Applicants generally found the UMass interview experience to be low-stress, conversational, and enjoyable. There were positive comments about the friendly staff, supportive environment, and the school's facilities, but some concerns were raised regarding interviewers' engagement and the length of time taken for admissions decisions.
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Nothing
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An interviewer at one of my MMI stations spent the first 1.5 mins talking and I was really frustrated because I couldn't finish my answer.
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I had a blast during my interview day. The staff and students were extremely nice. Despite not having experience with this style of interview, UMMS did a great job on explaining the template and why most schools are changing to the format. As for the MMI, the interviewer doesn't expect you to talk for the full six minutes. Rather, they will ask you questions about your particular stance or provide additional information. Also, be cautious about being to adamant about one side. Ideally, you should give pros/cons for your decision and then why you think (blank) is the best option.
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Its a wonderful school and the staff and administration is really on the students side helping them become the best version of themselves. That's the type of school I would want to go to. Where your individual weaknesses are addresses and you feel supported!
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I wish UMass would let applicants know their admissions results, or at least keep us in-the-loop with where our apps are in the process. You interview in the early fall and you still haven't heard a peep in the early spring...?
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Good school, ultimately didn't go here because I thought it would limit future options and therefore not provide as full and education as other schools.
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Great school and top choice :)
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I thought the process was well laid out, and low stress.
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The school and hospital at UMass are in excellent shape, but I'm still not convinced that Worcester is a nice city to live in.
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I had an off-campus interview and I was nervous about finding my way and mode of transportation (I thought I'd have to take the campus bus or something)...but they gave us a limo! It was very cool :)
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Overall, great school for the price. Boonies location, and pretty low level facilities at some parts. One interviewer was very open and friendly but far more judgmental to responses, other was off-beat and odd without a care in the world. I have no idea how to interpret either. Also, waiting months and months to hear back is absurd and unprofessional, for any type of organization.
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It was my first interview, and I was very nervous, but I loved my visit and felt extremely comfortable throughout the day.
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Unlike just about everyone that has given feedback for UMass, I didn't get a single question on healthcare policy or reform.
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Great school. I'm crossing my fingers.
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Overall the interview process was low stress, but I think I didn't perform all that well (I spoke a little fast, mispronounced a disease I was talking about, etc.) To everyone else interviewing, just relax and be yourself.
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I had 2, 30 minute, one-on-one interviews. The interview process was extremely relaxed; it felt like the interviewers wanted to get to know you as a person. Just be yourself!
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That one person who interviewed me really upset me.
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There were 17 people who interviewed that day, but I was part of the afternoon group of which there were only 6 of us. So it was a bit crowded in the beginning, but it wasn't an issue. Very impressed with the school, they've got a lot of new buildings coming in the next 5 years or so. Thoroughly enjoyable first interview.
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I was a little thrown on some questions (not sure how to answer and how much to say) but overall the day was fun and UMass would be a great school to attend.
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It was a great day. Very laidback. Admissions people are super nice.
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Don't overprepare, but at least think about what you might say to various questions you are sure to be asked. Mock interviewers are great, if you can get someone who knows how to do them.
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Very laid back, conversational interview. Overall a great day
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Interview was not as stressful as I thought it was going to be. The only thing that I was put off by was my second interviewer, who ended the interview 15 mins early cause it seemed like he was too busy to talk to me and wanted to get back to his research. But the current students are really nice and the new ER is amazing.
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Both interviews were conversational. In fact, sometimes it was difficult for me to cut in, as both interviewers seemed more interested in hearing themselves talk. I often had to interrupt with statments like, ''that's why I want to be a doctor'' or ''I think so too.''
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Arrival in the morning, presentation by admissions staff, have some breakfast and students come in and talk and give a presentation. We take a tour and have 2 interviews. Some interviews may be off campus, but they provide shuttles and everything. The admissions staff actually does look at SDN interview feedback for ways to improve. I appreciate that. They run a smooth day and I was impressed with UMass!
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Very positive. Everyone is really happy. The facility is undergoing lots of new/recent buidling. Lots of oppurtunities to explore different aspects of medicine.
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Met in the admissions office at 9:15 with the other morning interviewers. Got our interviewer information with times (10:00 and 10:45) and location (both within the hospital/med school complex). Had a little bit of time to kill before the 12:00 presentations by admissions and financial aid, which the afternoon interviewees come for as well. Then lunch in the room (which you have to sit hungrily and smell while folks are presenting), followed by a presentation by students, then a tour.
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Really enjoyed talking with both my interviewers. Thought they got to see the best I had to offer. They were honest with me, that if I didn't get in, (which I didn't) it would be b/c of MCAT scores. Which makes you wonder why they bothered inviting me to interview for 3 years in a row.
