How important is the interview in admissions process? [Archive]

Cotterpin_Doozer

07-26-2005, 09:30 PM

MDpower

07-26-2005, 09:34 PM

Can anyone tell me how the interview is weighed in deciding whether an applicant is selected in relation to the essays, marks, mcat?

I feel like my interview went really badly and I am panicking because there is nothing I can do now :( obviously.

I don't know exactly a percentage worth of the interview but i hear it is a pretty big deciding factor. About 50% (can someone confirm that?) of the applicants who are interviewed recieve acceptance. I had the worst feeling about my interview too but it turned out ok. best of luck.

Coomassieblue

07-26-2005, 09:47 PM

Run a search....there's a lot of literature on this topic. :p

Cotterpin_Doozer

07-26-2005, 09:48 PM

Do they consider the whole application again? Where I am from, once you get a med school interview, everyone is on an equal playing field and your acceptance is pretty much determined by how you fare during the interview.

I have done a search and found mostly statistics of the percentage of people who are interviewed in relation to how many are accepted. However not so much about how the admissions committee makes a decision, which is understandable.

mangmang

07-26-2005, 09:54 PM

Cotterpin_Doozer

07-26-2005, 10:02 PM

hi, well i did my interview in NY and the person who interviewed me was just there to write the answers and then send them to Bayshore. i didnt feel that my answers made a diffrence in my acceptance. if you have above average in everything then i think you ll get in.
best of luck
BenBehrang

I guess that was part of the problem, my stats are slightly lower and I guess my mentality was that I had to rock the interview. The reason I was disappointed with the interview was a result of an experience similar to yours. The interviewer was not super interested in what I had to say and was really rushing me through it. My impression was that it wasn't important at all, which is a hard pill to swallow in my situation.

jaywalk81

07-26-2005, 10:14 PM

when i had the interview, my stats were all below avg. but the doc that interviewed was very cool and show lotsa interest so i just bombarded him with lotsa questions and made it seem that i am super intereted in the school and medicine. i think it was the interview that saved me and plus maybe my rec letters. my interviewe was nice enough to say to me that " i will definitely recommend you to the admit board" after the interview was over.

so bottome line, i think the interview process does play a role, they interviewer does have an option whether to recommend the applicant or not, and then its up to the admit board to get the final say.

and it is about 33% of all interviewed applicant that get accepted i believe

MDpower

07-26-2005, 10:25 PM

and it is about 33% of all interviewed applicant that get accepted i believe

thanks for the correction :)
learning from Jay's posts everyday hehe

Cotterpin_Doozer

07-26-2005, 10:35 PM

when i had the interview, my stats were all below avg. but the doc that interviewed was very cool and show lotsa interest so i just bombarded him with lotsa questions and made it seem that i am super intereted in the school and medicine.

Unfortunetly in my case, along with rushing my answers along, when the interview asked if I had questions, you could tell she didn't want me to ask many. So I had a list prepared and went through the most important ones. I didn't want to piss the interviewer off, but I wanted to show how interested I was with the school as well.

cooli

07-26-2005, 10:41 PM

cotterpin,
What are your stats? I just want to get an idea of what stats are getting to the interview phase of the application process.

romdoc

07-26-2005, 10:49 PM

hi Cotterpin_Doozer,

some people are rejected pre-interview because their stats are not up to par. receiving an interview is a good sign. the interviewer was once a SGU student and understands how nervous you can be while he/she is interviewing you. i dont think there are wrong/right answers, the interviewer just wants to see if you will be a good doctor (you know have the qualities).

calculating percentages is a waste of time. relax, have fun, think good thoughts and good things will come your way (i.e. an acceptance).

just my opinion.

romdoc

07-26-2005, 10:52 PM

my interview was not long. perhaps your interviewer was tired. i am sure he/she was happy to meet you.

canman

07-27-2005, 12:26 AM

i think no one gets rejected once they interview you. They will either accept you in the MPH, AEP or in the regular MD Program. just relax and enjoy your summer you are in one way or another!!!!

Cotterpin_Doozer

07-27-2005, 11:01 AM

i think no one gets rejected once they interview you. They will either accept you in the MPH, AEP or in the regular MD Program. just relax and enjoy your summer you are in one way or another!!!!

