Stony Brook, NY
Allopathic Medical Schools | Public Non-Profit
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Overall, applicants ranked the school in the top 30% of interviews, indicating it is moderately regarded. They found the interview generally impressive with a low stress level and felt they did okay.
⭐ Overall Impressions ▼
SDN Interview Experience Score
7.9
Good
Generally favorable experience overall, applicants reported positive interactions with some minor issues noted.
Based on 714 responses
Score Reference:
9–10 Exceptional
8–8.9 Very Good
7–7.9 Good
6–6.9 Mixed
< 6 Needs Improvement
The SDN Interview Experience Score (SIES) is a composite metric that represents applicants overall impressions of their interview experience, based on multiple factors such as professionalism, facilities, responsiveness, and stress levels.
What was the stress level of the interview?
How do you rank this school among ALL other schools?
Most respondents rank this school above all other schools.
How did the interview impress you?
Most respondents felt positively about their interview.
Positively (83%)
Negatively (9%)
No change (7%)
How you think you did?
Most respondents thought they performed well at the interview.
Great (34%)
Good (43%)
Average (18%)
Poor (3%)
Bad (2%)
What are your general comments?
Applicants generally found Stony Brook to have friendly people, a laid-back interview day, and a beautiful campus. Some felt the school was a great value for education, had impressive facilities, and a strong reputation for research and residency matches. However, a few applicants mentioned concerns about specific interviewers or preferences for a more urban setting.
Top 5 Responses: (Click below to see additional responses)
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Overall, very friendly people! Barbara, in the office, even called me beforehand to make sure I knew how to take the shuttle from the LIRR to the right building. Students seemed happy!
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It's an extremely laid-back day.
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Great place, nice people, beautiful suburbs. Expensive tuition, but overall I really enjoyed interview day. Not intimidating at all. In general just know your application very well and you should do fine!
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Rad school.
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Know yourself more than anything. If from a different country like me, know where some good restaurants are and be able to talk about your culture. If you don't know an answer, it's okay - say so. Educated guesses are welcome. Always tell a story with your answer (short answers allow for awkward silence) and conversation flows better that way. Make that list of questions you genuinely are concerned about.
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Short, stress-free interview day.
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I'm probably going here. Nothing beats the value of the education. It's an amazing school and, for a state resident, quite the bargain.
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Definitely a good school, but little things about my interview day just made it clear it was wrong for me. I wanted to go to school in a more urban setting and I think I just got unlucky when it came to my faculty interviewer and tour guides, who just seemed more insecure/defensive about their place there as opposed to enthusiastic and welcoming. The facilities were certainly nice and it's probably cheaper than most schools.
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This seems to be a nice school with nice people.
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I absolutely loved the school. I can definitely see myself being happy here. Hoping to hear soon!
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Great school, enjoyed my stay.
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Awesome school. Awesome students. Awesome Staff.
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I've been to other interviews in New York State, and so far this has been my favorite. The students gave an amazing tour of the school and my interviewers were very friendly and engaging.
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Impressed by campus and location during interview
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None.
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Great school. nice relaxed interview (2 one-on-one inteviews)
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Great place and could see myself very happy here if accepted.
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Stony Brook had no "state-school" feel. It has one of the most superior facilities. Great reputation and amazing match list make Stony Brook my first choice if I get accepted.
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Accepted within a month of the interview and will most likely attend
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Great school - known for research, great residency match. Not that it matters, but the campus is right across from the undergrad campus. Stony Brook is known for their tough questions and ethics questions, but fortunately I wasn't asked any from my 2 interviews.
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Loved the school and the people. I just wish it was in a slightly busier area.
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2 faculty interviews each 30 mins long, one was super laidback and friendly, the other was fairly combative
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Really laid-back interview, both the staff interviewer and the medical student seemed really cool and really laid-back about everything.
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I was a little surprised at how callous stonybrook is about its gross anatomy bodies. there's no ceremony at the end and the students have an almost too pragmatic approach to it (well, they donated their bodies for science, not for honor). the interview itself went very well.
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I had two interviews, one in the morning with a clinician, and one in the afternoon with a PhD. The first one was very conversational, although I felt he spent a big chunk of the time talking about himself. The second one asked me a lot of ethical questions, but it was an engaging conversation. I wish we could have spent more than 30 minutes with our interviewers!
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At one point, my interviewer asked me, why do you want to come to the small town where Stony Brook is? I'm sure you want to go out and meet guys.
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Started meeting in the admissions office where I got to know the other applicants that were there. First interview with faculty who was extremely out-spoken, dropping the f-bomb and such and when he asked me about a wild time I had wouldnt take anything less than a wild wild time. Student interviewer was awesome and she even keeps in touch now. Stony Brook is really pretty, everyone seems happy and I think it would be a great place to go to medical school!
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Coming from a place of nothing and not knowing created a space where communication was a possibility. This created an experience such that love and affinity were present with my interviewers.
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Everyone was super nice and willing to help. They were all honest about the downside of the school as well as its positives. Also my interviews were a stress free conversations and the time went by really quickly
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Great experience!! So relaxed and straightforward, nicest interviewers yet!
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Two one hour interviews, one with a student and one with a faculty member. Lunch and tour with medical students. Everyone was very nice.
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You are there for interviews and a short presentation about the school. That is it. There is no tour or anything. My faculty interviewer was very nice and conducted a highly structured interview(the February 14th gentleman), but my student interviewer was really tough. He asked a number of stressful questions.
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My first interviewer was very casual and friendly. He asked typical but not too difficult questions. He seemed to talk a lot, though. It made it harder to say everything I wanted to say, but he did tell me interesting and useful information about Stony Brook and the work he was doing. The second interviewer was a second-year medical student. She just went straight through my AMCAS application and asked questions based on that information. It was good in that I had the chance to state information about myself that I didn't get to say in the first interview. There were no ethical or medical current-events questions.
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I really enjoyed everything from the interview to the tour. There was a very low stress level and everyone really seemed to like being there.
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Overall, I'd say that the interviews that I had at Stony Brook went on well. Both interviewers were great. Nothing to really be nervous about. The first one was a Dr: Dr. (Feb. 14th), and the second was a second year med student. They both knew my file well. Dr. V didnt look at my file while talking to me because he had written out notes about topics that he wanted to ask me about. The MS2 didn't look at my file when she was talking to me either, and knew what she wanted to ask me about. Both interviews were very conversational, and both really dealt with my primary app, and the questions were mostly about my extracurriculars. The tour guides were great, the students were warm and seemed like a closeknit, fun group.
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The school has a great reputation. I wasn't really dazzled by the facilities nor the people though. In the end it would be hard not to attend if accepted. Great bang for your buck, and anywhere you go in healthcare most people have heard of stony brook med.
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I had 2 faculty interviewers. I'm not sure if this is their standard approach to interviews, but what I got out of it was this: My first interviewer seemed predominantly concerned with my extracurriculars and confirming that I was indeed the person my application presented. He asked me to defend my clinical experience and to speak about my other ECs. This was all very off the cuff and mimicked the conversational style interview that seems to be the norm at many places. My second interview was more of the traditional question-answer style. He asked about my reasons for going into medicine, problems I would anticipate, what I would look forward to, and why Stony Brook? There were not extremely tricky or ethical questions, just a standard, by the book, interview. It was not especially intense but it was thorough. Again, I'm not sure if this is their standard practice, but it seems like a reasonable assumption based on my experience.
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Good. I didn't need to prepare, although fellow interviewees reported lots of ethical questions, so you might want to think about that. Overall, positive impression.
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Very good - first interview a little stressful, asked VERY specific questions regarding my application and courses, second one was great - very laid back
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Everyone from admissions staff to med students to interviewers were very friendly and at ease. Interviewers asked a lot of qustions mostly having to do with my personal statement, work experience and extracurriculars. Conversations flowed naturally. They weren't trying to trip me up or interrogate me. Really made me feel very comfortable to share. All this made me confident I did well. However, I think they're nice to everyone they interview so I really can't say whether their friendly attitude meant I'm accepted.
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Interviewed with an MS2 and a faculty member. They could not have been nicer. The admissions office was very comfortable and the tour was very candid. They did not waste our time. The atmosphere of the interviews was relaxed.
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Meeting area until interviews, ms 3 and 4's stopped by to chat with us - very friendly people - two interviews (fac/dean or student) tour of facilities. lunch.
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The day started early and there was a fair amount of downtime. Everyone in the admissions office was really nice and went out of their way to make us feel welcome. One of my interviewers was really harsh and basically attacked every aspect of my application. The second interview was more laid back and most of the questions focused on ethics. It wasn't a horrible experience by any means, but it was probably my worst experience visiting a school.
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Interview day is nice and short. Great for people who have jobs/school. My first interview went relatively smooth, the interviewer had an accent so it was hard to understand hiim sometimes, but he was really nice so it was ok. The second interviewer was also really nice and charming, but posed some extremely difficult ethics questions. Just knowing the UWash Bioethics module is not enough - you get to know the laws and ethical decisions and the precedents, but you have to form your own opinions and learn how to apply the module. Lot of healthcare discussion too, which that came much smoother than the bioethics, so that was good.
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Interviewers were pretty laid back, but they have access to all app materials, so they asked a few somewhat pointed questions about the stuff I've done, eg.
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Overall, it was a very positive experience. I actually liked the school much more than I thought I would.
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My interviewers were a Phd Biochemist and a Pediatrician. I thought that in general it went very well and that I connected well with both of them. They both had things to mention during the interview that they loved about my ECs and essays. They did not make any negative comments about my application.
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It was totally stress free, and I didnt get many real questions. It was my first so I was hoping for some practice but didnt get much. that depends on the interviewer.
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It was very low-stress. My first interviewer was extremely nice, and the other was very interesting; no difficult questions. basic questions.
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The interview was pretty relaxed, focusing mainly on my application and not much aside from that.
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Overall it was OK. My interviewer was an older woman who was not medical school faculty. She had a list of prepared questions that the committee asked her to ask me. She often seemed to put her own spin on the questions and she told me how she thought the interview went at the end (it went well, and I got in).
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My interviewer could not be nicer. It was less like an interview and more like a conversation. He worked questions into the natural flow of the conversation and genuinely listened to my answers. He did not ask me anything to "trip me up". He seemed as if he was just trying to get as much information about me so that he could make a good case to the committee. I wish all my interviewers could be like him. (Found out later all the students love him... I can see why)
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Much calmer than i was expecting. i didn't know much about SB before the interview, but i have many positive things to say about it now, including the investment that both faculty and students make to deliver/obtain the best possible education. lunch with students and student tour-guides were very useful in learning details about SBMed. overall very positive experience.
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My interviewer was extremely discouraging and kept telling me that I should "go to a Caribbean school if you don't get in this year." Over and over. He repeatedly asked why I wanted to be a doctor, and why I liked my specialties of interest (which I explained were not set in stone).. and by the end the only thing I could say was, "I don't really know what to tell you, sir, I just find ___ to be extremely interesting and I just plain like it." He said my MCAT score was "okay" (34S) and my GPA was "ehh" (3.6) and then said that he doesn't think the adcom would put me through because I didn't have enough clinical experience (I admit it is a little lacking, but I do have over a year volunteering in a level I trauma center surgery ward). He repeatedly stated that I should look into non-US medical schools, "Stony Brook takes LOTS of residents from the Caribbean..." Then he got mad at me for saying I might not go to my last interview (end of March) and tried to sell that other med school to me. Overall, it was the worst interview I have ever had... and Stony Brook has dropped to the BOTTOM of my list.
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Interview was very relaxed and conversational. asked many questions about my personal life and past. lots of jokes
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It was fine. I felt very comfortable and we had a few laughs. However, my lady was very hard to read and I left not really knowing how it went.
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I took an early LIRR train, so I wouldn't be late and I could take a tour of the environment, so I arrived at 10AM when my interview was at 1:30. The lunch/tour began around 12PM and we were able to see the lecture halls and anatomy labs. My interviewer was a bit late, but it was only because he's such a busy man. The interview itself was very enjoyable. My interviewer was a purebred Stony Brook-er. He was very thorough in his questions, but didn't try to press too hard or give me a difficult time. He had this pleasant jazzy music in the background and occasionally cracked jokes to put me at ease. I couldn't have asked for a better interview.
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Everything was really going find until may interview. I enjoyed the lunch with the students, the tour was short but i suppose there really wasn't much to see. My interviewer was not from the school of medicine, but from the school of social welfare and proceeded to tell me that the med students were "the more equal pigs" and got free printing when none of the other school's students did. She seemed kind of bitter about this fact. She asked me a lot of questions that didn't really get at who I am as a candidate either including if financial situations were going to be an issue in paying for medical school.
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My interviewer spent a good 20minutes at the begining of the interview writing down where I interviewed and where I had upcoming interviews. I did not like having to answer this. I felt it was an encroachment on my provacy. Then another couple of minutes writign down the names of other "competitive schools" that I had applied to. Then basic question read form a sheet about ethical issues, my ideas on US healthcare. And fianlly I was aksed how I expect to pay for medical school.
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The interviewer was very experienced and was quite familiar with my application when I came in, she asked me to explain many points in my application, yet was not threatening in any way, simply looking for clarification.
