How many people interviewed you?
| Response Average | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 3.22 | 215 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| Positively | 211 |
| Negatively | 1 |
| No change | 7 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 2.63 | 216 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 8.03 | 154 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 9.06 | 124 |
No responses
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 5 minutes | 0 |
| 10 minutes | 0 |
| 15 minutes | 0 |
| 20 minutes | 4 |
| 25 minutes | 4 |
| 30 minutes | 187 |
| 35 minutes | 7 |
| 40 minutes | 1 |
| 45 minutes | 3 |
| 50 minutes | 2 |
| 55 minutes | 0 |
| 60+ minutes | 13 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| At the school | 217 |
| At a regional location | 0 |
| At another location | 0 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| One-on-one | 215 |
| In a group | 0 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| Open file | 213 |
| Closed file | 2 |
| Response Average | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 3.22 | 215 |
"There was a teamwork MMI question."
"What is a research interest that you have>?"
"About my gap year job"
"Very conversational discussion of my hobbies."
"How will you handle the death of your patients?"
"Why do you want to go to Michigan?"
"Tell me about your undergrad school."
"What qualities do I look for in a medical school?"
"about my experience"
"Tell us about XYZ experience."
"Why did you apply to Michigan?"
"Tell me about your research/e.c. "
"Tell me about your school. (I go to a small liberal arts school out of state that none of my interviewers had ever heard of)"
"Student: Questions about my teaching job/foreign volunteering experience since he had done similar stuff. What was hardest about this activity? Do you have any questions for me?"
"MD Interview: Why medicine? Why Michigan? (Had to spend extra time convincing interviewer because I grew up in Ann Arbor and went to college here too!) Tell me about "insert extracurricular here"."
"What do you hope to be doing in 15 years?"
"What interests you in Michigan?"
"What are your strengths and weaknesses?"
"Why Michigan? What will you bring to Michigan?"
"What superpower would you have?"
"Why Medicine? Why Michigan? What would you do if you didn't get into medical school this year? "
"An M2: What did you do at the free clinic? Did you discover anything interesting from your research? What do you do for fun? You're OOS...why Michigan? Why surgery? Do you have any questions for me?"
"What did you do over the summer?"
"What do you do for fun?"
"How do you see yourself in the future? "
"Why weren't your freshman grades as strong as your later ones?"
"Explain W's. Are you prepared to go out of state. what are the qualities of a good doctor and which do you possess. "
"Why Medicine? Why U of M?"
"What is the biggest problem you have faced?"
"Tell me about yourself."
"If you could have any superpower, what would it be?"
"Why don't you want to be a nurse, PA? Why a doctor?"
"ethical situation"
"Why UMich? Why medicine?"
"Tell me about your research?"
"Tell me about how you went from an undergrad major in X to medicine?"
"a few about my research"
"Tell me about this clinical experience on your application."
"What is one of the biggest problems in healthcare today?"
"Malpractice/tort reform, friend or foe? (not quite, but a long series of questions on this topic)"
"Why Medicine? Why Michigan? (Asked by all three interviewers)"
"Why did you choose to go to your undergraduate college? What did you like/dislike about it?"
"Where do you see yourself in 10 years? (asked by two of the three interviewers)"
"Specific questions about my interview file--activities I did and so forth."
"Why Michigan? You WILL be asked this."
"Why MD/PhD?"
"What would you do if you weren't going to become a doctor?"
"What would you tell the family if a patient you accidently killed?"
"What qualities do you have that will make you a good doctor?"
"What do you want in a medical school?"
"why medicine"
"What was your biggest mistake and the consequences of it?"
"80% of the questions were about your personal statement, secondary essays, and work/experiences portions of application."
"Why medicine? Are you still interested in neurosurgery and why?"
"What's the most academically challenging thing you've ever done?"
"explain a leadership role you have had "
"What would you rate your interest in science as, on a scale from 1 to 10?"
"what problem do you see yourself having as a doctor?"
"What significant leadership roles have you had?"
"What do you see yourself doing in between M1/M2/10 years after graduation?"
"Tell me something unique about yourself."
"Talk about myself"
"Starting with your childhood, tell me story of how you ended up here, interviewing for medical school."
"Tell me about activity X."
"They just want to get to know you in an informal way. Talk about things you might be interested in doing @ med school. 2 faculty interviewers and one student. All very kind."
"Tell me about your most significant volunteer experience."
"Straight off of AMCAS app. "
"I was asked to clarify the point of my research"
"Why didn't you get a recommendation from your research lab?"
"From the faculty interviewer: Tell me about yourself. What do you do to relax?"
"Who are 2 or 3 of your mentors?"
"Where do you see yourself in 10 years? (I was asked this question twice)."
"What field of medicine would you like to pursue?"
"Tell me about experience X?"
"Tell me about you family"
"Tell me about (insert AMCAS experience here)?"
"Why do you think attending a big school (class of 170) would be beneficial?"
"How come you got X in this section of the MCAT?"
"They asked me questions from my application (describe your research, why go from engineering to medicine, are you ready for the challenges, etc.)"
"My goal with you today is to determine whether or not you're an axe murderer and whether or not I'd trust you with my 3 year-old child...so what do you want to talk about?"
"How does chemistry fit in with your future practice plans? (basically he was trying to get me to say I would like to do research like him!)"
"What are you looking for in a medical school?"
"what 3 words would ppl use to describe you, also i think i had to elaborate on the most prominent one. be prepared to support any"
"If medicine were no longer existed as a career, then what career would you pursue and why?"
"Biggest problem in health care/how would you fix it?"
"tell more about experience X?"
"Explain activities"
"Tell me about your yourself? Home, voluteer experience, research etc."
"Why University of Michigan? (This question is really important if you're applying out-of-state!!!)"
"Why U of Michigan?"
"Explain to me your research and what you got from it."
"Just stuff from app"
"Tell me more about (insert activitiy from AMCAS here)."
"Tell me about this experience from your file? Why did you choose to do it, what did you learn?"
"tell me about (something specific from my application)"
"how did you get funding for your research?"
"tell me about your research in layman's terms"
"What are the three biggest problems in medicine today?"
"Why do you want to be a doctor? Why not a nurse? Why not a teacher? etc. etc."
"What was your favorite class in college?"
"What do you like to do for fun?"
"Explain this dip in your grades."
"Most questions based on AMCAS."
"Why UMich? Describe your research. "
"Tell me about (activity) and how it would make you a good doctor"
"Why UMich?"
"Why UMich and Medicine?"
"Mentioned above. Referred to my AMCAS essay."
"what do you think is the current crisis in health care system?"
"Why U of Michiga?"
"How do you think culture affects medical practice and patient interaction?"
"Tell me about ______? "
"Tell me about your research experience."
"If your best friend could describe you, what 3 words would he use?"
"What are you going to do if you don't get into medical school? Are you going to shoot yourself?"
"What are your thoughts on the Terri Schiavo case?"
"Tell me about working with (specific experience)?"
"Tell me more about ____ experience, which you mentioned on your AMCAS."
"What makes you want to come to M?"
"Describe your involvement in the March of Dimes..."
"How would you define a successful career?"
"Why are you applying to this school? (I am a CA resident)"
"What do you do to unwind? "
"Why medicine?"
"Why Univ of Michigan?"
"Why Michigan?"
"Explain this part of your essay . . . asked by two different interviewers, same part."
"How has your volunteer and leadership experience prepared you to become a doctor?"
"Where do you see yourself in 10 years?"
"Why medicine? Why not social worker? "
"How do you feel about medicine today, does it need improvement or not?"
"tell me about _________ (from my app) this is basically every question they asked me..."
"Tell me about your health-related experience."
"Why University of Michigan?"
"How do you plan on telling the families of children with terminal illness that there is nothing that can be done? "
"Do you think you will have time for extra-curricular activity while you are in medical school?"
"What do you bring to the medical school that will make it a better place?"
"Where do you see yourself in 15 years after you have finished everything."
"Tell me about your research. "
""Please describe your most significant life experience.""
"Tell me about your research"
"Why do you want to become a physician?"
"Why a career change?"
"Hobbies! I was asked what I do as a hobby or in my free time a bunch of times."
"Tell me what you do other than medicine/science?"
"What's the single most significant thing you've done while in college?"
"What does your father think about your career choice? (My father is a doctor.)"
"What is maple surup disease?"
"Describe your research for me."
"What possible conflicts do you think might arise in medical school"
"Why do you want to go into medicine?"
"(see above); otherwise just general questions really."
"What would you like said at your eulogy?"
"Tell me about your research."
"What is the biggest issue in healthcare"
"Why do you want to be a doctor?"
"What do you think about euthanasia?"
"describe your research. "
"See above re: kidney transplant discussion"
"What would you like to do at Michigan? (Michigan really wants to support their students to pursue their own interests, so they care quite a bit about people's passions)"
"How do you work in a team?"
"Tell me about yourself/your path to medicine."
"Asked specifics about my activities?"
"How do you deal with stress?"
"What is it that you like about Michigan?"
"Tell me about your background / about the work that you've been doing. (bit tricky with open files -- how much do you repeat, are you boring them?)"
"How did you choose your undergraduate college?"
"do you go back to visit where you were born often?"
"What do you think about moving out of state to come to Michigan?"
"Tell me about your research?"
"Tell me about your international experience."
"Alumni: Why Medicine? Why Michigan? Research? Asked questions about most of my activities (e.g., Why did you volunteer here? What is your research about? He also asked me how one of my research methods worked and how it related to one of his techniques, so that threw me off a bit just because I didn't remember what his stuff was about). Referring to the extreme economic problems of my home state, what's going on in California? Any questions for me? We also talked about football, Ann Arbor, reducing costs in medicine, and what medical field he thought would be good for me."
"Student Interview: Why medicine? Why Michigan? Tell me about "insert extracurricular here". What would you do if you couldn't practice medicine? Summarize/update research publications progress (not questions about the research itself)."
"What specific questions do you have for me? "
"Why did you decide to pursue medicine? (I studied mechanical engineering as an undergrad)."
"What keeps you going?"
"Do you have any specific questions about the Family Centered Experience I could answer? (I expressed interest in it and my interviewer was one of the faculty leaders of the program)"
"Tell me about your research"
"Where do you see yourself in 10 years?"
"Explain more about x activity. Describe your research experience. What could be potential problems that you face during at the onset of your medical education?"
"What is the biggest accomplishment you've made?"
"An M4: Why not MD/PhD? What do you do for fun? Why surgery? Any questions for me? A casual conversation about clinical research, away rotations, the flexibility of the M4 year, etc. "
"What would you do if you couldn't go into medicine?"
"What kind of environment do you want to practice medicine in the future?"
"Tell me about yourself. WHy medicine. Why michigan. are you a leader. why?"
"Why do you want to be a doctor?"
"At what point did you realize that you wanted to be a doctor?"
"tell me about a particular undergrad experience"
"Asked about my activities during my year off."
"Tell me about X hobby? (X = any of the recreational, non-academic things I listed on AMCAS)"
"What are some challenges in medicine that you saw in your shadowing or volunteer experiences?"
"see above"
"How did having a father who is a physician impact you? (asked by 2 interviewers)"
"What kind of doctor do you want to be?"
"What is your favorite ski area?"
"How did you go from [home state] to [my small liberal arts college] to California to applying to medical school? (I'm a non-traditional applicant.)"
"What is your strongest point? What is your weakest point? (Asked by two interviewers)"
"Why did you choose X activity? How did this contribute to your clinical experience?"
"Tell me about yourself"
"What do you think the difficulties women face in pursuing mediine?"
"How I anticipate making the transition from a small Christian college to a big public university."
"Exposure to medicine: Tell me more about the summer you spent shadowing. How did this influence your decision to go into medicine?"
"Why (your field of interest)?"
"What will you add to the entering class? Pespectives, diversity, interests, etc.?"
"What would you do to reform health care?"
"Why U Mich?"
"research questions"
"You're from California, will you be able to live with the cold and snow?"
"How would you deal with unruly/noncooperative patients?"
"What led you to a career in medicine?"
"Describe (insert work/activity from your primary app)"
"What do you do on your free time?"
"Asked about research and various activities that were on my app--be prepared to discuss all of them."
"you took a lot of philosophy type courses in the beginning of college, explain this (kind of caught me off guard, wouldnt really call the courses i took philosophy)"
"What will be the most humbling part of life as a doctor for you?"
"There is a scienctific side to medicine, and a compassionate side; you are more interested in the compassionate side, right?"
"Tell me about when your interest in medicine began? Who told you not to become a doctor?"
"Why medicine and not research? (based on having put a lot of research on my application)"
"What lightning bolt experience did you have to solidify the fact you wanted to be a doctor?"
"What experience defined your interest in medicine"
"Talk about volunteer experiences"
"What do you want to do with your medical degree?"
"What did you enjoy the most in your undergrad?"
"Tell me about such and such experience on your AMCAS."
"What attracts you to Michigan?"
"Straight off of AMCAS app. "
"what my fav extracurricular in undergrad was"
"How have you pushed yourself outside your comfort zone?"
"Tell me about X or Y experience (from my application)."
"What characteristics are required of a leader?"
"Why did you pursue a business minor?"
"Describe such and such experience."
"Tell me about your childhood?"
"Do you have a desire to use your technology background in medicine? In what way?"
"Community service activities, research, etc. (detailed questions that had to do with AMCAS stuff)."
"Tell me more about "X" (Asked me to elaborate on lots of AMCAS stuff)"
"What was the doctor's (that I shadowed) practice like?"
"what 3 qualities should docs have, again be ready to support"
"Why UM?"
"Why U-M?"
"What made you decide you want to be a doctor?"
"Explanation of an activity I had done."
"how did you manage to accomplish so much at such a young age?"
"Strengths and weaknesses"
"Tell me about your experience leaving home (small town) to go to a large university?"
"Asked me a few questions about my experience with one of my extracurriculars"
"Why MD/PhD?"
"What are the 3 most pressing concerns in healthcare today?"
"Tell me about a time when you you were put in a position in which you had no choice but to comporomise your own values/morals/ethics."
"How will the above experience make you a better doctor?"
"so why U of M? why medicine?"
"You are given 100,000 dollars. How would you use that money to improve healthcare?"
"tell me about how you liked your undergrad school."
"What would you do if you didn't get into med school?"
"How would you fix the healthcare crisis in this country?"
"Tell me about your experiences abroad."
"What did you do when you couldn't help someone that needed it?"
"Why UofM?"
"What do you think is an important problem in healthcare today? "
"Why Michigan?"
"Tell me about yourself."
"Tell me about the path that you have taken to become a doctor"
"What do you do for fun?"
"do you think distribution of wealth in the metro detriot community is equitable?"
"What would you do if not medicine?"
"Tell me about your research."
"Do you know which type of medicine you ultimately want to pursue?"
"As your advocate on the admissions committee, what would you like me to stress about you as an applicant?"
"When did you decide to become a physician? What motivated you to become a physician?"
"What have you done internationally?"
"Tell me how you graduated so early"
"How did you like being a tutor for students preparing for the GED exam?"
"What do you think about U. Mich's most infamous alumnus, Dr. Kevorkian and physician assisted suicide?"
"What made you want to be a physician?"
"Your AMCAS experiences seem very different from here (this school). Do you think you would fit in here?"
"What would you do if you didn't get in anywhere?"
"What is the biggest problem in healthcare?"
"What's the biggest issue confronting physicians today?"
"What do you look for in a medical school?"
"Why medicine? "
"Tell me about your experiences abroad?"
"What do you like about Michigan?"
"What do you think of physician assisted suicide? What US state (Oregon) and European country(Netherlands) is it legal?"
"What do you do in your leisure time, for fun."
"Tell me about _____ (various things in my AMCAS and secondary applications)"
"What are your thoughts on physician-assisted suicide?"
"What are some of the challenges of being a doctor?"
"How did being the son of two doctors affect your decision to go into medicine?"
"Detailed questions pertaining to my research"
"Give me the high point and low point of your life."
"What has been the biggest challenge of your life so far?"
"Why do you want to work with sick people?"
"Where do you see yourself in 15 years?"
"Why do you want to go to UMich?"
"Why medicine??"
"What is one big problem in health care."
"what are you looking for in a medical school? "
""I see your parents are dentists. Why have you chosen medicine over dentistry?""
"What's the biggest problem in health care today?"
"What can you bring to Michigan/what do you have to offer?"
"What would you do if you don't get in this year?"
"Just alot of the usual stuff except for the questions I put about most difficult and most interesting."
"Four words your friend would describe you with."
"Why are you looking at Michigan?"
"What is the one achievement of which you are most proud? "
"Three drawbacks of medicine."
"What other interests do you have outside of medicine?"
"How have you gotten to know the real field of medicine"
"What are your thoughts on our current health care system (stemming from the fact that I indicated that I have an interest in health policy)?"
"Where were you on Sept. 11th? (a different interviewer asked me this question than the one who asked me the first question I listed about 9/11)"
"How do you handle stress?"
"Why do you want to come here"
"Tell me about (undergraduate school)..."
"Please tell me about your research. (One of my interviewers worked in a related field and asked alot of detailed question - EEK!)"
"where do you see yourself 10 (15, 20...) years from now?"
"Is there anything else you'd like me to know about your application?"
"What type of research do you hope to do in medical school?"
"What made you want to be a doctor?"
"How have your health conditions affected your decision to pursue medicine?"
"What do you do in your free time?"
"What kind of challenges do you expect medical school will provide?"
"Why medicine? (i'm a non-trad coming from the public health field so it was important to clarify why I would move from a broader impact field to medicine. It's more typical for med students / physicians to want the public health perspective than vice versa) For those non-trads, practice providing a clear response on this question!"
"In your secondary application, you wrote about something that you have a passion for. Elaborate on that."
"what is one of your strengths?"
"What do you think are some of the problems with healthcare, and how would you fix them?"
"What was your most memorable clinical experience?"
"Specifics from my personal statement (i.e. expand on a certain aspect). Also, how did your parents' legal profession impact your decision to go into health care?"
"Faculty: How is Michigan a good fit for you? General conversation about activities. What are your thoughts about Obama's health plan? After I expressed uncertainty about how it would be paid for, he asked me how we could reduce costs (luckily my other interviewer and I had just talked about this!) Any questions for me? Is there anything else I should tell the admissions committee? "
"Faculty/MD Interview:Why medicine? Why Michigan? Asked a lot about my public health research experiences b/c he was also involved in public health. "
"You MCAT is the weakest part of your application, please explain this?"
"Are you interested in any specific fields of medicine?"
"What do you bring to Michigan? "
"If you've had no shadowing experience, that begs the question, are you really sure that you want to be a doctor?"
"A urological oncologist. How did you get involved in shadowing? Why surgery? Why Michigan? What are you looking for in a school? A casual conversation about surgery/surgical training. "
"Tell me more about X experience on your application"
"What kind of medicine do you think you want to go into?"
"What should society do about people who are homeless?"
"Tell me a little about ___ activity and why you didn't continue. "
"What kind of medicine are you interested in?"
"what do you do for fun. strengths/weaknesses. Do you have a significant other? How will you deal with moving away. DO you know what speciality you want to do. "
"Where do you see yourself in 10-15 years?"
"Why U of Michigan?"
"Do you have a particular specialty in mind?"
"we actually talked about football a bit, too"
"Why Michigan? (The interview feedback here on SDN made me think that I would be asked this question by every one of my interviewers. But really I only got asked in my last interview, at the very last minute of our time.)"
"What have been your most signficant/important research experiences?"
"see above"
"Tell me about your research, how you may want to incorporate research into your career, and how you think research impacts medicine generally. (asked by an MD/PhD)"
"What are the most important traits for a physician to embody?"
"Tell me about...[clinical activity in my essay]. "
"How have you demonstrated leadership skills?"
"Why medicine? Why U of M?"
"Tell me about your research"
"How do you feel about diversity? Do you think diversity is important in medical school?"
"What are three words you would use to describe yourself? In which specific activities have you displayed those attributes?"
