Minneapolis, MN
Allopathic Medical Schools | Public Non-Profit
Overall, applicants ranked the school in the top 19% of interviews, indicating it is highly regarded. They found the interview mixed with a low stress level, and felt they did well.
⭐ Overall Impressions ▼
How did the interview impress you?
Most respondents felt positively about their interview.
What was the stress level of the interview?
Most respondents rated their interview as average stress.
How you think you did?
Most respondents thought they performed well at the interview.
How do you rank this school among ALL other schools?
Most respondents rank this school above all other schools.
How do you rank this school among other schools to which you've applied?
Most respondents rank this school above other schools they applied to.
0 = Below, 10 = Above
💬 Interview Questions ▼
What is one of the specific questions they asked you?
The most commonly asked interview questions at medical schools revolve around personal experiences demonstrating resilience, creative pursuits, ethical dilemmas, reasons for pursuing medicine, qualities of a good physician, and familiarity with the healthcare system. Many respondents mentioned being subject to a nondisclosure agreement in an MMI format interview where questions about specific scenarios were asked, emphasizing the importance of preparing by reviewing one's application and considering core competencies.
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How have you demonstrated resilience?
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What are some creative pursuits you have?
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Why UMN?
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Unable to answer due to confidentiality agreement.
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Signed non-disclosure agreement
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MMI format - just look up example scenarios and go over them in your head
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Signed a NDA for the MMI. Just prepare by reviewing your own application and think about the AAMC's core competencies.
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I signed a non-disclosure agreement. But a girl who interviewed with me said that they reuse the same questions every year and that her friend told her everything in advance.
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Tell me about your path to medical school/Why do you want to become a doctor?
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Tell me about yourself.
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Why the University of Minnesota?
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Tell me about your journey to applying to medical school.
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Who would you choose to interview if you had the chance?
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Why Minnesota?
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What are the qualities of a good physician?
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Why our school?
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Why your major?
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How have you experienced diverse cultures and backgrounds?
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What do you believe makes a good team?
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Why become a physician and why the U of M?
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Tell me about (insert clinical/patient experience here).
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What kind of doctor do you want to be?
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Why this school?
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Tell me about yourself and some detail about your extracurriculars
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What do you think is the biggest issue with the US health care system? what would you do about it?
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Why minnesota? (im out of state)
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How did you become interested in medicine
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Tell me about your research
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Tell me about yourself
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Tell me about an ethical dilemma you have experienced.
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What kind of books do you read?
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What opportunities would you take advantage of if accepted to UMN?
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Tell me about a role model in your life
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Why do you want to attend the U of M?
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Why do you want to go into medicine?
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Describe a time when you really wanted something, but failed to achieve it.
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Describe a time when you were placed in an ethical situation.
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Why the U of M?
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Describe an ethical situation you encountered and how you handled it.
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Describe what exposure you have had to diverse backgrounds and perspectives
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Why the U of MN?
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How do you envision your career?
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Strengths/weaknesses?
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What book are you currently reading?
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Why U of M Med School?
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Describe an ethical dilemma you have faced.
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Why do you want to be a physician?
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If you were accepted only to University of Minnesota - Duluth (which I did not apply to) would you go and why?
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If you were accepted to UCSD and University of Minnesota - Duluth (which I did not apply to) where would you go and why? (with the caveat that the interviewer said that she was supposed to rate my honesty in this answer on the interviewer's sheet)
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Why Minnesota (both the state and the University)? (I'm not from the Midwest - I'm from the coasts)
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What do you think is one of the problems with our healthcare system?
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What is a specific case you saw during your volunteer work that you remember?
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What is an ethical or moral situation you have been in?
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M4 Student: Pretty sure there was a list of questions they were supposed to ask (Why medicine, ethical dilemma, weakness, how have you shown leadership, what books have you read, what do you do for fun?
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MD: Tell me about .... (Asian Studies major, studying abroad, internship at HCMC) more asked about specific things that intrigued him on my application)
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How would your friends describe you?
