one giving the interviews"
"I wish i had known how intense the interviews were know to be. i later realized that many people had had similar experiences there, but i was not expecting the intensity of it. whatever you do, don't take what your interviewer is saying to personally and don't get too frusterated. maybe other people don't need this advice, but it would have helped me."
"N/A"
"How far away the school is from the airport. It took me two hours on the airport express bus to get to the school. "
"there were only 4 other interviewees. "
"There's basically one building."
"That the school is a maze!!! Bring a map!!!"
"How low stress it would be."
"That I was gooing to sit there for an hour before we started anything. I also would have liked to know that I was going to get one interview before lunch, then wait until 2 pm for the next one. What a long day."
"Research projects can be carried on outside of Rush - sometimes sponsored by the school."
"interviews are first thing in the morning. "
"That I'd be seeing a cadaver."
"Nothing; I researched the school extensively."
"-"
"Interviews were FIRST thing in the day ! "
"There is no reason to stress about this one; the whole day is really laidback."
"Morning traffick was worse than I predicted. I did some detailed research on the school so I nearly eliminated the element of surprise. "
"Average debt is over $150,000. How cold Chicago is (I'd forgotten that wind!) The "L" ride from the North side of town is almost 2 hours!"
"I sat around a lot. "
"I wish I had eaten before. My stomach was growling during the interview. The lunch was great!"
"they do 3rd year rotations through cook county hospital"
"The traffic in the morning is horrible!!! Set aside twice as much time as you think you need!"
"Nothing, everythign went really well!!!"
"they have a pass, fail, and high pass system. "
"nothing"
"Nothing really."
"There's alot of down time between interviews and activities. Bring something to keep you occupied."
"Apparently, the M2 year, not the M1, is the killer one at Rush."
"Nothing. But here is a tip: if you are driving to RUSH, allow extra time for traffic. The traffic is brutal around when you are supposed to be at the school. Also, you can park in the RUSH visitor parking for free but don't forget to ask for parking validation at the admission office."
"I live in CHicago and am very familiar with RUsh"
"Don't talk research, there's basically none there."
"See above. "
"Nothing."
"All of my interviewers were straight and to the point. They were not particularly warm or smiley, which is ok, it's just a change from some of the other interviews I've attended. I would characterize it as a "pressure interview," they definitely pushed me on some points I'd written about or responses I made."
"they really care abt you as a student and your fit with rush"
"Jill, the one in charge of admissions was somewhat obnoxious over the phone and very bad at returning emails."
"Nothing - came out feeling very impressed!"
"Rush is an amazing school."
"Would recommend not only knowing the ins and outs of your application, but why you wrote about them and what your exact motivations are beyond what is written in your personal statement"
"Stay close to campus, get a good night sleep, try to make friends with fellow candidates and just try to enjoy."
"Great school if you want to get involved in the community"
"Everyone was genuine and really down to earth. Great school, in all."
"Its an amazing institution"
"Don't be nervous about your Rush interview - if you know yourself and know what Rush stands for, you will be fine. They told us during the interview that they are just trying to make sure that you are who you represented yourself to be on your application, so as long as you are true to yourself you'll do great :)"
"AWESOME!"
"You do go outside during winter so bring warm stuff, shoes that aren't easy to slip in. Prepare for the interview but not too much, most interviewers weren't bad."
"Really liked the school and the city. Would love to get an acceptance."
"Great interview day. Come with questions."
"Make sure you walk into the professional building from the parking lot"
"Not a high stress interview as long as you go in knowing that you are going to be expected to be communicative, and know what you wrote on your secondary, and be able to expand those experiences and add to them."
"Great Location. Great People. Incredible New hospital being built. So nice. Huge Medical Complex. Great Teaching place. lots of hot women if your a man! Doctors are your friends and teachers. Chicago has tons to see and do. I never thought Rush was this good. You have to see to believe that Rush is a TOP notch school. You will be trained a good doctor. They have you shadow and acutally do diagnosing as an M1. Sick Sick school. I hope I get in. I cant wait to go there!!!"