"Hobbies/interests: Tell me more about your music. All three interviewers wanted to know more about it - how does my instrument work? have I been to music camps? do I plan to continue playing?"
"When did you realize you wanted to be a doctor?"
"What do you like to do for fun?"
"How will you handle the stress of medical school?"
"Questions related to AMCAS"
"question about class i took"
"Lots of questions specific to my AMCAS activities, as well as the obligatory why medicine/why Michigan questions."
"Why MD and not PhD?"
"Are you staying over the weekend?"
"What do you to do relieve stress?"
"How do your parents like medicine (they're both docs)?"
"How did the fact that your parents are physicians affect your decision to become one?"
"Is 4 more years in Ann Arbor too many? "
"do you think the doctor/medical care at summer camp is sufficient/up to par (I worked as a camp counselor which was on my app)"
"Tell me about activity ___ (from AMCAS)."
"What was your childhood like?"
"Tell me about your recent research experience? How you found out about the program, your project, etc. Tell me about your school"
"Why University of Michigan?"
"Tell me about your medical brigade/research/sport team/leadership."
"Tell me more about your research."
"Talk about research"
"Tell me about this experience (referring to an experience listed in my AMCAS)"
"Questions about my experience as an EMT."
"Why Michigan over a higher ranked school, such as Harvard?"
"What made you change your mind from engineering to medicine? (specific to me because I was an engineer and made a switch into medicine in the middle of college)"
"What questions do you have for me?"
"Straight off of AMCAS app. "
"if I was going to pursue research in med school"
"What did Jonas Salk invent? (Polio vaccine)"
"Why do you want to come to Michigan? What questions do you have for me?"
"Were locals receptive to what you were trying to do in the Peace Corps?"
"...more of the typical ones you'd expect."
"Tell me about your volunteerism abroad"
"What have your clinical experiences taught you about being a physician?"
"Why UMich?"
"What do you like to do for fun? (I talked briefly about scotch tasting!)"
"So what do you do for fun?"
"Is there anything else you want me to tell the admissions committee?"
"where do you see yourself in 10/15/20 years, cant remember, 2 ppl asked me this though"
"Problems and solutions in America's healthcare."
"See above."
"what do you see yourself doing in 10 years? ("when you grow up" as he put it =)"
"If not medicine what would you make your career?"
"(more of a statement, which was tough to follow up on): i hope that we have done a good enough job to convince you to come here."
"When I decided to want to become a doctor."
"What will you miss leaving the working world to return to school?"
"Asked about my major--why did I choose it, what have I learned."
"Who are your favorite three musicians or singers?"
"What do you look for in a medical school and specifically why does UM fit this mold."
"Which one of your volunteer experiences meant the most to you? "
"tell me about your research and teaching experiences"
"What if the band you dropped out of became famous? How would you feel if you were working 100 hours a week as a resident and you saw them on TV?"
"what do you do to relieve stress?"
"What do you do for fun?"
"An alcoholic and a non-alcoholic need a liver transplant. There is only one liver to give. The non-alcoholic has two kids. The alcoholic shows no desire to improve their behavior......"
"What you do if not medicine?"
"Why medicine? What would you do if you couldn't practice medicine?"
"What scares you most about medical school?"
"Pretend I am a non-US resident. What does HMO stand for? Explain to me what an HMO is."
"Describe your most important volunteer activity."
"What is the toughest challenge facing healthcare?"
"Obstacles, challenges, and rewards. As well as research, extracurriculars!"
"was your dad really a fighter pilot!!?"
"Tell me about your volunteer experience."
"What worries you about health care?"
"What do you think is the biggest problem in health care today?"
"Why U Mich? How did you become interested in medicine? (the usual interview questions)"
"What is your ulitmate goal in terms of medical practice."
"Where do you see yourself in 10 years"
"Do you think Howard Dean should bow out of the race? What do you think he did to harm his national appeal?"
"Why do you want to be a doctor?"
"Where do you see yourself in 10 years?"
"Do you have any questions for me?"
"How much pressure do you want in your life, in your career?"
"What experience impacted your decision to become a doctor the most? "
"What are the negative sides to medicine and would you be able to deal with that?"
"why U Mich? "
"Discuss a current problem in healthcare."
"What important lessons did you learn from X experience?"
"What do you think about managed care? How is the US going to get out of Iraq?"
"Explain your research."
"What book have you read that has impacted the way you think?"
"So you come from the University of Kentucky? Did you hear about that surgeon who branded the letters "UK" on a woman's uterus?"
"Tell me about your undergraduate university."
"What will be the biggest challenge for you as a medical student next year?"
"How will you determine which medical school you will attend?"
"Tell me about a specific advancement in medicine in the last year."
"Describe your research."
"What clinical experience have you had?"
"What are some negatives to the current state of medical practice??"
"Do you think you could get use to the cold, seing as I was from California."
"What do you think of Ann Arbor? Why are you interested in U Mich? "
""Why was your volunteer inner-city coaching experience so valuable to you?" It was the gist of my personal statement."
"Do you regret anything in undergrad/would you have done anything differently?"
"What is your greatest weakness?"
"What was the name of the last interviewer?"
"Why medicine?"
"Tell me about your research."
"Describe your clinical experiences for me."
"What type of books do you like to read?"
"What's your proudest achievement? Name something selfless you did."
"Why Michigan?"
"Tell me about yourself."
"Where do you see yourself in twenty years?"
"Alot of questions about stuff in my AMCAS essay and application. (Tell me more about ___, etc.)"
"what is one human rights activity/issue that you feel strongly about? why? do you see any way to make a difference in that issue? "
"Specific questions about my application"
"MMI"
"Who is your favorite super hero"
"I had a discussion with one of my interviewers about the pros and cons of EMRs and integrating more technology into healthcare."
"Who is your favorite grandparent?"
"Who is your biggest influence as to why you are choosing a career in medicine?"
"How has your father's career (business) affected your decision to pursue medicine?"
"If in the future doctor compensation is based off of patient outcome, how do you deal with a noncompliant patient."
"All questions came off my app in some way, so no "creative" questions were asked."
"What do you like about U of Michigan? (there was so much!)"
"Tell me something fun about yourself that is not in your application, or teach me something interesting."
"Do you think training on mannequins detracts from patient contact? How could this change?"
"The healthcare question."
"What is your relationship with your father like. (My personal statement was very personal). "
"Would you legalize marijuana (blank stare...)?"
"You said you were once stuck with a needle. Tell me about that experience."
"What are your thoughts about Obama's health plan? After I expressed uncertainty about how it would be paid for, he asked me to talk about some ways that we could reduce costs in medicine."
"Got into a really interesting discussion about my interview's career choices in public health & research and my global health experiences."
"As a woman in medicine, what are your views on when you want to have a family and how this will be possible?"
"What is your first choice in medical schools?"
"Nothing really. All three interviews were conversational."
"How will skills you have gleaned from coaching apply to your career as a physician?"
"Did you watch the VP debates last night? What issues of health care are most important to you?"
"Have you ever heard the song, "Alice's Restaurant" by (...) Guthrie?"
"What was your worst day in college?"
"Why is your family so important to you? (I thought this was kind of weird)"
"What should society do about the homeless? (This was asked in continuation of my discussing my involvement at a homeless shelter)"
"What do you think are some of the obstacles facing women in medicine?"
"Describe your research to me as if I was a 12 year old. What kind of tree would you be if you were a tree. "
"What were your good and bad experiences as a patient in the field of medicine?"
"Tell me about a time you helped someone."
"Do I consider myself a risk-taker? "
"I currently go to UofM for undergraduate and my interviewer went to UofM for undergraduate and medical school too. So she asked me what I thought would be different about my experience between undergrad and med."
"ethical situation--what would you do?"
"Wasn't a particular question, but I had a great conversation about health policy with one of my interviewers (don't worry. I was asked because it's one of my interests)."
"How will linguistics (my undergrad major) help prepare you for medicine?"
"How did you get from an undergrad major in X to medicine?"
"Nothing too interesting, mostly just about my background, this interview was very conversational so I had to steer it towards my strong 'selling points'"
"How will your background in chemical engineering aid in your development in becoming a doctor?"
"What is the most important thing you gained from traveling?"
"First question of the interview day by the student interviewer: How does being in a fraternity (on my AMCAS) help prepare you for a career in medicine."
"How has medical malpractice influenced the price of health care and how doctors do their work; additionally, how will it affect you?"
"Nothing out of the ordinary."
"What are the problems in healthcare today?"
"How has your musical interests and involvment in music been shaped by (or has shaped) my interest in a career in medicine? (I did quite a few music extracurriculars)"
"Is there any experience you've had that you think everyone should try?"
"How, as a physician, will you find a way to treat people that you don't personally like?"
"What else do you like to do?"
"After reading me an e-mail in which a woman blamed him for the death of her husband, who refused to listen to medical advice, one physician interviewer asked how I would feel to receive such a letter. What would be my thoughts/emotional responses?"
"Questions about my research"
"Interviewer studied same research topic as I did...we talked about that a lot"
"Where do you see yourself in ten years?"
"Imagine you are walking down the street, and a box falls from the sky. It is addressed to you, and it says it contains $100,000 that should be used to reform health care. What would you do with it?"
"standard fare questions"
"n/a"
"nothing out of the ordinary"
"Tell me about your best and worst experiences with a doctor as a patient."
"How did living in Russia affect your education and your attitude toward medicine?"
"How did you get involved with your community service work?"
"I write about college football so I got a couple questions about whether I'd root for michigan football."
"If no medical school accepted you, what would you do?"
"Why do you think that people who are doctors often discourage their kids from becoming doctors too?"
"whats your take on allowing Iran nuclear warheads etc..."
"What will be the most humbling aspect of life as a doctor?"
"Tell me about your childhood (I had listed some stuff on my AMCAS primary)"
"Tell me about your school, I see so many patients that go to your school and I want to know more about your school."
"Nothing out of the ordinary..."
"What do you see your self doing in between M1 and M2? (i.e. Research, vacation, foreign aid, local aid, etc)"
"Young female patient comes into ER asking for pain medication and you examine her and she starts to flirt with you what do you do?"
"Looking at your application you are interested in population research...how do you feel about 4 years of one-on-one clinical experience (i.e. won't you get bored, etc.)?"
"If we looked for two traits in prospective students, what should they be?"
"about my hobby."
"What are you going to be for Halloween?"
"No particularly interesting questions were asked of me."
"How were you able to raise so much money for your student organizations?"
"Based upon my experiences working on health care policy, what I believed the future of health care would look like. "
"What was my favorite extracurriclar activity in college?"
"What did Jonas Salk invent? (Polio vaccine)"
"How do you plan to split your clinical and research time percentage-wise? (This was after I had said that I plan to go into academic medicine.)"
"How accurate is Apollo 13? (I used to work for the space program)"
"I see that you were born in (different country). Tell me more about that."
"What would you do if you weren't admitted to med school this year?"
"I was asked no unusual questions. Generally, all of the interviewers focused on a few areas: Why do you want to be a doctor? Why Michigan? & questions that addressed the depth of your understanding of what it means to be a physician."
"What is the difference between a nurse practioner and a physician?"
"Nothing special"
"What is the most pressing problem facing medicine today? What do you think should be done about it?"
"Tell me about your childhood?"
"What aspect of medicine do you think you will like the least?"
"My goal with you today is to determine whether or not you're an axe murderer and whether or not I'd trust you with my 3 year-old child...so what do you want to talk about?"
"If you were going to perform surgery on a child whose parents' religion prohibited the use of blood products and the child would surely die if you did the operation without them, what would you do?"
"What are you looking for in a medical school?"
"i mentioned healthcare crisis, interviewer grilled me on various aspects of it, not too fun"
"If medicine were no longer existed as a career, then what career would you pursue and why?"
"If medicine, and all healthcare fields, dropped off the face of the planet, what would you do instead?"
"Michigan's swim team is a little faster than Colgate's, isn't it?"
"What were some negative aspects about your undergraduate education?"
"What's the role of faith in medicine?"
"Most of the questions came from my AMCAS application. "
"If you were a casino game, what would you be and why?"
"would financial limitations affect your decision(s) on which medical school to attend?"
"What responsibility do you think physicians have to the public? (Something like that)"
"Nothing comes to mind! Probably the most interesting moment was when one interviewer told me flat out that he was there to make sure I wasn't a serial killer or something!"
"Who are three of your favorite musicians or singers? (Following up on a question about my hobbies and interests.)"
"About traveling and experiences, nothing very interesting"
"What do you look for in a medical school and specifically why does UM fit this mold."
"How do you think you would benefit from the curriculum here? (they recently switched to organ-based)"
"everything was pretty much off my application"
"You have done many different activities and have had many different hobbies. How do you see all of your life experiences fitting into your life as a physician? How do you see it all coming together?"
"If you had an epileptic patient who refused to take his/her prescribed meds due to religious beliefs, what would you do?"
"what's the difference between medical ethics and personal morals"
"What are the three biggest problems in medicine today?"
"You are given 100,000 dollars to improve healthcare. How would you spend it? (100,000 is not a lot of money to fix the system...so it was sort of a difficult question to answer)"
"Do you like Lance Armstrong?"
"Why did you choose to study Italian?"
"Do you think the relatively privileged status of Ann Arbor is a problem?"
"If you couldn't practice medicine, what other career would you pursue?"
"There wasn't really a question. It was more like a statement. Something like, "You seem very qualified...let's just make sure you're not crazy.""
"What are some of the challenges facing physicians today?"
"Nothing particularly interesting. "
"You all have the same grades and interests in medical school. How are you different from the other applicants?"
"How I have made it this far, against all the obstacles I have overcomed?"
"Tell me about your childhood."
"What's your favorite musical? (I mentioned earlier that I liked musical theater)"
"If a bundle with $10,000 fell on near your feet one day, how would you use it to order to improve health care?"
"How do you think your faith will help you in your chosen field of specialty?"
"Is Ann Arbor a good example of the real world?"
"What do you think is the biggest problem in health care today?"
"What would you do to change healthcare?"
"Tell me about your family."
"Q: how are you going to pick a med school? A: SDN Interview Feedback "
"Have you been to the nightclubs in Goa? (My interview's husband is a clubhead I guess)"
"How would you choose to spend $100,000 in the medical field?"
"Who provides the greatest benefit to society: the primary care physician, the public health worker, or the entertainer?"
"If I were from another country and culture, how would you describe the American healthcare system to me?"
"If I had the choice of giving a liver to a 25 year old who could go a year without it, or 55 year old alcoholic who needed it immediately...which would I choose and why>"
"Why I, as a California resident, would EVER dream of moving to the Midwest."
"(some question about research)"
"See most difficult question."
"What would you do if you didn't get in anywhere?"
"Explain apoptosis...does it occur in normal cells?"
"How would you define a successful career? "
"What do you look for in a medical school?"
"Ethical questions"
"Do you think a surgeon needs to have ego? "
"Discuss a current problem in healthcare."
"What five things would a close friend say about you to describe who you are?"
"How did you decide which college to attend for undergrad?"
"What can we do as a school to make your medical education a positive and worthwhile process."
"What book have you read that has impacted the way you think?"
"If you had a large sum of money to spend on AIDS education and research, how would you split it up between education and research and why?"
"where did your "fire" come from? it was from a really passionate and interesting interviewer, and i really enjoyed talking to him."
"Michigan recently went to the Supreme Court about Affirmative Action. What do you think about diversity? What if you were the person "unfairly" selected against in favor of a lesser qualified URM?"
"A student admitted to U Mich undergrad was convicted of date rape over the summer before matriculating. What did I think Michigan should do?"
"If you had to explain our health care system to a foreign person who knew nothing about it, what would you say?"
"If you had a pile of money, large but discrete, to spend on aids education and research what percentage would you distribute to each? For America? For the world?"
"How would I design a medical curriculum?"
"why would you rather be a physician rather than a musician?"
"Why don't many Texans come to University of Michigan?"
"You have performed a great deal - why didn't you direct?"
"If a patient came in with no hope of being saved would you let interns practice procedures on him?"
"it was actually an ethical question that addressed the issue of euthenasia. I was quite surprised when the professor asked me in which state was it legal, luckily I knew the answer which was oregon."
"The questions were not hard at all --just have to know yourself. "What worries you about medical school?" "
""Did you see LeBron James play last night? Is he nasty or what?" Keep in mind this was asked by a surgeon, who watched The Chosen One on TV the night before. "
"Do you think we should invade Iraq?"
"What do we have to do in order for you to come to Michigan?"
"You're interested in combining research and clinical medicine, what if I told you that in order to do research you'd have to devote only 30% of your time to clinical practice?"
"If you had a patient who did not act upon your medical advice about lifestyle, would you continue to see that patient?"
"Was very conversational. Probably explain what you do in your free time was a good question."
"Take any ethical issue and take a side."
"There weren't really any questions that required a lot of thought...Honestly, the most interesting questions was probably: Name three or four words your friends would use to describe you."
"Pick a medical topic and argue both sides of it."
"How do you think growing up in a very small town will affect how you practice medicine?"
"If I had a certain amount of money to help cure Aids in Africa, How would I use it. "
"If you were the dean of a medical school, what one course would you want to have included in the curriculum?"
"What were my opinions on the current Iraq conflict?"
"What would you do if medicine didn't exist (as in, what other career would I pursue)?"
"How do you think September 11th has impacted your generation?"
"Nothing really, mostly asked about my extracurricular activities"
"There were one or two expected medical type questions (biggest issue in healthcare), but mostly it was talking about myself and why I wanted to come to Michigan."
"How do you think you'll get all your career goals to fit when medicine takes up so much time?"
"Some questions about my activities and personal interests."
"Do you want to know what I think of you, and how this interview went? (You'll make an excellent doctor - YES!!)"
"tell me your faults. if you could construct your ideal school where you fit best, could you describe it to me? "
"If you had a patient in jail who faced the choice of having a kidney transplant or being on dialysis for the rest of his life, what would you do? What if someone who was not incarcirated could use that same donor kidney, who should get it? Kidney transplant vs. dialysis has no difference in survival, only quality of life issue. Okay, so now what if I told you now that a kidney transplant is MUCH cheaper in the long run that dialysis, should the prisoner get it now?"
"MMI"
"Tell me a life lesson you learned from your dad"
"What do you think are qualities you possess that would make you a good doctor?"
"How will you handle the death of your patients?"
"What challenges do you think you will face as a physician due to health care reform?"
"What is your opinion on abortion?"
"No difficult questions from any of my interviewers."
"What can you say to convince me that you won't struggle in your first year? (My uGPA and MCAT were not stellar despite high grad GPA and lots of experiences). Fair question and fortunately, answered it well! If you know your main weaknesses as a candidate, be very prepared to address that weakness head-on, not make excuses for the past."
"Tell me something about yourself that I wouldn't know by reading your application."
"Why medicine? (and after my answer) but why?....i didnt know what to say haha"
"The question about moving out of state was tought cause it turned into a grilling session about me being married (or so it seemed)."
"What would be challenging in your medical career?"
"What is the single-most important way in which the current healthcare reform will impact your life as a physician ten years from now? "
"Do you think it's right for undergraduates to "learn medicine" in undeveloped countries, often on people who have no where else to go?"
"Is there anything else I should tell the admissions committee? I didn't have anything to say (I hit all the big points I wanted to in the interview), so I sort of sputtered that I really liked Michigan (truth), but I think it came out really awkward. Oh well."
"Why Michigan - the defense of why i should stay in ann arbor another 4 years."
"What was the most important thing you took away from experience X?"
"Your MCAT score is lower than the average we admit. Please elaborate on this."
"What do you think will be the biggest challenge for you in Medical school?"
"No really bad Q, but my first interviewer had a dead-pan stare going the whole time. No reaction to what I was saying at all. Threw me off the first couple of answers."
"Where do you see yourself in 20 years? This was difficult for me to answer because I'd always wanted to do private practice...but it felt unprofessional to say that, so make sure you think about other possibilities like maybe participating in public policy, going into academic medicine, etc."