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What is a negative aspect of yours?
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Why do you want to addend UMN?
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Describe an ethical dilemema and how you handled it.
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Strengths and weaknesses.
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Does length of life necessarily equal quality of life?
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How do we curtail the rising cost of healthcare?
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How will your experiences apply in your practice?
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Give me one positive and one negative thing about the public option that they are currently trying to pass. (This was back in Fall 2010).
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Name a significant challenge that your generation will face.
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Tell me about (x/y/z) experience, as is listed in your AMCAS.
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Asked me about my native country (intl student), how I get around.
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Patients I remember from my volunteering, what do I think of the healthcare.
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What I like to read, my hobbies. Asked me stuff about drawing, art and other artistic things.
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Tell me about your early life?
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What do you have to bring to the school that other students do not have?
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Why do you think Americans do not view health care as a universal right?
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What are your weaknesses?
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What do you do for fun?
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What have your other interviews been like?
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Describe a difficult decision you made in your life and why you decided to take that particular course of action.
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I noticed a general questions worksheet. I think the faculty member chooses which questions off the worksheet they find interesting or which ones they want more information on.
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What outside of the classroom have you done to prepare for medical school?
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Some stuff about abortion (related to my activities)
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Tell me about activity X
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Why do you want to attend the "U"
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Do you have any ideas how to fix the healthcare problems?
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How I picked my undergrad school
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Strengths/weaknesses
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Aside from what was on your AMCAS and secondary, what else led to your decision to be a physician?
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What will the the greatest challenge in your journey to be a physician?
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They just asked me stuff out of my application and secondary and we chatted about health care policy, although other students who interviewed that day were asked more traditional questions like "why medicine, why this school, etc..."
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Do you have any questions for me?
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Nothing tricky. Most of the questions were "tell me about ________ on your application."
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What do you see as the main problem with the U.S. health care system?
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Challenges in current medical system.
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Why medicine? (I'm a non-trad who had an non-medical career)
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Negative Aspects/ Challenges in Medicine
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Should patients sue doctors?
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Why is an insurance at Texas less expensive than one at Minnesota? (It's not meant to stress you out. It's just to test your knowledge in future aspects of healthcare.)
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Are there certain types of persons, or personalities, that you find hard to work with?
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In many cases, you are thrown into a situation where you are expected to complete a task that you have never done before. How would you respond?
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Tell me about your path to medicine?
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No real specifics here; it was more like "tell me about yourself, etc."
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Interviews were open file for the main interviewer, and closed for the 4th yr student interviewer. Specific quesiton... Really specific stuff about my personal statement.
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Nothing really, just the general healthcare q.'s, and the like
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Tell me about x, y, z experience
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tell me about your family
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Why U of M?
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Tell me about yourself /why medicine /why now / why this school / why MN?
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What interested you in X?
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What qualities of a good physician do you posess? Explain.
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When were you faced with an ethical dilemma and how did you deal with it?
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Tell me about your family? Do you come from a tight-knit family? Will they be there for you during the difficult times during medical school?
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Why do you want to be a doctor?
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I was asked to describe some of the personal information from my essays
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LOTS of specific questions about research
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Tell me about your research X 10
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Explain the autorhythmicity/internodal pathway of the heart.
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what would you do if you didn't get in to medical school (not reapply... if you NEVER got in...)?
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why the university of MN?
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Describe your research
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What are you currently reading? Who are your favorite authors? (my student interviewer actually liked the same author so we exchanged opinions on some books)
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He attacked a couple things on my app.
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Is the U. of M. your #1 choice? Why not the other Minnesota schools.
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why medicine?
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Do you have any questions for me? Anything else you'd like to tell me that isn't in your app?
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Tell me about the US healthcare system? Is it good enough? What would you do to improve it if you had the power to? Should all diseases be treated?
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Why do you want to be a doc? Why the switch from business to medicine (I'm non-trad)? Tell me more about what you did at your jobs.
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Tell me more about (specific item on my secondary application)...
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What's the biggest problem faced by our healthcare system today?
