How did the interview impress you?

Positively

What was the stress level of the interview?

3 out of 10

How you think you did?

8 out of 10

How do you rank this school among ALL other schools?

9 out of 10

How long was the interview?

45 minutes

Where did the interview take place?

At the school

How many people interviewed you?

5

What was the style of the interview?

One-on-one

What type of interview was it?

Open file

What is one of the specific questions they asked you (question 1)?

"Why MD/PhD?" Report Response | I was asked this question too

What is one of the specific questions they asked you (question 2)?

"Why Mayo?" Report Response | I was asked this question too

What is one of the specific questions they asked you (question 3)?

"Would you quit your PhD if your project didn't work out like you wanted it to?" Report Response | I was asked this question too

What was the most interesting question?

"Who is your hero?" Report Response | I was asked this question too

What was the most difficult question?

"Explain a failure in your life and how you dealt/deal with it." Report Response | I was asked this question too

How did you prepare for the interview?

"SDN, school's website, AMCAS application" Report Response

What impressed you positively?

"The people are very nice. The facilities are BEAUTIFUL. There is a scholarship that anyone who wants it (in medical school) can get to go abroad to help underserved areas. The MD/PhD pays for your entire time in the program--even during your grad school years so the responsibility doesn't fall on your PI. Cost of living is INCREDIBLY cheap. Rochester is very safe. M1 and M2 are pass/fail." Report Response

What impressed you negatively?

"Rochester is, well, small. There wouldn't be a lot of opportunities for my fiance, although someone in the program said his wife was able to find a job at Mayo (because where else would you work in Rochester, beside IBM?). The medical school is very inflexible about re-entering into your M3 year--you have about a 2-month window during the fall before you have to wait until the next year to start your M3. There isn't an abundance of laboratories in the Virology and Immunology departments (my area of interest) but each lab does GREAT research. In your M1 year you don't do anatomy until the middle of the year. Also you only get 5 weeks off in the summer--only enough time to barely do one lab rotation, which only lasts one month (SHORT!)." Report Response

What did you wish you had known ahead of time?

"M1/M2 are pass/fail. Also that Rochester is very small, and it basically consists of Mayo and IBM." Report Response

What are your general comments?

"You have 5 interviews during the day, and 2 faculty interviews whose labs you would like to work in. The interviews are a bit long (45 minutes) and they are particularly looking to see if you will quit the PhD portion of the program halfway through. You go out to dinner with students that night, then meet for lunch the next day. Then you go on a TWO AND A HALF HOUR tour (a bit long) that is actually very complete. You even get to see the helipad! That night you have dinner at the director's house with students and faculty, and basically they are looking to see if you are well-adjusted or not. They are great about answering questions and discussing the downfalls of the program." Report Response

Who was the tour given by?

Student

How did the tourguide seem?

Enthusiastic

How do you rank the facilities?

10 out of 10

What is your in-state status?

Out of state

What was your total time spent traveling?

7+ hours

What was your primary mode of travel?

Airplane

About how much did you spend on room, food, and travel?

< $100

What airport did you use?

RST

Where did you stay?

Hotel

How would you rate the hotel?

10 out of 10

What is the name of the hotel you stayed in?

Marriott

Would you recommend the hotel?

yes

On what date did the interview take place?

01/19/2007

How do you rank this school among other schools to which you've applied?

9 out of 10

What is your ranking of this school's location?

6 out of 10

What is your ranking of this area's cultural life?

6 out of 10