"Each interview was scheduled to be 30 minutes each. Both of my interviewers followed the time frame. Come with 10-15 minutes of questions. (about 3-4 good questions)"
"it's worth filling out that beast of a secondary"
"After looking at the website, I wasn't sure I would like Rush; the interview convinced me that I would!"
"Very laid-back day all around!"
"Applicants are interviewed twice. One interview is open-file and one is closed-file."
"The students seem really happy. "
"Awesome people. Rush seems like a very awesome place to be."
"Their curriculum is undergoing major reform, and this will continue to occur in the upcoming years. Both my interviewers were really nice - the interview was definitely more of an interview rather than a conversation (more focused). Almost everyone I interviewed with had a great day and really enjoyed the school."
"Overall, great experience and wonderful interviews. They are just curious to get to know you. Very low stress. People from admissions office take you from the meeting room to each interview so you don't get lost."
"one interview was open file, the other was supplemental only"
"i really loved it and i am 99.99 percent sure i will be matriculating here (i got accepted, hooray!)"
"you have 2 interviewers, one has access to your whole file, the other has access to your supplemental only. I thought I did very well with my open file interview, wasn't so sure of my 2nd one because it was so brief and she mostly spoke about her experience at Rush. In the end I got in so I guess they liked me!"
"The admissions office was very warm and friendly. The interviews were rapid fire questions. There were 25 people total being interviewed. The interviews were done first so you could relax and enjoy the tour and extra info."
"There are two interviews, both one on one. One is a ''co-curricular interview'' which means it is essentially closed-file except that you interviewer has access to your secondary application. The other is the ''academic interview'' where you interviewer has access to your whole application. I really enjoyed the interview day and I learned a lot about the school."
"Good School. Its integration with the hosptial gives a good environment."
"Rush supposedly has a second look day. I am reserving my final judgment until I can have another look around. It is a REALLY expensive school, mostly because the amount of financial aid you get is crap -- its almost all loans. Congenial students and nice faculty teaching in crappy lecture halls don't necessarily make the $200K you will accumulate in debt worth it when you leave for residency."
"Overall, a positive experience. No weird questions, they definitely were just trying to get to know me and not grill me about health care politics or moral issues."
"I was lucky that I was in a group that had interviews in the morning and then the tour in the afternoon. It made the whole thing a lot less stressful because we got the interviews over early and could focus on asking the current students questions during lunch and the tours. Everything was very well-organized about the day. Lunch was pretty good and they had muffins and coffee upon arrival. I REALLY RECCOMEND taking advantage of their student housing option which allowed me to arrive the day before my interview and stay with M1 students who were extremely helpful and friendly, answered all my questions, and took me with them to study in the computer lab, library, and even to anatomy tutorial so I could feel what it was like to be a Rush M1 student. It was worth sleeping on the couch to get all that extra experience. Plus, one of the students that I stayed with walked me to the interview site so I had no problems arriving exactly where I needed to be without a lot of stress. Plus, it was free…. About the interview, I was really lucky in that my interviewers were totally laid back and I really clicked with them. The first interview had more ''tough'' questions than the second, but they were both basic ''getting to know you and your motives and goals'' which was fairly un-stressful. Just be sure you know the answers to those questions yourself and can express them clearly. Although MY interviewers were really laid back, there was another prospective that had two really hard interviews- she said that every question was ethical during her first interview (even handing her an article to read and reflect on during the interview!) and that during her second interview, the interviewer just fired question after question going right down a list with no real conversation. Because Rush has no standard questions that every interviewer must ask, it's really luck of the draw as far as what you'll be facing in your interview!"
"Introduction to each other and the recruitment director, 2 interviews (open and closed file), a laid back lunch with the students, tours of the facilities, and out by 2:30."
"It is a great time. Even though you go in worried, they immediately make you feel at home and comfortable. Even though the interviews were in the afternoon, once you were there, it was in a very relaxed environment."