"The one about shadowing. I felt like I got punched in the face."
"Do you have any questions for me? (For the 3rd time) I didn't have any more questions at that point, so I just re-capped the qualities about Michigan that I liked, and the things I learned from the questions I asked my 1st two interviewers. "
"You are going to an undergraduate college with a great medical school. Why choose Michigan over that?"
"What do you think the biggest challenge you will face in medicine is?"
"Above."
"What is the one thing you want the committee to know about you?"
"Why Michigan if we dont have much of an underserved populations in Ann Arbor, and you want to work with these populations. "
"Do you see yourself going back to your country in the future?"
"Why not MD/PhD?"
"None -- all were just trying to get to know me better, and were about my file."
"Tell me about a time you helped someone."
"Why haven't you shadowed a physician?"
"nothing was too hard. I guess the ethics one"
"In your clinical experiences, what did you discover or learn about medicine that surprised you?"
"Do you consider yourself very religious? (I had listed volunteer activities I did through my church on my primary application. I wasn't sure how to answer this one diplomatically since I didn't know my interviewer's opinions.)"
"What do you think are the three most important qualities for a physician to possess? What do you think you will find most difficult in medical school/once you become a physician?"
"You say that you're interested in primary care and the underserved, and you're from Washington. I'm sure that you'll get into UW which is great in those fields, so why do you want to attend Michigan?"
"What does BASF stand for? (not that he expected me to know)"
"What are some problems you think you will face as a physician on a personal and societal level?"
"So what was the point of your research project?"
"None...just conversational questions or they were taken directly from my essay experiences"
"My interviewer asked about my parents occupations and upon learning that my dad was an optometrist asked how that influenced me to go into medicine. "
"What would you do if you did not ever get into medical school? What are your alternative choices?"
"(Since I was interested in doing International work in rural China): Why do you want to help China in particular? Why not rural American communities that also need medical attention?"
"Explain this low point in your grades."
"How do you deal with people who don't like you?"
"Why medicine? and why Michigan?"
"After reading me an e-mail in which a woman blamed him for the death of her husband, who refused to listen to medical advice, one physician interviewer asked how I would feel to receive such a letter. What would be my thoughts/emotional responses?"
"After listing a million reasons why you shouldn't do an MD/PhD, he asked why I wanted one."
"How do you plan on fixing health care in america. "
"Where do you see yourself in ten years?"
"Do you think the United States is in a Health Care crisis? What can we do about it?"
"how do you deal with difficult patients if you are so into research (which I had done a lot of) then why do you want to go into medicine rather than research"
"n/a"
"nothing difficult, mostly about my amcas application"
"there was absolutely no grilling"
"Tell me about a time when you were working in a group and someone else got credit for your work, but that was a GOOD thing."
"Describe a conflict and how you helped reslove it."
"What do you think will be the hardest thing about medical school."
"Not really that tough but how would you improve healthcare?"
"You wrote that freedom of choice in terms of what branch of medicine (academic or practice) you could go into was a big factor in influencing your decision to go into medicine. Well what if a hospital hires you as a practicing physician and you want to do research but they make it hard for you?"
"You wrote about helping people. Why do you want to help people through medicine and not through a different career such as social work?"
"Why medicine?"
"What would you do to make your pre-med science classes better?"
"What do you hope to get out of medicine for yourself?"
"nor anything too difficult."
"What about the curriculum here impresses you/ do you like?"
"Young female patient comes into ER asking for pain medication and you examine her and she starts to flirt with you what do you do?"
"None of the questions were difficult in the sense that they were tricky...all the questions required common sense and thought."
"None, the interviewers are more interested in just learning about you."
"motivation for medicine"
"Nothing difficult. The interviews are very conversational."
"None."
"What are some problems or issues you see in healthcare?"
"I wouldn't say that there were any difficult questions. It was just a conversation, and the interviewers seemed like they just wanted to get to know me. "
"How would I convince someone with a large amount of money to invest in a work of art instead of business? (I had taken an art history class)"
"Why didn't you get a recommendation from your research lab?"
"None really, but one interviewer did tell me that I had dominated the conversation. This is completely true, and it's probably also why I didn't get asked any difficult questions. ;)"
"You mention you felt helpless in the Peace Corps being just a health education volunteer. But sometimes you are helpless as a doc, as well, when a patient has a terminal illness. How will you deal with that?"
"None of the questions were too technical/difficult."
"Tell me about problems with healthcare in the US."
"No difficult or unexpected questions."
"See above."
"Nothing"
"Given the current situation, HMO etc, do you think things will get better/worse?"
"What do you know about medicine? What is an HMO? (I am a non-traditional student.)"
"Above question."
"How would you handle the issue of organ transplants to smokers with lung cancer or alcoholics with liver disease?"
"Why don't you have a letter of recommendation from your PI?"
"describe a single incident that crystallized your interest in medicine. hard to think of on the spot--consider preparing"
"Give three words your friends would use to describe you. Explain."
"What drives you to want to become a doctor and how will that continue throughout the profession?"
"How can your Faith (the Baha'i Faith) resolve the problems between Israelis and Palestinians? (he was talking about how it's in our nature to be like animals)"
""So, this is the last interview date for Univ. of Michigan. There aren't that many spots open. Please tell me why you should be selected. In other words, tell me what I can say to the admissions committee to accept you.""
"Why go be a doctor when you can be a nurse?"
"None, all relativel simple."
"There really were no difficult questions. All 3 interviewers were very friendly. I had 3 leisurely conversations about my interests, my experience etc."
"Again...nothing..."
"What are the three most pressing concerns in healthcare today?"
"I was asked, jokingly, if I knew who the guy that invented the polio vaccine was."
"Tell me about a time when you you were put in a position in which you had no choice but to comporomise your own values/morals/ethics."
"Asked me in detail about an activity I hadn't spent a lot of time on from my first year of undergrad."
"something REALLY specific about something related to my research which i had NO CLUE about!!!"
"Give three words that your friends would use to describe you."
"How would you deal with a non-compliant patient?"
"if you could pick any medical figure to meet, who would it be?"
"What are the three biggest problems in medicine today?"
"Same"
"What should be the government's role in healthcare?"
"no real difficult questions, just stuff about my file"
"In your social work experiences, how did you react when you weren't able to help someone?"
"Follow-up question to above: what aspect of the alternate career is related to medicine? in what way could the skills from the alternate career be useful in medicine?"
"Pretend I am a non-US resident. What does HMO stand for? Explain to me what an HMO is."
"What is the most important problem in healthcare? What qualities does a physician need to be successful?"
"tell me about HIPAA (health insurance portability/privacy? act)"
"What are the most challenging issues of doctors today?"
"How can you be sure that you can handle the work load that medical school will give you?"
"How would you deal with the rising cost of health care."
"What would you do about the cost of prescription drugs in the US?"
"What is something different that you will bring to this campus?(never, ever say something like "that is about it"!)"
"We get a lot of very strong applications for a limited number of spots. We're looking for a well-rounded student body. What can you bring to this institution?"
"Which instrument is harder to play, the oboe or bassoon? (I've never played the oboe)"
"If you had $100,000 to improve health care, how would you use it? (something like that)"
"Nothing in particular...they were pretty straightforward questions and given in a conversational manner."
"What should I tell the admissions committee in support of your application?"
"Tell me something about yourself was not in your file."
"Nothing really"
"What's wrong with the medical field?"
"Nothing really."
"Where else did you apply...where does Michigan fit in?"
"If you had to choose between research and patient care, which would you choose and why?"
"Your professors said _____ (a weakness that they perceive me having) about you in their committee letter. What do you think about this?"
"How much pressure do you want in your life, in your career?"
"What is wrong with healthcare?"
"No difficult questions."
"Name your five top choices for medical school? (Not really difficult but Michigan was not on that list and I was honest about it)"
"What's your biggest fear about becoming a doctor?"
"None were really difficult. "
"None were REALLY difficult"
"Same as above."
"If a collegue delivered exceptional medical care 29 days of the month, but gave poor medical care one day a month, what would you do? Is it your decision to deny patients access to an overall great doctor?"
"See Above. Everything else was really straight forward - just back of the hand knowledge about yourself. Nothing on ethics, health care issues, controversies inclinical medicine. "
"none - despite what I'd read on SDN, I didn't get any tough questions. all my interviewers were on the young side and all were very nice, so maybe i just got lucky."
"In which European country is physician-assisted suicide legally practiced? (It's the Netherlands.)"
"what do you think is an important social justice issue facing medicine today AND how do you think we can work towards solving it?"
"What would you do if you had a patient that did not listen to your medical advice? What if that patient was a drug addict, whose drug abuse ruined his heart valve, which required replacing, would you do it? What if it happened a 2nd, 3rd, or more times?"
"see above"
"So... you probably talked about your file and the school some in your last interview. Do you have any more questions? <silence...>"
"What sorts of challenges will you face when you enter med school and how do you think you will overcome them?"
"If I could give a small town's children all immunizations or give three patients heart transplants or else they would die, what would I do?"
"none, they were all conversational"
"What has been the biggest challenge of your life so far?"
"What are the issues in medicine that have made you think twice about being a doctor, and how did you finally work through those issues."
"How do you plan on telling the families of children with terminal illness that there is nothing that can be done? "
"The best part of your clinical experience in Africa was spending time with patients and developing a relationship with them. Will you still want to be a doctor if you can only spend 5 minutes with each of your patients?"
"If not (from above) how do you expect interns to practice learning??"
"why did I want to be a doctor. eventhough that isn't necessarily difficult for some reason I felt that it would be challenging. I've been asked the question many times but this time I was not prepared."
"none were difficult"
""So it looks like you are a criminal. Tell me about your alcohol violations." This was asked by a current student, one of my interviewers. When he said this, he was laughing, and he wanted to reassure me that he was from New Orleans (Hint: Mardi Gras) and had put much worse "activities" on his application. Take home message: If you must put down school violations or other "indiscretions", don't fret about it, because if it were important, you wouldn't be invited to Ann Arbor in the first place."
"What are 3 good things about HMO's?"
"Where do you see yourself in 10 years?"
"None. All the questions were very straight forward and pretty much geared toward getting to know why I'm pursuing a career change (I have a PhD in Chem. Eng.)"
"You've had a difficult past--do your bad influences impact your personality now?"
"None too difficult--most were really logical and followed directly from my application."
"There were definitely no difficult questions in general. One interviewer had me discuss the limitations of my research -- that was probably the most difficult question."
"Why don't you have any leadership roles?"
"Nothing really difficult. Describe what a HMO is? What are the benefits of one? The problems?"
"See Above`"
"Not really any difficult questions. Just a lot about my application."
"Do you believe your religious values could ever get in the way of practicing health care?"
"What do you think of the current polical climate in Washington in regards to medicine and healthcare?"
"If you have 2 patients about to die, and you can only save one of them, how would you choose who you would save?"
"nothing difficult"
"None"
"same as above"
"None, really. I could have predicted all or most of the questions."
"What did you learn from your volunteer experience that you think will help you as a doctor? "
"the ideal school one. argue one side of a medical ethics issue - but argue the side you disagree with. (i.e. if you are pro-genetic screening, argue against it) why don't you have any publications from all this research. (had to go into the icky situation of removing my name from a big research project due to ethical objections towards how the study was conducted)"
"See most interesting question."
"Practice MMI questions. Medical ethics research."
"Mock traditional and MMI prep, read amcas"
"Read SDN interview feedback, read my own application, familiarized myself with the MMI format (although there wasn't much I could prepare for the MMI)"
"Looking over my primary and secondary apps"
"Went through a couple MMI scenarios from the UMich website and reviewed my application."
"Read SDN interview feedback, researched the school, curriculum etc, re-read my primary and secondary responses"
"Reviewed my application, read SDN interview feedback"
"looked over file and wrote up a few answers to obvious questions"
"SDN, looked over my AMCAS and secondary, browsed the admissions website, talked to current medical students at UM, talked to faculty and former admissions committee members"
"Read my secondary, personal statement, AMCAS activities, went on the school's website"
"I read my application several times, and used SDN interview feedback."
"SDN, U of Michigan website, U of Michigan student chats (live) and transcripts (all posted online). Felt like I knew the school and the atmosphere of the school really well."
"Researched the school, reviewed my AMCAS app and secondary."
"michigan website is amazing, amcas app, michigan app"
"Read SDN interview feedback, researched school via website, read "the medical school interview" by Fleenor."
"Review my personal statements, research projects and other secondary essays. Some light reading, novels and note jotting."
"Not too much. Remembered what I did"
"SDN, consulted my school's career services, researched the school, reread my secondary and AMCAS app"
"Nothing, really. I tried to keep up on current events since the Obama health care plan was pretty big in the news cycle for the week before my interview. "
"SDN, interview practice with housemates & career center, amcas review"
"Read my application, read through much of the website, SDN, etc."
"SDN, read their website, talked to students"
"SDN, mock interview, sample questions"
"SDN, read health articles in NYT and read the University of Washington's ethics website, wrote out answers to questions I thought up"
"SDN, looked over my apps, looked over UMich website and brochure."
"I read over the UMMS website, looked over my application"
"Mock interview questions, perused school website"
"Read my application, Michigan's website, interview feedback page. "
"SDN, looked over my application."
"Umm... I didn't really."
"Read the umich website, SDN, AMCAS, and their medical school journal (available on the website)."
"this website, school's website, school's brochure, mock interview."
"Studied policy, read up on school's programs."
"application, website, read current events, mock interviews, read public policy book."
"Studentdoctor.net, studentdoc.com... etc"
"Looked over my AMCAS app, secondary app, this website."
"Read AMCAS and secondary. Looked at school website. Practiced answering obvious questions like Why U of M, Why medicine, and describing my research."
"I filled a shoe box with questions and went around my house asking my roommates to draw a question from the box"
"sdn. practice interview at the career center. looked over my app"
"Read through SDN, secondaries, UMich website, asked current med students questions, online chat"
"Read past interview questions on SDN, had mock interviews with doctors I work for."
"Read over application, health policy website, bioethics review, and practiced mock interview questions"
"mock interview, read own app, SD interview feedback, Michigan website and promotional materials; Bodenheimer Health Policy book and U of Wash. bioethics website (both of which were not useful at all for this interview) "
"didn't really prepare"
"Review primary and secondary, read about UMich on website, some light reading on healthcare and visits to npr.org, SDN practice questions, mock interview"
"Career center mock interview. Light reading on healthcare issues."
"Read up on school materials, kept up to date on the news."
"Read this site, read my AMCAS and secondary applications"
"Read AMCAS/Secondary Application, practiced interview questions listed here"
"Read SDN, talked to current U of M students."
"AMCAS, secondary, SDN"
"AMCAS, school website, this website, my secondary"
"SDN, AMCAS, secondary"
"Read some articles, thought about my application, talked with U of M medical students"
"read about the school, gave some thought to common questions from studentdoctor.net U.Michigan reviews"
"Read interview research interests, website, my app and research"
"School website, mock-interview, AMCAS review"
"read school website, got a good night's sleep."
"Read school's website, review AMCAS and secondary applications, read up on current events"
"read over apps, read brochure, website"
"read website, reviewed AMCAS and secondary"
"Read other posts on this website, viewed website."
"SDN, amcas app, mock interview (didn't help really)"
"SDN, read over website and materials sent in the mail"
"just chilled out, i am pretty sure the point of these interviews is just to make sure you are not an average premed psycho (i'll know if I was right in october)"
"Read SDN, UM website, UM chat with admissions/students, reviewed my application."
"Since it was my first, I had a mock interview with the Career Services office at my school. I also looked over the school's website and my application."
"Studied my AMCAS app and secondary app, reviewed answers to questions from this website, had friends practice asking me the questions."
"Read ethics, health policy, reviewed research, read SDN"
"UMich's website, SDN, talked to a friend who goes there."
"sdn; read about ethics; read about politics; reviewed my application; practiced explanations of my research, my interest in medicine, etc"
"rehearsed possible questions, met with an advisor, reread AMCAS, secondary essays"
"SDN, AMCAS, researched the school website, read all the materials I was sent, prepared some answers in advance, prayer."
"Read SDN, talked to med students, read the stuff they mailed"
"Reviewed my applications: primary and secondary. Read SDN, the catalog, web site, blogs, mock interviews."
"Re-read AMCAS, sleep"
"Mock interview, Reviewed AMCAS and Secondary, Compiled last years interview questions from SDN, talked to professors and friends, prayed a lot"
"Read over interview feedback on SDN and review my application. I also practiced a mock interview and researched the UMICH website about latest breakthroughs and news."
"Read school website"
"SDN website, UMich website (read up on what kind of research they are interested in by looking at recent research grants they received, research departments and centers that are opening, and other such trends), looking over my secondary app. to UMich and my AMCAS app."
"Reread applications, mock interview, reviewed the school website"
"looked over school website, talked to pre-med advisor, read over application"
"School website, SDN feedback, look over app."
"SDN, basic interview questions specific to med school I found on the internet, and mock interviews with family & friends"
"Reviewed application, read SDN, prepped for the standard interview questions (which I didn't really need for this interview), and talked to current UMich students and friends who had interviewed already"
"SDN, reviewed my AMCAS file. "
"Talked to some current med students, SDN, school's website, mock interview, kept up on current events and read about ethical and health policy stuff"
"SDN, School Website, reviewed application"
"Re-read my application (the interviewer has access to your AMCAS and your secondary too), read interview feedback on SDN, read about the school on its website, practiced answering interview questions."
"Re-read my app, SDN, previous interviews, read up on health care"
"SDN, read up on healthcare issues, mock interview, practiced by myself, lots of sleep!"
"AMCAS, SDN, secondary, website info."
"I compiled a list of all of the questions people had posted here in the last year. None of the odd/atypical questions were asked. I spent a lot of time refining my answers to "why medicine" & "why Michigan." I reviewed my AMCAS application and application essays. I listened to "Hail to the Victors" from my UofM Marching band CD! :-)"
"School website, SDN, Online chat session with current students, which was provided by the school. "
"Read over AMCAS, school website, this site, mock interview, read some books on health care"
"I downloaded their M1/M2 guide to survival--"Code Blue"--off of the webpage. It has everything about the school in it. Reviewed my AMCAS application and secondary materials."
"SDN, school's website, secondaries"
"SDN, AMCAS, website, stayed with a student host."
"What everybody else does, reviewed this site. My essays. I wrote what I considered to be the 30 most common questions I would be asked on notecards and my answers on the back."
"Read SDN, personal statement and secondary essays, and a Global REACH brochure."
"read over questions on this site and looked up some ethics stuff, read umich's website (med admissions website is not terribly helpful, but if you do some searching, you can find what you're looking for), got a good night's sleep and had my dad drop me off at the front door"
"Read the website, my AMCAS, my secondaries, talked to my student hosts."
"studied website and various programs school had in place, read this site, watched school videos, read school's principles and objectives. learn "why michigan", i was asked more than once"
"Read the MSAR and SDN reviews, reviewed school website, talked with M1s and M3s from the school, and went to bed early. (The interview day starts at 7:30am.)"
"SDN, school website, mock interview, reviewed healthcare and bioethics, read some books (medical and non-medical)."
"SDN, AMCAS, UMich website, mock interview"
"Read up on national health care, did a mock interview, read interview feedback, went over potential questions"
"SDN, school website, read my secondary and AMCAS"
"SDN website, talked to current students"
"looked over this website, the schools website and my application."
"nothing really. this was my 7th interview."
"SDN, looked over application, looked over school website."
"SND Interview Feedback site, mock interview, reading through the material provided by the school etc."
"Talked to my student host, read about Umich, read over my AMCAS and Mich secondary."
"Read over MSTP reviews, read one paper from each interviewer, went over my research."
"Read sd.net, looked over UMich's website, prepared some questions for my interviewers."
"I go to michigan, so I didn't prepare much. Just looked over my research and went over some talking points that I wanted to say."