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Nice state school and short interview day. But admissions decisions are the slowest of any school I applied to!
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I arrived at 9:00am and was given information about my 2 interviews. The interviews were done by 11:15 and I returned to meet with the other students and have a lunch as the associate dean did a brief presentation. Then we were given a student led tour of the school. Vouchers were also given for parking.
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UMASS admissions people stressed that they so no point in adding stress to the candidate's experience. Although I was nervous at the beginning of the interview, both interviewers were able to put me at ease pretty easily. Also the admissions staff definitly is interested in improving the interviewing experience for candidates. The admissions lady admitted to us that she was giving extra time for questions because someone on studentdoctor.net said she didn't give enough time. Perhaps they could extend the tour time in the future because some people in our group missed part of the tour so they could get to their afternoon interviews on time.
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Overall, it was very laid back and conversational. The interview was somewhat difficult for me because I was suffering from jet lag when I went.
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It was very relaxing and there was little pressure. The first interviewer went on for an hour instead of 30min, very conversational and freeflowing interview
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The experience overall was okay. I did not expect to love the students as much as I did. However, the information session seemed a bit perfunctory; they asked if we (the whole group) had any questions but literally didn't pause to let us ask anything. My interviewers were strange. They were more interested in talking themselves--which is fine except I'm not sure how they plan to evaluate whether I am a good match for the school--and seemed uncomfortable.
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The interviews were laid back and conversational. My second interviewer mostly just sold the school to me.
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Great experience. For afternoon interviewees: lunch/presentation, followed by student led tour; and interviews. Everyone felt happy to be there and proud of UMass accomplishments.
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Overall it was a good experience. The interviews felt very relaxed and I was more impressed with UMass than I thought I would be.
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Great experience overall! Lunch was good and they even paid for parking. I was quite nervous going into the day, but both my interviewers really helped me to feel relaxed.
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My interviews were great. I talked a lot about my undergrad and my thesis I'm currently writing, as well as my volunteer work as an EMT. We also talked about collaboration between med-students, and what field I wanted to go into. Very relaxed, nothing to worry about. Towards the end of the interviews, it seemed as if they were trying to sell the school to me, and told me why they were so happy there.
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The faculty interviewer kept closing his eyes and didn't seem to be listening to me. At other times he was very attentive and condescending, didn't know what was going on there. The student interviewer was much more laid back and nice, she asked normal questions and wasn't confrontational at all.
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The interviews were very laid-back and comfortable. One was with a faculty member of the grad school and one was with a second year student/adcom member.
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Very conversational, pleasent experience. I enjoyed myself a lot.
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Very good overall. Low key, interviewers were great and made it not-stressful.
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Great experience in all. Interviews were both mostly conversational, with some standard questions mixed in, but nothing to tough and certainly nothing to stress about. Just do the standard prep and you'll be fine at UMass.
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I really enjoyed it. It was a great school to have a first interview at, and I wasn't nervous at all. I'm really hoping I get in!
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Three of us arrived for morning interviews, and were joined after our interviews by 12 more who came for afternoon interviews. We had lunch, a presentation by two 1st-years, and a brief tour. There is usually a presentation by the dean or director of admissions, but they were out of town at a conference. I was out of there by 1:15.
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Basically, this was my first med school interview ever, so I was extrememly nervous and wanted to be prepared but did not want to appear to be memorizing a script. My first interviewer I really couldn't gauge. I almost felt like I wasted time talking about stupid stuff and not really about the strengths of my application. My second interviewer was great though. He really just sat and listened and it was a great genuine, free-flowing conversation.
I love this school, maybe because I am a UMass alum but the people and facilities are amazing.
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Very laid back, casual conversations, mostly about whatever I wanted to talk about with some prodding by the interviewers for more info on certain parts of my application.
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Showed up early, talked to students.
Orientation w/ dean and 2 MS2.
Italian lunch.
2 interviews.
1st guy v busy doc, left interview (x4).
Gracious, offered more time if needed.
? how I did.
2nd interviewer, researcher.
seemed like it went well.
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I had a great day. The students, faculty, and staff were all incredibly nice and friendly....everyone tried to emphasize not to be to stressed or worried about the interviews. The other interviewees also seemed like people I'd want to go to school with (something *certainly* not true at other interviews I've had). One of my interviews was
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School was great, interviewers not so much. First interviewer acted like she didn't believe any of my answers. Second one in a rush.