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The interview day begins at 9 am although some interviews are conducted as late as early afternoon. However, this is not a problem because during the “down-time†current students (mostly MS2’s) drop in to give you some perspective on the Stony Brook experience. My interview began roughly as scheduled (around 10 am) and lasted for 2 hours (2 separate one hour intervals: 10am-11am and 12pm-1pm). Overall, it was the best interview any applicant could ask for. The interviewer was generally interested in knowing more about me in terms of my experiences both prior to college and after matriculating. At no time did I feel that I was merely rehashing information provided by my AMCAS application, which left me appreciating the sincerity of my interviewers interest in me as a “total-applicantâ€Â. Many of the follow up questions that were asked addressed my research and experiences after graduating from college (I am a non-traditional applicant). Here is a tip which I feel helped clinch my interview : be able to concisely explain you research without stressing upon details (although at times details may be needed). Know the goal of your research and any valuable lessons learned which can be applied to the field of medicine. Another great thing during the interview was the fact that my interviewer let the phone in his office just ring. I’ve often heard about how other applicants find it very disrespectable of their interviewers to be talking on the phone during their interviews. This was not the case here. After an hour of casual conversation my interviewers had to leave due to a prior obligation. Realizing that I still had more to say, he invited my back to continue our conversation later in the afternoon. I obviously took him up on the offer. Prior to the remainder of my interview (which as stated before lasted another hour :12-1pm) a tour was given of the facilities. The tour guides (more MS2’s) seemed very enthusiastic about being at Stony Brook and often commented on the cohesiveness of the class. They also commented on the how refreshing it is to be in a “non-cut-throat†environment that many of us pre-meds have seen in undergrad. As for the facilities: classrooms are pretty much standard, the gross anatomy lab was large and accommodating (4students/cadaver), the entire building is wireless, and the health sciences library is open for a good portion of time (unfortunately it is not 24 hrs). One big perk is the fact that the University Hospital is located adjacent to the health sciences center. My overall impression of Stony Brook SOM is that it will provide any student an excellent education at a great price. The only negative thing I can seem to say is about SB general location (far out in L.I thus a car is a must) but for me it’s perfect as I am far enough away from NYC not to get distracted but close enough (an hour drive or 1.25 train ride via LIRR) to go into NYC during the weekends to visit family and friends (and of course party).
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VERY conversational! They have a good vision for the future of their curriculum, very cohesive and laid back student body.
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Not great. Too many question which were addressed in my AMCAS application. Unfriendliness of interviewer (why both to interview then?)
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This is supposedly the "bad" interviewer. it might have something to do with my personality and the fact that he went to my alma mater, but we clicked from the beginning. (at least that's how i felt) women may find his humor slightly offensive, but i certainly loved talking with him and was sad to have to stop actually.
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I thought the interview went very well. My interviewer asked me a lot of thought provoking questions and played devil's advocate with some issues. But he was easy to talk to and genuinely interested in finding more about my background, my motivation and me as a person.
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Interview. Q and A, lunch, and tour with 2 second years. Exit summary from head of committee.
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It was really comfortable, laid back and not stressful. It was also intellecually stimulating, he asked some really interesting questions about myself and what I have done.
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Overall I had a great experience at Stony Brook. My interviewer was very friendly and didn't ask anything particularly challenging or unexpected. It was very relaxed and conversational. All the students were friendly and out going, they seemed like people I would be friends with. The tour was good in that we got to choose where we wanted to go and what we wanted to see which I think made it much more interesting.
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My interviewer was fantastic- we talked for about an hour about everything from the Mets to European health systems.
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Very disappointed in myself. This is my first interview, but it was a lot worse than I could have and should have performed. It was great for 20 minutes until he asked if I had any questions and he said "let me give u a hint, next time you should always ask about why the school is unique". I was flustered ever since that point b/c i saw it as the interviewer basically telling me i have no shot. I think i should have prepared better questions.
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I walked in and my interviewer (who happens to teach biochem at the undergrad school there) was very disappointed that I didn't take biochemistry in college. He sees it as a prerequisite. We walk into his office and he has not read or even looked at my essays and file because I guess he must have been busy. It was an open file interview but he must think he's too important to prepare for every interview. He didn't know what school I went to, what my goals were, what my background was. He didn't ask me any questions other than "why do you want to be a doctor?" and "Your major was biology huh?" (it was actually biology and history but he was too busy to hear my answer). All in all I don't know what he had against me but he never smiled and he was not at all friendly, unlike what I had heard about him previously. He seemed very rushed, bored, and 10 minutes into the interview he said 'that should wrap it up' and went downstairs and asked for a sandwich. I thought he was despicable.
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A few general questions about myself and then various ethical dilemmas. It was a structured interview, but my interviewer was easy to engage in conversation and very helpful in addressing my questions.
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HORRIBLE. THE WORST. INAPPROPRIATE. OFFENSIVE. VERY UPSETTING!
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Very pleasant. The interview was more of a conversation, only a couple of general questions about my application, no questtion that put you on the spot. I was able to stay with a medical student the night before, another great experience.
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The interviewer was completely inappropriate and asked questions that were not only illegal in our country but were inrelevant to evaluating me as a candidate. Additionally, the interviewer berated me and did not except any answer I gave as relevant. I have looked thru the interview feedback and am certain that every negative interview posted was the result of this particular interviewer. What I don't understand is how the school could allow such an inappropriate person to interview. There is no way someone has not complained thus far because this man was beyond inapproriate and it is even more inappropriate that such a person could be evaluating candidates. Moreover, he no longer even practices medicine and is completely out of touch with modern day medical issues. The experience was so bad I thougth it might have been a joke and Da Ali G was disguise.
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Good, very laid back. He asked a bunch of ethical questions but wasn't drilling me. Like a conversation.
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The interview was very casual. We talked about my application, and almost all of the questions were based on it. The interviewer was very friendly and encouraging.
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Despite my negative comments that seem superficial, I just didn't get a great feeling from the school. But no matter the aura, the academic opportunities available to students there seem vast.
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The interview was a really good experience. The interviewer was nice, easy to talk to and really seemed to want to represent me well before the larger committee
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It was relatively relaxed. It was more of a conversation than a question and answer question. The interviewer only asked me two straightfoward questions, and we talked about our experiences and interests for the rest of the hour.
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The school seem like a great nuturing place. The staff and student seem very happy to be there. My interview was really amazing. It was very conversational and I felt like I really bonded with my interviewer. I got an acceptance letter a week later that was dated the day after my interview. I would definetly feel content going to this school if I did not get into a school with a better name.
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Everyone was really really nice-- the people in my interview were friendly, the students were really sweet, my interviewer was great (although he was a little late)
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I think it went well.
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I took some classes at stony brook and had been in the area for a year, so I was use to the area. I'd also previously attended an open house, so I was already sold on the school. For the interview itself, my interviewer left things pretty open ended, so I kind of guided the discussion based on his questions in the direction I thought it should head. (ie: making sure I covered the topics I needed to get across)
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I don't believe the interviewer believed me when I told him why I wanted to be a doctor, he asked me that question 3 times. It's my real reason and I guess he wanted to hear something else.
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This interview experience was amazing. The interviewer (Dean of Admissions) was kind, engaging, interested, open and conversational.
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My interviewer met with me in between seeing patients, so even before i was able to close the door and sit down, she started firing questions at me. i was a little bit shocked at first, but forced myself to keep on going. she seemed very pragmatic and basically went down her list of questions and wrote down my answers as i responded. it was quite difficult to judge her reactions, since she wasn't even really looking at me. but the questions were fair and nothing was out of the blue. after she finished asking me what seemed like the required questions, she became more conversational and we chatted about her med school experience, the architecture of the stony brook medical ctr, as well as other harmless random things.
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Overall, I had a good experience there. I stayed with a host the night before and she said, with the small class size, it's just like high school, except everyone's motivated to work and do well and work together. It was a short interview day (my interview was at 10:45am and the day was done at about 1:30). My interviewer, according to my hosts, was a really sweet, laid back guy, and he was, but he did ask me some tough questions, especially for my first interview. I think i managed to answer them satisfactorily though.
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I arrived for my interview in the morning, but my interviewer was running quite late. I ended up having to reschedule for the afternoon, so i sat around until the tour was given. Then we had lunch, chatted some more amongst ourselves, had a talk with the associate dean of admissions and then went to our individual interviews.
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The interview was very difficult to gauge. I came out not really knowing how it went. As you can tell from the questions, it was a bit strange and at times I had to guess what was being asked.
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Don't worry about this interview! i was only asked a couple questions about my application and about myself, during the rest of the time (50 mins) my interviewer described the school in more detail and answered my questions.
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Overall, I liked the school a lot and would go there over some of the private schools I applied to, but I felt like the staff didn't work to sell it like other schools had (BU and Upstate). The students sent in to give us a tour and answer our questions were friendly but had nothing in particular to talk to us about. The unstructured nature of it meant there were holes in my knowledge when I left. Someone should give a presentation laying out the basics. The assistant director of admissions said the school "sells itself". My interviewer was a great guy who took genuine interest in me, knew my application as well as I did (he quoted from my AMCAS essay twice!), and gave me a chance to get many aspects of myself across. He was heavy into the ethical stuff, but that's ok by me. We covered a lot of ground in an hour.
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Great interview, lasting almost an hour and a half. It seemed as though the interviewer had specific questions he was required to ask. We would talk for a while pretty freely (conversational) until the interviewer would all of a sudden remember that he had to ask me one of those (required?) questions...then he did...then I answered...and then we would just continue talking. I couldn't really gauge what he thought about the interview at the end. I got in, though, so i guess it went ok!
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Although my interviewr bombarded me with ethical questions- each of them were presented within a story which sort of hinted what he was looking for in the answer. Also, the interviewer was very familiar with my application and asked questions about every experinces I mentioned of on the AMCAS and secondary. Over all I feel that the interview was solid, fair, and interesting.
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I was extremely positive. My interviewer was great. She was down to earth, friendly and inviting questions. The assistant dean spoke to out group at the end of day. I liked her candor about the admissions process. I better get into this school, it really was for me.
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Seemed like a nice school. Pretty area. The students all seemed pretty happy with having chosen Stony Brook. I had an afternoon interview, so I got there about 11:30 and talked to other applicants and a ton of students who dropped in to chat for a while. We had a tour after lunch, and then one of the Deans of Admissions gave us an overview of the process. Interviews happened at the end of the day for me.
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My interview at Stony Brook was really great. I felt extremely comfortable with my interviewer who really knew my application well and asked relevant questions. I asked her a question about the school during the interview that she said she didn't know the answer to. Three hours after the interview, I received an e-mail from her with the answer and how much she enjoyed talking to me!
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It was a good interview. The office staff was so flexible and understanding about my predicament. I was stuck in traffic for hours and had to push the interview back. The interview itself felt like a conversation.
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Great Interview
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Overall, not good just because I don't think my interviewer got to know me well enough to present me to the ad com. I really tried to state my case, but he kept cutting me off. Not in a rude way, he was just a quirky guy.
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Great school, definitely moved up on my list after visiting and talking with some of the students who attend it. great atmosphere.
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Good but short tour... we actually got to see some cadavers and our student guides were very enthusiastic and informative. The interview was relaxed and went much better than expected considering it was my first!
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A standard interview experience. Nothing special to report. Stony Brook is a strong state school, but tuition is going up in NY, which really makes it less attractive than other private schools.
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Loved the student atmosphere.
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The interview was mostly conversation the interviewer was very laid back and made me feel very comfortable even though i was so nervous. The school is great and it is now definitley my first choice. The price is also amazing and the class is only 100 students.
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Overall, it was great--my interview left me with a very strong desire to attend the school, not just for the in-state tuition, but for the atmosphere and opportunities.
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Very positive. the LIRR trains don't match up too well w/later interview times...but, if you show up early, you can go see a lecture. afterwards came the tours,interviewed with an anatomy professor, who was SUPER nice. the tour guides seemed ok, if a bit cold at first. during the process, it came out that one of them is on the admissions committee. after that, candidates were clawing to get her attention. jeez. the interview went well; the anatopmy professor was extremely friendly, and the interview was relaxed and conversational, in no way confrontational.
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Be sure to arrive early, several interviewees had their interviews bumped up for the convenience of the interviewers. My afternoon interview wound up being in the morning. Visitor's parking at the hospital is $1.50/hr, $7.50/day. Admissions office didn't mention free parking and I forgot to ask. Interviewers in general are experienced and volunteered to help find out more about the students. My interviewer claims the interview has a small role in the admission process, while the medical student tour guides claim otherwise. Regardless, the interview covered anything that I wanted to talk about, and he would follow with questions about details. 4-body per cadaver seems to be the lowest out of any other schools I've seen. Class size at 100 is the smallest of all the SUNYs. A car is essential throughout each of the four years.
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I was not very impressed with the campus, and couldn't really picture myself there, but the students were very down to earth and enthusiastic about the school, and the interviewer was really funny, yet tough. he really supported stony brook. everyone seems to love it there.
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My interviewer was VERY friendly. She made me feel very comfortable, and she just wanted to get to know me. She didn't ask me very difficult questions, but they were very interesting, and they made me think. In addition, the students that gave the tour seemed very happy, and they really seemed to enjoy the school.
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Awesome School!!! I was really surprised how much I liked Stony Brook. It has definately jumped way up on my list and is easily one of my top choices now.
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Well let's see, he basically attacked every single little thing i've done for the past 4 years and my life in general. Some of the questions came from the basic list but i felt that he was purposely attacking my character and my work to see how i would react. I felt belittled by my interviewer and i came out thinking "if he doubts the way i've lead my life and done my academics,then why did this school bother to invite me for an interview in the first place?" I felt like he was ambivalent and inconsiderate during my interview. IT sucked.
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Overall it was ok, not the greatest, but by far it was not the worst interview I went on. The people were great and really friendly, even though the school is really run down and needs to get with the times.
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It was a relatively laid-back interview. Know yourself and your AMCAS application well.
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Overall challengiing questions, but my interviewer was fair, thoughtful, and pushed but not to the point where he was inappropriate, just tough
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Overall, it was a positive experience. my interviewer knew a lot of information about me and asked interesting questions. we had a pleasant conversation.
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Definitely a great experience
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I left Stony Brook feeling as though it could be my first choice. The day was well-structured, not much waiting around like at SUNY Syracuse and Downstate. I got there at 10:30 interviewed at 10:45-12, ate lunch, and toured until about 1:30. Students dropped in to chat and very friendly, as were all the staff I met. SUNY SB benefits from being part of a large university.
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Overall it seemed to go very well, i came away from the day with a much higher impression about stony brook than when i went in that morning, which was good
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This was my first interview, which is why the stress level is a 3 instead of a 1. It was very relaxed. The school itself is in the middle of nowhere, which has it pros and cons. The students were very friendly and willing to help us in every way. I got the impression that most people had a relatively easy time with their interviews, although one said she was asked to discuss a number of ethics situations, so get your ethical stance straight before you walk in the door. Overall, very positive experience.