"I am a UofM undergrad, so I had the opportunity to go see the facilities ahead of time. Reading SDN. Reading the website and brushing up on their new curriculum. Talking to current students. Reviewing all AMCAS and secondary materials."
"Read this website, reviewed my application, read the paper, read a little on healthcare economics and policy."
"read website, talked to students, read SDN, read up on health care policy talked to my best friend who is a med mal attorney about legislation"
"Newspaper, SDN, Michigan website"
"practiced having friends asking me questions from this website and Kaplan's admissions guide. Also read the (somewhat meager) info available on the website."
"reread amcas, reread secondary, sdn"
"SDN, website, reviewed secondary and AMCAS"
"SDN, michigan website, read newspapers, learned about the healthcare syustem in this country. "
"SDN"
"read over their website"
"read SDN interview posts, read AMCAS & my essays, and explored the UM website"
"UMich website, this site, reviewed secondary"
"read over my application, contacted students at the school"
"Brushed up on health care issues. Talk to medical students and read through examples of interview questions. Brushed up on my past experiences/research."
"Read my AMCAS, read this site, talked to a current med student. "
"read SDN, talk to co-workers who were alumni"
"Read Student-Doctor Network, browsed through website"
"Read AMCAS, Interviewed Dean of Admissions at at Pre-med Conference, pestered my student host with questions, read the UMich Website"
"AMCAS review"
"read my amcas, read the website, got a good night's sleep"
"talked to M1's, visited website, mock interviews, read up about ethical issues "
"Spent some time thinking about possible questions. Checked out this forum. Asked a current student what to expect when I stayed with her."
"I didn't"
"read SDN, re-read some profiles of it"
"Talked to a friend at U Mich, read over AMCAS and secondary, checked SDN reviews"
"Read SDN interview feedback."
"I didn't. It was my eighth interview so I felt ready."
"read SDN interview feedback"
"Read SDN"
"reread secondary and amcas stuff. read studentdoctor. practiced questions."
"SDN, school website, bouncing ideas and getting advice from current U of M medical students, allowing myself to just be real"
"Read SDN, reread my application, school's website"
"SDN, read the NY Times, rest up"
"Ummm..I didn't!"
"It was my seventh interview, so I didn't."
"SDN, UMMS website, thought about how I would answer various questions."
"asked around about the new curriculum"
"looked at questions on SDN and talked to students "
"I read the NY Times, the New Yorker, the Atlantic Monthly, a few books on health care, a book on medical ethics, and my application"
"Read over school website, my AMCAS application, and the secondary application. Also, took a deep breath and was honest about myself. "
"did nothing.. rested up"
"Read interview feedback. "
"Ready NY Times, school's web site"
"SDN, AMCAS application, Michigan website."
"SDN, U of M website, AMCAS essays"
"STD, visited school website, read over my apps, did some independent searches for ethical, health care stuff (though, I didn't need it)"
"school's website, MSAR, talked to a prof of mine who went to UM for his grad work (not in medicine)"
"Read their website, my essay, sample interview questions from Princeton Review."
"read about the new curriculum and stuff on the website, talked to some current students"
"Read UM website, Interview Feedback."
"Read over this Website and Michigan's"
"Read this site, mock interview, go over typical questions"
"SDN, IF, reading the web site, dowloading the M1/M2 guide, and going out to Scorekeepers bar the night before with some UM undergrads. :)"
"Read my AMCAS and secondary applications"
"Read over application, and their site"
"read my app, that was all they covered..."
"Read over applications and reviewed the website."
"I read their website."
"Read Interview Feedback, Read AMCAS essay, UM Secondary essay"
"Read as much as I could about the school. Reviewed my own application very thoroughly. Kept up with current events, and read the feedback on this site. Don't worry - the interviewers were super-nice, and it was just an enjoyable conversation."
"Actually I didn't, I was like many people say "just myself"."
"read about Michigan via their website"
"Read website, reviewed health care primers, looked over application, and tried to answer potential questions. "
"Read secondary, looked at website"
"Got a lot of sleep and read over my apps. "
"Read my AMCAS, secondary, the UM medical school's website, and this site."
"Read up on the school and the interviewers."
"normal stuff.. Web site, Newspapers, Read over my apps"
"Chilled, ate steak, played trivia. And reread my AMCAS and the admissions bulletin."
"Thoroughly went over the website, thought through my motivations to attend U Mich...I had done several interviews by then, so I didn't prepare much."
"Review my app, read feedback on here, read up on current events in the paper and in JAMA"
"Read application and looked at website"
"Read my application and material about the school."
"Looked at the umich website, read over my AMCAS application and all of my secondaries."
"UMich website, MSAR, etc."
"Went over my AMCAS stuff, read their website's info"
"Browsed the website"
"Read my application."
"Just understood myself, my motivation, my interests, looked over AMCAS and secondary essays"
"Read their website, kept up with current events, and tried not to think about it too much. "
"Looked at their website, read the Bulletin, looked at this site, had a mock interview."
"looked over my app. it was my ugrad school, so i was familiar w/it. "
"Read materials, website. Talked to med students."
"The most well orchestrated (and most fun) interview day I've had"
"One of my traditional interviews was with an alum. He didn't live in Ann Arbor and literally flew in to just interview me. I was pretty touched by his service to the school. The untour experience was also very fun. And the students were the most enthusiast bunch I've ever met at any school!"
"They put so much time and thought into the interview experience and it really shows"
"The Dean's speech at the beginning of the day was very inspiring."
"Student and faculty enthusiasm! Also the hospitals, research opportunities, surrounding area."
"The U-M campus, the thoroughness and efficiency of the interview day, and the enthusiasm and approachability of the students."
"The happiness of the students -- they are truly happy."
"the admissions staff"
"The medical students were very friendly and happy, none of them had any complaints about the medical school. Everyone in the admissions office were friendly and approachable. The interviewers all tried to make the experience as low-stress as possible. The simulation lab was pretty cool too."
"Organization and the hospitality they showed to the applicants"
"The entire day was very well-run."
"The students, the faculty, the facilities, the admissions team. Fantastic school! The admissions process is extremely transparent and they tell you the # of candidates accepted and give you an exact date of when you will hear a response. Also, the admissions organizes interview days really well. You're always hosted by a number of students."
"All of the facilities; how nice and happy everyone was; how much the classes seemed to get along."
"The impressivness of the school. It's huge and the whole hospital screams WE GOT MONEY! The students also seemed very friendly. They seem very attentive to the students and to the school's image. There is also a ton of school pride. Go Blue!"
"School is very into their students. Students are all very happy and patriotic."
"People were all friendly and fantastic. "
"Everyone was really friendly and loved UofM. They always stressed that they had flexibility with their time, mainly due to flextime quizzes and online learning material."
"The school is very well-run. Students are VERY happy. P/F first two years. I love the flextime quizzes. Family centered experience seems cool. Also, the students seem to have lives outside of medicine...which is definitely something I was looking for."
"How candid, happy, and confident the med students are. One of my interviewers followed up on one of my questions and emailed later in the day with more info."
"The medical school complex, the students, the emphasis on life outside of medical school"
"Organized way of doing the interviews--you don't have to run around to all different places. Lots of school pride. I think I would like the block curriculum. P/F. Family Centered Experience where you spend time with a patient with chronic illness during your first two years."
"The technology, tests can be taken anytime over the weekend, students were happy to be there"
"Friendly admissions staff and students. The whole admissions process is the most clear and easy to follow that I have experienced. They said, "You will know our decision Dec. 1 between 2-5pm EST. So that aspect was great"
"Atmosphere, awesome students seemed really relaxed and fun, very open and receptive faculty, ann arbor is a nice town"
"People were all really friendly."
"reputation, research, it's a city but not a big city, 30 minutes from detroit, very beautiful campus."
"The interview day structure, the students, the school layout, the curriculum, ...everything! I want to go here! Also, my third interview was an alumnus and the sweetest old man I've ever met. He clearly loves his school since he's doing it for free. They're so wonderful--hope that you get an alumni interviewer."
"Friendliness of admissions staff and students. Flexibility of curriculum. Research opportunities available. Breakfast & lunch. Facilities. Online pathology/histology. Recorded lectures. "
"School, people, atmosphere were all amazing. They make an effort to make you feel at ease."
"Everything! The students, the faculty, the facilities, everything was wonderful. "
"They knew all our names, and even during the break time, a faculty member came and talked to me about an orchestra for medical students (he knew i'm a violinist)."
"everyone was so incredibly enthusiastic and super friendly."
"We had a lot of un-supervised contact with current students, and they all seemed very enthusiastic. The student body was very diverse in terms of age distribution and background."
"Fantastic ''sales pitch''. Everything was well organized and on time. They gave us breakfast and lunch, and we had presentation about every aspect of the school. The night before we went out with current students and talk to them-they were great and all seemed happy. Flextime quizzes are a good deal, they video record every lecture, P/NP grades. "
"How nice everyone is"
"Everyone was so friendly! The integrated technology is really impressive. I especially like that all of the lectures are available on streaming video."
"The enthusiasm of the students for the school and the new curriculum that involves a lot of hands on learning."
"Great Facilities, Students seemed happy, Ann Arbor seemed nice"
" They seemed really enthusiastic about the school, like they were trying to convince you to go there and not the other way around"
"pretty much everything. The openness of everyone and how much they tried to make us feel at ease."
"The admissions staff was amazing. They really go out of your way to sell the school to you and even though the interview day is large, you never feel like you've been lost in the crowd. Things feel personalized, and the students seem , helpful, and enthusiastic."
"Everyone was incredibly friendly all day. The entire affair was non-stressful. The interviews themselves were just conversations about me and my activities that I had listed on the AMCAS. Nobody grilled me about anything and the staff were very helpful as well. The medical campus is expanding and the university seems to take really good care of its students."
"Enthusiasm and friendliness of students and admissions staff. It is clear that Michigan takes good care of its students overall. Innovative, flexible curriculum."
"enthusiasm of the students, social life, flextime exams (they get the entire weekend to take a weekly quiz whenever they want), the school pride and the inviting atmosphere, how cool all the interviewers were and all the students"
"how much the admissions people seemed to care, curriculum, facilities, ann arbor, and especially the other students I met who seemed very down-to-earth and genuine"
"how friendly everyone associated with the school was and how willing they were to talk to me and answer any questions"
"The enthusiasm of all the students I met. Of all the places I ended up interviewing, none of them were happier or friendlier than those at Michigan. The same could be said of the admissions faculty and the two doctors with whom I interviewed. Also the flexibility of taking quizzes anytime between Friday afternoon and Monday morning is very appealing. Straight P/F classes for 2 years. Med students at U-M have a life outside the classroom."
"Incredible facilities and program. Faculty seemed very committed to students and to the system in place. GREAT admissions staff and very user-friendly admissions process."
"The enthusiasm for the school; the friendliness/care of the faculty, staff, students; the training and technology; a centralized campus...The professors knew the students' names. I LOVED IT! "
"Both the faculty and the students are extremely enthusiastic about the school. The school also seems to really encourage students to have a life outside of medical school."
"The hospital and medical facilities are huge and really great. Also, the medical school is pretty technologically advanced--they have all the slides on the internet and have really cool interactive learning programs on the internet. Also, the people were friendly."
"Everyone was very, very gung-ho U-M. Even when asking the students about what could be better or what they didn't like, the only thing they thought of was 'parking'. And it seemed pretty genuine."
"The friendliness of the staff and students. The students were very enthusiastic about the school. "
"As has already been said, the friendliness of EVERYONE I encountered from the cab drivers to the applicants to the director of admissions to all the med students. They really go out of your way to make you feel like they care about you."
"The medical students are so excited about their school. All the ones I met (M1s and M2s) said that they were less stressed than they thought they would be, and that they liked how they could actually have a life outside of med school."
"Everyone at the school was very nice and the interviewers were laid back. No one tried to make the day stressful. U. Michigan seems to truly care about student feedback, and as a result their unique program has details, such as the flex quizzes, that allow students to adjust their schedule and have a life outside of medicine."
"How friendly and enthusiastic everyone was, and that I was taken care of very well."
"Everyone was so friendly and the facilities were absolutely amazing"
"friendly students and overall enthusiasm. opportunities for study abroad. financial aid opps."
"Students really seemed to like the pass/fail system for the first two years. It eliminates competition, and it hasn't negatively affected the school's pass rate for the Step 1 USMLE. In fact, U of Mich's average score for Step 1 is two standard deviations above the national average, so the students definitely aren't slacking off because of the pass/fail grading. Also, all the lectures are video taped, so you can access them if you missed anything or if you missed a lecture. It allows for lots of flexibility. Finally, during the tour we got to go into an anatomy lab for about 15 minutes and watch the students dissect the posterior leg. It was very cool."
"1st year students took me and other prospectives out to a bar and we had a really good time. The people were very very friendly, more so than other medical schools that claim they are friendly"
"everyone was very friendly. they really love U of M"
"Everything is new. The building that students are taught in is beautiful, state-of-the art, well-equipped. All of the students had great things to say about the school, especially of the supportive administration. No one seemed stressed out."
"Very happy students and HUGE facilities"
"how happy and enthusiastic the students were"
"ann arbor, enthusiasm of students and admissions staff"
"this is a damn good school. the students are excellent but normal, the hospital system is very strong, the town is nice but not too expensive, and there is a positive focus on student training."
"How happy everybody was, the technology available to students, the facilities, just about everything!"
"All my interviewers were very fun to talk to. Admissions staff was very helpful. Liked level of internet integration in curriculum. Also P/F grading for first two years, and powerpoints and lecture videos online. "
"Everyone was very friendly and welcoming; the admissions staff and the students had a sense of humor and tried hard to put everyone at ease. The facilities are great, students seem really happy to be there."
"Everyone there seemed to really love the school, and the people couldn't have been nicer. The whole day really made it seem like they were trying to win us over, rather than the other way around."
"The laid back atmosphere, easy going interviewers, good mix of clinical and research"
"The students are SO friendly and it is extremely clear that they balance very strong academic skills with vibrant social lives (I went to a party with some M1s so I got to experience it first hand). Also, the interviewers and administrators make you feel very welcome. Ann Arbor is pretty awesome (I thought so coming from Charlottesville, VA) and the medical center is HUGE (looks like a fortress or something)!!"
"The enthusiasm of the students and how friendly everyone was. I was also impressed by the technology available."
"pretty much everything...great facilities, nice and enthusiastic faculty and students, pretty laid back environment"
"Very friendly students."
"Excellent facilities, students seemed enthusiastic and welcoming"
"The organization of the interview day. The way the administration makes learning very flexible for students. Weekend quizzes and video taped lectures."
"Pretty much everything, except for.."
"Everything. This school has anything you need to excel in medical school and become a great physician."
"The school is huge but easy to navigate. The facilities is very new and modernized. The students and admission office staff were so welcoming and very friendly. I enjoyed meeting everyone and getting a feel for the student life at UMICH. Everything is laid back and the interviews are stress free."
"Flex time, Students enthusiastic, very well organized, facilities"
"The location of the admissions office (it's immediately in front of you as you enter the building); the admissions staff (they escort you from the second you enter the building and through out the day so you don't have to worry about getting lost); the friendliness of the interviewers (they were very conversational and easy to befriend)"
"Everyone seemed very happy with the school and the students appeared to really enjoy going to school there. The interviewers were also down to earth and interested in what you do that is not medically related. It is nice to see admissions staff that value keeping your life well balanced between school and everything else."
"Everything!"
"UMich is SO technically savvy and the admissions process is truly geared towards making your day easy! The faculty (interviewers) are so accomplished but so accessible. Students are in love with their school!"
"Curriculum, facilities, students and faculty."
"You'll hear this again and again, but FRIENDLINESS of the admissions people, the students, and interviewees was awesome. They must put something in the Midwest water. The hospital is HUGE - it has 4 helopads for helicopters to land."
"Of all the schools I visited, Michigan had the nicest faculty and students. They really seem to recruit not only bright students, but good people. "
"How friendly and happy everyone was. The technology they had to aid students. The fact that the interviewers treated me as an equal rather than being condescending, and they definetly had the best food of any of my interviews"
"Great electronic resources"
"Michigan has state-of-the-art technology, fantastic research and clinical opportunities, and a warm, diverse student body. Ann Arbor is a nice town, and the classes are all P/F for the first two years. (This is a new change made since the MSAR was printed; it used to be just the first year that was P/F.) Merit-based scholarships are awarded to some students. (You don't have to apply for them because you're automatically considered.) The entire hospital is wireless, and you never have to go outside to go from building to building, which is good in Michigan!!!"
"The caliber of both current and prospective students, that they're ranked #3 by residency directors, the friendliness of all the admissions staff--even the dean, that you're given a free PDA for keeps along w/ 1 yr free subscription to ePocrates, "
"All of the students were really enthusiastic about the school, the facilities are amazing, great career development oppurtunities early on. "
"The friendliness of the students and how laid back everyone was. one faculty interviewer specifically pointed out that faculty focus on helping students because they're paid through a salary, not through grants that they need to earn. U Mich apparently introduced "plasticizing" of body parts (the method that creates the figures for Body Works.)"
"It was obvious that Michigan cared a lot about the students and they all seemed happy and enthusiastic about their education. I like that they intentionally have large (40+) groups of interviewees in at once so that you have a chance to meet a lot of people who might end up as your classmates. Details of the exceptional preparation student's receive during their 3rd year were impressive. The 45 minute interactive presentation on their medical education technology was also impressive. I like the FCE and Medbuddies programs a lot too. The quality of achievement, character, & personality of my fellow interviewees was impressive! "
"The integration of technology into the curriculum to assit the students with their studies (online recorded lectures, PDAs, online quizes and exams). The facilities were modern. The students seemed extremely happy with their education. The interview day was perfectly structured so the interviews were conducted in the same area and were back to back. By lunch time the admissions stuff was over and the rest of the day was spent with students."
"Pretty much everything. One of my interviewers stressed that U of M really keeps the "triangle" of research, patient care, and teaching "equilateral." I found this analogy to epitomize the U of M experience."
"Just how much of an effort is put into making you feel like they are recruiting you personally, the enthusiasm of the students, the desire to excel among the faculty and administrators, the fact that they are 3rd on the Residency Directors Preference List, the flexibility of the schedule, the use of technology"
"The weekly flex-time quizzes are a very good idea... seems like they would help a lot."
"How structured the entire day was, the amazing use of technology, the caliber of students being interviewed."
"Everything about Michigan is wonderful. They make you feel like you will be a part of the medical school community and they will try their hardest to ensure you succeed there. The technology is also top notch. "
"The facilities were incredible, but not as incredible as the curriculum. I'm a procrastinator, so I think the weekly quizzes with the flex time would really work well for me (and anyone else with a similar problem). The students were all really cool and the learning environment wasn't competitive at all."
"Everything - the admissions staff is very friendly and I felt like they had taken the time to get to know my application, the facilities are amazing and the new construction should make the health center world-class. My interviewers really knew my app and were genuinely interested in talking to me. They all loved the school and made me really want to go here. The faculty seems very responsive to student feedback. I really like the technology (flex-time quizzes and tests - take them online from Friday 5 PM till Monday 8 AM, PDAs for 3rd years, online clinical skills simulator for practice)"
"The student hosts, admissions staff, new construction."
"technology was well integrated, campus and surroundings were nice, wifi everywhere, cheap housing"
"The sincere enthusiasm of both the students and faculty for the school and the new curriculum. Also, I was impressed with the amount of technology used for things ranging from anatomy lab to patient interviews."
"The enthusiasm shown by the students, faculty, and staff. Everyone seems pumped to be at UM, and really wants us to go there too. Plenty of time for questions, and their answers seemed real and un-canned."
"everyone's enthusiasm; they were all very down to earth and friendly and overall genuine"
"Everything about the school was impressive, from the great facilities to the friendly students"
"people are NICE, in the whole state. even random people in the bathroom were really sweet. They're laid back and straightforward, technological stuff (online lectures) REALLY cool."
