What was the stress level of the interview?

4 out of 10

How you think you did?

7 out of 10

How do you rank this school among ALL other schools?

8 out of 10

How long was the interview?

30 minutes

Where did the interview take place?

At the school

How many people interviewed you?

3

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)?

"Tell me about your research." Report Response | I was asked this question too

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

"When did you decide that you really wanted to go into medicine and why?" Report Response | I was asked this question too

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

"How would you fix the healthcare system in this country?" Report Response | I was asked this question too

What was the most interesting question?

"I didn't really get any interesting questions; they were mostly the standard ''why medicine'' type questions." Report Response | I was asked this question too

What was the most difficult question?

"Do you believe there is a problem with the healthcare system in this country and, if so, how would you fix it?" Report Response | I was asked this question too

How did you prepare for the interview?

"Read SDN, went back over my AMCAS and supplemental applications." Report Response

What impressed you positively?

"While the facilities were obviously old, it wasn't as bad as I expected. They also appear to be committed to ensuring the curriculum is up-to-date (I had previously thought that their traditional, lecture-based teaching methods hadn't been updated since the 80s). They place a lot of emphasis on clinical experience and skills (which I like), and they have relationships with a lot of hospitals. There are also plenty of research opportunities (both formal and informal) if you're looking to do research." Report Response

What impressed you negatively?

"While two of the interviewers were very nice and asked basic interview questions (tell me about your research, how did you get interested in medicine, have you had any healthcare experience, tell me about a time when you helped someone, etc), the third interviewer was rather abrupt and asked questions that some people would probably find adversarial or even inappropriate. He wasn't intentionally mean, but I couldn't tell if his questions and responses were meant to evaluate me as a person or merely judge how I would respond to a stressful Q&A session. The questions were initially benign and demographic in nature (how old are you, what do your parents do, do you have any siblings, have you applied to medical school in past, etc). They then moved to the classic ''what would you do to fix healthcare in the United States.'' At this point, however, the conversation basically became political and it was easy to tell that he was very much in favor of a universal or socialized healthcare system. I tried not to completely agree or disagree with him, but I didn't want to start a political debate either. I just hope that I wasn't given a negative assessment because I didn't always agree with his politics (by the way, if you're a hardcore conservative, God help you if you get this interviewer)." Report Response

What did you wish you had known ahead of time?

"A little more about their admissions process (although I doubt it would have had an impact on my performance). At the morning presentation they told us that they interview around 800 people, accept around 600, and enroll around 300 once everything is all said and done (about half the people they offer acceptance to either decline the offer or accept the offer only to decline later)." Report Response

What are your general comments?

"Overall it was pretty positive. I definitely felt reassured that while the school was working to increase the amount of research it is doing, it isn't at the expense of teaching or clinical practice. The day was fairly laid back. I was in the afternoon session so my day started at 11:30am. There was a presentation about the school from the Dean of Admissions, and the Dean of the Medical School stopped by briefly to give a short talk and answer questions. Everyone was extremely enthusiastic and helpful. After this we were broken up into groups and went on a tour of the school. My group was led by an M1 and an M4. Both were very nice and answered all of our questions. They both had a generally positive impression of the school. We toured some of the classrooms and buildings (which were obviously old and could use some renovation but probably no more so than any of the other older medical schools in Chicago), and we went through the student recreation center (which was pretty nice). After the tour we had lunch (which was actually pretty good), and then we waited for our interviews to start. There wasn't a whole lot of downtime between interviews; there were a total of three interviews, each one-on-one. They were supposed to last about 30 mins each but two of them finished early. I was interviewed by two MDs and an M4 (the candidates in the other group were interviewed by a PhD, an MD, and a DO). They didn't appear to have access to my full file, but it did look like they at least had a copy of my supplemental application. While I found the political interview questions to be adversarial (see above) I was a little surprised I wasn't asked any ethical questions (perhaps the candidates in the other group got those). Since my interviewers didn't always take the full 30 mins, my day ended a little earlier than everyone else (~3:00pm). Overall I found the interview experience to be enjoyable, informative, and only a little stressful." Report Response

Who was the tour given by?

Student

How did the tourguide seem?

Enthusiastic

How do you rank the facilities?

7 out of 10

What is your in-state status?

In state

What was your total time spent traveling?

0-1 hour

What was your primary mode of travel?

Other

On what date did the interview take place?

01/09/2008

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

7 out of 10

What is your ranking of this school's location?

9 out of 10

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

8 out of 10

How is the responsiveness of the admissions office?

9 out of 10

How is the friendliness of the admissions office?

10 out of 10

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

5 out of 10