"a very very chill day. both of my interviewers were very laid back and easy to talk to and everyone was super nice. don't stress about interviewing here at all and enjoy the day."
"Overall, it was a long but pretty stress free day. The interviews are pretty relaxed and typical; getting them out of the way in the morning is nice, so you can enjoy your afternoon tours."
"The day was awesome. You have an orientation first..and the admissions director is very honest and straight forward. The nice thing about Rush's admission process is that you have just as much of a chance of being accepted in march as you do if you had interviewed in october or november (they told us that on interview day). So a march interviewee is definitely interviewing for open spots. You have two interviews. One open file the other closed file with access to your secondary. The closed file interview was definitely a lot more fun and enjoyable. Both interviewers were just trying to get to know you as a person. I did not get any hard questions or ethical questions. Enjoy the day..it will be fun!"
"The whole day was very structured and really laid back. The interviews were more of a conversation than a Q and A session. Overall, a totally stress free day."
"Very relaxed, but at the same time you know you are there to see if this medical school is a good match for you. They flat out tell you that the interview day is to see if you are a good fit for Rush, and based on the interview format, they do just that."
"Going into the interview, I honestly didn't expect to be wowed by the facilities and the staff, which is what I felt after the day's agenda was done. Rush is a great school and their admissions staff will exert every possible effort to make sure that the interview experience is a pleasant one."
"Positive, stress free, with everyone very enthusiastic. It was low-key and I wasn't drilled at all about really difficult questions or concentrated on the faults of my application. "
"After being welcomed, we were given an overview of the day. The interviews were held in the morning, after which we were given a clinical tour by an M3 student and resident. Next, we had lunch with a group of medical students. These then took us on a tour of the college itself. We had plenty of opportunities to ask questions about the school and student life. Overall, it was a great day. Just make sure you wear comfortable shoes, as you'll be doing a LOT of walking!"
"The entire day was choreographed to perfection and everyone seemed to be making a genuine effort to make us have a pleasant and stress-free time. Their students are excellent not just academically, but also as caring and personable individuals. The school is heavily invested in its community activities and in this regard, boasts some impressive statistics. If you're looking for a sunny campus with outdoorsy setups, Rush is a poor choice. They are crammed into a few buildings with few windows and even the gym facilities are located off-campus in UIC and other areas. Although if you're willing to sell your soul to medical school and want to study in a top class institution in an artsy city with plenty to do during your breaks, Rush is located perfectly. Finally, if you are the type who cares more about actually making a difference as a physician rush is the place for you."
"Very positive. I left feeling like this could be my school and was happy about getting an interview. <fingers crossed>"
"Out of the 3 schools I've interviewed at so far, it was my favorite. The faculty aren't paid to teach. They are paid to do research but the teaching is voluntary. Many faculty stick around for long periods of time, because they like it there so much."
"Really pleseant and informative. They answered half of my questions with their information packets, so be prepared with lots. Looks like a great school"
"One interview was open file-with a phd, the other was closed (with access to secondary essays) with an MD...both were great!"
"Good interviews x2, though one was with a good-lookin doc and I was a bit distracted..."
"I absolutely loved Rush and hope that I get accepted there! The day started with a greeting and looking through the schedule and other handouts given to us. Next, I had an open-file interview from 9:30-10:30 and then a closed-file interview from 10:45-11:45. Folliwing this there was a clinical tour (hospital), lunch with Rush Medical Students, and an academic tour (lecture halls, library, etc.), and then a final debriefing session explaining what's next in the admissions process. We were done promptly by 2PM, and the day was extremely organized."
"people are friendly, the interviews are short, overall a good experience"
"The day was very organized and staff took you directly to your interview and picked you up so that you didn't get lost. We were given a packet of information about the school and program and had to opportunity to meet a number of students from all four years during the tour and during lunch. The 2 interviewers were very friendly and definitely seemed interested in getting to know me and convince me to go to Rush, rather than trying to fluster me. It was an early day (8:30), unfortunately, but we were done by 2 pm. "
"went to the gameroom, about 18 students there, mostly OOS. presentations, tour of the facilities, lunch with students, interview scheduals arrives, first interview around 1:30 and closed for about 30 min, second interview around 2:30 open mostly ethical and around 70 min. Finally closing statements by the president of the school and other departments. Finally home sweet home!!!"