"Honestly, everything about the school impressed me! I absolutely loved it. The facilities. The intense devotion to wolverine football. The interviewers who were extremely nice and down to earth. The admissions committee who were on top of their game. The current students who were all high caliber students. The other applicants. The school's committment to diversity (not just racially). The huge hospital! Flex time--def. ask about this! "
"The area of the school, how friendly the students were and the applicants."
"how happy the students seemed. how amazing well they do in the boards and the match. their organ-based curriculum (especially computer-based/online part of the curriculum)."
"Enthusiasm of all the students and faculty"
"The students were VERY friendly and seemed genuinely happy there."
"SO MUCH! Everyone is mad friendly, the school has great facilities, the curriculum is flexible, and they seem to treat their students really well--this was all evidenced by everything from the well-equipped student lounge to allowing students to choose anytime between Friday afternoon and Monday morning to take their quizzes and tests. People seemed really down-to-earth and unpretetnious. "
"The faculty treated me well. I felt as if I was wanted. The campus was beautiful and the school is ranked high. The school funded the visit (MSTP only)."
"The professional air of interview day at UMich was amazing. UMich holds interviews only once a week, so although the interview group is immense (about 40 people were interviewing with me), UMich is better able to concentrate its resources to make a glossier and more powerful presentation. My interviews were with 2 faculty members and 1 third-year medical student. All three interviewers were engaging, friendly, and obviously interested in my application and in representing me before the admissions committee. Their questions were both challenging and interesting. The rest of interview day was just as good--we got a full introduction to UMich's campus, reputation, and curriculum; a group Q&A with a roomful of friendly current medical students; a full tour--even the financial aid info session was more detailed and helpful than those at other schools I've been to. Perhaps best of all: I received a notice of acceptance to UMich not a week after my interview date. Very, very impressive."
"Very organized and professional. Technologically advanced. Great school and cool city."
"Even being an undergrad here, I didn't quite realize how nice the facilities are. The school is ranked in more lists and publications then I have ever heard of, including some VERY impressive ones (Residency Directors Ranking = #2). All the students were really nice, and you really got the feeling that they enjoyed being there- all very low stress. They were all very proud and happy about the fact that the curriculum at UM is very "customizable" to your preferences and lifestyle as a student. Ann Arbor is a great town. The flex-time testing program M1, as well as P/F M1 and possibly M2 are great features. Clinical time starts M1. Lots to be impressed by here."
"How nice all of the admissions people and students were. They clearly spend a great deal of time making sure that you feel good about your time there."
"everything! the school is beautiful, the facilities awesome, very clean and new looking, the hospitals are outstanding, they are building a brand new cardiovascular center, and ann arbor is gorgeous! the faculty seemed really cool and the students were really sweet, they even gave me rides from and to the airport! "
"Great campus, nice people, put a lot of effort into the interview day."
"Flexibility of tests (can take anytime during weekend), early emphasis on clinical training (one full week every two months from start of year 1), laid back students, responsiveness of administration to students concerns (they are considering changing 2nd year to P/F based on student opinion). very technologically oriented education"
"people were friendly."
"The school ran seamlessly. Everything about the day bordered on perfect. The admissions office people, the interviewers, and the students all were very friendly and genuinely interested in having a conversation. There is a really big emphasis on technology in the curriculum and the facilities are great. Also, Jack Kevorkian went there."
"They took a lot of time making people feel welcome. This school expended the greatest effort and energy to the interview process and interview day."
"There is a Wendy's in the med school."
"The faculty and staff were incredibly friendly- everyone seemed genuinely happy and eager to get to know the interviewees. Also, they have all the lectures online and there are many opportunities early on to get clinical experience through volunteering and shadowing."
"The dedication of UM to its students. The faculty seem available and enthusiastic about teaching. The students seemed like a tight group that was put together to be able to work with each other well. Also, UM's commitment to technology to improve health care and learning the medical sciences. And even though it was cold, windy, and rainy, Ann Arbor was still beautiful. Plus, I saw a great ice hockey game! "
"This is really a great school. I'm surprised that it doesn't have the same national recognition as some other schools that are ranked lower. Awesome technology integration, weekly quizzes during M1 (great for keeping procrastinators like me in check), organ-based curriculum, Ann Arbor is a great little college town."
"facilities, open-minded and friendly students, diversity, interviews were very, very laid back"
"Positive attitude of med students. Interviewers had read through my file very thoroughly prior to interview. Experience was relaxed and low-stress."
"School facilities, laid back attitude of students, reputation, and an administration and faculty that seems to really care. "
"the friendly tone of all the admissions staff and interviewers. they weren't out to get you and they made that clear. all classes are recorded and can be watched with high speed internet."
"Students were SO happy there, and there was tons of school pride. Everyone was very generous, honest, and laidback. The only thing they could complain about the school is parking; they loved their school. Ann Arbor is a cute town with lots of ethnic restaurants."
"The postive gut feeling that I had as soon as I stepped in the medical school. The friendliness of student body, staff, administration, and faculty members. The uniqueness of their admission process: the fact that at midnight of Oct 15 I found out that I was accepted. They held a chat session prior to my interview, which helped me prepare!"
"I expected it to be better, given it's reputation, but it was slightly disappointing."
"The facilities are AMAZING and the students were really down to earth."
"awesome facilities, enormous campus and affiliated hospitals/clinics, great city"
"People were really nice and friendly. My interviewer was a specialist in the exact field I had expressed interest in in my application, so I thought it was either a really good coincidence, or the adcom had matched me with him beforehand. Everyone was relaxed and the admissions people were sure to make us feel at ease."
"The students seem very relaxed. UMich has a great rep. The administration listens to students. And you can take quizzes/exams anytime over the weekend, although this is only for first years for now."
"The med students - everyone seemed normal and laid-back and said they actually had social lives. Also, their Flex-time and online lectures"
"Students were happy and had only positive things to say about their professors. They also seemed pretty relaxed."
"The interviewers were very nice and personable. I was expecting the interviews to be more stressful. The facilities are very nice and the computing resources are impressive. "
"there was not a lot of down time. We had an extensive computer session, an in-depth financial aid presentation, and good Q&A session with current students from all levels of the medical school."
"Superb computer learning resources and availability. Unlimited access to a variety of clinical environments. Very strong medical research programs."
"everything anonymously posted on SDN feedback was true"
"The students were cool, they weren't dorky like other schools cough WashU cough. I missed the party they threw though =( but it prolly woulda been gay anyway compared to the undergrad scene"
"The medical students partying at the Phi Ro (sp?) house, the candid and curious nature of the interviewers, the snow, and Ann Arbor"
"The facilities were amazing and the students seem really happy."
"Faculty and alumni seemed incredibly nice and willing to help the students"
"Everyone there genuinely loves it there! They admit that the winter weather season sucks but they are all friendly people who LOVE their school and the interviewers are genuinely interested in meeting the people who want to attend their school."
"The town, the hospital, the research labs, the students."
"*Lots* - great interviewers, students, and admissions staff, great technology, exciting new curriculum, great hospitals, strong MD/MPH dual degree program, strong primary care, strong research, great residency placements, huge university, and on and on and on."
"Nice people, huge facilities, sharp-seeming kids"
"the interviewers were extremely nice and the interviews were set up back to back so it was all done really quickly. the day was well-planned and the students tried to make it fun for the interviewees."
"everything about the school"
"The city is very pretty and the medical center is impressive"
"The people are outstanding and the facilities are top notch."
"their students"
"Curriculm changes, students, presentations were humorous and lively. ranked 3rd by residency directors in the nation! great technology--the best i've seen. wireless internet everywhere. "
"Very friendly students. Excellent resources. U Mich is half Mac with G4 towers all over the place."
"Really good atmosphere. Very thorough day; they covered a lot of info. Good food for breakfast and lunch."
"The admissions staff made a concerted effort to make the day as least stressfull as possible. After arriving to the admissions office, they escorted you to where you needed to be and were very friendly and supportive. The students seemed really happy with the school and I was impressed with how highly U of M is regarded by residency programs"
"The school is constantly trying to improve itself, building new structures, reconfiguring its technology . . . to make learning easier for students. Also, great university town-very safe!"
"University Hospital is a beatiful, state of the art facility, as are the other hospitals (children's, cancer/geriatric, outpatient facility); UM's reputation in the eye of residency directors; students themselves were great; the computers and technology integration into the curriculum - this is the most techno-happy school I've seen so far (even more so than Baylor in my opinion); Ann Arbor seemed like a great place to live and be a student"
"The students seemed happy and the school seemed to do a lot for them."
"the facilities were really nice (although since this was my first interview, not much to compare it to) and the people were all friendly."
"Everything. This is a fantastic medical school. Curriculum, board scores, residency match, facilities, friendliness, administrative support, technology, great town, etc. I could go on and on. I loved it."
"The students are amazing. They all seemed to love it. Amazing facilities as well."
"The curriculum, everyone was really nice and helpful"
"The first two years as they lay it out: good early clinical learning, good lecture/sm group mix, and *absolutely no hassle* first year (ie, P/F with online quizzes to be taken at your convenience)"
"Michigan has a huge array of electronic resources and some really friendly people."
"How amazing the school is, how laid back all of the interviewers were, and the campus."
"facilities are pretty amazing, the whole mich atmosphere is awesome...huge research center underway..the students are really cool.."
"The quality of the people at University of Michigan and the great resources that are available."
"The medical students seemed really happy with the school and the administration."
"The school has ridiculously good facilities and research. The clinical training is superb and the professors and deans I met really seemed to care about the students and their overall success. Definitely seemed like a family atmosphere. Ann Arbor is probably the best college town in America during the summer."
"The school is fabulous - the people were both intelligent and friendly. Perhaps the most diverse student body I saw in any of my interviews; there are students from a huge variety of socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. I really can't say enough positive things about the place, and I sensed that others in my interview group felt the same."
"The intelligence of the students and faculty / the technology"
"The size of the entire hospital, which makes sense since it is freezing cold in ann arbor. The place was so clean and looked absolutely new. One thing that did stand out was the student's repeated emphasis that the professors are not that stressed out and therefore are more focused towards educating medical students."
"The facilities seem great. The students seem positive and friendly. It seems to be a low stress/low competition type of environment. Ann Arbor seems like it would be a lot of fun."
"How happy and down to earth the students were. I was scared I would be spending the next 4 years of my life with zombies and robots. Really cool people who are proud of their school. "
"The e-curriculum and computer systems are incredible, especially compared to the rest of the campus where they are pretty janky."
"The people! Everyone there is so friendly and helpful!!"
"The new curriculum and the facilities. UMMS is a great school and students seem to be very happy there."
"The students were the coolest. My host in particular was a high-energy guy and this is the first school I've interviewed at where we hung out in a bar all night before the second day of interviews. The MD program has alot of cool features, such as quizzes that you can take any time over a weekend, taped lectures, and a fairly inexpensive and detailed student-run note taking service."
"Awesome facility. New integrative program for 03"
"The new curriculum--they're putting a lot of effort into making their curriculum better, more integrated with IT, and more invovled in the clinical components earlier."
"All the people I met -- students, faculty, staff -- seemed particularly friendly, interesting, and helpful. Ann Arbor seems like a great place to live."
"How friendly everyone was and how amazing the facilities are. The technology there is also terrific."
"The people were really cool and the facilities were nice"
"The hospital and the technology and computer resources."
"The facilities are amazing - they have really update many of the labs. The student lounge is also the nicest that I have seen in a medical school. The school is also very great about computers - they are everywhere, and there are many online resources that blew me away."
"The students and fellow interviewees. Everyone was so mature and outgoing- the students showed up en masse to talk with interviewees over lunch!"
"Students were actually smiling"
"Facilities, happy students, nice people"
"How cool the student and faculty were. "
"students were very friendly and seemed genuinely happy"
"Facilities, students, faculty. The university is putting many resources into improving the medical school, the students were happy, and the faculty and staff very nice."
"How friendly and laid-back everyone was. The admissions people were joking around with us, and the students were very helpful. Everyone looked like they were genuinely happy to be there and excited about telling us about their school, rather than look like they were just required to be there and give us the party line."
"great facilities, great technology facilities, really cool and diverse students"
"Great facilities."
"Some of the MMI stations were a little challenging than I thought they would be."
"We were told at the start of the day that we wouldn't get any weird questions and that it would be conversational but one of my interviewers asked me lots of unusual questions"
"Facilities are old, Michigan is cold."
"Ann Arbor gets real cold real fast."
"one of my interviewers asked only negatively based questions, as is prying for my shortcomings."
"Nothing really. After this interview, I REALLY want to go to michigan"
"The tour at the end was poorly organized and did not meet the same caliber as the rest of the experience"
"Students said average class attendance is 50-60 out of 170. Many students don't even use microscopes because all the slides are available online (that's good from a technology/convenience standpoint, but I don't want my doc not knowing how to use a microscope)."
"maybe the students were a bit too chill.."
"I'm from out of state and everyone I met was from Michigan. Also, some of the med school buildings seem a little out-dated."
"Not very much negativity here. "
"Trying to get from the parking lot to the first meeting room (furthest possible place). "
"Anatomy lab was crowded relative to other schools I had seen....but this is a very minor point."
"All positive! Michigan is awesome!"
"the wolverines... grrrr"
"Cold. Think Michigan/Ann Arbor would be a hard place for my significant other to find a job. Lack of electives for non-clinical studies. Really huge which is a + and a -. Didn't like how they sent a facebook of all the other interviewees--felt my privacy was not respected. Students only do half of the dissections in anatomy in groups of 3 (6 people to a cadaver). Students felt that the anatomy lab was taught exploratively and was not as structured."
"It's super cold!"
"The students basically said that only about 30% of people ever went to class. It is nice that the online lectures make that possible but it doesn't seem like a great way to see your classmates"
"Some facilities are a little old, but thats ok"
"Bad tour."
"some of the buildings and lecture halls were outdated, but we only saw a few of them anyway. the tour was not very comprehensive."
"Nothing really. The school seems like a wonderful place to be. "
"The weekly flextime quizzes have to be taken at a computer on campus. The large class size: anatomy groups are split up so you only do 50% of the dissections. "
"None"
"Nothing at all."
"Ann Arbor is a good college city, but I think I prefer bigger urban environments. The access to a diverse population of patients is not as great (which I guess is almost a given for a suburb). Some students were a little hesitant in their answer when I asked how they liked Michigan so far (Although many also immediately answered "I love it here!")."
"THe 3rd years said it was a little competative and people were a little cut throat in trying to impress attendings. THey didnt have any presentations specifically about dual degree programs. "
"The price . . . it's pretty expensive for an out-of-state person."
"cold. brrrrr"
"The sinking feeling when I realized that I was going to end up living in Michigan my entire life. Don't get me wrong, Ann Arbor is lots of fun, but I have lived in the area my ENTIRE life and it would be nice to live somewhere else for a little while."
"Ann Arbor is a great small town with spunk, but it is nevertheless a small town."
"Not a single thing."
"Not a lot of pre-arranged options to do rotations outside the U of M health system (although there are opportunities to go abroad, and you can set up your own away rotation)."
"Ann Arbor is kind of out there and even though it was 88 degrees out when I was there, it snows for 5 months out of the year"
"nothing really but parking is supposed to be bad"
"Nothing, save for the cost of attendance as an out-of-state student."
"6 students per cadaver in gross anatomy...seems like a lot"
"One student mentioned that they didn't like the workout facilities at the school. We didn't get to see them but from the way they described them, it didn't sound great. "
"Though I only encountered a few of the students, it seems a little like the medical school version of a party school. Also, I sort of got the impression that the students felt a little arrogant about the fact that they go to ''The University of Michigan'', always toting the top rankings."
"The interview group was very large, almost 50 prospective students. We were told they do this on purpose to show us how big the school really is."
"by the end of the second day, i was exhausted! lunch wasn't that great..."
"ann arbor. snow. lack of diversity in the area (not necessarily among med students though)."
"Ann Arbor is kind of out of the way, i wonder about the amount of patients they get"
"Not much. I found out the the grading system is high honors, honors, or pass, so it sounds a lot like a grading system to me, just without A,B,C,... Still, the students didn't seem competitive."
"NOTHING!"
"the parking situation is unfortunate, both at the hospital and throughout ann arbor"
"Tour was not very interesting. Students seemed less enthusiastic than another school I visited."
"Nothing really. There was a slight mix up with splitting people into two groups for the interviews, but it all went pretty smoothly anyway."
"The interviwers had read the primary app but never brought up my research, but I guess there was only so much time"
"Didn't really get to see the sun while I was there (apparently it is gray there a lot). Also, not every student gets to perform all the anatomy dissections (not sure if this is the norm at other schools though)."
"I was pretty hot from walking all over the place--I guess that's not their fault though! But you do walk a lot so be prepared."
"the walk from the parking structure to the admissions office"
"Ummm, hmmm, some of the facilities seemed old."
"I had students learning to be interviewers sit in on two of my interviews; they looked at the walls and seemed really bored."
"The other interviewees were not as friendly as I would have liked. Also, I was the only one of my race at the interview...not good for me."
"... the weather. It's pretty cold."
"The complex is all connected and really confusing to find your way around. However, once you're a student I'm sure it isn't that bad."
"Parking for visitors was too far away. "
"Not much"
"I don't think they did as great a job as they could have selling the school. I know that the school has electronic model patients for us to practice certain techniques, but we didn't get introduced to that."
"My legs froze when I stepped out of my car at 7 am...but it warmed up later on."
"Just having to be there when it's still dark outside...I lost my house keys in the cab because I couldn't see."
"Ann Arbor is an expensive place for a student to live, and the school does not permit OOS residents to gain state residency after the first year. The cost of the school is its biggest overall drawback, but they do award some grants and scholarships."
"For me, Ann Arbor is a small town and I kind of felt trapped--not sure I could live there for 4 years. Also, the schedule is really flexible, which for me is bad because I prefer more structure and solid deadlines."
"One of my interviewers clearly had not read over my file, but all of the other faculty and staff were extremely helpful and nice."
"Facilities were ok, kind of plain imo."
"It would be nice to have a map of the school and campus during the day and especially during the tour-I felt lost the entire time. "
"I didn't really like the town or the medical school facilities. They were pretty run of the mill. Also, I never felt like I got an accurate picture of what the student body was like. I didn't get to interact with anyone who wasn't part of the admissions process."
"The day was kind of long. The tour was done last and at that point I was fatigued."
"Staff and faculty are effusive with their praise about U of M and it seems a little suspicious. It's almost as if they have a inferiority complex. If you know you are good, you don't need to repeat it every 5 minutes."
"It was already pretty cold on the day of my interview (in September!), and it was especially cold the night before my interview."
"not much - AA is a great town, but it's lacking in diversity (luckily, you can do some clinical rotations in Detroit if you want to), worried that because lectures are video-taped and put on the web that no one would come and it would be harder to interact w/ classmates"
"The medical school is a maze, and nobody posts signs to help you figure out where you're going."
"school is big, 37k students. interview group is also huge, maybe 40 or 50 people, but they say they structure it that way"
"Might be a little too lecture-based for me. Also, the great push for online lectures, labs, quizzes, clinical observations, and chatting seems great, but I wonder if it also dehumanizes the experience somewhat..."
"some of the facilities are a little old, but there are 2 new buildings in the works"
"expensive out of state...and they don't have a whole lot of service opportunities."
"nothing--maybe the weekly quizzes, but the students seemed to really like them. "
"Michigan does not let out of state students become residents- tuition is expensive"
"1 quiz per week in med school"
"I'm from GA, so I won't lie....it's cold and that is something I'll have to make my peace with if I choose to go there. Oddly, I was the only southerner there, and out of ~20 girls, I was the only one wearing a skirt suit!"
"Parking isn't available, but it turned out fine. The Holiday Inn bus left us, make sure to let the hotel know when you are waiting for the van."
"Not much -- perhaps the winter weather is a little daunting, especially for people like me who are used to the mild, snow-free winters of western California."
"They didn't have lunch organized well"
"The rankings were thrown in your face what felt like several hundred times throughout the day. I think everyone was fully aware before they got there that it is a great school. No real BIG negatives to the interview day or to the school in general."