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This school is awesome! It's defiately my top choice. On top of a decent location and low tuition, the environment is great! The students work together instead of being highly compeitive, as is the case with some other schools. The interviewer had reviewed my file throroughly and just wanted me to talk about my extracurriculars and my background.
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Awesome! I wish all my interviewers at other schools were as nice and informed about my file as mine was here. The school is incredible!
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My visit to Stony Brook definitly put the school in contention for my top choice. Students are very happy here, and that may well be the best reason to attend a school. Also, the administration here gets an A+, and the facilities aren't too shabby either.
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It was a pretty laid back conversation. I feel like they just wanted to get to know me. However, it may depend on the person who is interviewing because another interviewee was asked ethics questions for an entire hour.
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The interview definitely improved my opinion of the school. The students were super friendly, and my interviewer was sooooooooo nice, wow! I recommend getting your ethical stance all figured out before you enter the building, because ethical questioned seemed to predominate.
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Student tour guides were awesome and very helpful in answering any questions about anything. Interviewer was very nice and friendly. Facilities are good. Overall, it seems like a great place to go to school if you feel comfortable in that area.
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My interiewer was receptive to me, challenging but fair. His questions were difficult at times, especially the ethical ones, and when I brought out my point of view he challenged it and pushed me, but I wouldnt say that he grilled me. The student tour was good and the students had an very positive outlook on the school. Facilities were decent too.
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Check in at 11:30, lunch at 12, students came and chatted with us and took as on a tour. INterview at 1:15. Didn't have to wait around long whcih was great. My interviewer was very nice and friendly, and we had a long (60+ mins)conversation. A couple of questions were challenging which made me a bit nervous, but he was very encouraging, and shared his insight about the medical profession.
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I was really impressed by Stony Brook. I went in not expecting to like the school all that much, but the attitude of the students and faculty were great -- open, friendly, supportive, very proud of the school -- and I could see myself going there. The facilities are also pretty good; the whole med school is wireless, the anatomy lab is really big, sports complex on the undergrad campus (available to med students) is good. My interviewer fired questions at me, and was a little abrupt. But he was good natured about it, and even though it would probably have read like a stress interview, it was actually pretty relaxed and fun. He was very candid about the school, and also very positive. After feeling some burnout from this process, Stony Brook got me excited about being a doctor again.
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The interviewers as said previously on this site really tailor the interview to your application. They know it very well and target alot of questions around it.
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Overall, it was a very good interview experience. I stayed over with a first year host the night before. He took me around parts of the school and I met a few students so I felt a little more at ease going into my interview the next day. Although he asked some tough questions, my interviewer was very nice and we had a great conversation.
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I arrived 15min. late to my interview (traffic on the LIE, I came from Westchester (upstate NY). My first interview was with the Dir. of Admis. He was a really cool guy and very understanding. Many of the his questions were from my file and pertained to my research and clinical interests. For the other interviews I traveled to different buildings, meeting various members of the MST program, including the MST Dir. My final interview was with a third year student (in MST). I reall enjoyed chatting with him and learning as much as I could about the program. Overall, I would be very happy pursuing my studies at SB.
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Pleasant, but I was on my toes since this was my first.
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Overall, very good. The tour could have been better, but not important. The interview has definitely swayed my opinion in attending Stony Brook.
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I was really surprised at how well the interviewer new my application. He put me at ease, and made me feel like an equal human being. He gave me a great impression of the school.
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Very informative.
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The overall experience was positive. The students and staff were very friendly and the facilities were impressive. The interviewer did have an agenda however as she read questions from a piece of paper which was somewhat stressful but after she was through with them we had a nice conversation.
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I had to wait about 45 min for my interviewer, but he was nice about it, and definitely tried to put me at ease. All in all, it was a pretty nice interview. I didn't feel like he was grilling me, more like he wanted to get to know me. Nothing was too difficult, though the crystal ball question was a little strange, but I guess he wanted to see how I would react. The good thing about the interview was he was willing to share his viewpoints on the school (all positive). The students were very enthusiastic and helpful. It defintely seems like a friendly environment that encourages cooperation.
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My interviewer asked me probing questions - particularly about the state of health care in America. I believe he really wanted to know just how I felt about the situation. He threw me a lot of questions where I felt as if I had to prove myself. For example, I was talking about how I appreciate cultural diversity (I think it was in reference to where I see myself practicing in the future) so he quickly said something like, "well you must be fluent in spanish then....". I was like, er no, but I hope to be and plan to continue learning the language. That's how the whole tone of the interview was....like I was being challenged, but after a while I got used to it and didn't feel as threatened. At the end he asked me what field I'd like to go into and I said surgery- he then stated 3 times that stony brook is known for primary care and that they maintain that focus by screening applicants very heavily. I was NOT expecting him to say that at all.
💬 Interview Process ▼
Length, number, and type of interviews
🕐
Length:
50 Minutes Average
🔄
Number:
1.4 Interviews Average
👥
Interview Type (Interaction):
100% One-on-One
0% Group Interview
📁
File Type:
100% Open-File
0% Closed-File
💻
Interview Modality:
100% Virtual
0% In-Person
SUNY-SB-COMP interviews are an average of 50 minutes, with an average of 1.4 interviews. 100% of interviews are one-on-one, 0% are in-person, and 0% are closed-file.
What is one of the specific questions they asked you?
The most commonly asked interview questions at medical schools include inquiries about specific activities, college and work experiences, ethical scenarios, motivations for pursuing medicine, leadership qualities, research involvement, and the role of technology in healthcare. Some respondents mentioned questions tailored to their extracurricular activities, clinical experiences, family background, future goals, and ethical dilemmas. The format of the interviews may have been MMI (Multiple Mini Interview) based on the variety of questions asked, and respondents may have been subject to a nondisclosure agreement given the specific nature of some questions.
Top 5 Responses: (Click below to see additional responses)
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A lot of questions about my specific activities, college experience, work experience
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Tell me about a disagreement
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Tell me about your research
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Do you think great leaders are born or made?
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Why did you apply to this school specifically?
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Lots of ethical scenarios
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Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
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Why Stony Brook?
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Why don't you have more clinical experience / shadowing?
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What do you think about the role of technology in medicine?
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Specific questions regarding my ECs. I see that you did ___, could you elaborate?
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About my research.
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Very typical questions. Seemed like they more wanted to see how I held up a conversation than wanting to grill me, which was nice.
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First interviewer had obviously read my file, questions about my disadvantaged status.
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Why do you want to be a doctor? Do you know where and what the Grand Canyon is? Do you know red wood trees? What animal carries the ebola virus?
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Tell me about your research.
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Why medicine?
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Tell me about [extracurricular activity]. We went through my file.
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Asked to elaborate on research
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Student interviewer had questions prepared about my community service work and involvement in global health.
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They asked about research experience and community service experience.
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What do you do when not studying?
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Where do you see yourself in five years
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Why did you choose Stony Brook University School of Medicine?
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Why didn't you do more clinical work?
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What motivates you?
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Is healthcare a right or a privilege?
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Why do you want to come to SB as opposed to some of the other schools you've interviewed at?
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What led you to medicine?
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Tell me about yourself.
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What music do you listen to?
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What kind of leadership experience do you have?
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Why did you choose Stony Brook?
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How do you think you will react to a patient's death?
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Tell me about your family.
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What do you think about the dirty tactics being used in the political race for president?
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Tell me more about your clinical volunteer experience, it sounds really interesting.
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All pretty much specific questions about my file, and discussion about what i have done
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Why Stonybrook?
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What brings you to medicine.
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I see you're from out-of-state. Why Stony Brook?
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So what's a weakness of yours?
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Why did you decide to do an MPH?
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What did you do during your research project?
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What is it you most want to learn about Stonybrook while you are here today?
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LOTS of ethical questions
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Specific questions about classes I took (what did you read, why did you take this), etc. Why I took such a wide variety of classes (my undergraduate school had an extremely diverse core curriculum).
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Asked about High School, College course I took in sophomore year, why medicine, mostly questions about extra curricular stuff. Where did medicine advance over the past 10 years? He asked about specific experiences that I have had while volunteering in hospitals, specific experiences that I have had while being in leadership positions in various societies, specific experiences about work, etc... Basically, very specific questions about the experiences that I had written about in my primary application. Possibly secondary as well. Know thyself! He was semi-conversational, but leant more toward the q&a type interviewer. Very nice man, overall.
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Where do you see yourself in 25 years?
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How did you pick your undergraduate school?
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I took a roman lit class (also 5 yr ago, my soph yr) and he asked me to speak about it.
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What is your motivation for going to med school?
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Have you seen Borat?
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Where do you see yourself in 15 years
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The one about being Catholic.
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Do you feel that you have the ability to create a patient-physician trust very rapidly with people who will differ from you in race, age, religion, ethics, etc?
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At what point did you choose to become a doctor?
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What made you decide to take time off between college and medical school?
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What are you looking for in a medical school? (i didnt really get a chance to answer before we went to something else)
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Have you done any research?
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Tell me about an experience that you had with a patient. (So if you don't have any clinical experience, think about what you might say to this.)
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Where did you apply? How many schools did you apply to? How many interviews? etc...
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What's an issue in medicine that worries you right now?
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What is your lineage?
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Do you have a driver's license? (I don't). Do you have a learner's permit? Do you plan on getting one?
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Choose a medical ethics topic and discuss. (This question was really kind of open ended so I wasn't quite sure what she wanted me to say)
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See above
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Where else do you have interviews?
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Tell me about your family - occupations, ages, etc.
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Explain you current research?
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Talk about some ethical issues: any you can think of is fair game
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What are some things about Stony Brook that you like?
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Explain your research to me.
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What are your positive features and negative ones?
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Why medicine? What lead you to choose this field?
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Describe 1 strength and 1 weakness
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So, you loved your job at Baskin Robbins?
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What was your major?
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How would you deal with a student who had sex with a patient?
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What are two attributes of a great doctor?
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If the family of your terminally ill patient wanted you to lie about the patient's diagnosis what would you do?
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Tell me about your parents? What do they do? Do you have a room at their house? Where do you live? Can you afford an apartment there?
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One of your friends is cheating on test, what do you do?
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How did you study for your MCAT?
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So.. tell me about yourself. Why do you want to be a doctor?
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Tell me about yourself
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Alot of it was expanding of stuff found in my amcas...such as tell me more about x extracurricular activity?
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Why do you want to be a doctor?
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Why do you want to be a doctor? (3 minutes later) But Why do YOU want to be a doctor? (1 minute later) What makes you think you can be a doctor?
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A series of questions pertaining to city of residence.
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Basically all questions asking me to elaborate on my activities and academics listed on amcas
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Tell me about your experiences in high school and college (health related and non-health related)
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What do your parents do for a living?
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How has the difference between living in NY and coming from KY affected your views of medicine?
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What has been your most rewarding extracurricular activity?
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Did you know the health sciences center is shown on the sailing charts for the area? (We're both big-boat sailors.)
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Ethics, ethics, ethics!!!
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Why did you choose to go to your undergraduate college?
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What was your most meaningful experience?
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The ethics question above
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How did you select your undergraduate school?
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Tell me about the most difficult experience you faced while volunteering.
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Tell me more about yourself. What if not accepted?
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What other schools did you apply to? where have you gotten in?
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What have you been doing?
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He asked my grades from the previous semester.
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Why medicine? What kind of medicine?
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What was your favorite class and why?
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Essentially they were mostly in the format "I see you wrote that you did _______ for _______ time, tell me a little more about it."
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What about pas?
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Did your father persuade or disuade you from entering any field of medicine?
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Do you think there are any "bad" drugs out on the market? Please explain. (Note: I have a pharmacy background and was asked a loat of medication management questions)
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Where have you interviewed so far?
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Where else have you applied? Where else have you interviewed/are schedualed to interview? Have you been accepted anywhere (strange because almost nobody hears until the 15th of october).
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Why did you pick your major?
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Tell me about yourself. Why do you want to be a doctor?
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What do you want me to tell admissions committee about you? Where else have you applied? WHere did you get interviewed?
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Who are my role models?
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If you're not accepted to medical school, what will you do next year?
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MD: Tell me a little about your background. Why medicine? Why MSTP? Do you have a particular field you want to go into? Why? What do you do for fun? What if you did not get accepted to MSTP, would you consider MD w/Recognition in research? Why SB? What do you do for fun? What characteristics do you offer to our school? Where do you you see yourself in the furture? I will be defending you infront of the committee, is there anything you want me to tell them about you?
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Why a career in medicine?
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What career choice would you pursue if medicine doesnt work out?
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What research are you doing? What would you prefer and why - bench or clinical?
What was the most interesting question?
Students said the most interesting questions asked at Renaissance School of Medicine - Stony Brook University discussed a wide range of ethical scenarios, including handling religious beliefs affecting medical decisions and ethical dilemmas in patient care. Notably, the interviews seemed conversational, but some respondents mentioned the interviewer's crafty wording and the inclusion of hypothetical situations, possibly indicating an MMI format with nondisclosure agreements in place.
Top 5 Responses: (Click below to see additional responses)
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If the president called you up right now and told you that you are being given a blank check to solve the most important problem in healthcare, what would that problem be and how would you solve it?
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If you had a child patient whose parents' religion was against blood transfusions but that was the only life -saving treatment, what would you do?
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What will you do if you don't get into med school this cycle(even though you have)?
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Which of your experiences prepared you best for med school, in your opinion?
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Where else did you apply? (The interviewer picked me up from the conference room to the interview location, and this question came up on our way there)
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Interesting ethical situational questions regarding in vitro fertilization, the high cost, and the inability for doctors to dispense medicine in the state of NY (only pharmacists are allowed to do this).
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I'm a teacher. Would I recommend my students get abortions.
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He told me about the difficult parts of being a doctor and why despite all that I would want to become one instead of becoming a professor.
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Why did you choose your undergraduate institution?
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Some interesting ethics questions questions. They were fun. The interviewer played devils advocate.
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Nothing interesting.
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What do you think a doctor does daily?
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Nothing out of the ordinary
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If you were in charge of handing out punishments, what would you do to Penn St. regarding the Sandusky/Paterno situation?
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A question relating to how my religion may affect my time in school and beyond.
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What was the dumbest thing you did in college?
