Hey everyone, I'm back with an entry about medical school interviews. Hopefully you guys who are applying this 2010 are doing what you guys need to do to prepare a strong app (even though the apps don't open yet, it doesn't hurt to start getting your rec letters and your MCAT over with).
After you submit your MCAT scores and your completed app, you guys should breathe a sigh of relief. Of course, after that, you have to wait to hear back from schools for an interview. It might be a little nerve-wracking with all the waiting, but be sure to take time for yourself and don't stress.
Once you hear back from medical schools about your interview, definitely take some time to celebrate and feel good about reaching the last stage of the medical school admissions process.
I was fortunate to interview at 10 schools (and was actually kind of shocked I got some of the interviews I did) and I did feel nervous before my first one. However, I consistently met really friendly interviewers throughout the interview season and I was more excited than nervous about my interviews.
Should you feel nervous or stressed out prior to your interview, or on interview day?. That's normal, but try to keep a positive mindset: your interviewers aren't against you, they're more for you since they present you to the admissions committee, so think of them as a friend or a partner in the admissions process.
The only advice I really have for interviews is this:
-Go over your application and make sure you have your dates straight, and know your listed activities well enough to talk about them in a conversation.
-Relax! You made it this far and the school really just wants to meet the person on paper and see if they're a good fit for the school's "personality" or mission.
-Expanding on the last one, looking relaxed and confident is great: If you're an applicant incredibly nervous about the interview, how are you going to handle board exams, or patients in critical condition? There are bigger things!
-Be humble, smile, show your sense of humour (at the right time), and connect. You'll potentially be seeing patients and in charge of their well-being, and I'm very certain medical schools want personable people to be in that role.
-Thank the interviewer for their time: I was interviewed by a neurosurgeon with an insane schedule, and I felt really humbled by the whole thing. Interviewers are excited about people who are excited about medicine and take time off to do the interview day (when they could be seeing patients or performing surgeries), so thank them for their time.
-Sincerely be sincere. Don't compliment the interviewer on every little thing, or fawn over their CV, or be smarmy or anything. Sincerity and humility are important qualities in a physician, and hopefully you can show that at the right time.
This isn't critical insider information but it may help: I really don't think you get evaluated for every little thing about you on interview day, I think all the evaluation is done during the one-on-one (or group interview at Northwestern). Plus, I'm certain the people coordinating the day understand the applicants are pretty nervous, so they cut you some slack.
Oh, one more important thing: the Dress Code.
For males, I really recommend a charcoal or dark gray suit, white shirt, and a tie you feel comfortable in that is a muted colour.
Females: I'd try the same muted colour thing, and do wear appropriate-length skirts, since you're interviewing and not at the club or whatever.
The reason I recommend charcoal/dark gray is that to me, black is over-doing it and a colour usually reserved for weddings or sombre events. It'll make you stand out and looks "fresh" compared to the mob of interviewers in stark black.
Navy works too, but that might be a little harder to make work. You could probably get away with a white shirt, navy suit, and dark gray/muted silver tie.
A popular look at my interviews (besides the black mourning look) was a navy suit with a yellow shirt, for some reason.
Dark brown suits can work too, but usually if you're going to spend that much on a suit, you want something more versatile like dark gray or navy.
I hope I helped some, and don't forget to relax and enjoy yourself on interview day!
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