"The technology presentation was a little long for that early in the morning (a little more than a hour). "
"nothing really, this place has it all! i loved it!"
"They kept talking about how good the school is. And they took back the name tags at the end and put them into a basket. It made me feel like they were going to pick candidates by picking names out of the basket!"
"nothing really. weather was a little dreary at the time"
"my student interviewer was the most serious. the m.d.'s were more laid back. "
"Not much."
"They kept trying to say how great the school is in terms of ranking..."
"No directions were given from the parking lot."
"The outside of the med school looks pretty dumpy, but the inside is nice. Also, I heard parking is awful."
"The med school seemed like a confusing maze of hallways, kind of intimidating"
"The one weakness is that the patient population is not very diverse in Ann Arbor, but UofM hospital is the major medical center for all of Michigan, so you will see a lot of different types of cases."
"Nothing really."
"The weather, COST is crazy. "
"weather wasn't wonderful, but that's true of a lot of places"
"It gets cold."
"Not so much patient diversity, but you can do rotations in Detroit"
"Overemphasis of its top ten ranking. It's only ranked so high because of its research grants. The med school itself is old and looks unmaintained. "
"My tour guide said he basically never went to class in the first two years."
"nothing much...some people were arrogant and the food wasn't all that good"
"Not much! Lots of construction going on, which can be dusty and noisy at times."
"The walls are cinder blocks painted white. It's what you would see in a prison. And they took back the name tags. "
"Some of the facilities were kind of dark and not that nice"
"Nothing really. My tour guide wasn't too enthusiastic about med school in general. "
"The tour. My guides seemed like slackers who barely went to class. You absolutely don't need to attend all of your classes to be successful, but I don't feel that they were the best representatives for the school."
"Low availability of parking for medical students. This seems to be a problem with every major school."
"see what positively impressed me"
"The technology session was WAYYYY too boring! I spent the whole time on instant messenger, the guy giving the prsentation even pointed it out haha"
"The cost of living"
"41 people there interviewing at the same time."
"Very very cold"
"The weather! It was really cold and it is very icy outside."
"the friendly atmosphere tails off during your second year."
"Very little."
"The price: $30k for in-Staters and $50k for out-of-Staters. Also, there aren't any public hospitals in Ann Arbor."
"Weather is truly cold, no joke, overemphasis of "top 10 ranking""
"The students seemed to oversmphasize that grading in the second year was good but it seemed more competitive and stressful than if the first two years were pass/fail. "
"Little variety when it comes to rotations at different hospitals."
"the tour wasnt well planned.. but it was the first time for the guide..."
"finaid session = booring but scary (so expensive!) ann arbor = very cold. "
"Somewhat big class (170). I knew this before my interview though."
"Little bit chilly in the morning. They seem to be really into the U.S. News rankings for everything."
"Nothing, except the computer demo was very boring"
"The tuition. Yikes!"
"the financial aid presentation may as well have been given in Latin"
"A nurse who came into the bathroom after the tour, asked students if they were studying medicine, and then told them that all the doctors she knew hated their jobs."
"one of the interviewers (i was his first interview ever) asked really strange questions that tended to be very negative. i didn't particularly enjoy that interview."
"It was kind of chilly for September. There were 3 interviews."
"Umm, my shoes hurt?"
"There are people in this world that are vegetarian and the people who coordinated lunch FORGOT this. While they had about 5 different kinds of sandwiches with different kinds of meat, I, as a vegetarian, had a brownie for lunch."
"A little chip on the shoulder at being highly but not tip-top ranked"
"I walked to my interview, but apparently the med school has some serious parking problems."
"My shoes, the male to female ratio at the interview, not the incoming class."
"nothing, maybe the class is too big (170), but nothing major..."
"The administration is caught up in rankings. I heard some aspect of UM's US News ranking in this category or that about 10 times. It even showed up on this practice quiz they make you take during the computer facilities tour. I mean, everyone looked at US News before applying to UM, so they know its good, no need to indoctrinate it any further. That's my only complaint though, the school seemed really friendly and academically motivated overall. I couldn't find the match list in my packet for some reason either."
"Nothing."
"The arrogance of the faculty"
"The fact that it was freezing cold."
"They're implementing a new curriculum fall 2003, which is great, but Id be worried about being the guinea pigs"
"Honestly, I didn't think the actual hospital and associated health center was as nice as some of the others I have seen. Tour was sorta boring too. "
"Nothing"
"Ann Arbor is a cool town, but it's fairly expensive to live there. You can't really get away from the city, because parking is a huge issue."
"Not much... Everything was top notch"
"There's no parking for med students!! For $30K a year (out of state), you'd think they could give you a place to park."
"Nothing really"
"The tour"
"Nothing - it was an all around great day. "
"Ann Arbor housing is EXPENSIVE! And parking is hard to come by-most students live in the same apartment complex right by the school."
"Interviews didn't allow much time for questions"
"It is easy to get lost when getting to the admissions office."
"2 of my interviews were with pathologists, who weren't very dynamic."
"Nothing, really. "
"The parking/traffic flow. I thought Ann Arbor was confusing to drive in, and there really isn't any parking available."
"nada. "
"One of my interviewers was pretty blah >> asked boring questions, seemed uninterested...I hate that :)"
"That there would be a teamwork MMI. How difficult it would be to find the admissions office."
"I'm OOS and interviewed late in December, when they were starting to interview A LOT of in-state applicants. I felt there was an overwhelming number of U-M undergrads/alums on my interview day and they bonded with each other more naturally than with me. I wish I had known what to expect better."
"To practice MMI format. It felt awkward without having practiced."
"The MMI style interviews were a little stressful."
"I had three interviewers: A 2nd year student, an alumnus, and a faculty member. Also, how beautiful the U-M campus and Ann Arbor would be."
"To wear comfortable shoes on the tour."
"It's totally fine to bring a change of shoes for the tour."
"Nothing, I felt very prepared for everything that happened on my interview day."
"The interview is very conversational and not stressful. I walked out of each interview with a smile on my face."
"Just how fast 30 minutes goes by."
"I'm glad that I wore comfortable shoes. We walked around the hospitals and the interviews were in different rooms than the lunch, etc. Comfy shoes are a necessity!"
"How laid back it would be--that they were excited I was able to make it and really just wanted to get to know me."
"weather is cold =/ and ann arbor has nothing much to do there..."
"How cold it would be in January."
"How much fun this school was. "
"How relaxed the interviews are!"
"That since there were 40 of us interviewing that day, it'd be pretty easy to find other people to split a cab to the airport with."
"They give you a Umich Med tote with info materials, so I looked a little silly carrying two bags around all day. Girls - try to pack less."
"That they would expect me to have so many questions"
"What to say when asked what my first choice in med school is"
"how famous my last interviewer was"
"wear comfortable shoes"
"That you can and should relax!! It really is a means of you and the school assessing each other, not them trying to make you jump hurdles."
"My comfortable walking shoes were not comfortable enough. "
"That I didn't need to stress over this interview at all."
"Nothing... They were really good about preparing you beforehand."
"take the ann arbor shuttle for only $55 round trip. "
"That the interviews were very relax and that they just want to get to know you. "
"I was a bit worried after reading this site that I might get some hard, ethical questions. I didn't have any of that -- all of my interviewers were really friendly and nice, and were genuinely interested in learning more about me."
"Nothing really, I did a lot of research into the school."
"the three interviews go fast. be prepared"
"You can pack a pair of comfy shoes in your bag. After your interview you are off the record so you can change into more comfortable shoes for the remainder of the day"
"nothing too much. they prefer PCs, and that bummed me out because I'm sick of my PC and want to switch to Mac (assuming I even get in :o) )"
"You can set up a shuttle between the airport and the school/hotel before. Definitely research this option. The cab from the airport to my hotel was expensive!"
"Nothing, I feel like I was pretty prepared."
"Very low stress, friendly, conversational. Michigan really is different from many schools; once you are invited for an interview, they will go out of their way to make you feel relaxed and comfortable, and make the trip worth your time."
"That if Michigan is not playing a good team on the weekend, you could easily score tickets to the game, I wished I stayed on Saturday! Also, that I should not have lost a minute of sleep over this interview because it was not stressful at all."
"that you can walk indoors the entire way from the parking deck to the medical sciences building. going to college in the south has made me forget how cold the upper midwest can get."
"30 minutes goes by very quickly in a conversational interview so be ready to get to the point quickly"
"Michigan Med is not the stereotypical 'research' school. One major concern of mine was the quality of the clinical experience I might get at Michigan. Residency directors rate U-M med grads among the top 5 nationally. "
"This school is amazing. Everything about it. "
"Be prepared to wake up really early. During the morning my adrenaline was up for the interviews but by the afternoon tour I was completely exhausted. "
"That I should have prepared a little bit more, perhaps by practicing questions."
"I didn't understand the scheuduling of medical school, and didn't realize that there is only one summer vacation. "
"This was my first interview. I was surprised to find prospective students didn't seem overly friendly, beyond what was required for being on their best behavior. Maybe this was due to the element of competition, simply the stress of the day, or the fact that I was the only student from my school when many other students hung out in a group with their classmates. However, this feeling of false friendliness was NOT reflected in the medical students who attend U.Michigan."
"That my ideal future research work are not supported at UM"
"Ann Arbor is a cool town, not in the middle of nowhere as I had expected"
"Ann Arbor is FAR from the detroit airport and taxi will cost you $55 one way. arrange for a shuttle ahead of time, because they're not easy to come around at the airport."
"How relaxed the atmosphere of the interview was. I wouldn't have stressed about it so much."
"how friendly people were"
"The school has an internationaly renowned writing program, and writing related programs are available to students who are interested."
"they are admitting less students this year since they keep overshooting their class size, hopefully they still take me huh?"
"That the current students will show you all around Ann Arbor that evening. My flight was leaving too quickly for me to take advantage of that."
"Its expensive to get from airport to ann arbor."
"Ann Arbor is a really nice city. It combines the picturesque qualities of a small town with the cultural and professional benefits that come from having a huge university complex. I was very impressed with the area."
"That I would have two student interviews and one faculty interview, rather than the opposite."
"tied for 3rd in residency rankings"
"I felt pretty prepared...I didn't know I would like it so much!"
"Big school feel with a football emphasis for culture. Amazing use of technology by the medschool."
"That residency directors ranked UMich #3 (so it's not just a research school)"
"That the M1's loved to invite M zero's to parties the night after the interview, and that if you interview on a football weekend, the interviewees and the M1's go to the football game together."
"That U-M is so fast about making decisions after you interview. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't have waited as long as I did to schedule an interview (it would have been nice to alleviate the whole "am I even going to get into school?" stress earlier than I did)."
"I talked to friends at UM and found out that the hospital, although connected to the parking garage, is a maze. They informed me to walk around outside to get to MSB1. I went with a friend the night before to scope it out... it was really helpful."
"They were too friendly for words."
"That this day is very low stress and there is nothing to worry about."
"That it was going to be so cold in the morning - I would've worn pants instead of a skirt. "
"The medical center is huge. I enjoyed walking around it, but I got lost many times. "
"Nothing, everyone there tries very hard to make you at ease."
"It's really cold in Michigan, even in the fall, so dress warmly when you go."
"The Library B&B is a great place, but further from the school than I exected--I took a cab which was only $6."
"Stay for a football game. The campus pretty much comes to life. I missed the one against Penn State! Also, there's a difference between Medical Science Building I and Medical Science Research Building I (the first one is where the admissions office is)."
"The integration of technology and online resources to augment the curriculum."
"An addition to the children's hospital was just signed off by the Regents of the university...sweet."
"The med students have an great lounge where they can hang out, play some foosball, eat, study together, and just relax. "
"Wear comfortable shoes, you do quite a bit of walking."
"That a car is not a necessity. Students ride the bus for free."
"You get PDA's during your third year, there is a scholary research paper requirement for fourth year students, and 799 out of 801 interviewers in 2005 got accepted to some medical school in the US."
"The students are really cool and laid back. I wish I would have scheduled more time to stay in Ann Arbor to hang out with the students."
"that I was going to have 3 faculty interviews instead of 2 faculty 1 student like they said!"
"How to get to the right building on time (everyone shows up early -- before 7:30am)"
"tour got long and hot, much walking. consider carrying water along. breakfast was continentalish--eat eggs and sausage before you arrive"
"Nothing."
"That the faculty is so approachable."
"That U of M med students match 100% of the time for some of the most competitive residencies"
"they give you a PDA during 3rd year to use with hospitals' WiFi, and you get to keep it!!"
"That it was the last day for interviews."
"that the interviews are so relaxed. that the admissions ataff (especially the director and the dean) are so friendly and approachable."
"Nothing really"
"-How much of a pain it is to get between the med school and the airport!!! Plan in advance! -How relaxed everything was. The interviewers are really nice and want you to like UMich and Ann Arbor; just be yourself."
"How competitive admissions is."
"How wonderful the interviews would be. The interviewers--and indeed, all the admissions staff--look very professional and, at least at first, somewhat intimidating. But everyone was very nice and determined to make you feel comfortable. It really helped to show the friendly atmosphere among the students and among the faculty."
"it's much less stressful than I was expecting. And you should really emphasize your various experiences."
"Nothing caught me too off guard. I would have liked to have known that I was going to be in a group of about 40 students interviewing that day."
"They get back to you pretty quickly about their decision. There's a fair amount of walking so wear comfortable shoes. Also, the interviews go by a lot quicker than you expect them to."
"not much. guess i was decently prepared"
"my jacket would be insufficient in keeping me warm. "
"The emphasis on technology in the curriculum."
"It gets cold@"
"They have a bar with a foosball table in ann arbor."
"That Ann Arbor is such a cute little town."
"That all of the builings of the medical campus are linked together by hamster Habitrail hallways. Very cool, you don't have to go outside in the bad weather. If I'd known that, I probably wouldn't have gotten so lost."
"Even though it is a state school, it attracts top students from across the country. Make sure you know how to get to the admissions office beforehand! The campus is very large and is it easy to get lost."
"how laid back the interviews were going to be"
"Don't say you dislike research....or at least say it more tactfully than I did =)"
"that the interviewers would be so laid back"
"UMich is ranked 2nd in the nation among residency directors."
"The fact that I would love the school so much, and the friendliness of the entire school and system!"
"The school itself does not live up to its reputation. "
"All tests are online and you can take them anytime over a 3 day period"
"kavorkian was a graduate!"
"Michigan gives full scholarships! Ann Arbor is beautiful."
"The walking distance to the admissions office is longer than what they tell you."
"There are still a few outright acceptances left."
"That once they get into the March interviews days you are interviewing for a spot on the waitlist. Although the waitlist is more active than at other schools, it almost made me feel as if I should have saved my $$ to visit a school that I have a better chance of getting in to."
"That Ann Arbor's streets are CRAZY! Everything is like a one-way street, which is fine if it's in a normal grid like NY or chicago, but all the streets curve and are on hills so it takes forever to get to where u need to go."
"That my host student loves to make quesadillas late night, and that I should have brought him more than two dozen tortillas."
"Nothing really."
"The setup of the medical school campus is very confusing. Everyone I know got lost a couple times. You WILL get lost so plan to get there EARLY!"
"I'm glad I had an extra day in Ann Arbor - it's a great town!"
"The Campus Bed and Breakfast (which I found at the last minute) is a great place to stay and very homely. Not far from the medical school at all and highly recommend it. "
"You can TA undergrad courses at UMich your first year and get your tuition waived."
"cost of living in ann arbor = high "
"U Mich now has a thesis requirement!"
"I could park for free by getting a pass from the admissions office instead of paying $2 for parking in the garage."
"I wish I had known how relaxed things would be. Even though I was asked many difficult hypothetical questions, the interviewers seemed more interested in how I thought things through rather than if my answers were right or wrong. "
"Nothing. No regrets"
"how huge the complex is and how tough it would be to find the admissions office - my student-host gave me great directions, but MAKE SURE YOU KNOW HOW TO GET THERE IN THE MORNING! it would be very confusing for someone with no clue as to where they are."
"Ann Arbor is only 30 minutes from Detroit, and DTW is not located in gangland (I would have been a little less afraid.)"
"nothing much"
"That I should get enough sleep before interview day."
"Michigan is in the process of instituting a brand new curriculum"
"Eat a lot before"
"They give out a boat load of scholarship (read: don't need to be poor, merit based) money."
"That I didn't need the studid leather file holder I brought."
"nothing, i already knew it was a great school"
"How spread out UM campus is. Then again, for a school of that size and reputation, I guess you have to be that big."
"The school has such an excellent reputation, particularly among residency directors. The students were extremely impressive, but also down-to-earth and very friendly."
"How cold it would be, so don't forget your gloves and beanies people."
"the new curriculum"
"How awesome Ann Arbor is. I spent a few hours on my own after the interview walking around the campus, getting the feel of a legit college town. "
"That there would be about 50 other applicants there. Not a big deal in retrospect, but a bit intimidating if it's your first interview"
"Not sure."
"The new curriculum will provide students with a greater expossure to patient care."
"I wish I had known how expensive Ann Arbor really was to be in. I had assumed that since it was so out of the way, alot of students would be buying houses and starting families (this is my goal). However, very few seemed to be doing that."
"Ann Arbor is a kicking place."
"Michigan is very highly regarded in residency placements."
"One interviewer made sure he had answered all my questions about the school/Ann Arbor before he even asked me any interview questions -- come to U Mich with TONS of questions."
"The three interviews one after another were pretty intense. "
"Nothing"
"That the 30 min interview time was strictly enforced"
"That the day would be low stress. All of my stress came from the fact that this was my undergrad school and one of my top choices."
"The curriculum will change for Fall 2003, though we were not given specifics."
"How stress-free the interviews would be"
"Dr. Jack Kevorkian is a graduate!"
"Parking stinks"
"What a great reputation the school has. The are ranked 3rd in the nation by residency programs, and are 7 standard deviations above the national average on the boards."
"u of m is re-doing their curriculum (towards more good stuff, in my opinion) that focuses more on clinical exposure in the 1st/2nd year and adds a required senior thesis (not necessarily research, tho)"
"It was my first interview and it was at my undergrad school...I wish I had realized how over-confident I was. I really was cocky and I think this had a hugely negative impact on my application. I deflated a lot after getting waitlisted, and went into future interviews much humbled, I think I performed better after this."
"My interview at UM was the most extensive of all of the interviews I've done so far. There were two one-on-one interviews, one 45 minute with a faculty and one 30 minute with a medical student. After that there were six MMI stations. All of the interviewing occurred in the morning, and in the afternoon we got a tour and split into smaller groups to do fun med student activities. I thought the current students were a little lack-luster."
"The most well orchestrated (and most fun) interview day I've had"
"Overall fun day. Treat the MMI with a game mindset then you'll be fine. The traditional interviews are really laid-back so just be yourself!"
"Love this school."
"Great interview, great school, very professional and thorough interview experience."
"Very organized interview day -- University of Michigan makes it very clear where you are supposed to be and when you are supposed to be there. There is someone from the school telling you where to go at all times of the interview -- you will never feel lost."
"Overall great day, however, it is a long day. By the time the tour came around I just felt like leaving and staring into space :p"
"This was an awesome experience. I never thought I would refer to an interview day as being fun but it was. Every person did their best to make the applicants feel at ease, so there's no reason to stress out about this interview. Make sure you know what is on your application and make sure you know the answer to the questions "Why medicine" and "why michigan" and as long as you know all of that you will be prepared for the interview. This is absolutely my #1 choice because of how much the interview day impressed me."
"Well put together, impressive organization, beautiful campus"
"The interviewers were very kind, the medical students were very kind, and the school admissions staff were very kind. Definitely impressed!"
"They really stressed that Michigan has to be right for you and you have to be right for Michigan. If that is the case, you should come. If not, do not come. I liked how up front and honest they were throughout the entire interview day."
