What was the stress level of the interview?

4 out of 10

How you think you did?

9 out of 10

How do you rank this school among ALL other schools?

7 out of 10

How long was the interview?

45 minutes

Where did the interview take place?

At the school

How many people interviewed you?

2

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 medicine?" Report Response | I was asked this question too

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

"What specialty are you considering today? What makes you interested in that?" Report Response | I was asked this question too

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

"What are two weaknesses that your close friends would tell me you need to address?" Report Response | I was asked this question too

What was the most interesting question?

"You get one open-file and one closed-file interview. The open-file interviewer, however, didn't seem to have read my materials very closely as I was asked questions that I had directly answered in my AMCAS application. The best question solicited my thoughts about pharmaceutical companies marketing strategies (my uncle was a pharm rep when he was younger so this was interesting to consider)." Report Response | I was asked this question too

What was the most difficult question?

"Medicine can be extremely stressful as a career. How do you anticipate managing that stress as it has an impact on your personal life?" Report Response | I was asked this question too

How did you prepare for the interview?

"Reread my application, looked at reviews of Rush here, read about Chicago on the web, and read about some specialties I am thinking about in case they asked me why I am interested in cardiovascular surgery or neurosurgery." Report Response

What impressed you positively?

"The students were very enthusiastic and the faculty seemed very nice and interested in the students. I was surprised that the admissions staff were also nice. Rush admissions staff won't take phone calls, did not respond to several emails that I sent (well, a secretary indicated she had forwarded my message and that someone would get back to me but that didn't happen), and seemed generally uninterested in me until I got an interview invitation. I tried calling and was directed to email (again). They wouldn't even take a message and call me back. Turns out the staff are nice after all (they escort you to the interview offices which was very nice as Rush is mazelike) but my earlier impression of their inaccessibility still makes me nervous about how they might treat me if I have any problems as a student." Report Response

What impressed you negatively?

"The facilities. There is no gym -- you have to go to UIC or find your own gym. The lecture hall where you apparently live 9-5 every weekday for the first two years has no windows and is awful! Research is difficult to do at Rush. Opportunities seem limited and you have to take a lot of initiative to make ti happen or plan to give up the entire summer after M1 year. The MD-PhD program is almost dead in the water and students discouraged me from considering it. The website makes the preceptor program sound very cool but the students I talked to about it were not happy with their preceptor. One of their classmates got assigned to a doc in a Mexican neighborhood -- the patients all spoke Spanish. The doc was bilingual but didn't translate for the student. She asked to get reassigned but wasn't and felt that her time there was just a total waste." Report Response

What did you wish you had known ahead of time?

"Even though my parents live in the suburbs and I stayed with them, I wish I would have stayed instead with a student in one of the Rush apartments. I think I would have learned more about the school on a less formal basis. They are building a new hospital but it won't be open until I am done with medical school." Report Response

What are your general comments?

"Rush supposedly has a second look day. I am reserving my final judgment until I can have another look around. It is a REALLY expensive school, mostly because the amount of financial aid you get is crap -- its almost all loans. Congenial students and nice faculty teaching in crappy lecture halls don't necessarily make the $200K you will accumulate in debt worth it when you leave for residency." Report Response

Who was the tour given by?

Student

How did the tourguide seem?

Enthusiastic

How do you rank the facilities?

4 out of 10

What is your in-state status?

In state

What was your total time spent traveling?

2-3 hours

What was your primary mode of travel?

Automobile

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

< $100

Where did you stay?

Friends or family

On what date did the interview take place?

12/05/2007

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

6 out of 10

What is your ranking of this school's location?

10 out of 10

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

10 out of 10

How is the responsiveness of the admissions office?

1 out of 10

How is the friendliness of the admissions office?

1 out of 10

How eco-friendly are the school's application materials and interview process?

3 out of 10

What are your suggestions for the admissions office?

"allow applicants to call with questions. Or, actually respond to emails in a timely manner. The curr" Report Response