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If all of the medical schools in the world suddenly stopped accepting any more applicants, what would you do?
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Rank all your schools
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What top three books would you recommend?
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None. The whole conversation was interesting with the student interviewer. We went to the same undergrad so we just rambled on and on.
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The interviewer was very crafty with wording his questions. The whole interview turned out to be one of the most interesting ones I've had so far.
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Why Stony Brook?
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#2
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Where have you traveled?
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If there was one thing that happened to you last five years, what would it be? And why?
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If you were forming a medical school, describe how it would be.
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What made you choose medicine? Why not a lawyer or a businessman?
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Describe some of your past failures.
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Nothing in particular. The first interview was conversational and relaxed. The second interviewer was abrasive and blunt.
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Are you a mutant? -> 1st/only in family to attend college and the interviewer joked with me about it. :-)
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What do you think is the first step in achieving universal healthcare?
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Why did you choose your major?
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None
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Tell me about an ethical problem you may face as a doctor.
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What are your concerns about healthcare?
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What's the wildest thing you've ever done? No REALLY...what is it?
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What do you think of politics?
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Where do you see yourself in 15 years?
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What do you think is the key to being a great physician?
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What would you do if you had 90 seconds to obtain parental consent for a blood transfusion for a child who would die without it, and the parents refused based on their religion?
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Stony Brook has very open exams - they are given online and you have three days to take them. If you catch another student cheating, what would you do?
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How did working with the hemiplegic-cerebral palsy child change your view of yourself?
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What is astrobiology?
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What do you think are the significant advances that medicine has made in the past 10 years?
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If you could design your own medical school name two integral features.
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None in particular; both of my interviews were more or less conversations, with a leading question thrown in now and then (Why pick your undergraduate school? How difficult was it to get a summer job at X?)
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I am a soccer coach, and he asked how I have dealt with problem parents.
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What is your greatest failure?
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An ethics question relating to insurance fraud.
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Health care reform
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If being Catholic would affect my ability to perform abortions or to engage in certain types of stem cell research?
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A patient has a genetic condition that when treated with stem cells from the mother's umbilical cord during a subsequent conception, the condition can be cured. What are the ethical issues behind this decision?
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Are there any difficulties that you can perceive about being a doctor which give you pause (in your decision to be a doctor)?
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How I would respond to a patient who wants to accept a kidney from an internet ad.
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Why did you write about X in your essay?
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If I'm a sick patient and you're a student, why should you be allowed in my room? What do you have to offer me?
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None really...pretty straightforward
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Where are your best friends going to college, and what are they studying?
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Talk to me about an experience you had with a patient. (Very open-ended.)
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What problems do you think you will face when you begin practicing medicine?
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What would you do if a parent refused a life-saving surgery for their child based on their religious beliefs?
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Why do you want to be a doctor. No really, why do YOU want to be a doctor. Okay, so why do you want to do surgery. Why not endocrinology? Why not this? Why not that?
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If I asked you to write a paper on why George W. Bush is a bad president would you be comfortable?
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What would you consider a difficult patient?
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Why will you not be sanctioned for unethical practices when you are practicing medicine? (It was actually much more eloquently presented, I'm just paraphrasing)
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Nothing really - the interview was kind of bland
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If you were the new surgeon general what would you like to accomplish?
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What would you do if you do not suceed at getting into medical school. Answer as if Applying again was not an option
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Give me your opinion on a few ethical questions - abortion, physician assisted suicide and managed care.
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My perception of other cities I have lived in compared to NYC (where I was born and raised).
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Conversational
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What do you think about the US healthcare system
-
The entire interview was conversational. It was actually pretty damn amazing.
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If it was discovered that a med student is having sexual relations with a psych patient, what would you do if you are on the disciplinary committee?
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What are some of the problems with the healthcare system today?
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What do you want me to tell the committee?
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Why were your freshman year grades so bad? (interesting because he was so blunt about it)
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What health policy problem is most serious in the country and what should be done to alleviate it?
-
What should the consequences be of a medical student who has sex with a psychiatric patienet?
-
Sooo, you were a biology major?
-
Various ethical dilemmas and how you would handle them.
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All the questions were horrible and very inappropriate.
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A question regarding a hypothetical patient and a long history of breast cancer in her family. You want her to undergo testing but insurance won't conver it unless you feel a lump. You don't feel a lump. What do you do?
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What are two attributes a great doctor must possess?
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Which Broadway musical would you recommend for me to see?
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Nothing the interviewer focused on completely inappropriate questions that had nothing to do with my being a physcian.
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Ethical questions.
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What good movies do you recommend (stemming from when I mentioned its one of the things I do for fun)
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What do you think of a new website in which individuals apeal for organ donation by describing their own circumstance (ie telling their sob story)?
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No "interesting" questions came up. They were all standard questions
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What does you last name mean?...I had no clue
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Nothing-- actually, I was the one asking most of the questions. it was very laid-back, more of a conversation.
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If a patient was 30 minutes late to an appointment, how would you handle it?
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With your understanding of the health care industry, why do you still want to be a doctor? (we were talking about the managed care aspect of medicine)
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Sooo, you took chemistry?
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It was a question regarding a controversial incident in Montreal (where I live).
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What are some things that may pose as means of stress for a physician?
-
Despite all the challenges facing doctors today, why do you still want to do medicine?
-
Why do you think medicine is for you?
-
In terms of your decision to practice medicine, how has the diversity of opinions on tobacco in the state of Kentucky affected you?
-
What do you know about the Jazz program at () Music School? (don't worry, this wasn't completely random we were talking about music at the time)
-
Has there ever been a time when a patient's culture or beliefs led them to not want to be treated by a woman? What did you/could you do?
-
Bush is proposing a cap on the amount of money any one person can be recompensed for a malpractice suit. How do you feel about this?
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The interviewer presented a series of real life expamples leading upto questions on medical ethics - embryo research, teen abortion, gene screening, etc
-
Much more of a conversation than bullet points, but 1 question I remember/liked: "Talk about an emergency room experience that was truly memorable"
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Do you think that allowing stem cell research would create a market for women to sell their eggs?
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There has been a recent movement for doctors to learn "laymans" language to enhance patient interactions and make sure the patients understand their conditions. What do you think about this?
-
All run of the mill.
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None. All were standard questions
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Nothing really, my interviewer talked most of the time
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Why would you choose Stony Brook over a medical school in NYC?
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When do you find time to sleep!?!?
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What do you feel is a big problem facing children today?
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Do you think you will remain interested in practicing medicine alone after 10 years, or will you need the additional intellectual experience of research?
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Have you always been committed to medicine?
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What do you do for fun?
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Not sure, it was really mostly conversation
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If you were the doctor of a young child whose family was Jahova's Witness (who don't believe in blood transfusions), and the child was brought in with a severe accident requiring a blood transfusion, what would you do? My Answer: I would talk to the family and explain the situation. Since my patient is the child, I would have to take it upon myself to fight for the child's well-being. While I would try to respect the wishes of the family, I would not be adverse to getting a court order for the blood transfusion.
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If I child needed a blood transfusion to save his life, but this conflicted with the parents religious beliefs, would you lie to the parents that there is a blood substitute in order to save the childs life?
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How do you feel about a patient's religious beliefs if it gets in the way of their care?
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Nothing out of the ordinary was asked.
-
Nothing out of the ordinary...skimmed my essays at the interview, was pleasant and had a sense of humor.
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I was asked a number of thought provoking ethics questions: They were on varied topics such as student cheating, having sex with patients, domestic violence
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What kind of activities would you participate in during your medical school education?
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Some ethical ?'s/
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Almost all the questions were exclusively derived from my AMCAS application or supplemental application essays. It was very laid back and conversational (Although one student in my group did have a bunch of ethics questions)
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Why do you think so many female medical school applicants are dancers? Is there a connection?
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Did you ever play basketball? (natural question since i'm 6'7")
-
Who would you like to see in the World Series?
-
Do you have a stance about healthcare for the uninsured? How do you think the issue could be addressed?
-
First thing my interviewer said: "I got goose bumps reading your application!" Specific questions about my research.
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Tell me about an experience with a patient that was memorable.
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What would you like me to tell the admissions committee about you?
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If euthanasia were practiced in the United States, and a doctor's religious beliefs conflicted with the practice of euthanasia, how should he handle a terminally ill patient who's family wants euthansia?
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What was the most difficult question you've gotten in your other interviews?
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What do you want me to tell the admissions comittee about you? I've heard from friends that they ask this question quite commonly.
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Are any of my classmates from high school and college in professional areas.
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Same as the most difficult question I was asked (see below)
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I was asked many standard interview questions. I felt prepared for all of them.
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If you caught your fellow student cheating, would you report her? ( Stony Brook has a honor code system. So my answer was suppose to be yes. But I said I am not sure. He seemed to be satisfied with the answer and said he appreciated my honesty)
-
What do you think Dr. Kavorkian's legacy will be?
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I dont remember. It was very informal. My interviewer had read my entire file and was well prepared. It was more conversational than stressful.
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Where do you see yourself in ten years?
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How does being immigrant child affect your desire to become a physician?
-
What is a negative aspect in working in a hospital? (i'm working in a hospital right now for the year).
-
What can we do to increase the amount of black male applicants?
How did you prepare for the interview?
Applicants commonly prepared for the interview by reviewing their application materials, practicing with mock interviews, reading the school's website, and utilizing resources like Student Doctor Network (SDN) for interview feedback and common questions. Suggestions included revisiting personal statements and secondary essays, researching the school's curriculum and unique features, and being prepared to discuss ethical issues and current healthcare topics.
Top 5 Responses: (Click below to see additional responses)
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Looked over the school to know "why stony brook"
-
Practiced the most common questions and read over my application
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Mock interviews, reviewing my file,school website
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Practice interviews, SDN, general interview style questions
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HW reading up on the website, reviewing my AMCAS, all my research projects, re-reading my secondaries to SB and reading those from other schools that may have relevant info
-
SDN/rereading app
-
Read application; read up on curriculum on school website.
-
Read SDN interview feedback, prepared for common interview questions
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Read these questions, read through my personal statement and application. Might be useful to review any work you have done for professors that you have had write you a letter of recommendation as this could come up if they mentioned the project in your letter!
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SDN, School Website
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Reading these.
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School website (they will ask why this school over others so know what sets them apart), watched videos on interview taking, put together a list of questions to ask.
-
Looked up school website, reread AMCAS essays and secondary essays
-
SDN Interview feedback, looked at their website, practiced.
-
Just went over my app and read up on the school.
-
Went through their website, read over my primary and secondary apps a few times, and watched some of their youtube videos
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SDN, Stony Brook website, reviewed primary and secondary applications
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Read SDN and SB's website
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Mock interviews.
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SDN, school's website, and talked to students.
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This survey and other SDN threads.
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SDN, website, reviewed app
-
Read sdn
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Read my AMCAS, my Secondary Application, read the materials on the school's website. Reviewed my interview-prep notes from my other interviews.
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Interview reviews, primary and secondary applications, school website.
-
SDN, AMCAS
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SDN
-
SDN, looked over my AMCAS and secondary
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SDN, School Website, Health Care Articles, AMCAS, Secondary
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SDN, SB website, MSAR and my applications, 3 secondary essays
-
Read SDN, reviewed my AMCAS and secondary essays
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Read the website, read this forum, read a packet with example interview questions, prepared questions to ask the interviewers
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SDN interview feedback, reread AMCAS application, ethics questions and healthcare systems in general
-
Re-read AMCAS and secondary, researched school website, SDN Interview Feedback
-
Read SDN feedback, school website, reread my applications.
-
Read an interview book and prepared an outline from it. Skimmed the WashU bioethics module. Had two mock interviews.
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Re-reading my essays, reading through interview feedback
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SDN, reread my file, reviewed the school's website
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Sdn, schools website
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SDN, mock interviews, school website
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Read SDN, AMCAS
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SDN, AMCAS, secondary, UofW bioethics page
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Read SDN (my interview was nothing like how other people's went)
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I didn't
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SDN, school website, reread my application
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Reread my secondary, looked at feedback on this site
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Sdn, reviewed AMCAS, school website
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Read SDNet, read the school's website and literature, nearly missed my train, got lost.
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Reviewed AMCAS & Secondary Application, school website, SDN
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SDN, spoke to my friend who is a second year at Stony Brook
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Lots of Prayer, SDN, went over ethical issues, re-read secondary
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Application review, studentdoctor.net
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4th interview, so I read the website, browsed SDN, and reviewed the tour materials.
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Read up on ethical questions, re-read all six thousand essays I wrote for the school, glanced at the website and at the interview feedback here at SDN, read the Health Times the week before. None of it necessary, apparently.
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AMCAS, reread application, browsed website, spoke with a friend who is a student
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SDN, reviwed AMCAS and secondary applic, talked to med students, residents and doctors, reviewed school's website, kaplan's medical admissions adviser and tried my suit on the week before to make sure it still fit.
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Website, SDN
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Schools website
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Read the website and reread my secondary and primary applications.
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Mock interview, SDN feedback, Understanding Health Policy, Health Care Meltdown, UWash Bioethics Module, reading House of God right now, read over pending publications, read over AMCAS, etc.
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Skim AMCAS, look at school's description, read over secondary.
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Read through AMCAS, secondary application, Stony Brook website
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Re read AMCAS and my secondary essays
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Read the School of Medicine's website to gain information on the school itself.
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SDN Interview Feedback.
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SDN comments, Stony Brook website
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SDN, website, reviewed AMCAS/secondary
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Reviewed application
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Read about the school, SDN, practiced with friends
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SDN, spoke with first years I knew attending the institution, overview of my AMCAS application, review of my initial research into Stony Brook before I applied
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SND, re-read application, school's website
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Went over my secondary app, amcas app, sdn, read the newspaper
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Read website (not helpful, sdn (very helpful), AMCAS and secondary application
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Reviewed AMCAS, this website
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Hung out with a friend who is an MS2 therefore I pretty much saw everything I need to see to know about SB.
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Stony Brook website, just kind of went in blind
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SDN, MSAR, School website - not much there though
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Amcas, sdn, articles on healthcare, stony brook website (skimpy)
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Website, SDN, application
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Reviewed application material.