"Good experience but others had a rough time. A girl had non stop questions from her secondary. Make sure you know what you wrote because you will regret it if you dont."
"There were two interviews. One was closed file, and the other was open file. We were escorted to our interviews in a timely and efficient manner. We got a clinical and an academic tour by M2, M3, and M4 students. They answered all of our questions and offered valuable advice. I throughly enjoyed my day. "
"Great interview day. The students were friendly and helpful, well organized day, relaxed atmosphere, they take you to and from the interview areas (I have been lost before) diversity is apparent and celebrated. "
"A lot of people talk about the UIC vs. Rush comparison. I learned something today. At Rush, you belong to a family. Every faculty member knows one another. Every faculty member knows every student by first name. They all get along, hang out, have dinner together, get drinks together, joke around with eachother, etc. People DO love it there. I did not get that vibe when I interviewed at UIC. I'm not saying UIC is inferior, but I AM saying that Rush is much more suited for me. I like students working together, I like a school where people actually go to class, and I like feeling as if every single person in the Rush Medical Center is working towards a common goal together. They care about their students."
"Two interviews -- one closed and one open. One of my interviewers was a psychologist who works in the Dean's Office. He asked me great questions and had a wealth of knowledge about Rush and its curriculum. I was concerned ahead of time that he was not a physician but he was the most informed person I met the whole day! Plus, he was a really nice guy. Staff escort you to the interviews and pick you up. Sure beats getting lost -- my norm at other schools. The students also give a tour (including the hospital!), refreshments and a yummy lunch are served. There are some brief presentations about Rush and some of its programs. They are very serious about their volunteer program and give you a lot of information about it. The students think the volunteer program is one of the best opportunities they could have!"
"You have two interviews: one totally open-file and one totally closed-file. However, my open file interview was really closed because he was in surgery all morning and didn't have time to read my file, but I thought it was friendly enough. Then my closed file interview was awful, he questioned my ability to perform during residency given my age and left me 25 minutes to ask him questions. His answers were vague and not very helpful."
"It left me questioning the school. With its disorganization, how frustrating would it be to be a student there? I get the sense that Rush would be a great place to be resident, but I'm not sure about a med student. "
"It was very organized. it was easy to find the place. free parking. refreshments are provided. Everybody that you will meet will be happier than the next. its a VERY happy and nice environment. Two tours and then a person takes you to and from your interview rooms. thats pretty dam nice."
"Two interviews. One open and one closed. "
"I thought it went pretty well and I really liked the school and would love to attend. I was waitlisted about 5 weeks later and am hoping I will still get accepted in the next few months."
"I arrived at the conference hall around 8:00 am... they don't start with the basics until 8:30 am... remember to drink some coffee it's a pretty long day with a lot of walking..."
"The interviews were very low stress. The interviews felt more like conversations rather than actual interviews. The interviewers were very nice and truly cared about you. One thing I suggest is have questions ready for your interviewers."
"The interviews were easy, to say the least. My open-file interviewer didn't ask me a single question about myself really. He almost seemed to assume I was in for sure. My closed-file interviewer just chatted with me about the school and health care."
"Excellent experience. I came in with some misgivings about Rush and its reputation, and left convinced that this would be one of my top choices. Just found out that I was admitted, so I'm really excited at the prospect of going!"
"Both of my interviewers were very knowledge and positive of the campus environment. They asked me questions regarding my MCAT scores and academic record but were really trying to get a sense of me that was beyond just the numbers. I was impressed about how relaxed they made me feel."
"The whole experience was very informative and not very stressful. They really wanted to provide us with a lot of information about the school. We got a tour in the morning and got to ask a lot of questions. Then there were two 30min interviews in the afternoon (one open file, one closed). It was a really great experience."