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Overall, the best by far. I think the school did such a great job of pairing me with interviewers who were in fields that I would like to explore. I was impressed at how well they knew my application. One interviewer is on the adcom, so his questions were focused on Why medicine and the like. He tried to clarify some parts of my application, but it flowed, and there weren't any awkward moments. The second interview was bit more relaxed, tried to get to know me as a person.
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All in all it was a good experience. Every person there (except interviewees!) was easy going & friendly.
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Overall the experience was pleasant. Faculty, students, and staff were all extremely friendly and my interviews were more like open conversations than critiques. I feel like UMass has the best value and noncompetitive atmosphere for state residents and there is a plethora of opportunity for students to experience culture and volunteer work.
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The interview was very low key, there were about 6 people in the first round of interviews (starting at 10am) and about 5 for the later interviews. Pesronally I liked having the interviews first thing in the day so I could enjoy the tour and the lunch more, I dont think I would have eaten anything if I still had to interview.
The open file interview was more of a conversation than an interview. He would comment on something on my file and then ask about it, but it was very low key and low stress. The closed file interview was more stressful for me.
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The interviews were fine but the tour and orientation were mediocre. The person who led the orientation read a power point slide and the tour failed to impress me. We visited one lecture room, the anatomy museum (no labs), the library, and the research building.
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The facilities are nice and the students very upbeat and happy, however my interviewers were very disconnected from the school and students which made it difficult to ask them questions
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Pretty standard. Low stress. Lunch was very good -- not just cold sandwitches. I hope that the disinterest of my 2nd interviewer does not detract form my review.
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Interviews began a little late and ran long, hopefully because they were interested in me. But they were very enjoyable, we had some great conversations, and they almost seemed over too quickly. They didn't go too deeply into my application, because they both were intrigued by my response to a short essay question and we spent at least half the time of each interview on topics related to that question.
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I liked the school a lot but don't want to be in Worcester with 100% MA residents.
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Overall, I had a great experience at Umass. It's my first choice and I hope that I get in :). The people are so happy, friendly and warm. Students are very cooperative with one another and do not compete with one another (it's actually highly discouraged by the faculty).
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Great first interview. Looked lost in hallways, and students came up to me, introduced themselves and helped me to where I needed to be. Umass is a great place where I could certainly see myself
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This was my first one and I found the interviewers easy going. No big questions to solve the health care system or any ethical questions. Just have an idea of what you have learned in each experience and how that will help you in medical school
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Overall positive except they didn't give much idea of when we'd hear back
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A great interview experience! although the time allotted was not suppose to surpass 30 minutes, we spent 45 minutes discussing not only myself, but their lives as well.
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Overall it was a somewhat positive and low stress day. Of 6 interviews, only 3 were difficult. Everyone was super-nice and there seems to be a very collaborative environment built around the whole institution. Bring your walking shoes, cause you'll be trekking all over the campus, which was fun in the Worcester winter weather. Don't pass up this gem of a school because it's not in Boston. If you have any doubts about Worcester, it's a great city to live in on the med student's budget. Some of the Mud Phuds even bought houses with their cushy $24k stipends.
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This was my first interview so I was nervous. The day was long...everyone was very hungry by the end. I didn't know I would have 1 off campus interview, but it was only a few minutes down the road. This is an awesome school though.
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Overall I was very impressed with the school and its students. I felt like there was a great learning environment and everybody helped me to feel at ease. Both of my interviewers were friendly and easy to talk to. The interviews were more like conversations and flew by. There was ample time to ask questions and get information. Tour could have been better but this is definitely my first choice school.
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The whole day was really low-stress and enjoyable.
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It was a really good day -- met with a lot of faculty and most of them were real friendly and just wanted to answer questions. The only really tough interview was with the director of the MD/PhD program who went through my application with a fine-tooth comb: asked questions about every little thing in my application and things I said.
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First interviewer, a PhD biochemist, wasn't prepared (the original interviewer was sick) bc he found out he was interviewing me moments before. The second interviewer, a PhD psychologist, ran 20 minutes over but was really friendly. After asking some specific questions about my application, she stuck to a list of questions on some form. Really nice people though.
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As these were open file interviews, the interviewers asked about my file and for me to go more in depth in certain areas. Almost every question was in reference to my application.
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UMass is an awesome school and I had a great day. The interview group of applicants was smaller compared to other schools with only 8-10 people. Everyone tried their best to put me at ease, including my two interviewers.
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The interview is supposed to be open file but neither of my 2 interviewers were familiar with my file and had overlooked crucial aspects of my application. They asked me why I received poor grades in classes that I had received A's in. It was just confusing and strange. They were both struggling to read my file and interview at the same time and it just came out messy. Neither knew much about the school. The whole day dragged on with a boring tour of ancient facilities.