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I have friends who go there and I studied at the undergrad campus for two years.
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Read SDN, browsed Stony Brook website
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Read SDN, checked the website etc.
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Read website, review amcas application, read up on healthcare relateed issues, this post
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I had been on 4 other interviews and I knew what I wanted to do with my life and I was very comfortable before the interview began
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Browsed this website, reviewed current ethical issues, researched the school's program.
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Read about the school, read my application
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SND, read the school's website
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AMCAS and Secondary
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SDN, AMCAS, other interviews
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My amcas, their website
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AMCAS, SDN, school website
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Amcas, secondary, sdn
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Studied the school, talked to students, practiced answering questions
-
Student doctor.net and read over my amcas
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SDN, read their website, looked over AMCAS and secondary
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Read sdn, review file
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Website, MSAR, SDN
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Took other interviews, read the website, read SDN, read up on ethics
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Read up on issues and the schools.
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SDN, AMCAS, secondaries, stony brook site
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This website, reread PS and Secondary answers, read about the school
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SDN, looked over the school's website
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SDN, school's website, re-read application.
-
Read the school's website, SDN
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Reread secondaries and AMCAS, checked out curriculum and programs again, read sdn, took a cleansing breath.
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Read my essays for the secondary application, reviewed AMCAS app, checked SDN
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Contacted student. Website.
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Reviewed my application, read Stony Brook's website, read this website
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I read this site, read the school's website, and had certain ideas in mind to answer questions about current medical issues.
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MSAR, this website
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School wb, amcas, sdn and newspapers
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Read my AMCAS, their website, this website
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Read student doctor site, sb site, looked over essays and application
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SDN, mock interview, re-read AMCAS & Secondary
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Read over my application, etc.
-
Spoke with friends who go there, read the website and associated literature, and sdn
-
Reviewed Stony Brook website, reread essays, checked out sdn
-
Read website, re-read 2ndary, AMCAS, SDN.
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SDN, SUNY SB Website
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Website, AMCAS, sdn
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Read my application, and the schools website
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AMCAS app, website (which is not helpful) and reviewed basic questions, this website
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Read SDN comments, was just myself like I had been in every other inteview (experience has helped me with the nerves)
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This site, SB website, AMCAS app.
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Sdn, school's web site
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SDN, STony brook web site,
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SDN, Stony Brook Website
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Website
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Read over AMCAS app, supplemental essays, Stony Brook website
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Read over SDN, my AMCAS, which helped because my interviewer knew my application quite intimately.
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Info packets, this site, mock interview etc
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Mock Interview, school website, AMCAS, answers to supplemental questions (REVIEW THESE CAREFULLY! I was asked about all three!!!)
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This website, schools website, MSAR
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Read their website, SDN, AMCAS, research notes. Read on medical ethics quite a bit, but was never asked any ethics question.
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School website, current events.
-
Went through my AMCAS
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Read school's website, my amcas, my secondary, and this website
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Read stony brook site, this site, my application
-
Read this site, read over my file, thought about answers to some commonly asked questions -- healthcare system, etc.
-
Read this site, the school's website, my amcas and supplemental applications.
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Interview feedback on this site, read over my application, and look over the Stony Brook web site.
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I read this site, read various journal articles related to my research, my own research articles, topics of interest (in my case neurology/neuroscience), health disparities, my application and all three essays.
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School website, interview guide from pre-med advisor, MSAR book.
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It was my fourth interview, so I decided to just wing it.
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The website and looked over application
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This site,.... online,.... school's site,... Princeton's Review of Medical Schools.
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Re-read my application
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Brochure, SDN, AMCAS, talk to SUNY students (very helpful)
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Read website, looked over app
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Went on their webpage, read interviewerfeedback.com, and read the materials they had sent me.
What was the most difficult question?
Students said most difficult question asked at Renaissance School of Medicine - Stony Brook University discussed a wide range of topics, including future career plans if not accepted, healthcare system improvements, personal patient interaction experiences, ethical dilemmas like euthanasia, and unexpected questions about passions and unique aspects of their applications. Some responses indicated an MMI format with nondisclosure agreements, while others highlighted the importance of staying calm, being honest, and preparing for unexpected inquiries during the interviews.
Top 5 Responses: (Click below to see additional responses)
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What is your plan B if you were not to get accepted into medical school?
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If you were the tzar of healthcare how would you make it a better system?
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Tell me about yourself
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Why don't you have more hands-on patient interaction experience? (E.g. taking patient histories, physicals, etc). Without that experience, how are you sure you want to be a doctor?
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What are your thoughts on euthanasia? (PSA: I didn't prepare for any ethics question going in, and this definitely took me by surprise. Still, I ended up getting in. Moral of the story: if you get a difficult question, just stay calm and be honest, and don't overthink it afterwards. Even if you didn't do so well, other parts of your application may very well balance things out.)
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Which schools did you interview at
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Eugenics, which he was a vocal proponent of, and whether stupid people should be allowed to breed.
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He told me about the difficult parts of being a doctor and why despite all that I would want to become one instead of becoming a professor.
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What are you least looking forward to about medical school?
-
What is the one thing I should tell the admissions committee about you that is not on your application? This came out of the blue, after the interviewer talked about his/herself for maybe 10 minutes. Be prepared.
-
My faculty interviewer kept asking "Are you SURE you want to go into medicine? I mean...how do you know?" I gave him four thousand answers and he just kept squinting at me....
-
Explain why you got a 10 in the PS section of the MCAT?
-
Nothing out of the ordinary
-
What is a passion of yours? (Other than the things we had already talked about)
-
NONE. It was more like a conversation.
-
None really, know details of the research you've worked on if you list it in your app
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Tell me about an important issue in health care and the solution.
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Suppose you are a physician and you were taking care of this patient that has cancer for a long time. One day the patient tells you: I don't want any more treatment, I am tired, I want to spend time with my family. How will you handle this situation?
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I did not get any ethics questions
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Are there any ethical issues in medicine that may conflict with your moral beliefs?
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None.
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How do you think your unusual past will help you be a better med student and doctor?
-
None...very conversational and friendly
-
Ethical questions regarding abortion and blood transfusions
-
How to improve American Health Care system?
-
Do you feel that websites that advertise organ donors (sort of like craigslist for transplants, no money transaction) are ethical? Do we tell patients about this website?
-
Why do you believe something that is wrong? (He implied I was foolish to be religious because of archeological evidence disproving it)
-
One interviewer with my file proceeded to ask me questions that were on my file (i.e. did I do research, volunteer work, what was your MCAT score, etc) and I was caught off guard. I just figured that she would have seen that stuff and I was frazzled that I got asked the questions so I was unhappy with my responses. I just tried to stay positive and upbeat, but I wasn't able to adequately outline me and my application in the context of me being a capable medical student and respectable future physician.
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How do you think you would feel as a practicing physician being paid under a single party payer?
-
No difficult questions
-
Not too much
-
None
-
Nothing too difficult
-
What's the wildest thing you've ever done...
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What practical steps would you take to solve America's Healthcare Crisis
-
It was more of a conversation
-
Nothing difficult really, if I had to pick I would say: If you have your choice of what school to go to what will be the one thing that will influence your decision most?
-
What would you say to a patient who was paralyzed from the neck down, had no living family, and felt that life was no longer worth living?
-
You state in one of your essays that part of the problem with rising medical costs is that doctors and hospitals perform extraneous tests to avoid lawsuits. You state in your personal statement that your patient (as an EMT) had a condition that couldn't be determined without extensive testing. How do you reconcile those two things?
-
Why did the physician you worked with decide to use that particular treatment for the patient?
-
Nothing really... the whole interview flowed really nicely.
-
By God's Grace, nothing terribly difficult. My first interviewer took me back to high school and asked me how many students attended my school. This was fine because overcrowding was a problem at my HS and I had a good idea of how many kids attended with me. He also asked me questions about a specific history course I took in college and I had to explain how we had a nutty professor who didn't teach us the material that the course was supposed to cover. Again, nothing terribly difficult, but he did catch certain things that I said and asked me questions based on those things. Nice guy, one of those calm yet stern people. His last name is the same as the Saint who Feb. 14th is named for. He was a stickler for time. Both interviews were 30min long and he made sure that we kept to that limit.
-
Explain your poor academic performance prior to your postbacc years.
-
Where do you see yourself in 25 years? I was expecting maybe 10 or 15 but 25?
-
None. No ethical questions, no grades questions, just a friendly discussion of what I was currently up to and my plans for the future.
-
I took a music course my soph yr of college (5 yrs ago), and he asked who my favorite composer was.
-
What can you offer stonybrook?
-
What is the biggest weakness in your application.
-
Tell me about your odd-major
-
How can your extracurricular activities compare to people who have spent a year in Africa or in the Peace Corps?
-
See question above... Also mostly bioethics questions about Jehova's Witnesses, Jehova's Witnesses's kids, changes to the health care system, how preventive care can be effectively conveyed to a generally nonresponsive population.
-
What is one thing that you want me to tell the admissions committee about you?
-
How I feel about University honor codes, and whether I would turn in a fellow student for cheating.
-
Suppose you were treating a woman whose family has a history of breast cancer. She's under the age of 40 and her insurance doesnt want to pay for a preventative mammogram. Would you lie and say you felt a lump to get her the mammo you know she needs?
-
-
-
What do you know about Stony Brook School of Medicine?
-
So, what happened with your grades?
-
What do you want me to tell the admissions committee about you?
-
Same as above
-
Why didn't you spend the last three years of your life padding your application?
-
Have you ever smoked pot?
-
The above is the only one that made me pause a bit
-
See above
-
She wanted to know something negative about myself - and she absolutely would not accept a run of the mill answer such as a negative trait thats really a positive trait as well.
-
Where have you received interviews and did you aply to any competitive scools like Harvard and John Hopkins?
-
Tell me something you would like to change about yourself.
-
Cite any current or future problems concerning health care in the US
-
Tell me something negative about yourself (Why would I want to do that???)
-
As your representative what do you want me to say to the committee?
-
Please give some examples of why you think ____ is a major problem in healthcare today.
-
What is your take on some of the ethical situations faced in medicine? How would you handle them?
-
How do you think your major (non-science)will help you later on in life?
-
If you are accepted this year you will earn an MD in 2010 and finish residency say around 2014...what problems will doctors be facing at that time?
-
Describe one strength and one weaakness (I didn't like my answer)
-
Sooo, you were a biology major?
-
Above.
-
"Why weren't you in therapy when you were 8 years old?" !!!!!
-
None were really difficult. It ended up being an enjoyable discussion about the school, surrounding area, and medicine in general.
-
Do you agree or disagree with the president of Harvard on why women and men are different? is it innate?
-
One of your friends is cheating on test, what do you do? (he was looking for tell on them, I think)
-
Nothing difficult, just questions about my application.
-
How would you respond in this situation-- one must be sober for 2 years to get a liver transplant. A man comes to you after being clean for 8 months and will die without a transplant. what would you do?
-
To explain why my science GPA is lower than my overall
-
If a person in the emergency room needed a blood transfusion to live but refused to take one due to religious belief, would you respect her beliefs and watch her die?...I know you have to respect your patients belief but it was hard for me to say out lould "yes, I would let the patient die"...which was the answer my interviewer was looking for
-
When did you decide you wanted to be a doctor? (Had to explain why i started pre-med in college, quit and went back)
-
Nothing out of the ordinary.
-
There werent really any difficult questions.
-
Why did you apply to that particular school? (I had no answer other than it was my safety so I had to say it in a nice way without sounding obnoxious)
-
How would you craft an ideal health care system?
-
What are your weaknesses?
-
See above!
-
How would you break bad news?
-
Is there/should there be a theory of medical feminism? (I had a women's studies essay published in college.)
-
How do you plan to solve the medical malpractice crisis in the United States?
-
If you know another medical student cheats on an exam - Do you report him/her? I just think I fumbled a littel bit here. He was looking for a resounding YES!!!
-
What do you want me to tell the admssions committee about you? (the more mundane the question, the more difficult it is)
-
Tell me about yourself -- I just do much better with specific questions to answer.
-
There were no difficult questions.
-
What would you do about the healthcare crisis? We ended up agreeing on much of what I said which was good because I was nervous.
-
What are some of your ethical concerns?
-
How do you think that the health insurance crisis should be resolved?
-
What do you think about stem cell research? (Difficult because I couldn't gauge my interviewer's opinion and didn't want to go against her position)
-
Why hasn't health care been reformed significantly to help the millions of uninsured.
-
If you look back the past 5 years of your life, what would you change and why?
-
Of the different things you have done in the recent years(i'm a non-trad student), do you have any regrets?
-
If you live in new york, why do you want to go to school at stony brook?
-
How will you choose between several schools that accept you?
-
Lots of ethics and solutions to the healthcare crisis.
-
Why did decide to be a ______ major ? I see that you do not excel in the area. (i got two B's out of all my major courses!!!!!)
-
Nothing, every question asked was a common question which you should know how to answer for any med school interview. There were no ethics questions, just questions about why you want to be a dr., what you know about downstate, what you do in your spare time, etc.
-
N/A.
-
How would I respond to a student who was cheating off of me during an exam
-
Nothing difficult
-
Same
-
How would you communicate in an emergency to a woman from Laos who doesn't know English? What if a 12 year old told her parents she wasn't sexually active and then told you she is pregnant and then asked for an abortion?
-
What do you think about physician assisted suicide?
-
If you were the surgeon general, how would you aim to help the growing problem of obesity in this country? (this was directed at my answer to the first supplemental question regarding US Healthcare)
-
None. They were all directly related to my prior education and experience.
-
None. Felt weird about being asked about all schools I have applied to.
-
What were your SAT scores? (it took me a solid 30 seconds to remember)
-
Tell me about a particular person you helped during your community service.
-
What are some of the major ethical problems that medicine must face today?
-
There are some very selfish and competitive people who do not treat people, even their patients, nicely in medicine. WHat would you do/how would you respond, if in the future, your boss at work is a jerk?
-
The same -- most of the questions were pretty straightforward.
-
None really. The interview was very conversational.
-
If you were not accepted to medical school, what do you think did you in?