"It was really low stress, but again it depends on individual interviewers, My interviewers only talked to me about what I felt coming here and that was pretty much it. The rest of the interview they talked about going to medical school, how's technology working in medicine. Most of the interview they kept saying "what can I tell you about Rush" In the end my open file interviewer kind of freaked me out when he asked me all the places where I applied and went through each cities but then in the end said you are still young there are more ways to get there than one and you have a lot of time...I was like what the ... is he rejecting me already??? But Alhamdulillah I got in so ..."
"The interview was well organized and a person walks you to and from your interviews. You have 2 interviews 1 open file, the other closed both 30 min long. I felt that they were really easy but many students (60-80%) complained that they were asked difficult ethical questions or stupid bio questions like "how does one get aids? or cancer?" Regardless, I must have done well enough to get in!"
"My interviewers were both very friendly and easy to talk to. It seemed like they were pleased with my file and my responses so things were very low-stress = ). I spent a lot of the time just shootin' the shit basically. Some of it was medicine but a lot of it was random stuff."
"The day was organized very well with a welcome session followed by a clinical tour with 2 M3 students and then lunch and Q/A with M2 students. After lunch, we had another brief tour and then we were supposed to have 2 separate 30 minute interviews (even though my second one lasted 1 hour). One interview was open file and one was closed (even though both of mine were closed, which was fine with me!). The interviews were both VERY relaxed and not stressful at all. Overall, it was a very enjoyable interview day and I really hope to get accepted!!!"
"I was a bit nervous at first, but as soon as I started my interview, I found the interviewer very kind and easy to talk too. The best advice I can give is to be yourself and relax. "
"Visiting Rush was definitely a positive experience, it absolutely positively affected my view of the school. The interviews were low to no stress."
"After showing up late and first interviewer being unavailable, the day went great. I enjoyed talking with my two interviewers and I never felt uncomfortable. The questions didn't deviate from application. No crazy cancer, current event or technical questions. "
"The first one was open file and consisted of the standard questions. He kept glancing at the wall clock behind me, which was a bit disconcerting--but whatever. Some other applicants on my day said that their interviewers asked them to discuss what causes diabetes or cancer, but I didn't get any of that. Nor did I get any ethics questions, which surprised me. The closed file interview was VERY laid-back and conversational. He made it a point to really sell me on Rush so that I could make a fully informed decision based on the program and its future plans."
"Overall, it was a pleasant experience."
"Two hour long interviews. One open file and one closed file. Lunch is served with med students. The day ends around 2."
"Despite the recent posts, the interview was really laid back. If you're a nontraditional student, be able to justify all your decisions (why changing career, motivations, etc.)."
"I spent the night with a student host in Campus Court (student housing). The day started with two faculty interviews, one open file and one closed file. After that they gave a campus tour. The campus is connected to both the hospital and the nursing school. At one point of the tour, we entered an area of 30 students having lunch. One of the kids in my tour group asked "where are all of the guys?" Everyone in the room was a female. The school is comprised of 65% girls with a nursing school attached to the medical school."
"It was really laid back. There were no ethical questions asked or anything that might be considered difficult. However, it does depend on the doctors you interview with. "
"not bad, this wasnt one of my top schools going in and stayed as a back up school."
"Very nice student body and staff. 65% women for those single guys out there! One open, one closed interview with an MD and PhD. Open was traditionally formal interview, closed was casual conversation. "
"The other posts on this website had me worried that this was going to be a very intense, high stress interview but that wasn't the case at all. My interviews went very smoothly. They pretty much just wanted to know about my backround and experiences etc. The school seems pretty laid back and so do the students. "
"I thought the interviews were intense. My interviewers asked me almost everything. My first interviewer kept asking me to elaborate on my answer. For example, I would give him an answer after which he would say "aside from the answer you gave me, can you think of other reasons?" I just kept repeating my answers."
"Overall pretty good. The second interviewer was a chld psychiatrist, so his interview was very stress-oriented. He immediately asked me why I wore a black suit, why I am bothering to apply to medical school, what my MCAT score is, if I have a girlfriend, if I will stay with her, etc."
