Hoping for Jan'05 class...interview advice?

[MDorBUST]

New to the board...
Just applied for the Jan '05 class and finally received an interview. Im retaking the MCAT in Aug, as was the condition for my interview. My GPA is about a 3.1 undergrad and a 3.0 in grad school. I am to interview with Dr. ****** in Denville, NJ. Now I hear I have to write an essay at the interview. Any tips on how to get thru the interview, about the interviewer, or about my chances of acceptance?


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Edited by forum moderator for containing personal iformation which is against TOS. Edited portion is indicated by "****".

[Coomassieblue]

New to the board...
Just applied for the Jan '05 class and finally received an interview. Im retaking the MCAT in Aug, as was the condition for my interview. My GPA is about a 3.1 undergrad and a 3.0 in grad school. I am to interview with Dr. ***** in Denville, NJ. Now I hear I have to write an essay at the interview. Any tips on how to get thru the interview, about the interviewer, or about my chances of acceptance?

Hey! I interviewed with Dr. ***** earlier this year. He's a very nice guy and laid back. I don't think SGU has any hard-assed (is this a violation of the TOS??) interviewers....I haven't heard of one yet at least. You'll go to his townhouse where he'll sit you down and have you write the essay. Run a search to see what the three topics are. He'll then move you to the couch where he'll ask you the usual questions. It was all very laid back with no pressure whatsoever. You should be fine!

Your gpa is around mine. I think as long as you do well on the MCAT or show improvement on it, you're gold. My stats, if you want a comparison, was 3.1 undergrad (no grad) with a 27 MCAT (up from 22). Good luck!


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Edited by forum moderator for containing personal iformation which is against TOS. Edited portion is indicated by "****".

[MDorBUST]

Thanks so much for the input! Just to be sure...
Dr. ***** is a male?
Also, you mentioned the "usual" questions, not too sure what those are?
And do you remember your essay topics by any chance?
So I take it youre accepted already?

Thanks sooooo much!

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Edited by forum moderator for containing personal iformation which is against TOS. Edited portion is indicated by "****".

[Coomassieblue]

Thanks so much for the input! Just to be sure...
Dr. ****** is a male?
Also, you mentioned the "usual" questions, not too sure what those are?
And do you remember your essay topics by any chance?
So I take it youre accepted already?

Thanks sooooo much!

Oh oops. Yah, I was accepted for the Aug 05 MD program. You read right, it's a "he"....I assume maybe because he's Jewish? Like Ariel Sharon of Israel? Well, in any case, it's a male. =) Suprised me too! Here's the link to the most recent interview thread...

http://www.valuemd.com/thread39177-interview.html

As for the questions...he'll ask about your grades, why you want to be a doctor, what kind of doctor do you want to be...etc. I don't remember the other questions though...sorry.

Oh, and be sure to write a thank you letter or email! Never hurts!

[GonnaBaMD7]

I assume you are applying for the January '06 class, not the January '05 class? My interview was also very relaxed. One additional thing that Coomassie didn't mention that stuck out in my mind was that they ask you how do you think that you'll adjust to life in a developing country. Best of luck.

[MDorBUST]

Thanks so much! yeah I did mean Jan '06. Ive been at work all day and i think my brain is melting. The funny thing is, I did a google search on Dr. ***** and all this crazy info came up about him. All his info including home phone # etc, and he must be Israeli because it says he speaks fluent Hebrew (and Spanish and Japanese!) I speak Hebrew as well, so hopefully he'll like me! :D
I actually went to high school in England too (which in my opinion is still a developing country!!!) so hopefully that'll give me an edge in terms of being able to adjust.
Any other tips??? you guys are totally making me less nervous already!!!


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Edited by forum moderator for containing personal iformation which is against TOS. Edited portion is indicated by "****".

[Coomassieblue]

Ooh, yah, thanks Gonnab.

No, I can't think of anything I'd want you to do since the interview is about you. Just don't blow it off and be honest in your answers. Feel free to ask more questions if you need to. Gluck!

[MDorBUST]

Ok, now looking at the letter for the official interview...
It does say contact HER. So Im a bit confused. oh well, im sure it wont be too different anyway. Where are you in NJ?

[GonnaBaMD7]

I'm too lazy to look for it but if you do a search on interviews there was a post that I found before my interview that listed like 7 things that they ask and I swear my interview went straight down that list. There is also another post somewhere on here that provides the three questions that you have to choose from for writing your essay. Everything else during the interview is just conversational discussion, usually you asking questions about SGU or the interviewer telling you how great SGU is.

[Coomassieblue]

Ok, now looking at the letter for the official interview...
It does say contact HER. So Im a bit confused. oh well, im sure it wont be too different anyway. Where are you in NJ?

Yea, I just reviewed my letter and it says "her" also. They also spelled "Denville" wrong...=P Go figure...I'm positive I had a male....:D

I'm in Edison...no idea how far away it is from Livingston..=)

[MDorBUST]

AWESOME! so glad to hear its the same person then! I have to shoot "her" an email to schedule. thanks for checking.
Edison is about 30 mins from Livingston (pkwy exit 145). I took Organic chem at middlesex county actually, so i had to drive there in rush hour traffic twice a week. how miserable, rt.1 at 6pm!!! Where did you go to college?
I went to SUNY Albany and now at Seton Hall for grad school.

[Coomassieblue]

Hey, I'm going to PM you..otherwise I think this thread will get locked. =)