-
See the above statement.
-
If a Jehovah's witness needs a blood transfusion to live, but refuses, what do you do?
-
If one of your patient became ill again with another disease, how would you handle it? How do you deal with your emotions.
-
What would you like me to tell the committee that you haven't told me yet, hasn't come out in the interview or I haven't asked?
-
"Where else are you interviewing?" and "How's Stony Brook doing?" Threw me off a bit.
-
If you could change one thing about yourself what would it be?
-
If someone had a crystal ball and told you that medicine was not in your future, what career would you choose?
-
What would I do to remedy the health care system. It wasn't really bad since I had a feeling I'd be asked that so I was able to prepare beforehand
What impressed you positively?
Applicants were overwhelmingly impressed by the friendliness and enthusiasm of the students, faculty, and staff at Stony Brook University School of Medicine. They highlighted the supportive and close-knit community, the modern facilities, the low-stress interview process, and the emphasis on student well-being and satisfaction. Many also appreciated the opportunities for research, the quality of education, and the positive atmosphere on campus.
Top 5 Responses: (Click below to see additional responses)
-
The interviewers were very nice and only had good things to say about the school
-
Very welcoming and laid back
-
Organization despite being online
-
The current students
-
Caring, supportive, intimate environment
-
Interviewers were very kind and
-
Interviewers were incredibly kind and welcoming. Very, very low-stress and casual. Had a biochem / physio professor (PhD, not MD), and a 4th year student. Both read my file extensively and it was obvious they took the time to really understand me beforehand. The student even referred to an specific line in one of my essays and how it really resonated with him.
-
There is a student group that does magic for kids!
-
Super friendly staff and students
-
People there were so nice
-
The faculty members were incredibly friendly and candid.
-
Interview was dynamic and hilarious. Facilities were much better than expected, especially after having interviewed at Downstate the previous day. Loved it.
-
The interviewers were very laid back and the students were very friendly and helpful.
-
Nice students, new curriculum seems great.
-
The students were so friendly and happy to be there. The hospital ER has been recently renovated and looked very nice. Facilities were up to date and nice. Everyone I met was friendly.
-
My student interviewer was really nice (and cute...) and the admissions staff was really friendly! The building/facilities were also nice.
-
The facilities are amazing and new
-
Admissions staff and interviewers were very friendly and the day was very low-stress. Interview was conversational with very few typical "interview questions".
-
I really loved the whole day. Both of my interviewers were extremely friendly and spent significant time selling the school to me. I also thought the students were very friendly and outgoing.
-
Very friendly students. Great facilities. Their hospital had a dinosaur fossil. I love dinosaurs.
-
Very friendly, really
-
Students seemed happy to be there
-
How warm everyone was on the interview, the clinical skills center, the students
-
Medical students and faculty are genuinely happy to be at SBU SOM.
-
Campus, Long Island, Safe, Attractive Hospital
-
Reviewed my primary and secondary app; reviewed interview questions
-
The facility is pristine. People were very friendly.
-
The facilities were great, great match list, students seemed happy and satisfied.
-
Enthusiastic and confident students and faculty, plethora of research opportunities, faculty who are leaders in their fields, excellent facilities, state tuition.
-
The students seemed to love the school. night life seemed fun at port jefferson. anatomy is very well taught at SB. they seem to prepare students very well for USMLE (Step 1 avg is 10 pts higher than national avg)
-
Sense of community, faculty, students seemed happy and relatively normal, lots of events, nice facilities
-
Everyone was extremely friendly, the students and faculty I met were great! The facilities are great (but a bit funky looking on the outside). The students seemed confident that they were getting a great education, and all seemed to know each other well. The student to cadaver ratio was great in the anatomy lab (less than all other SUNY schools). Lots of opportunities for research, and a growing global health program. Also offers an accredited MPH. I visited every school in New York State, and I liked SB better than many private schools.
-
The school was beautiful. Nicely renovated entrance and, most of all, everyone was so friendly and extremely proud to be a part of Stony Brook. It seems like a very close-knitted community with everyone helping one another. The best medical school I have visited this year in NY and Boston area. I was completely mesmerized with the quality of faculty and education. I fell in love!!!!!
-
The facilities are gorgeous, the students seem to be very friendly to one another and were extremely helpful. Students seemed very proud to be there and confident that they were getting the best education. Match list is impressive and a ton of students matched to NYC hospitals. Material in the interview folder left a very good impression. My interviewers were both friendly and my faculty interviewer, about whom some people have complained in other posts, was hilarious and we had an awesome conversation about anything and everything.
-
How friendly everyone was, how close the students seem to be, how well prepared for boards and residency the students are
-
Facilities were very nice, and all the lecture halls are connected in one building; only thing is that the building is a maze of its own. a close-knit campus where everyone helps each other out.
-
Students seem happy, everyone was nice and helpful.
-
It seemed laid back and friendly. The students seemed to really be happy with the school.
-
Everyone was fantastically friendly. It seems like an incredible learning environment.
-
The students and the facilities
-
How happy, positive and friendly everyone was... people seemed truly happy to be there
-
New anatomy lab, new clinical sim. rooms and equipment, one of the interviews was the most relaxed one I have had so far
-
Students seemed really really happy, admissions staff was friendly and everyone was excited for us to be there
-
The close-knit-ness of the class
-
I was the only person who was not a NY resident, but after meeting the students, faculty, and administrators, I definitely felt I could belong there. The people are super nice. First year clinical rotations. The human anatomy professor discovered Lucy - how cool is that?!
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Nothing
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How friendly/happy everyone was. The admissions presenter was a Red Sox fan. My interviewer told me that if I got into another school which I told him I interviewed at that I should go there because its an awesome school
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The only thing missing in my interviews here was beer- good times - made good friends of the faculty.
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How helpful and enthusiastic the students and staff were.
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The enthusiasm of my interviewers, the admissions staff and the tour guides
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The students were incredibly happy, faculty seemed interested in student's lives, friendliness of admissions staff, opportunities for research and international electives, interesting university hospital, students able to pursue lots of interests outside of medicine.
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The admissions office was very nice. I can't really say, because I didn't really get to see much of the school, since there are no tours.
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The curriculum incorporates behavioral, social and humanities medicine and nutrition as well as patient contact in the first year. The MD with recognition in research or humanistic studies.
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The people were so friendly and enthusiastic. Everyone was really happy to be there. I like the way they organize the classes too.
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The enthusiasm of the Med-students about their choice of school and how well they get along with eachother
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Really like the small class size (about 100). Students mentioned that professors and attendings are brilliant. Research opportunities seem vast.
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Stony Brook's MD with distinction program (Interviewers seemed very keen to elaborate on this) offers students an opportunity to get a taste of research without going into a full fledged MSTP. In addition, this research does not have to be in a medical science, but must be medically related. For example, a student could graduate with distinction for medical research in the humanities.
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The shiny hospital, the amazing amount of research possibilities, the collaboration with the other University schools, the strong match list and the enthusiasm of the students for their school. Oh, and the tuition, but that's because 18.8k is a steal for a medical school. Why go out of state?
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Students were very laid back, eager to asnwer questions and endorse the school, appeared to have free time
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Very friendly and helpful admissions office staff and med students. Interviewers were very laid back, not interrogating. Both interviews were more like conversations. The med school is in the hospital building and you get patient exposure at the start of your 1st year. Students are very enthusiastic about the school and say they get a lot of support from faculty, mentors, staff, etc. Only 4 students per cadaver in anatomy lab.
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Admissions staff and interviewers were incredibly warm and sincere. Asst. Dean of Admissions personally answered our questions. School honor code. Students seem non-competitive and friendly. 4 students to a cadaver. Part of larger graduate health sciences student body. Facility is integrated with hospital and classrooms.
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Students, faculty, facilities (technological)
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The inside of the hospital was modern and the students did seem fairly close-knit.
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Students and faculty were really nice.
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Students seemed happy there, interviewers were very proud of the school, other interviewees seemed like fun people.
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I was very impressed that both my interviewers actually attended Stony Brook. They both had great things to say about the school. The students also seemed really happy there.
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The facilites were much nicer than I thought they would be for a state school. Plus the hospital in doubling in size and the new wing will be open in about 2 years.
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People were pretty nice, students seemed to like the place
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Everyone was really friendly
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Very nice campus, pleasant faculty and staff, calm and peaceful location.
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Nearly everyone who goes to Stony Brook seems to really like it there. It seemed like a diverse group of people (including age-wise).
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Students could not be happier here, Admissions Office staff was extremely nice and helpful, very low stress level, my interviewer ROCKED!
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Enthusiasm of students & faculty, warm reception, generosity with time, expectations on faculty to help students/respond to emails/take an active interest in their education
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Students were friendly, wireless throughout building, note-taking service
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The students were friendly, the tour guide was enthusiastic.
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Transcription services offered (I usually like to attend all the classes, so I liked the idea of taking notes for the class), lectures are recorded, online services, extremely approachable students, closely knit community, open-door policy for professors, MD with distinction program, sharing facilities with the undergrads, easy access to transport to NYC, wonderful admissions staff (they talk TO you, not AT you)
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Small class size
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Everyone was extremely friendly. The faculty seemed very involved in student affairs and the environment seemed very non-competitive
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Wireless acess throughout, comfortable classrooms and friendliness of admissions staff
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The school is right in the hospital
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The faculty, the facilities, the students (not super competitive), the class size (about 100)
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How genuinely kind everyone one was at the school.
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Facilites were very good - wireless throughout, great classrooms and anatomy lab (but it had no window)
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Students seem EXTREMELY happy, facilities are better than i expected, entire building is wireless, curriculum is very diverse (honor code too), my interviewer
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Honor code system, students attitudes, early clinical exposure
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The students enthusiasm and the community feel.
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Everyone was friendly and inviting. The interviewer was really great and non-intimidating.
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Everyone was extremely friendly and helpful. The students I talked to didn't emphasize the in-state tuition as their reason for choosing Stony Brook. It definitely seemed like a place I could be happy spending the next 4 years, especially since the beach is only 10 minutes away (ok its a long island beach, but it's still a beach).
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The facilities are outstanding and only getting better- Stony Brook has money and its spending it!
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The people wre all very friendly, even the administration in the admissions office
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The students are very friendly and upbeat and the facilities are impressive
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The students were extremely friendly, down-to-earth, enthusiastic and helpful. The school seems to be very responsive to student concerns. The fellow interviewees were more interesting and pleasant than those I met at other interviews.
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The students seemed really cool and happy there. The school seemed like a supportive and encouraging environment.
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The class was really small and close. They didn't seem too competitive grade wise either. The note service is a definate plus.
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The interviewer was very friendly, knew my application.
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I met over 10 med students from all years, they were very honest, eager to answer questions, and down to earth.
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Students very nice and seemed happy were they were.
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The interviewer was very friendly and strait-forward about the pro's and con's of the school.
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Nothing. Everything good about the school I had known before the interview: great reputation, clinically and especially regarding research, residency opportunities, small class. Oh and the anatomy lab seemed nice and spacious/ventilated.
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Enthusiasm of the student body. seems like a small friendly class that is not too uptight!
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The overall atmosphere - everyone was enthusiastic and friendly and seemed to really want to be there. The labs are currently undergoing a 300 million dollar renovation and look quite nice.
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How great my interviewer was, how happy the students were, the fact that the students had free time, that everything was in one building so you never have to go outside in the cold
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My interviewer and all the students I met were very pleasant and apparently happy with their choice.
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The students seemed happy to be there. There is a small class size, so the class is pretty tight. My interviewer was also a really nice guy, very enthusiastic about his field.
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The students are very very happy and its generally very cheerful, definitely would have been my first choice...but its going to happen
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The students, opportunities, size of campus, and faculty.
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The friendliness of the admissions staff
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Student camraderie. Since they're a small class, they're all cooperative with each other. It's a very laid-back environment. My hosts and their friends came over the night before to work on a PBL set together. I was observing a class before my interview, and when there was a small break, students were very friendly and turned to me and another interviewee and asked us if we had any questions. Most areas in the school have wireless capabilities.
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Four people per cadaver in the anatomy labs!
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Students are great, wireless internet every where, lots of updated computer facilities.
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Friendliness of everyone at the school! evolving curriculum, importance of research.
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I had no idea that Long Island could be that beautiful. It looked like Greenwich but without the mansions. My boyfriend spent the day photographing at nearby wildlife preserves.
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Everything. I have never been to a school like this - everyone was really friendly, down to earth, and very happy there (I think 20 students came in to talk to us about how much they like the school). Small class size, great library and facilities, really nice and receptive administration. Like many applicants, i applied to state schools in new york and the private schools in nyc. Stony Brook impressed more than any other school that I have visited. Sure, it isn't new york city - but i think manhattan is very overrated and way too pricy to live the way that you could live in stony brook. Some students had houses on the water! It was seriously crazy how much this place rocked.
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Excited student body, great hospital, extemly supportive faculty.
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1) Combo of great research and clinical focus/training. 2) Cost 3) Location (near city, but far from city) 4)I liked the people I was interviewing with. There was a diverse population of students. Older people (with kids). Blacks, Hispanics, Asians.
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Students seemed happy to be there. According to them the administration was very receptive to criticism about the curriculum.
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The friendliness of the students and administration. I felt comfortable from the moment that I walked in. The students had nothing but good things to say about the school.
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The facilities were great, the office staff was wonderful
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Everything, great school. Students a re very friendly, my interviewer was great.
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Ms. Berry is really nice. Other than that, nothing really, except I've never seen another hospital with escalators.
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Like everyone else commented, the students were ultra friendly and really enjoyed going there. i didn't get any comments about "the only reason they went there was because it's cheap." the students were extremely helpful and knowledgeable and really put a great face on the school. there seems to be little competition and everyone is willing to help each other out.
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Student's positivity and feeling of collaberative environment.
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Everything
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The students are very friendly and the atmosphere seems to be very relaxed and not competative. The library is very nice and the interviewer was great! They even arranged for a kosher meal for me without any reaquest.
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The prof. that interviewed me was wonderful--a pathologist and very interesting person. We ended up having a great conversation on a multitude of subjects... he had reviewed my application in great detail, and we discussed various items and topics of interest.