I wish this was true...but it seems unlikely. Although the number of ppl on this forum who have received an interview and gotten rejected seems very minimal, but that might just be because they are too dejected to tell everyone or there is simply no reason for them to do this. There is that stat that 1/3 who were interviewed get accepted and I can't imagine that it was made up?!

I wonder how many ppl who apply to SGU don't know about this forum...that is how well this forum represents the actual student body/applicant body. From looking at the accepted stats and comparing them to the official ones, the accepted ones seem much higher, so could it be that many ppl don't know about VMD? I find this strange, because it is so easy to find on the internet.

jaywalk81

07-27-2005, 11:27 AM

its true that a lot dont know about vmd. when u come to campus u can ask around and see how many actually use vmd...not many actually.

jonasp

07-27-2005, 12:23 PM

the interview doesn't mean much my interview went great and I was waitlisted for august but accepted for january. It really depends on the credentials you got.

Cotterpin_Doozer

07-27-2005, 07:05 PM

the interview doesn't mean much my interview went great and I was waitlisted for august but accepted for january. It really depends on the credentials you got.

...but then again you were accepted...it seems like they had too many qualified applicants late in the game, so they wanted to accept them all by rolling everyone over?

congratulations, wish I was in your position!

GonnaBaMD7

07-27-2005, 07:44 PM

...but then again you were accepted...it seems like they had too many qualified applicants late in the game, so they wanted to accept them all by rolling everyone over?

congratulations, wish I was in your position!

My speculation is that they get a lot more applicants for the August term so they rely on that to partially fill their January class. After all, empty seats equals lost money for the University.

As far as your interview... it's over with. It doesn't do you any good to stress about something you can't change. Just sit back and relax until they put the ball back into your court by accepting or rejecting you. Then you can start to stress again about what to do next.

medboundman

08-01-2005, 06:53 PM

My interview did not go too well the first time. They reinterviewed me again and the lady was peeved cause I got reinterviewed and she was just trying to find excuses to reject me. She didn't even let me ask her any questions about the school. I know my chances aren't good if they take her advice. She made me seem that I wasn't interested in going to med school. The reason why they gave me a reinterview cause I did the masters program at barry which has the same curriculum as SGU. All my lab equipment said property of SGU. Still haven't heard back from the committee. Hoping I get in for Jan.

muthea

08-01-2005, 08:26 PM

Is it better to have the interview at SGU or is it just the same if you have it in the US? I live in Maine, so it would be a long trip no matter where it is. But people keep talking about the interviewers just writing down answers, I wonder if they are able to convey the unwritten aspect of the interview to the committee?

GonnaBaMD7

08-01-2005, 08:44 PM

I actually requested an interview in Grenada because I wanted to see the campus in person and I thought that it was preferred by the admissions committee but they told me that it wasn't necessary so they just had me interview locally.

muthea

08-01-2005, 08:46 PM

So, are the interviews done by former SGU students?

GonnaBaMD7

08-01-2005, 08:47 PM

So, are the interviews done by former SGU students?

As far as I know all interviews are done by SGU alum's

cowgirl

08-01-2005, 08:47 PM

So, are the interviews done by former SGU students?

yes, from what i've heard, all of the interviews are done my former SGU grads.

side question: who here went to see the campus before actually going to SGU?

jaywalk81

08-01-2005, 08:48 PM

So, are the interviews done by former SGU students?
yes most of them are done by sgu grads. however there was one time that i read from vmd that a vet student was interviewed by a ross grad

GonnaBaMD7

08-01-2005, 08:49 PM

yes, from what i've heard, all of the interviews are done my former SGU grads.

side question: who here went to see the campus before actually going to SGU?

I had planned on it, especially since I've heard they'll apply your airfare towards your first semester's tuition but I never made it down. I guess I still have another four months to try and visit before I go down there for real.

cowgirl

08-01-2005, 08:51 PM

I had planned on it, especially since I've heard they'll apply your airfare towards your first semester's tuition but I never made it down. I guess I still have another four months to try and visit before I go down there for real.

but i heard they're not doing the "free trip" anymore... as of July or something like that.

kinda wish i requested to do my interview in GND...

GonnaBaMD7

08-01-2005, 08:53 PM

but i heard they're not doing the "free trip" anymore... as of July or something like that.

kinda wish i requested to do my interview in GND...

I requested it but they kind of pressured me to do it local. They told me that I was a strong applicant and that there was no need to go all the way to Grenada for the interview.