"Rush is a good school, and it was my third interview so I have adequate experience to compare it to other IL schools. Bascially, the staff and students did not seem very enthusiastic about the school, not that there is anything inherently terrible about that, but I just did not feel that sense of belonging to that school! It seemed that possibly there is more independence of students there than it seemed at other campuses. This can be good for others, but it wasn't something that I'm interested in."
"I had a really good day at Rush. I felt that the interviews were challenging, and since there were my first I was somewhat nervous. However, the atmosphere is really relaxed, warm, and friendly. I felt that I would find the support that I'm sure we will all seek from our schools during the next four years. "
"Some people really like this school, I just didn't see myself here."
"Rush is a very good school for training future clinicians. By their own admission, they put patient care above research, although many opportunities exist for research experiences. There were two interview sessions, one was open file and basically went over the standard "Why medicine?," ethics, and personal problem questions; the other was closed file and the interviewer's only prior knowledge of me was my name. The closed file interview was very laid back and was more of a meandering conversation. The tour and its guides were very informative and worthwhile. Overall I liked the whole experience."
"This is more of a concern about this school. I was accepted elsewhere and I'm incredibly torn. I wonder why Rush does not report to the US News survery that leads to medical school ranking. I know that it may be frivolous to rely solely on rankings in the selection of a school, especially considering that Rush is a place I can see myself spend the next few years of my life at, however, the reputation of your medical school still carries some weight in the subsequent residency placement. I guess, if you're interviewing here in the future, make sure to ask this question, and clarify (for your own peace of mind if you decide to go there) the politics behind this process. Is their reputation so impaired, or, in fact, historicaly poor, that they feel it shouldn't be reported? Where exactly do they rank?"
"The students and staff seemed nice. One of the interviewers kept answering pages and talked about nothing important while I was sitting in her office, almost like I was bothering her. The day was way too long. I was there at 8 something, sat around, had a couple meetings, then interview, then lunch, then sat around, then interview again. I got out of there after 3 pm."
"Two interviews and a tour were conducted over a 5 hour period. The first interviewer did not speak English very well and was just filling out answers on a worksheet. When the interviewer did not get the "correct" answer in a certain amount of time, he would just tell me his answer and move on; a couple of times, his was an answer to a different question – again because a language barrier existed. The second interviewer seemed negative from the beginning. He spent half of my interview talking about the year I took off from college 16 years ago. The same questions were asked over and over again. The education portion of my AMCAS application was all that was covered. This interviewer did most of the talking and went off on tangents at every opportunity; he clearly liked to talk. I was not asked at all about the career that I have had for the last 10 years nor was I asked about any of my extracurricular activities or achievements. My research and volunteer activities were also not covered. I don’t think this interviewer even read my application; if he actually had taken the time to study it at all, it did not show. I don’t understand why I was invited to interview if they were not interested in me (the secondary application asks you to write 15 essays). During the tour, the two first year students spent all of the time talking to the pretty girls that were interviewing alongside myself. Neither tour guide spent much time with my questions. The facilities are beautiful - no doubt paid for by the high tuition. All classes are conducted in the same building so it is convenient. The medical students are happy with their school. After talking to many physicians in the Chicago area, I got the feeling that the school is not that prestigious. Also, there did not seem to be much credible research being conducted at the school that did not originate from other institutions or from outside physicians. "
"A refreshingly friendly and supportive atmosphere. Overall, it was more fun than stressful. I was also impressed with how nice the facilities were. A school I would be proud to attend."
"8:45am - Arrive at Admissions office 9:15 - Admissions director still not out of meeting 9:30 - Director of fin aid talks with us 10 - Closed interview (1 hour) 11:15 - Open interview (40 minutes) noon - lunch (complimentary, but just the salad bar and a drink) 12:30pm - Med student takes us on tour; anatomy lab, a classroom, student lounge."
"I really liked the school alot. From the facilities to the students, everything was impressive. The great impression of Rush was all the hands-on experience one can get in just the first year."