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Price (fer in-staters), facilities, (wi-fi everywhere!)happy students, very positive and nice faculty, varied and odd-ball students (lots of non-traditional students)
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Campus environment without the big-city distractions, hospital and school are connected, helpful staff and students.
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The interviewer was very cool and enthusiastic, and seemed to really care about the students
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The people were amazing! Everyone was very friendly... the students, admissions staff, and my interviewer were all very nice and easy to talk to.
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The interview was challenging, yet very informative and conversational.
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Nothing really. The students were nice.
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The interviewer. Although she just saw my record that morning, she was really interested in my research and when I got into the room she told me she had questions she was required to ask but that she first wanted to ask about my research and questions and interests she had on it and then ask the required questions and come back to my research. Plus she was really keen on selling the MPH program to me and telling me how I could continue my research for this program since it was worthy of more than a bachelor's thesis.
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The students (positive and helpful, and seemingly non-competitive) and the staff.
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Ms. Berry, the secretary, is an extremely nice lady
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The interviewer was very nice and knew everything about my file and knew a lot of information on the topics we discussed, you dont have to exit the building to go to the hospital from the medical school. the staff was friendly and welcoming
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Happy students, nice surrounding area, good affliated hospitals
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Students were all psyched to be at SB. great place i think.
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Warmth of staff and students, facilities looked incredible
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Everyone I encountered at this school was exceedingly friendly. It seems to be a very supportive environment. I was also impressed by the MD with Distinction possibility for research in the humanities. Only four people to a cadaver, a mix of clinicians and basic science PhDs teach the first two years, which I think is a plus.
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Friendliness of staff/students/interviewer, the day flowed really well and all about 10 students that came to talk to us were very open adn willing to answer all questions
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My interviewer knew a great deal about me before I sat down. The students were very friendly and spoke extremely highly of the school.
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The positive atmosphere and how enthusiastic the students were. Also, Ms. Berry, the secratery, was very warm and receiptive.
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My interviewer knew my application very well. How friendly everyone was (from admissions staff to students to interviewer). Great atmosphere. The tour was really nice and the students seemed to answer questions very honestly. Student lounge was cool.
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The students at Stony Brook love it their school, more so than I've seen at any other medical school. The administration goes out of its way to accomadate the student body, and the faculty at Stony Brook has good relations with its students.
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The student tour guides and the friendliness of all the students. The area is very quaint and their facilities look pretty decent.
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How nice people were.
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Niceness and coolness of students, faculty, and administrators.
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Students have a positive attitude towards the school. Teachers listen to students and change curriculum in requested. Students supportive of each other.
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Happy, friendly students; beautiful environment; my interviewer
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The students were very enthusiastic and had a lot of pride in the school. The level of competition among them was incredibly low. While most schools claim that this is the case, I think it is particularly true here. The students seem to genuinely like each other, and each class elects two social chairs.
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The students are very friendly and love their school. Very vocal about it. The anatomy lab actually was airy.
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The happiness of the students. They are all very happy and proud about being at Stony Brook.
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I was very encouraged by the collegial atmosphere of the medical school. Especicially the friendly staff, students and the faculty interviewers. I was also encouraged by the diversity of the students and the myriad research and clinical opportunities within the medical school, Cold Spring Harbor Labs and Brookhaven Nationals Labs.
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Students are very happy where they are. The class is a nice size at 101 students.
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My interview, who was the dean of admissions He was very ethically and humanisitically oriented person, and so am I, so that added dimension to the conversation.
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I really liked my interviewer. I think he was so inspiring and I learned a lot in my interview about a lot of different stuff. It was more like a conversation. I also liked the way the students were so enthusiastic about the school, and seemed very intelligent, like they loved to spend hours studying because they love the medicine profession. The combination of the interviwers and students made me want to go to Stonybrook more then I thought I wanted.
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How happy the students seem. The student lounge and mailroom is a dump,...the private garden is kind of funny,... trashy-homey.
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The enthusiasm the students had for the school, friendly staff.
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The students really take care of each other, and they work hard to improve the curriculum all the time, and the school is supportive of that.
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Friendliness and enthusiasm of students.
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Wonderful facilities (airy, newly renovated, aesthetically pleasing).
What impressed you negatively?
Applicants were consistently unimpressed by the outdated facilities, unprofessional behavior of some staff during interviews, lack of enthusiasm from students, suburban location, and the need for a car due to limited public transportation. Suggestions include updating facilities, improving professionalism, enhancing student engagement, and considering transportation options for students in suburban areas.
Top 5 Responses: (Click below to see additional responses)
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Overall state of the medical school -- super outdated.
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Geographic Location
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The med school was dated and run down
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Both the professor interviewer and my student tour guides asked where else I interviewed (and where accepted). Was kind of awkward...hadn't happened to me in other interviews. It wasn't in an antagonistic kind of way but still seemed a little unprofessional. For instance, after I told my faculty interviewer of two other NYC schools I had interviewed at, he kind of called out their flaws, so that was kinda awkward. Also, in terms of the school itself, the Honors / Pass / Fail pre-clinical seems it would stress students out / make people competitive. And the students said you don't get your exams back (the multiple-choice ones written similarly to boards), so you cannot see which answers you got wrong...that bothered me a lot.
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None.
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Expensive for OOS, yikes!
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I didn't get the feeling that the students really loved SB. They talk about going to NYC fairly often and working hard, but none seemed to have enthusiastic answers about why they chose the school or what they do for fun. The area is beautiful and suburban, but not really somewhere I'd want to be in my 20s.
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Nothing, other than everything that goes with being on LI.
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Nothing really.
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Labyrinthine facilities which are a little old. Still perfectly serviceable though.
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One of my interviewers kept defending their decision to go to Stony Brook and to stay there, and seemed to be defending the value and validity of the school. They should have focused on the positive because the school is great. Also, they talked about themselves a lot.
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Almost everything, sadly. The tour guides kind of seemed like duds... When we asked one of them why she chose Stony Brook, she fumbled and said, "Well, it's not that I didn't get in anywhere else..." Awkward. They also started bashing other SUNYs which was unprofessional. My interviewer displayed some insecurity about his affiliation with the school, which was REALLY weird and off-putting. I also didn't like the fact that the library closes at 6 on Saturdays (or something like that) and you can't eat in the library (which I need to do while studying!)--these things are important to me but may not be as important to others. Also, the school is in a very suburban area so city-oriented folk need to keep that in mind as well.
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Not much
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The campus and facilities were quite outdated and unaesthetic.
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The facilities are rather outdated. The library and parts of the hospital are nice, but other parts, not so much. Also OOS tuition is high.
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Students were almost too laid back.
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N/A
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None
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I need to get a drivers license. They have a horrible public transportation and nobody lives on campus, and the students do not recommend it.
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Hard to get to
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The suburbian area seems a bit dull
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Seems like it's located in the middle of nowhere.
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Crampy student lounge, but big deal.
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Very ugly architecturally. wish it was a little closer to NYC
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The lay out of the building is a bit crazy
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The location isn't that great, but they're pretty close to NYC, just hop a train to penn station. Long Island traffic sucks, and housing is a little pricey, but not too bad.
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Really nothing. The school had everything (literally) I was looking for in a medical school. I will be ecstatic to be going here this fall.
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The place really is a maze
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No campus map from the website to find my way to the right building, no directions for people if they are being dropped off (only gave directions to the parking garage, where there was no drop-off location), how unhelpful the garage guards were in guiding us. I had to be dropped off by the parking garage and then I took some random rusty stairway to the hospital.
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You need a car to get around the campus, there are no public buses except the one that takes you from the train station to the campus.
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The hospital is really the only thing in the area, not much else going on.
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There was construction, and things seemed spread out and confusing to get around.
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The location. Its beautiful, but I worry that my wife would be bored out of her mind there.
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The disorganization of the multiple tour guides
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Nothing
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Somewhat far from NYC, the combative interviewer
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The building was extremely tough to navigate
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The lack of ceremony or honor for the bodies donated for gross anatomy
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The construction, but I heard that everything will be completed within a year.
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It's a commuter school, rent is kind of expensive, the admissions office did not try to sell their school at all, no financial aid session, my interviewer had not even opened my file so he knew nothing about me.
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The place is a lil drab, kinda in the middle of no where on long island, didnt really see what ppl did for fun out there
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The students leading the tour were a little subdued.
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Finding your way around is a little confusing, there are a lot of signs though
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No tours. The health sciences building is, er, interesting.
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The facilities are a little run down.
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Just the location. I'm not too keen on Long Island.
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Nothing much. Its true that the building is funny looking from the outside, but we probably wont be outside staring at buildings should we be accepted into Med school, anyway.
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The facilities are not that nice.
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Interviewees were not offered a tour of the anatomy lab or student residences. The admissions office is in the hospital so parking was very difficult and required a long walk in the cold.
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That everyone both interviewing and attending seemed to have a connection to Long Island, and the isolation of the school. And: there wasn't any need to trash-talk Downstate like the students did. I think we all know that it's a choice between higher-ranked/research (SB) and proximity to NYC (Downstate).
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Blah-ness of Stony Brook
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2 1/2 hour drive from the city, almost impossible to commute if you go here. The building's architecture is very strange-looking-very dark, boxy and prison like. Some facilities are in need of updating.
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Its a state school, so facilities are sometimes on the verge of decrepitude.
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Location in the middle of nowhere
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Nearly all the students said their biggest reason for going there was money. I've been on 6 other interviews and this is the only one where I really felt like I had a stress interview.
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THe campus is next to the undergrads, dental, grad students, etc etc. Although the diversity of clubs and students is nice, seems kind of cramped.
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Facilities are kind of old, location is in the middle of nowhere, pretty average curriculum.
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The location.
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That one of my interviewers would ask me a bucnh of rhetorical questions like how many children do I have? where do they live? etc.
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The area, the design of the building is wacky
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Slower than preferable public transportation from campus.
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The usual -- the hospital architecture is nothing to write home about, etc. But the location is not as bad as some will make it out to be, as long as you know what you're getting into. It's not like you'd spend all your free time looking at a wall if you went here.
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The architecture could be nicer... but really in medical school are you even going to have time to go outside to look at it?
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Location?, layout of medical facilities (confusing)
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Rude, inappropriate, discouraging interviewer. Bad, bad facilities. The main reason the students had for going there: "My parents live on Long Island." Campus is spread out, confusing, and UGLY.
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Lots of construction
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It's in Long Island...far far away from the city.
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The smell of the anatomy labs was much more overwhelming than at the other schools where I've intereviewed (I wondered how safe that was), I'm used to getting by with public transportation but it looks like I'll need to get a car
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My interviewer may or may not have a grudge agaisnt medical students
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The location...it's a big highway with lots of shopping complexes...thats it.
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Students did not seem genuinely enthusiastic. It seemed almost like a show
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The facilities were not that impressive - older, small rooms with no windows mostly
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The overall location (it's not NYC), the lack of hospital affiliates that are located in NYC.
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The out of state tuition rate
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My interviewer
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This is not much but the building just looks weird and uninviting
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Very limited student housing on campus
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Facilities werent the greatest, but new construction is happening now.
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The fact that they have multiple professors for one class (this isn't rare).
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The fact that most of the students live off-campus. Although one person I talked to has a jacuzzi in his apartment and he pays the same amount as you would for on-campus housing, so I figure it may not be such a bad thing.
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Only negative is the location- I don't like Long Island much
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The tour guide didn't really do a great job of showing us the building.
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The location is not good and the interviewer must have forgotten to wear his clan hood that morning.
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The suburban location. I hate driving and a car seems to be a necessity. The villages (SB and PJ) are very attractive though. More like New England than your typical uninteresting NY suburb.
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My interviewer. The facilities.
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The student tour was shorter than expected, didn't take us to the hospital adjacent to the school.
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Seems like a commuter school. Everyone shows up for class then goes home.
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The tour was very short, and we didn't get to see the anatomy labs because they were locked.
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If I hadnt heard great things about the school I'd say it stunk. The buildings architecture is so bad that I think I would go crazy in that block of cement sitting on a pole (youll see what I mean when you get there). One of the structures doesnt have any windows except little egg-shaped windows on the corners (its weird). Anyway, the lecture halls are nothing special, neither is the lab. I got the feeling some students wished they went elsewhere.
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My interviewer had music playing during my interview and didnt turn the overhead light on in the room. it was a little wierd
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The hospital itself is ugly, and traffic in the area is heavy.
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The anatomy lab was nice yet standard, the activity that all the student seem to find entertaining in ping pog, the stucture of the school is confusing, the room numbers are not in order
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The facilities are WAY nicer than SUNY Downstate!
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The hospital architecture-- it felt like a cement tomb. One of our tour guides even mentioned the school rumor that the architect was a drug addict who died before it was completed. Also, that you have to go away for some rotations.
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Nothing much.
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It's easy to get lost inside the building and nearly impossible to find a way in. Ugly on the outside and very nice looking on the inside though.
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It's location is out of the way.
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We didn't get to see a cadaver =, and my interviewer just had a notebook with a list of questions
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The outside of the building isn't the best thing to look at, aesthetically speaking.
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The relative isolation of the school. Hearing students say there is little to do.
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The outside of the building is hideous. As for things that matter, nothing was negative.
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Didn't get to meet a lot of students, tour was relatively short
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The tour gave me less sense of the place than other tours.
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The student lounge was kind of run down, but it didn't seem like many people hung out there anyway.
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Pathology labs and student lounge pretty run down
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I thought the building is a little ugly (70's), but besides my aesthetic sensibility being offended nothing really. I also didn't like the need for a car. (I hate driving)
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Lack of public transportation in that part of Long Island.
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There was nothing that struck me as being negative.
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I thought a lot of the students seemed prep-school ish. I guess that's not a bad thing per se, but I wouldn't fit in there.
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You need a car if you want to attend that school
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The location, the fact that I don't think my interviewer listened to me
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Ugly building, lack of on-campus housing
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No one from the faculty or important staff members spoke to the interviewees at all. We all just sat in a room all day.
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There is no real housing/student apartments on campus. but the student lounge was cool, definitley a good place to relax between classes.