"Interviewers were very caring and capable. They seem to be excellent doctors. U.Mich would be a great place to become a doctor. "
"Great interview experience if you know your stuff. They only asked me one ethics question - almost everything came right off my application."
"Great school!"
"One of my interviewers spoke for 90% of the interview. I felt like he had his mind made up before meeting me so he spent most of the time telling me how amazing the U of M is. I don't know if this is a good or a bad thing...."
"Interviewers were really friendly. I was a bit overwhelmed by the number of other interviewees. It detracted from getting to know the school I felt. The school seems to be really great but I just feel concerned about the job market in Michigan in terms of my partner being able to find a job."
"Great staff!!! They were so friendly and welcoming. They made me feel like they really wanted to get to know me"
"I think both the applicants, students, and admission staff were friendly, open, and seemed like fun people. i could definitely see myself going here."
"Awesome school, fun interviewing experience (1st one), everything great overall. very relaxing"
"It was a great first interview to have. The people were very friendly, welcoming and made you feel wanted. I liked the college-town atmosphere."
"great school, Ruiz is a funny guy, environment is relaxed and friendly, sometimes it seems overly friendly, current students are proud to attend UM and try their best to convince you UM is a great school."
"Michigan oh Michigan...please let me in."
"Sat in on some classes the day before. Went out to dinner with M1's and other applicants the night before. In general, I could see myself here. "
"The interviews are pretty relaxed. The half an hour for each interview goes by really fast. I was pretty nervous for the first one, but the second and third ones I felt more relaxed."
"they make it as low stress as possible. the school is so awesome and the opportunities are great, especially their international opportunities. overall it was a great experience."
"It was great - the day really impressed me and moved Michigan up on my list."
"Overall, it was great. I am OOS, and feel like the cost is worth the education. The Dean and Director of Admissions were all straight forward-- After a short presenation/breakfast my group went to interview. I had three interviews, 30 minutes each. two were students and one was an MD. then we went back and had a presentation about the school's technology/computers. Lunch after that-presentation about financial aid(which there is plenty of!), and then a tour, which included the anatomy labs and looking at cadavers. We were done around 2pm. "
"My interview experience was great. Everyone was really nice and helpful!"
"The interviews were all really laid back and conversational. The facilities are great, and the med students I met seemed pretty relaxed, which was all the more impressive considering that they all had an exam that day. After visiting, this school is definitely one of my top choices; to make things even better I found out 2 days after my interview that I was accepted!!"
"A very positive interview experience, and the school is incredible in residency placement as well as a fairly low stress atmosphere (for medical school)."
"My first interviewer was pretty typical. He just asked me about my activities, my research, and volunteering. It was really low-key. With my second interviewer it was like I couldn't say anything wrong. Everything I said he enthusiastically agreed with. With my third interviewer it was like I couldn't say anything right. Everything I said she was very critical of. So basically I got a completely different vibe from each of my interviewers. I had it a little bit weird though because I had 3 faculty interviews and most people get 2 faculty and 1 student. "
"wonderful! I loved how they really tried to make us at ease and everyone was sooo excited."
"U of M is a fantastic school. I am enamored with everything about it except a little bit about the location. Almost all if not all of its graduate programs are in the top 10, in case you want to pursue studies outside of medicine-- and a top public health school. It's ranked top 5 by residency directors. There are tons of global research opps. The city during games days is electric. And to top it off, they try to make your interview day relaxed and calm."
"The whole interview day was great. I actually had fun talking to my interviewers and meeting the med students and other applicants. The staff did a really great job of keeping the experience relaxed and informal. This is the way an interview day should be."
"Very positive - everything was well-organized, on time, and impressive, from the admissions staff and deans to the student tour guides. All were willing to answer any questions, and interviewees were treated with a lot of respect."
"Michigan does an amazing job selling itself every step of the way, the culture of the school and even the admissions process is very welcoming and refreshing compared to other schools. The three thirty minute interviews are in two shifts in the morning, they tell you who your interviewers are in the morning. Their health sciences campus is very large so you might need help getting to the right place. There's also a very entertaining e-mail that you get if you're accepted. Good luck!"
"Awesome. I didn't know where UMich stood on my list before my visit, but everything was so impressive that it became my immediate top choice when I left that day. I wasn't too much a fan of the back-to-back-to-back interviews, but all my interviewers were very nice. I was unfortunately waitlisted, but my fingers are still crossed to get off of it soon."
"very relaxed but fast paced"
"I went to U-M for undergrad and had mixed feelings about returning for medical school. After interviewing at U-M and a number of other schools, it became clear that U-M med was the place for me."
"U of M has a great reputation, and it is well-deserved. "
"I had only 2 interviewers (most had 3): a student and a faculty member. Both interviews were very conversational and very low stress. "
"Like everyone else here has said, be prepared to have a conversation with your interviewer. The interviewers and admission staff will do everything possible to make you feel comfortable all day. At least in my experience there were no strange questions so really concentrate on having a good answer to the typical interview questions."
"It was a little bit more stressful than I had anticipated because it was not as conversational as other interviews I had gone on. The interviewers fired questions at me and it was more businesslike than I had expected."
"Very good experience, very comfortable, nice that they inform you very promptly about your application status after interview."
"The day started with breakfast, then we were separated into two groups. One group went to breakfast the other went to technology/financial aid presentations. I was in the first group and had my interviews right away. After the interviews we had technology/financial aid presentations. Then both groups had lunch with current medical students. After lunch, there was a tour given by the current students."
"The day was very well-organized - no downtime and plenty of opportunities to interact with med students and applicants. The interviewers were very friendly and the interviews were very laid back and conversational."
"It was a great experience. Very low key and enjoyable. I went out to dinner with some students the night before, and I would highly recommend that."
"It was an exhausting day, but a great one. I learned a lot about the school and what life is like as a student at U.Michigan. Every representative from the school was very friendly and sincere. I absolutely fell in love with the school. "
"The MSTP committee is extremely helpful, and pay for your visit. Everyone was really conversational and helped me get from place to place (all the research professor interviews are in their offices). You'll get a schedule that outlines all this. Though all the MSTP kids only had 1 MD interview, while MD only kids had 2-3. I appreciated that actually, a break was nice. There's plenty of time to be social with the other applicants, though all of us were so exhausted that it got a little quiet."
"Starts early, and the group is big- 40 or so students. Breakfast and lunch are served, and students go in shifts- one group does their three interviews, boom boom boom, and the other group tours the computer labs and gets a financial aid seminar. After everyone finishes their interviews, the admissions committee leaves, and med students come and chill with applicants, answer questions, and take you on a tour. The day ends early, and is full but energizing, and people seem really happy and down to earth. They all say they're fed well by the school."
"Very positive. The first day I interviewed with professors whose research I was interested in. Also interviewed with the director of the MSTP program. Went out to dinner with MSTP students and stayed overnight with an M1 MSTP student. Friday I joined the Medical School applicants for the day. Interviews were in the morning, then seminars on financing your education and the technology at U Mich. Finally had lunch with lots of med students and had the tour. The interviews were run very efficiently, was impressed."
"great, if Michigan takes me then I just may end up going there!"
"Overall, it was a great experience and definately a school worth checking out. The 5 standard questions asked every applicant with no feedback leaves you feeling a bit like you blundered somehow, but all of the students currently attending remembered feeling the same way."
"What a great school..."
"The interview was really relaxed!"
"great! I loved that it was a big group. they give you a "
"overall a great day, the director of admissions does a phenomenal job making sure the day is smooth and no one is ever sitting around bored. probably the best interview day in the land."
"When we first arrived, we were given a breakfast buffet. There was a general information session, then half of the group interviewed while my half got a demonstration of the computer lab and a financial aid presentation. The groups then switched. There were three one on one interviews; I had one M3 and 2 MD interviews, but some people were interviewed by 2 med students and one professor. Then it was lunch time with the current students. Quite a few came, and the admissions staff all left the room so you could talk candidly. Then there were student led tours of the facilities. Be prepared for lots of walking! At the end, you fill out evaluations of your interviewers and the entire day while getting more snacks and pie. Overall, I was extremely impressed with UM. Everyone went out of their way to be helpful, and the whole atmosphere of the school was cheerful and enthusiastic about the opportunities offered."
"Good experience overall. Starts early, breakfast at 7:45. Interviews afterwards , one group 8:30-10, another 10-1:30. Then its a tour and the day is over. I really liked my interviewers, and all the interviews were mostly conversational and regarding you and your application. I received no ethical or "
"My mother and I drove in the night before and stayed at a hotel. The interview day started at 7:30 with breakfast, followed by an introduction and admissions talk that went over the attributes of the school and the application/admission process. Then, the applicants were split into two groups. My group had the computing and financial aid talks while the other group had their interviews. The talks were very helpful and informative. Then we had a half-hour break that gave us a chance to talk some more to each other. After that, we had the interviews and the other group had the talks. There were three interviews, one right after the other. They were conducted by faculty members and students (and in one case an alum). The students carry as much weight as the faculty, so some people had two faculty and one student interview, while others had two student and one faculty interview. I was in the former situation. The interviewers have a picture of us so they came out and found us in the waiting room. The interviews were conducted in the rooms used for Stimulated Patient Exams, so it looked kind of like a doctor's office. My first interviewer was a faculty member and he was very welcoming and nice, and put me at ease. We pretty much just had a conversation, with him using my application to guide us through and make sure we covered everything. It didn't really feel like an interview, if anything he was convincing me why I would love UMich and Ann Arbor. The second interview was pretty much the same. The more difficult one ofr me was the student interview. She was an M2 and just went through her list of questions - what were your leadership roles? I see you were involved in this organization, what did that entail? What do you do for fun? Tell me about your research, etc. It wasn't really difficult, just caught me by surprise after the two other interviews that were totally different. Overall, I enjoyed all of them though and learned a lot about the school and feel like the interviewers learned a lot about me. After the interviews were over, we had lunch with students and they gave us a chance to ask questions, and just talk to them. Then some of the students took groups of us on the tour, which was fun and gave me a pretty good feel of the school. After that, we went back to the admissions office and filled out evaluation forms, ate pie and left."
"The interviewers really just wanted to get to know you, and made sure you felt comfortable."
"VERY laid back- just be yourself in the interviews. If you're more serious, don't force it with awkward jokes. I'm more laid back so I was able to joke around and I think overall it went smoothly."
"It was really awesome. I got sold on U of M!"
"Everyone has three back-to-back half hour long interviews and each one is one-on-one. I had two doctors and a 2nd year med student, but that wasn't true for everyone. All three interviews were laid back and conversational, if anything, the interview with the student was the least conversational."
"Being an undergrad there I had already been in the med school for some classes but I was still very impressed with the tour which took us places I had never been and the student guiding them were really helpful and truthful about the school"
"Michigan is a very welcoming community. They are very enthusiastic and make you feel comfortable. The interview day is as follows: Presentation by director (Ruiz), presentation on computers/technology, financial aid stuff, 3 interviews (30 min each), lunch, tours, done. The interview kids are split into two groups (A and 1), and the other group interviewed before computer presentation. The interviews, themselves, are very relaxed. They want to get to know you better."
"Fairly relaxed, lots of open ended questions, everything was right off of my primary"
"It wa very laid back it seemed as though one of my interviewers was trying to convince ME to become a doctor! Also, the medical student that interviewwed me put me at ease more than the faculty members (who were really nice themselves). Every one was very helpful and kind. Seriously, just relax and be yourself. Know why you want to become a doctor, and what you plan to do with your M.D."
"Incredibly laid back, and very well put together. It's hard to get too worried about an interview that's only going to be 30 minutes long, although it does feel kind of odd to do three consecutive short interviews..."
"It was such a great day. I really enjoyed the chance to talk to so many prospective students... be warned that I think they observe how you interact with those there, as they are looking for how well you would fit into the community. The day was nice, with breaks right when you needed them. The interviewers were all nice and really relaxed (at least for me). Overall, a wonderful experience."
"OVerall it was positive and general questions about my application and why medicine and why Michigan medical school. All three of my interviewers were friendly and open with me."
"Great interview experience. About 35 ppl on interview day but overall was good and organized. They keep you busy."
"It was very friendly. In addition to friendly admissions staff, the interviewers were very amiable. I had 3 back-to-back 30 minute interviews. All the interviewers were easy to connect with, but the back-to-back format left my second interviewer a bit unprepared (he had an interview right before mine) and he spent some time trying to remember my AMCAS app."
"Interviews were very laid back and conversational."
"It was great! Everyone was super nice. I thought I was going to rammed with difficult questions, but that wasn't the case. The best interview tip I can give is that you should think about what aspect about each experience make you stand out the most."
"Breakfast with introduction. 3 interviews back to back. Very easy. Fin Aid talk. Show you computer lab and learning programs <-- very cool! Lunch with students. Student tours. "
"I had a great experience at Michigan. All the admissions people were very friendly. Interviews were all conversational and interviewers were all receptive to what I was saying. Facilities are pretty good -- they use the newest technology and keep all the buildings (hospitals and med school bldgs) updated. Technology is very well integrated into the curriculum -- all lectures (at least for M1) are videotaped and posted on the web to watch and a PDA with useful software is given to you in M3 year. Michigan has both M1 and M2 pass or fail and the best part is they don't rank students for these 2 years. While some schools have a similar system, they secretly rank students and give that information to residency directors. Umich has no such policy. The students seemed enthusiastic about the school. In general, I had a great time and hopefully if I get in, I will seriously consider going there."
"I had heard from everyone that the interviews were really "chill," but I was still a little tense. They let you interact with the other interviewees pretty extensively, which takes the edge off considerably because everyone is so friendly and open and talkative. I wouldn't even call the interviews "interviews." It was like we started a conversation as we were walking toward the interview room, and we never stopped chatting, and before you know it, 30 minutes are up. Overall, it was just a very relaxed and friendly environment...I had a blast. AND they feed you chocolate eclairs for breakfast...what more can you ask for? Just be careful not to get food on your suit. "
"The interviewers were laid-back and and easy-going. Every student I spoke with said that they loved it at Michigan. "
"I was in the first group to interview, and that was nice because we were done with the stressful stuff at the beginning of the day. The interviewers were all really nice, and treated the experience more like a conversation than an interegation. I also liked the extensive tour we were given, I think it highlights just how big UMH is."
"This interview is a long and busy day, but I was very impressed with the school. I had three interviewers: one faculty member and two students. We also saw the technology center, had a financial aid talk, went on tours, and were given breakfast and lunch. The interview group is relatively large (about 45 people), but they divided us into two smaller groups for most of the day."
"An early morning (7:30!) with free breakfast, demonstration of computer resource center, a break, interviews, lunch, then a tour."
"The day starts really early, and the interview group is big (like 40 or 50 ppl). Everyone is ushered up to a room where there is a continental breakfast and a couple brief overview presentations. Then the group is split in half, with one group going to interview and the other getting technology and fin aid presentations. Then the groups switch. The 3 interviews are one-on-one and back to back. Interviews were extremely conversational- know your AMCAS app forward and backward. Then we had lunch with M1s and M2s before having our student-led tour. The day ended early :-) "
"Ann Arbor is a beautiful college town. 7:00 AM in October is still before sunrise, something I wasn't used to coming from Cali. There are about 40 interviewees per day, so you really get a chance to meet prospective classmates. There are two groups of 20. The first group has interviews first from 8:30-10 and then the rest of the day is for learning about student resources (computer labs, lounges, library services) and financial aid session. The second group has their interviews after the workshops from 10:30-12. Afterwards we break for lunch and then separate into smaller groups to tour the school as well as the main hospital. "
"Phenomenal!"
"The interviews themselves were very laid back and conversational. There was plenty of time to spend with current students and ask them questions (the whole afternoon). It felt like the school was really trying to recruit the prospective students who was there. "
"You have to wake up at the ungodly hour of 6am to get up there by 715am. Breakfast is followed by a welcome and brief talk. You have session on financial aid as well as computing resources. The three interviews are back-to-back, which makes you feel as though you're on a game show (behind door number 2 is Dr. So-and-so). After that, you eat lunch solely with students and take a tour."
"Overall the entire experience was fantastic. I loved the area and the school. I don't think my interviews could have gone any better-from the get go I felt that all they wanted to do is to get to know me better. UMich is definitely one of my top choices."
"The interview day started a little too early in my opinion but other than that it was very well put together. There was no downtime which I thought was a good thing. I honestly didn't think the interviews themselves were as incredibly laid back as people said. They seemed just like the others I had and one of my interviewers was a little harsh concerning one of my MCAT scores. It still was a good day though. I absolutely love this school and I am wondering how could any other school be better? The day ends pretty early, around 2 so that was good. All in all a wonderful experience and Ann Arbor is a really nice, affluent neighborhood. "
"Overall it was excellent. Low stress. All of the prospective students (interviewees) are all highly accomplished and intelligent people. The facilities are top notch and the technology integration is first rate."
"I was surprised by how relaxed my interviews were. The faculty I talked to made jokes and were genuinely interested in finding out more about me as a person. The interview day is packed with information and was the best structured out of all my interviews thus far."
"Very positive, at the end, we got to evaluate our interviewers so it felt like they really wanted to make us comfortable"
"It was not that stressful, but they had trouble coordinating where to move students for interviews, so even though we started earlier than planned, things went over time."
"student interview was much less pressure. 3 interviews means not so much weight on just one. school was scenic, lots of activity. weather was overcast and dreary, but at least not cold like it will get eventually. interviewees seemed sharp, all from top schools. michigan is one of the best public schools. hospital system was large, supposedly all interconnected too. good place overall, check it out, although i might prefer a smaller private institution, not sure yet."
"The University of Michigan Medical School is serious about supporting its students and helping them become the best future physicians possible. For this and many other reasons, the students seem very happy and confident in their studies. "
"My first interview, and it went great. Students and staff were friendly, interviewers were amazingly laid back. Spent most of the time just chatting about my interests, and their own fields/specialties."
"Mostly conversational -- they had me asking questions most of the time"
"This was my first interview, great experience. I loved the students, other applicants. Ann Arbor is great, feels like a city but it's small. technological perks are really impressive. Students are definitely happy. I had two great interviewers, one was just getting to know me, one wanted to show me that I would fit in here, and the other was reaaaalllly weird."
"Amazing. I fell in love with the school immediately and continued to fall in love with it as the day progressed. "
"Overall it was great, there were about 40 other students interviewing and we were split up into two groups. Each group interviewed at different times. The people there make a point to keep you relaxed and there to enjoy getting to know the university. University of Michigan is definitely my top choice."
"this is one of the best medical schools in the world. the student body is extremely diverse, and they are very happy. they do exceptionally well on the boards and the match. the interviews were nothing like interviews. they were more like chatting and personal recruitment sessions."
"It was great. It was a full day from 7:30 to about 3. Plenty of food offered and everyone is very helpful to make sure you know where you have to be and when."
"Michigan is an awesome institution. The day was presented in a very organized, professional (but not stuffy) manner. This was my first interview and I can't imagine any school topping this experience. The students were available, enthusiastic and seemed genuinely happy to be there. By all appearances Michigan has created an environment where success is completely up to you. The resources, technological and human are top notch and readily available. Go Blue! "
"Relax! The interviewers are really nice and want you to like UMich and Ann Arbor; just be yourself. I think most of my interview time was spent on interviewers telling me about how great the city is--and it definitely looks lively. The admissions office takes good care of you throughout the day--breakfast and lunch are provided, and they make sure you know where you are and where you're going. They're also very fast and responsive...I found out two days after interviewing that I was accepted :) This school is DEFINITELY in my "top three" and there is a very good chance I would come here. The only thing that might stop me is that if I'm going to be somewhere cold, I don't really want to need a car (I don't really know how to drive in snow/ice or maintain a car in such conditions!) and Ann Arbor probably won't be the best place for that....but we'll see. The flexibility and friendliness of this place, not to mention the great MD and MPH programs could overshadow that one doubt :) "
"Wonderful experience. Michigan became first on my list after the first set of interviews. The faculty take time out to read and re-read your profiles and applications. Do not pass up this interview!!"