"There was an open file interview and a closed file interview each was over an hour long ( they were supposed to be at least thirty minutes each: lunch was held in a nice lounge that is normally reserved for physicians during the tour segment: i had one interview in the morning and one in the afternoon: total time spent at the school was about six hours:"
"I knew a sufficient amount about this school going into the interview, but knew of no defining characteristics. Following the interview, it's a very solid school in my mind. I'd definitely go here over many schools. Location is amazing, the reputation and quality of education have been consistently rising over the past 10 years, and there are no major negatives."
"Seems like they actually listened to my responses and cared about what I was saying. I felt like we both accomplished something."
"My interview experience started with a close interview first thing in the morning. Then then financial aid talks were given, then my second interview, which was open was given. The tour took us all around the facility and that was it ! The experience overall was very positive. The dean was amazing and so encouraging. It was very apparent just how enthusiastic she was about the school in general. "
"I had a great day at my interview at Rush. Rush doesnt talk themselves up much, so its hard to know what to expect. They really give you the feeling like they want you to choose them instead of the other way around. This would be a perfect place to have a first interview. Rush def. went from being a consideration to a top choice!"
"The entire experience was more comfortable and pleasant than I thought it would be. I felt that the interviewers tried their best to learn more about me beyond the numbers. It was more like a conversation rather than an inquisition, which I enjoyed."
"Overall, the interviews day went well. For the most part the interviewers asked pretty standard questions but were less "conversational" than I expected."
"The whole experience was REALLY laid back. Talk to the students everywhere you go, and see if these are the kids you want to spend your next four years with."
"My first interviewer was pretty intense and intimidating... asking me nothing but questions about my weaknesses and ethics. Second one was closed file and very simple, but that interviewer didn't seem very interested in talking to me."
"Overall, I didn't get the best feeling about the school. The student who led the tour was a first year and didn't seem too enthusiastic, and my interviewers were either not very personable or purposely intimidating. I left without really understanding Rush is truly like. "
"I had a wonderful time at Rush. This was not my best interview but it was a fun day. The interviewers were great!"
"Very pleasant. Improved my perspective of Rush from neutral to definitely a top choice."
"It was a pretty good and relaxed interview. They just wanted to have a conversation with me and really didnt put too much pressure on. They seemed to be trying to sell the school on me more than I was trying to sell myself."
"It was a pretty standard visit. An orientation type meeting, my interviews, lunch with students, then a tour. Get there early, the complex is huge and there are a bunch of buildings attached to eachother. It can be hard to find your way around. "
"Overall, the interview experience was great. It was very relaxing and the interviewers truly did just want to get to know you."
"Very enjoyable, great responses from interviewers, one of the interviewers even called me afterwards to thank me for such a pleasant interview. "
"Rush is lots of fun. I liked it there a lot. The interviews went really well except the last guy talked for a long time about medicine and said a lot of the things that I wanted to say but he was very nice over all. Don't freak out if this happens to you, it's not that big a deal."
"Overall, it was a very enjoyable experience - as enjoyable as an interview can be, that is. The staff goes out of their way to make you feel comfortable, and even prep you with some information on your interviewers."
"One interview was a closed interview and the other was open. In the open interview, I was asked many ethical questions, but nothing too hard."
"There were two interviews, one was open-file with a member of the adcom while the other was closed-file with a faculty member or clinician."
"Overall good. Great administration. Students seem very happy there."
"The interviews were very laid back and the interviewers are just trying to learn more about you."
"Overall, I got a good impression of the school from the staff and students. I was very impressed with the friendliness of the interview coordinator and the first year students seemed really happy to be there. You get a sense of a caring, community type feeling on campus."
"There are two interviewers: one closed one open file."
"VEry laid back, KNow yourself, and what you have submitted in your application. Be open and honest. ANd just be yourself"
"My interviewers were nice and interesting people, but the school just wasn't that great. Also, the anatomy lab needed some serious fumagation (that's the worst I've been in)."