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There was no overview presentation of the school, no discussion about aid, etc. The entire day was very brief, which can be good or bad.
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Long island (then again, if you gotta go to the 'burbs for four years, might as well go to the pinnacle of them all). lack of stuff to do in stony brook, you DEFINITELY need a car.
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Didn't see a class in session, not a big deal.
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The campus
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Driving through NYC to get there.
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Not very impressed by the facilities or the area in general. There is no college town atmosphere.
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Students were emphasizing the price of the school rather than the quality of the education. Also NONE of the faculty or staff came to talk to interviewees before or after interviews. No presentation on the curriculuum or academic offerings of the school. Tour was pathetic and rushed. This school is NOT MY FIRST CHOICE ANYMORE.
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The admissions office was very disorganized. First, my interview was at 3, everyone in the group had a morning interview, so after the tour and lunch were done at 1:30, I had to sit for an hour and a half by myself in a freezing cold room and just wait for the admissions woman to get me for my interview. Second, the tour was disorganized. Don't get me wrong, the tour guides were great and really enthusiastic, but we were locked out of the first lecture hall we were supposed to go into, then we were locked out of the anatomy lab for 15 min and it was freezing in the basement as we waited, and lunch looked like it was made five min before we got in there (and it all had cranberry sauce on it -- thankfully I got a kosher meal).
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N/A.
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The surrounding community--not much to do
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LUNCH,and one of the student who was with us during lunch was not very excited about stony brook. he also talked about how medical students can preform so much in a charity hospital, but can only observe patients in private hospital because they pay for thier health care. though, that is right, but i felt that he did not have a lot of respect for charity hopsital patients.
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A little bit scary looking buildings. lots of lecture time if you go.
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A long LIRR trip from NYC, car is a must if you decide to go here
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I wish I had seen more on the tour-- we had to ask to see the anatomy labs after the tour was over. Also, I wish it was closer to NYC, but that's just the city-girl in me talking. Otherwise quite a beautiful area.
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Building is hilarious looking, but seriously not much
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Didn't get to see anatomy lab because of an exam. Nobody's fault, but still, it was a bummer...
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The overwhelming formaldehyde odor at the anatomy lab. I know it's supposed to be like that, but this lab's odor is the worst I have been to so far.
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Nothing was much at all, but the hospital does look like it was built in a futuristic 70's style. Also, there is not much available as far as on campus housing goes.
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I received an automatic interview (there are certain cutoffs for GPA/MCAT) and nobody besides my interviewer had read my file. I felt like he had skimmed through it a few minutes before I came in because he didn't really know that much about my application.
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It's kinda in the middle of nowhere.
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Nothing.
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Nothing really. before interviews, there could have been a brief introduction or presentation about the school by an admission staff. Expensive parking.-- they could have given us a free parking ticket.
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Not much. The student lounge could be nicer, but that's just a detail.
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The Building...it's a little confusing to navigate.
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It was a privilege to interview there.
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Students don't really have guaranteed housing. They live all over stony brook in rented houses/apartments. Its up to you to find a roommate during some open houses that they have or through their website.
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The lounge, the poor housing I like to get up and walk to class, off-campus housing doesn't suit me.
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The fact that it is all the way out in Long Island. And the faclities weren't all the impressive, looked very inner-cityish.
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The student housing isn't that great. Though I'm told the surrounding off-campus areas are decent.
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The hospital design is very confusing, easy to get lost.
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The location--it's out there.
What did you wish you had known ahead of time?
Applicants commonly wished they had known ahead of time about the relaxed and stress-free nature of the interview day, the importance of being observant of small details during the interview, the long commute to Stony Brook, and the need for a more detailed campus map. Suggestions included being prepared for potentially long interviews, eating a bigger breakfast, and being aware of the shuttle bus system.
Top 5 Responses: (Click below to see additional responses)
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How low key it was
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To relax
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It's very far into Long Island and the LIRR is the best way to get there but it's 1.5 hours to SBU and 3 hours back from NYC.
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The lunch wasn't great, so I'd eat a bigger breakfast.
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The admissions is within the hospital.
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More about the programs offered at the school/ specific research areas I may be interested in
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Be very observant of little things like whose name is on the door of the room you are interviewing in, just in case it's not that of the person asking you the questions.
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Eat a big breakfast! (Lunch is small)
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That both interviewers would grill me, that these interviews would be so long (75+ minutes each), that I would be late to lunch because of this, andddd that I shouldn't have stressed about how difficult it all seemed. I survived and I love the school.
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I wish I had known that the school was such a bad fit for me. I would have saved the train fare and let someone else take my interview spot. Oh well.
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My interview schedule
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How laid back and easy the day would be, although it was tiring.
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That is was going to be extremely stress free.
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None
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That it is soooooo far from New York City (2-3 hours by public transportation).
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Map of campus, confusing
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None.
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I wish I had a more detailed map.
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Nothing
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X
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Where the drop-off location was located
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For your 2 interviews, they can be a doctor and a med student OR 2 doctors.
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Parking in the right lot can be tricky. I ended up having to walk about 1/4 mile to the correct building.
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That my second interviewer didn't read the my application. (Note: not her fault, she was a replacement interviewer). Being surprised by a few questions got me started off in a direction I wasn't happy with.
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That one of my interviewers would be a medical student
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That it wouldn't be as hard as I'd expected
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To know the train schedule on the way back.
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The free shuttle from the LIRR station to the school takes half an hour. andthen i still had to walk up a big hill.
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You don't need to pay $50 for a taxi...Mrs. Acevedo was wonderful, and found me a $30 ride back to the airport
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That Stony Brooks is looking for middle-class, friendly people, not super awesome sons/daughters of rich doctors
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The ferry ride there from Connecticut is nicer than the drive through Nyc
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That I would like the school
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It was the most relaxed of my interviews yet and if I had known that I wouldn't have been nervous going into it
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That I would really like Stony Brook!
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Nothing.
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How low stress and casual the interviews would be...even with the MD faculty member
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That I shouldn't have been as nervous as I was for my first interview.
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Luckily, I had some cash on me, but if you're driving there, be sure to bring money for parking.
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I didn't really know much about the MD with distinction in research, and think it's a strong draw for those of us who want research opportunities without the commitment of an MD/PhD. Also, the acceptance stats on MDpotential are off: last year, they offered 300 spots to 550 interviewees (including from waitlist), which is more than 50% acceptance from the interview pool. Much better odds than I thought. Finally, I've never had such a laid-back set of interviews in my life, without even a Why Medicine question. Maybe I got lucky with the interviewers, but I was more than happy to have a non-formulaic interview.
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There's no need to stress over the interviews, really. They just want to get to know you as a person instead of viewing you as another paper application.
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That the hospital building is incredibly goofy-looking.
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If you go here you will not be able to just ''go to new york city'' whenever. takes min 2.5 hours to get into manhattan
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How hard it would be to find visitor parking.
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That I would need to review more advanced bioethics case studies. The ones in the UWash module are very basic and their discussions are heavily oriented towards contemporary law and not patient-physician relations.
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Nothing- It was pretty much what I expected
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-
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Nothing i can think of at the moment.
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Students are full voting members on the admissions committee
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Non-traditional applicants are looked favorably upon
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That the shuttle bus system is soooooo s...l...o...w... seriously, give yourself at least 45 minutes if you want to catch the LIRR.
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Be prepared to be make it clear that you're ready to make the transition from NYC to the suburbs
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That I'd have such a blast and meeting such warm people who honestly wanted to tell me about how great the school is.
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That it was not stressful at all
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How isolated the area is
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N/a
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The facilities are a bit funky...like straight out of the 70's with purple carpet on the walls, very circular layout that makes navigation interesting and looks like a space ship. I really didnt know much at all going in, but it was awesome.
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How dead stony brook is
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That the
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Stony Brook takes pride in admitting lots of non-traditional students
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Their "medicine with distiction" program. You can do research and get paid for it during the school year and the summer without getting a PhD.
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How low stress the interview would be.
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I wish I had known more about my interviewer- other than that, I felt I was prepared
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That I would not be given a generic interview with a couple of health care and ethical questions. What i got was something totally unexpected.
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I would have had more questions prepared for the current students. We met many students throughout the day.
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That I could ask for a new interviewer if mine was completely inappropriate.
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That the interview is extremely laid back.
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I was under the impression that the labs were very outdated and that had initially colored my impression of the school.
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That I didnt have to go outside for the tour because everything to see was in one building, that the drive would only take one hour rather than the two hour drive I assumed
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That there was a shuttle-bus to the stony-brook train station
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I wish there was more of a formal orientation session for interviewees. Also, the tour was very short.
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The building and office of admissions were a little difficult to find.
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How small the school of medicine was
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How selective Stonybrook is.
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Lack of public transportation, and cabs are expensive! also, the school is pretty big... there are about 5 different entrances...
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There are no inexpensive hotels in the area. Holiday Inn Express was $135 with AAA discount. oh well, it was comfy and had wireless internet.
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The facility is gigantic. Note to the wise: be on your toes the entire day.
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I like who the University Hospital serves. All strata of society are there, which is great. It doesn't just serve a posh clientelle like some of the new york city schools. Or an exclusively underserved population.
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When you first arrive, a panel of medical students sit with you and the other interviwees and answer questions. Although I arrived 20 minutes before my scheduled interview time, if I had arrived a bit earlier, I could have been there for more questions.
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That Bush was in town! It took me four and a half hours to drive there and I had to push my interview back 2 hours!!
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That it was going to be Rosh Hashanah and there would be no one around. It was hard to get a feel for the atmosphere of the school
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Stony Brook's seclusion
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I thought it would take two hours to get there from nassau county and it took less than 1.
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Be prepared for LIRR delays...
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If you interview late, the next train back to the city is @ like 4. prepare to sit around a suburban LIRR station for an hour and half.
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Interview was going to be earlier than scheduled.
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The annoying commute from NYC, that you have to leave a half hour for getting from the train to the campus - as you must take a bus, and taxis take a while to come
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Nothing really
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That i was not going to be able to interact with any staff or faculty.
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Nothing really, I read the neg comments, so I was pretty well informed of what could go wrong.
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N/A.
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That stonybrook is farther from the city than I expected
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I did not have to pay for parkinging
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Take the Bridgeport CT to Port Jefferson Ferry! The money is worth avoiding the traffic!
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Long island expressway is under construction; expect delays!
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Read your answers the supplemental questions and think about the types of questions that may be asked of you.
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Nothing...the whole interview was organized and straightforward.
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Beautiful campus. Not so far from NYC (about 2:30 hours by train). You need a car if you want to go there.
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That is would be so cold in september. I wish I had a coat!
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The student tour guides sit on the admission committee!
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How far it is and that it is practically rural.
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There are several buses from the LIRR stop to the stonybrook campus, and several tour the undergrad campus first. Make sure to ask your driver if you have the right bus.
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The the campus would have a lot of snow of the ground.
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Nothing...
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I had researched the school and there were not too many surprises. However, the friendliness of the students and faculty was very nice to witness!
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Nothing that I can recall
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Nothing that I wish I would have known.
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That it would cost me $7.50 to park for the day.
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The strong emphasis on primary care.
🤝 Campus and Facilities ▼
How do you rank the facilities?
Most respondents rank the facilities as above average.
How would you rate the Location and Cultural Life?
0 = Low, 10 = High
How is the friendliness of the admissions office?
Most respondents said the admissions office was friendly.
How is the responsiveness of the admissions office?
Most respondents said the admissions office was responsive.
What are your suggestions for the admissions office?
Many applicants praised the admissions office for being friendly and efficient. Common suggestions included improving communication speed by implementing an automatic portal service, promoting inclusivity in student culture, and enhancing financial aid awareness for students from low-income backgrounds.
Top 5 Responses: (Click below to see additional responses)
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None, they were so friendly!!
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There was a long delay between my submission of all application materials and getting the application complete email, probably because the admissions office does everything manually. It caused a little bit anxiety. I hope the admissions can consider switching to an automatic portal service like what other schools do in the future.
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Don't have students to talk bad about the "few students who attend lecture" and how they are try hards. Everyone learns differently and this was unattractive to me as someone who expects to attend lectures in medical school. Financial Aid counselor was really out of touch to the burden of affording medical school for some low-income students including myself. Claiming that the money wont be an issue and I should not even consider that aspect when choosing a school.... Again, unattractive to me.
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Just keep doing what they're doing, they are super friendly
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None, they were fantastic!
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Good job! Thank you!
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Keep up the great work!
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Have better accomodations for applicants without a car, such as a student host or the ability to pick an interview time that does not interfere with the travel plans: there is only 1 train every 2 hours from New York....
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Nothing. Nancy Acevedo is amazing! She is on top of her stuff and very efficient.
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Everyone was so kind and considerate. I loved getting to know every staff member and we talked on fi
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No suggestions. The admissions office is incredible, and the faculty and students are exceptionally
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None :)
📍 Travel and Logistics ▼
Airports Used
✈️
JFK
57% interviewees used JFK (JFK), with 14% using LGA (LGA) and 7% using ISP (ISP) and 7% using jfk (jfk) and 7% using Islip (Islip) and 7% using La Guardia (La Guardia).
What was your primary mode of transportation?
Most interviewees traveled by automobile to the interview.
✈️
14% Airplane
🚗
60% Automobile
🚆
23% Train or Subway
🚲
4% Other
Hotels Recommended by Other Interviewees
Most interviewees stayed at the Holiday Inn Express (average ranking 9.5/10), with some staying at Holiday Inn (average rating 8/10). (Top 3 displayed)
🏨
Holiday Inn Express
9.5/10
🏨
Holiday Inn
8/10
🏨
Courtyard Marriot
10/10
What was the cost and time spent traveling?
Cost: Low Cost to High Cost
What is your in-state status?
Most respondents are in state students.
Where did you stay?
Most respondents stayed either Hotel or at a hotel.
Who was the tour given by?
Tours were most commonly given by a Student
Faculty member (3%)
Student (97%)
How did the tour guide seem?
Most tour guides were enthusiastic about the school.
Discouraging (1%)
Enthusiastic (87%)
Neutral (12%)
All Responses
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| Application Cycle ▿ | Impression | Performance | Interview Location |
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