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The day either starts or ends with two interviews depending on whether you are a morning interviewee or afternoon interviewee. Between the morning group and afternoon groups sets of interviews, there are two presentations for all interviewees over a light lunch in the late morning (one by admissions/faculty and one by students) followed by a very short tour by students.
The interviews are scheduled for about 30 to 40 minutes. They are relaxed/informal like everyone else says, but it is hard not to be somewhat nervous before you get through your interviews. It is a nice place with nice people. Enjoy the interview process and try to get as much as you can out of it. Ask questions whenever you want throughout the day. The experience was definitely a positive one.
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Great school, great price. Worcester is not so bad; they have made a lot of improvments in the area.
The interviewers made me feel comfortable and not so stressed. They mostly wanted to know about my military experience in the Navy.
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Extremely stress free environment and overall a good experience. It's more conversational than than any interview I've ever had.
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I'm quite familiar with the school -- I worked on and off in a lab there from junior year in high school to the summer before senior year of college, and I've also volunteered in the hospital. I've seen the facilities improve a great deal in that time, and it seems like they're investing a lot more money for the future. I don't there's anything to complain about on that front. The students I know who went/go there all loved it and are doing very well. The tuition is low and living expenses are not like the Boston area. Despite what people think, there's plenty to do in Worcester, not that you'll have a whole lot of time to party. In short, there's not much to complain about. Unless you're not a resident of Massachusetts. ;)
My first interviewer was a bit tough to read, but my second interview went much better. Going off campus isn't such a big deal unless it's really cold that day.
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Fantastic. UMass seems to keep their students' happiness at the top of their priority list. They didn't need to brag about their program or cost (which speak for themselves). Instead, they focused on the opportunities you can make for yourself at their school.
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Very low stress, seemed to want to get to know me, one interviewer discussed her research quite a bit.
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Had a great time. The interviewers seemed genuinly interested to get to know me. Made every effort to keep a relaxed atmosphere.
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Friendly people in an encouraging atmosphere. Conversational interviews (a few standard questions tossed in but nothing too provocative).
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Both of my interviewers were doctors, and mostly seemed to want to know more about me. My first interview was very conversational, we mostly just talked about big things in my application, e.g. the volunteer experience in my essay, my research, one other anonymous EC that would give me away instantly. My second one was more like an interview, with the doctor asking a few tougher questions that weren't just variations on "Tell me about yourself." The second one seemed more formal than the first, but neither one was very intense.
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Both of my interviewers were friendly and relaxed. We basically just spoke about my application and my experiences.
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This was my first interview so naturally i was really nervous...but shouldn't have been! the interviews were basically just conversations. there were no tough questions, the interviewers just wanted to get to know you a bit i think. definately a low stress day. Also, the students seemed genuinely happy and friendly...i came into the day not thrilled about UMASS and left with a completely different feeling. the faculty/staff/students all seemed wonderful and they definitely sold me on the school!
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I had higher expectations regarding the school. The weather was awful, which contributed to the bleak atmosphere.
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It was a relaxed conversational experience. One of my interviewers actually had to send me away because he had a meeting to go to, but they grabbed someone else and it was fine. My second interviewer was great, she had really read my file and had interesting thoughtful questions.
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Overall very good. We will see.
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I was pleasantly surprised with the school. I already thought it was a good school, but the interview day increased that feeling. Everyone seems very committed to UMass having the greatest positive effect possible in local healthcare and beyond. Friendly atmosphere.
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Fine day. I was in the afternoon interview group. There were only 7 of us total. My secodn itnerview was a piece of cake. He asked simple things from my application and I think he was more nervous than me.
On the tour definitely ask to see the Anatomy Museum. It is an amazing collection of specimens that would definitely provide a key learning source.
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I llked the school before I visited, and positively LOVE it now. Too bad it's so hard to get in.
One question that had concerned me before I visited UMass was that the School would be adversely affected by the Commonwealth's fiscal woes. But it seems that the med school has good friends on Beacon Hill that keep the cash pipeline flowing. Also, the research dollars UMass has been awarded from other sources has grown in the last few years by tens of millions of dollars.
GO HERE if you get in. You'll never regret your decision.
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This was a great experience & I would love to attend this school.
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I did not know that this website exsitsted before my ineterview. Perhaps I would have been less nervous had I read some of this feedback before my interview. I would reccomend UMass to anyone applying to medical school. It is a great school.
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The school is amazing and definitely my top choice. But the interview left me feeling very uneasy about the day and uncomfortable with the schools decision on how to evaluate students.
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The day was very pleasant. everyone was very very nice. my interviewers were pretty removed from the main medicine and/or admissions world, which was a little strange.
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Loved UMass!