"If the interview day is any indication, this school is incredible. Exceptionally well-organized, the interview day showed me by example the degree of professionalism, efficiency, and camaderie evident in the faculty and students of the University of Michigan School of Medicine."
"really chill, its a really good school that is looking for students with diverse backgrounds and cool experiences so emphasize those things about your self"
"I was really nervous about the 3 back-to-back-to-back interviews, and they were in fact kind of stressful being organized that way, but in the end it wasn't a big deal because the interviewers were all really nice. The school is great"
"I was interviewed by three people, two of which were students. I liked that because it gives you a chance to get a lot more real information out of the interview. They give you a LOT of time for questions, both for faculty and students. "
"it was awesome. there were 3 back to back so i thought it would be really stressful, but it went by fast and the faculty were really nice/they are just interested in getting to know you,not grilling you. the school is amazing, i am keeping my fingers crossed!"
"Very good. I was a bit surprised that there were so many interviewees showing up. There must have been over 45. Most other schools did not have that many on a given interview day. It was a bit intimidating."
"Quite laid back. 30 min for an interview is really quite short and time's up before you know it. Seems like the student interviewers grill you a bit more than faculty."
"i didnt expect much going in but i was impressed by the interview day. "
"Awesome. Nice people and outstanding school in every respect."
"Overall, the people the were very nice and friendly. I liked the interviewers, although having three in a row can be a little indimidating (although the actual interviews seemed to go by really quickly)"
"It was a pretty sweet time."
"The day started insanely early (7:30) when it was still dark out. They kept the day pretty busy, so there wasn't as much down time as other interviews, which was nice. There was a short intro to the computer lab and financial aid, and three interviews. The interviews were laid-back and the faculty was super-friendly. Then there was lunch with the med students and a tour, which was more comprehensive than others I have been at. The day ended pretty early, about 2 pm."
"I was a bit late to the interview, so my first impression was being lost in the medical school. A little stressful, compounded when I walked into a room with about fifty applicants and of course the only seat was in the front row. However, UM puts on a great Interview Day. The presentations were useful and exciting, the interviewers had clearly read my file and were ready with questions. They were very friendly, supportive, and enthusiastic. The students who led us on the tour were reassuring and full of helpful information. For such a scary start I had a wonderful experience and UM moved to the top of my list!"
"3 interviews back to back to back can be a little tiring and the 30 minute limit for each can be a little constraining. But all the interviewers knew my AMCAS very well and most of the questions were based on that."
"it was a great experience. the interviewers were very polite and easy to talk to. they didn't ask any hard questions; they just wanted to get to know me. the admissions people were very up front about what the school has to offer and the students seemed happy to be there. i like it!"
"Pretty fun and straightforward overall, be prepared to answer one or two easy healthcare questions. "
"the one-on-one interviews one after another aren't so bad, 30 min each. i really liked the school - the location, facilities, curriculum. people seemed very down to earth, great overall experience."
"Laidback and fun"
"The best interviewed I have had (after 8 interviews!!!)"
"Interviews were same as most schools. Faculty and students were courteous, of course!"
"I got there really early in the morning (esp because of the time change) They fed us breakfast and then we watched a few demonstrations. Then we had 3 interviews followed by lunch with the sudents. All in all, it was a good day."
"it was laid-back and relaxed. the people i interviewed with were great. "
"I was awed. My interviews were all very positive and my interactions with the current students very informative and friendly. Ann Arbor is a pretty and bustling college town and there are tons of things to do there. UMich has a great reputation among residency directors and both the basic science and clinical professors are supposedly amazing."
"UMich is a great school with great people, though some applicants were stuck up, others were really nice. The interviewers thoroughly look over your application beforehand. It seems like everyone wants the already great med school to get better. They are highly regarded by residency directors, but the number of hospital beds at Ann Arbor doesn't compare to, say, Miami. Overall, everything was great, the food (better than usual, at least), the people, the facilities, and the town. But the email they send you right before the interview is kinda intimidating: it's all about what not to do on the interview day. "
"Overall, really good - lots of cool people interviewing with me. They realy made it as painless as possible. The interviews were really conversational - not many direct questions"
"The interview day started with a couple orientations and then lunch. There were three interviews, which seems like a lot, but I ended up having two student interviewers. And all three were very nice and laid-back. Nothing surprising, they just want to get to know you. Tour was good, too, but could have been longer."
"The interview day starts early, but ends in the early afternoon. The interviews seem overwhelming because they are back-to-back, but all of the interviewers seemed really nice and the interviews were very laid-back. Most of the interview was spent getting to know me and reviewing my application, and I didn't get any ethical questions. Take the opportunity to talk to students in all four years - I had the chance to talk to a third year student. He didn't say much about the third year, but I got the sense that it is stressful. Also, students claimed that the second year grading system didn't breed competitiveness and that the weekly quizzes were a good thing. People with late interviews will most likely be waitlisted, but the adcom claims that there are a few open acceptance spots left. Everyone should know by the end of March."
"Overall very good. I met a lot of nice applicants from all over the country and I felt positive about the the day overall."
"This is a SUPERIOR medical school. The interview day started early and was well run. The PPT presentation by the director of admissions was informative. The interviewers asked relevant, objective questions. No one seemed pompous. People around the school and the hospital seem busy and focused, but friendly and accesible. The entire university is impressive. There is a strong emphasis on excellence and diversity – both readily apparent."
"i'm going to michigan next year. if you're such a tool that you're going to let a FREAKING INTERNET FORUM INFLUENCE YOUR DECISION DO ME A FAVOR AND Don't come. THANK YOU."
"The absolute BEST interview I've ever had! Dr. Maya Hammoud is my hero. She was so laid back it was crazy, I ended up telling her I'd name my first daughter after her."
"Too player...no qualms at all"
"I was really excited about this school before my interview and it is now at the top of my list. I hope I find out my status soon - they said the end of February (groan). "
"Was not considering Michigan seriously before the interview but it has now become one of my top choices. "
"The school is very spirited and everyone claims that there is a lot to do at Ann Arbor."
"i'm also a current student who mostly agrees with the previous evaluation. be sure to ask about grading policies and grade distributions during the 3rd and 4th years at this school as well as other schools. if 3rd and 4th years don't tell you the ugly truth about getting honors, then i wouldn't trust anything those students have to say (some of the 1st & 2nd years may just be ignorant of it). applicants seem to get hung up on rankings and 1st & 2nd year grades, but neglect to drill the schools on their clinical grades. michigan has grade-deflation - not a good thing for residency placement. very few receive anything above "pass." the faculty / administration tells you with >>pride<< toward the end of the 2nd year that a clinical grade of "pass" is considered an honor and that they reserve "honors" for only the most extraordinarily spectacular students. i guarantee that residency directors don't have the same opinion on this matter when they have the luxury of considering many candidates with transcripts full of honors. while michigan may still place some great students in great residency spots, it's mostly because those great students worked themselves to death to get top clinical grades and very, very high board scores. med school is hard enough without also having to work against your school's own policies."
"A long two-day interview (11+ total interviews). Three purely medical school interviews, an interview with the MSTP director and three interviews with members of the Operating Committee (including one student). I was exhausted and sick of talking but the experience was great. The faculty and students were great. The town seemed really fun and live-able."
"Very positive. "
"A pleasant series of 3 interviews. Open-file, interviewers were familiar with aspects of it (weren't seeing them for the first time), large group of interviewees."
"The interviewers were extremely nice and the interview was very conversational. They mostly just want to get to know you. Read over your AMCAS and your secondary application- know your activities and research. Wear comfortable shoes because the tour is quite extensive. If you can, try to explore Ann Arbor to see if you feel like you can spend four years there."
"I had a great experience. All of my interviewers were kind and considerate. The tenor of the interviews themselves was conversational; in fact, one of my interviewers spent five minutes talking about how Ann Arborites and Austinites (I live in Austin) deal with snow. The facilities and curriculum are outstanding. The students are cool. Best of all, I was accepted within 48 hours. So it looks like I'm gonna be at UM Medical School next year! "
"My interviews were very relaxed and conversational. Very low stress. "
"Great experience...I was accepted 10/15/03 and would love to attend...just waiting to hear from one california school."
"It was very very low stress."
"I liked the school. the students were very friendly, and it's a great education. you can see the caliber of the school from the presentations and the students. my interviews were very stress-free, although having 3 back to back can be a bit tiring. i was also really hungry the whole day so that sort of tired me out. get sleep before. it's cold, so dress warmly! "
"Very nice interviewers. Very conversational!"
"There were three interviews of about a half hour each. I didn't get any tough ethical questions or anything like that. All the questions focused on my application or me as a person. Surprisingly, the interview with the student was probably the roughest for me."
"The interviews consist of three 30 minute interviews, usually done back to back. Things were very conversational and relaxed. We also were given a financial aid presentation and a computer demonstration."
"There is no reason to stress out. While I am sure others got tougher questions than me, I dont think that anyone walked out of the interview feeling totally dejected. Just exude confidence and know that you've gotten this far- thats great in itself. Be sure to be courteous. But to summarize, understand that any stress you may feel is of your own making. they seem to try to make it as stress free as possible. Also, this was my first interview. It is a great place to interview at first simply because of the lax atmosphere there. "
"This is a very solid school overall. They don't do any one thing to knock your socks off, but when you look at the entire package they clearly are a top-tier school. Facilities, students, curriculum - all look very good. The admissions staff is very friendly and straightforward about what will happen after the interview. The interviewers seemed much more interested in just seeing how I communicate and think rather than grill me with stupid questions."
"It was nice. It was my first interview, and they made me feel reasonably comfortable."
"i guess i was a little surprised by my interviews because i had heard that they were really chill and they asked almost no moral or ethical questions, and i found that that was definitely not the case at my interviews. i think as long as you know why you want to do medicine and stay on top of current issues in medicine, you'll be fine. also, remember to always be yourself at the interview."
"It started very early in the morning. We had a continental breakfast. Then a speech by someone from the admissions office, then we split up into several groups. Half the people went to interviews. The other half went to a computer presentation and a financial aid session. Then we switched. The 3 interviews in a row was kinda tough. My first two were very conversational and friendly. My last one had a lot of tough ethics and diversity questions. Many people had at least one student interviewer, but I didn't. The computer presentation was okay. Kinda boring, but neat to see how well they use technology. The financial aid session was depressing as usual. Lunch was catered and attracted a horde of poor, hungry med students who were glad to answer our questions. They all were very friendly and seemed very happy there. Then we went on a tour. They have top notch facilities. I loved the student lounge, although the big screen TV and foosball table might not be conducive to studying. And that was it. Right now this is my No. 1 choice (of the 3 schools I've interviewed at)."
"Very laid-back. Just friendly conversation"
"Overall it was a good day. We started off with an intro speech by the asst dean and thenwent on to a computer presentation and a financial aid presentation. The interviewers were really nice but it was hard to judge whether they liked what they were hearing or they were just nice."
"Good day. Long. Pick a good tour guide and ask them anything you want- they really are not on the committee and don't mind random qs like "how many students date students?" etc."
"Very positive. U of M was very impressive, and that's tough for me to say b/c I go to Notre Dame and I'm from Columbus, Ohio!"
"U of M is definetly my top choice now that I have been there. The school totally takes care of its students in any way that it can. The admissions office was great, so were the interviewers, and the students there. They do everything to make you feel comfortable during it. I'd arrive a little early, 'cause parking can be bad, I was 15 minutes early and there were already about 8 people there. "
"this school rocks, i'll probably attend if i'm accepted.. interviews are laid back (just like every other entries have noted)...so relax"
"This interview was an awesome experience. Overall, it was a relaxed environment and a great time. Going into the interview, I was not as excited about University of Michigan as I am about other schools. However, the faculty and students are all down to earth and genuine. The facilities are equally impressive. "
"I had two faculty interviews and one student interviewer. They were all really nice and friendly and tried to make me feel more comfortable. Having lunch with the students was the best part of the experience because they were really helpful in honestly answering questions and giving you a sense of what their school is like."
"The interview definitely pushed UM up the list of schools I want to attend, its a fantastic school with great resources and faculty. The cost and the weather, in that order, are the only things that are worrisome about the school. Everything else seems top notch. I think UM is a great place to get a medical education. Also, it seems like a lot of Cali students go there, so there might be something to that for Cali applicants trying to find some out of state alternatives. But definitely check the place out if you get an interview, its extremely friendly and a beautiful place. It is for sure in the upper eschelon of medical schools from what I have seen. "
"Of all the schools I interviewed at, including other highly-ranked ones, UMich has by far the best facilities and best atmosphere. The buildings were modern, clean, attractive. The people were impressive and friendly. The curriculum is great, and it's only getting better with the changes that were made for next year. UMich is an amazing place. I hope I am accepted - I would definitely attend."
"Hard interviews with hard questions. It was anounced at the beginning that these interviews were just to get you on a waitlist...all the places are filled, but may open up if students go elsewhere"
"For all of you who want to interview on another day besides friday don't. According to the students they have fun on fridays. Don't be nervous because there are three interviews scheduled, just think there are three opportunities to demonstrate how good you really are, so if you screw up on the first interview there are two more in which you can make it up. The staff are quite helpful, so be really super nice to them. Overall I would say that the school was quite impressive, leaving the hospital I thought gees its almost as if the difficult question for me is why shouldn't I go to this school its an awesome place. The fascilities and anything else you want are there for medical students and that is a fact. So a comfortable life you can expect at Ann Arbor if you dare take the challenge. For all of you who are nervous get over it, for all of you who are relaxed then you have it made, hey you are there for a reason so enjoy."
"The interviews were very laid back and not intense. I definitely got the sense that they asked very thoughtful questions just trying to get to know me better. The day seemed organized pretty well and was overall a good experience"
"Michigan is a very well-rounded school, in the fact that it is considered a top tier school, but isn't as competitive and stuffy as some other well-respected medical schools. In addition, the campus is money and students are cool. I even got accepted the same day! If you have your interview at Michigan tomorrow, stop reading this, get a good map, go to bed, and be ready to enjoy your time in Ann Arbor. Good Luck. "
"Impressive school"
"I had a great time! Everything was very organized and went smoothly, and I found out I was accepted in less than a week!!!!"
"The interview day was very well organized and everything went smoothly. I absolutely enjoyed the conversations I had with all my interviewers...they made me feel very relaxed."
"It was ALOT of interviews. A previous feedback said 12 interviews, and while I didn't count mine, that seems about right. They claim that all 12 of these interviews are weighted equally, however the interview with the director was an hour long and I bet that was the most important one. The director is a fairly low-key guy, and I get the impression that he's not a particularly powerful figure, as some MSTP directors are. Their spin on this is that the student becomes a "full member" of the department they join... Ok, fine. There was one student interview for the MSTP program, a whole bunch of researchers that you pick and they try to match you up with, and there was three faculty interviews for the MD program, which were pretty low stress. Two of my MD/PhD interviewers gave me a hard time, but it wasn't that bad and I hear they do this to everyone. It's a good school, the students are awesome (my love to RNAgirl), and I could see myself there next year."
"Awesome time. Low Stress. Great School. Kick ass city."
"The process started at the crack of dawn; about 40 interviewees were herded together and then split into morning interviews and afternoon interviews. We watched presentations about the new curriculum, computers and IT, and financial aid. It was really great to see how many students showed up for the luncheon; they were excited to meet us and answered all of my questions. The tour was really thorough, showing us labs, classes, and the hospital (which is connected). I do, however, recommend finding the admissions office the day before (or going early) because the medical center is a little confusing and filled with one-way streets."
"The whole day was great in general...I was very impressed by the school. "
"UMich is pretty awesome. I went in thinking this school was not one of my top three choices, but left thinking this school is now my top choice!"
"This was my first interview so I was nervous, but everyone was so friendly that I really had a good time. I interviewed with two students and one MD. The students were very friendly and the MD just asked run of the mill questions about my application. They have a new curriculum starting next year that looks promising and their technology demonstration was impressive. There did not seem to be any animosity among the students and everyone seemed happy to be there. All in all a great day. Low stress and enjoyable."
"It was a great day overall."
"This was a really great interview. Although there were a lot of kids they still managed to make it a great day. Plus, the interviewers gave really good feedback about how you did. "
"Michigan medical students, the admissions staff, and the interviewers were all welcoming. Even my "tough" interviewer, who asked me a few ethical questions, was very courteous, and everybody seemed like they just wanted to get to know who I am."
"Three interviews seems intimidating, but they go y so quickly. The facilities are new, the electronic curriculum in snazzy, and everyone is nice and genuinely happy to be at Michigan. You'll have a good day and it ends early (2:30 pm!)."
"Really low-stress, nice friendly interviewers, gorgeous campus. Questions were really standard and generic, even though they had our files with them."
"Great experience, first class medical school"
"I loved it. My interviews were laid back and extremely conversational. It would be nice if the interviews were longer, but they were long enough to get the job done I think."
"Good experience, low stress--actually wish the interviews were longer, didn't get to really get in-depth with anyone."
"Great. I was very impressed, and having a virtually stress-free interview was great considering it was my first."
"Michigan rocks. We arrived at about 7:30 in the morning (6:30 Central time for me). After a quick presentation by one of the deans, half of the students (myself included) had 3 half-hour interviews while the other half went to a computer lab/technology interactive presentation and a financial aid session. My interviewers were extremely friendly and engaging, and the interviews were conversational and not at all stressful. Then the groups switched, and after everyone was interviewed we had lunch with some med students (M2-M4). They were very helpful and and honestly answered our questions. Then we took a tour of the school and hospital facilities - huge and very nice! I actually had fun at my interview - this was a great experience!"
"really laid back, friendly and enjoyable. interviews were conversational. i had to explain my non-trad stuff, which i expected (i'm 25). really got me excited about the school. "
"Good school, good interviews, great office staff in the admissions office. Really interesting fellow interviewees. Didn't interact that much with students, I wish we had the opportunity to sit in an entire lecture instead of the 2 minutes we saw during the tour."
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| Student | 209 |
| Faculty member | 1 |
| Admissions staff | 0 |
| Other | 0 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| Enthusiastic | 112 |
| Neutral | 4 |
| Discouraging | 0 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 8.94 | 116 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| In state | 30 |
| Out of state | 85 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 0-1 hour | 25 |
| 2-3 hours | 25 |
| 4-6 hours | 36 |
| 7+ hours | 26 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| Airplane | 70 |
| Automobile | 39 |
| Train or subway | 6 |
| Other | 3 |
Detroit Metropolitan Airport
DTW (Detroit)
Detroit-Metro
walked.
Detroit Metro
Detroit
313
DTT
det
DTW
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| At school facility | 1 |
| With students at the school | 27 |
| Friends or family | 25 |
| Hotel | 40 |
| Home | 2 |
| Other | 1 |
Yes
Yes
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| < $100 | 26 |
| $101-$200 | 17 |
| $201-$300 | 19 |
| $301-$400 | 15 |
| $401-$500 | 11 |
| $501+ | 6 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 9.00 | 123 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 7.92 | 125 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 8.15 | 124 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 9.71 | 48 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 9.79 | 48 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 8.68 | 44 |
"None. Very communicative, welcoming, friendly, transparent admissions process."
"My admissions decision has been deferred twice, the second time for several months. An earlier decision, whether positive or negative, would be much appreciated."
"Keep being awesome"
"none =)"
"Keep up the fantastic work! You have me hooked on Michigan, and the school was barely on my radar before interviewing. Go Blue!"
"One suggestion: Inspire other schools to be just like you!"
"Nothing you guys are amazing!"
"Somehow make the tour a little bit better. My group got very little explanation of what we were seei"
"The tour was not very comprehensive, I've worked at the UM medical school as an undergrad and there"
"None...they were wonderful! Everything was well-planned and they really make you feel like you belon"
"None"
"nothing! Awesome job!"
"Keep it up - getting all the mailings and whatnot really make you feel welcomed."
"Longer interviews please!!"
"You guys are awesome. Great job"
We help students become doctors. TM
What is one of the specific questions they asked you (question 1)?