"Overall the school and the people gave a good impression. The interviews were pretty laid-back and the schedule was very efficient. The student tour-guides were honest but enthusiastic about where they were going to medical school."
"The interviews were very relaxed for the most part. They actually spent more time talking than I. They shared about themselves and, while they said my chances were favorable, gave me advice about what to do if I get wait-listed or rejected."
"A terribly long day because of the 6 hours I was there, 4.5 of it was spent in the waiting room. However, everyone is very friendly and helpful. Interviewers were friendly and interested."
"Overall it was a good experience. My first closed-file interview went by really fast. My second interviwer liked to take long pauses between questions while he flipped through my application. "
"I really liked Rush and hope to hear from them soon. I got a good feeling about the school and feel that they represented themselves honestly and fully."
"Low stress, except it's hard to answer that many ethical questions hoping you're being sincere while saying the right things. I think they were just looking for a thoughful answer, not necessarily a right answer."
"The interviews were wonderful. The staff was extremely nice and open to questions. This was a fun and enlightening experience. Be yourself. Check out the facilities and the people. You'll love it. I would give Rush my highest recommendation. "
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| Student | 157 |
| Faculty member | 2 |
| Admissions staff | 0 |
| Other | 1 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| Enthusiastic | 102 |
| Neutral | 8 |
| Discouraging | 0 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 8.22 | 110 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| In state | 63 |
| Out of state | 45 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 0-1 hour | 47 |
| 2-3 hours | 24 |
| 4-6 hours | 24 |
| 7+ hours | 7 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| Airplane | 36 |
| Automobile | 47 |
| Train or subway | 21 |
| Other | 2 |
PHL to OHR
Midway
Chicago Midway
O'hare
MID
MDW
MCI
ORD
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| At school facility | 1 |
| With students at the school | 17 |
| Friends or family | 23 |
| Hotel | 20 |
| Home | 8 |
| Other | 0 |
Yes
Yes
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| < $100 | 51 |
| $101-$200 | 10 |
| $201-$300 | 11 |
| $301-$400 | 5 |
| $401-$500 | 4 |
| $501+ | 6 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 8.28 | 116 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 9.03 | 116 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 9.21 | 116 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 7.65 | 63 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 8.98 | 64 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 7.22 | 59 |
"I think we should be told exactly when we are hearing back from our interview."
"A little more continuity in interviewers would be nice. My interviewer was critically analyzing my application and made several negative comments. I heard from others that their interviewer didn't really ask them any questions just sat and talked with them. I really enjoyed that such an effort was made to match interviewers with candidates that had something in common. That was a welcome and nice touch."
"None! Very well organized, very clear on where we were going or what we were doing. Staff was extremely helpful and nice, and the day passed by very quickly."
"none, they're great"
"They are great."
"Update your website with relevant information. It is hard to find information on the current website about programs."
"Have Sharon Gates speak more! She is absolutely fantastic, I loved hearing her discuss all the incredible things Rush students are doing!"
"None, they were awesome!"
"Shorten the interview day - by the last few hours it was like...Okay the school is great, I appreciate your philosophy, but I get it already. Otherwise, it was very good."
"Fantastic admissions office. Answered a ton of my questions, great interview process, and good food."
"Keep Jill Volk! She's amazing!"
"Make someone available for phone calls."
"None, Jill Volk, the director of recruitment was so friendly and helpful. She was smiling and was very interested in us."
"None, well done overall"
"I really really loved the staff at Rush! Super friendly, Jill from admissions was amazing and made e"
"Update application website"
"There is no number to call them, only an e-mail. Kind of difficult to deal with."
"Some interviewers are harder than others. Try to standardize the process."
"Allow students to call the office with questions. It's very annoying to not be able to directly cont"
"allow applicants to call with questions. Or, actually respond to emails in a timely manner. The curr"
"great enthusiasm and attentive staff. made us all feel special. very informative."
"None, they have been great."
We help students become doctors. TM
What is one of the specific questions they asked you (question 1)?