I fully understand that this could be the most strange place to ask but I need some very unique ideas and experiences, and I know this place is filled with creative people. My gf will be having an interview for medical school in about 3 weeks. As some of you may know, the interview consists of general type of questions to very unique ones that one has never even thought of. I was wondering if any of you guys, friends, or your gf have been through this and could provide any unique questions you've encountered or useful websites to look through. Even if you haven't been through this, can you think of any interesting questions to be asked during the interview? High GPA seems to be the minimum requirement for med school and the interview is a core part of the process. They seem to value not only your academics but also independence, maturity, travel experiences and all sorts of other things.... The reason I want to gather some information is that I want to give her a mock interview in about a week or so, and give her some "out of the box" questions so she can practice her quick thinking.

ANY INTERESTING IDEAS WOULD BE APPRECIATED. Thanks!

 

Good luck to her! I was talking to one of my TA's for an Inorganic Chem class and he had previous dropped out of UCSF Pharmacy School because he didn't want to pursue pharmacy (not because he couldn't handle it...he is a brilliant guy). He said that the interview was the most stressful, as anyone could imagine, because he had the dean of admissions interviewing him. He also said that the entire 45min- 1 hr interview consisted of questions relating to absolutely NOTHING about pharmacy, school, or his study habits. All of the questions asked were along the lines of, "In the past 5 years, what kind of leadership skills have you obtained? What did you do? If you're accepted, what traits would you bring into the field of medicine? Who is the most inspirational person in your life and how have they affected you? etc. etc."

 

All my intereviews were straight forward. They want to make sure you are not a psycho. Just tell her to be honest. Truth is that the interview is pretty minor. If you are neck and neck with someone then it 'might' make a difference. It's truly a numbers game first of all. It also depends on which medical school. PM me if you wish for more details. I did a bunch of residency interviews and know a few things.

Oh, one wierd questions I remember being told by someone else was,

"Why are manhole covers round?"

 

Ha, yea that one. I think I've heard it before. She's applying for UBC (University of British Columbia). It's ridiculously challenging to get in because it's top rank medical school in Canada and Canada has a few medical schools compared to US. Students tell me that applying to states were easier as they have more open spots. There are too many students with pretty much same GPA range. That will only earn a chance to get interviewed. Reference letters are very important too but that was taken care of already and I believe and there's nothing much to do about it. She's just worried about the interview. I just would like to collect as many different types of questions as possible to give her an exercise. Thanks for the replies! Keep it coming! (if possible)

 

because there's no way a round manhole cover could be dropped into the manhole

 

medschool is for losers. Tell your GF to go to lawschool.

 

This is true...

Tell your girlfriend to read through the "Pre-Allopathic" forums at forums.studentdoctor.net. I pretty much lived on that board when I was applying to medical school.

As for specific interview questions, I got the impression that the process was more about testing your communication skills and how you function under pressure. Regardless of what they ask, if your girlfriend can think on her feet and keep the conversation flowing well, she should be in good shape. Medical schools get plenty of applications from people who have 4.0 GPAs, but lack a basic set of social skills. Those are very important because teamwork is key to functioning effectively in an allied health care setting.

 

Thanks for the the help.

 

Thanks for the info. One of the main reasons I posted here was that I thought I would get some very interesting ideas.

 

Really?

Last I heard McGill, U of T, and McMaster were around the top as well, with U of T and McGill definitely ranking higher than UBC. Nothing wrong with UBC for sure, my brother got his Masters in Economics there, I didn't realize the med school was really tough to get in to.

Does your girlfriend interview well? Job interviews, when put on the spot in social situations, etc?