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Biggest problem in health care
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How do you feel about national health insurance
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Whats the last book you've read
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Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
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Why do you want to be a doctor? (He asked this again but in a different way)
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Why the U?
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Stuff about research/activities/jobs
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Did you enjoy your undergraduate education? Why did you choose to go there?
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Tell me about XX experience..
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what do you like to do for fun
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What do you want to the admissions committee to know that wasn't on your application?
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Very detailed/pointed questions about everything on AMCAS and personal statement. Also, be prepared to give a very good explanation of why you want to be a doctor, and why they should pick you at U of M.
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What are some of your strengths and weaknesses?
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What do you think is the biggest problem in healthcare? As a physician, what would your role be in resolving those issues? What will you be doing in 10 years as a doc? Don't try and B.S any of these answers, the interviewer will follow up any sweeping general answers like ''I want national health insurance'' with stuff like ''OK, so what do you think is in the way of that? what about rationing? how have Britian and Canada done?
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How did you set up your research experience at Mayo Clinic?
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specifics about AMCAS
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What do you think of the current increase in autism diagnosis? (topic in my PS)
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Can you see yourself as a student at our school.
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In what ways did your clinical experience reinforce your desire to become a doctor.
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Research questions....
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How do you feel about patient autonomy?
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I was very active during the time of Roe v. Wade. What is your view of abortion and how would it affect your course if a pregnant woman entered your office interested in an abortion?
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Questions about my research.
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What are you researching?
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What do you do to relieve stress?
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What kind of residency will you do?
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"I think if you consider the statistics for drunk driving, domestic assault, etc. alcohol is responsible for a huge amount of the health problems in the US. What do you see as the best way to address this issue?" (he was pretty obsessed with alcohol abuse)
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"What specifically appeals to you about ophthalmology?"
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Q: "How long have you been employed as a CA (community/residential advisor)and what have you done about college drinking?" (I've never been a CA)
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What are you currently reading?
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What else do I need to know about you (after 45 minutes of Q and A)
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What was the most influential experience you had in the hospital you worked in?
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Do you see yourself living in Minnesota?
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What kind of research did you do? Do you want to continue doing research during med school? (he is an M.D./PhD so this was kind of expected
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Where are you staying during your visit? How long are you staying for?
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Discuss the US system of health care.
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Please explain to me what brought you to medicine (I am a non-traditional applicant).
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Tell me about your research.
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Why 8 years of school
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Tell me about your research experiences.
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What qualities do you think make a good pediatrician?
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Why did you choose your undergraduate major (child psychology) and how will it contribute to your career as a physician?
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How do feel about Healthcare?
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How do you deal with patients that aren't complient with treatments?
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What books have you read lately?
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Questions about my research
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What books have you read lately that you weren't required to read?
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Why do you want to come to medical school in Minnesota?
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Tell me about balancing yourself in college with academics and footbal and backetball.
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What are some of the last books you have read?
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Why Medicine? Tell me about your research?
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How would you contribute diversity to our medical school
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What do you think is the largest problem facing healtcare in this country today.
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Who is your favorite composer, favorite woman composer, favorite woman soloist, favorite conductor, all asked in rapid succession so I didn't even have a chance to answer
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Have you ever let some one down? Explain. (PS if you get Dr. McLoon, she asks the same questions to everyone she interviews.) These are the ones I could remember. There is nothing too surprising though.
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What problems do you see with our current health care system? How would you fix them.
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What strengths do you have that will help you be a good physician?
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What do you do outside of school?
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What is going to be your strength as a physician?
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What is your medical experience?
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Tell me about your current research.
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Tell me about your senior thesis research.
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What do you think would be the hardest part for you in starting medical school?
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what does [my major] have to do with medicine?
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why do you think physicians have one of the highest rates of alcohol abuse?
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What triggered your decision to apply?
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When did you decide to apply to medical school? (I was in a master's program at the time).
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Tell me about yourelf.
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What clinical-type experience do you have?
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"Do you have any personal connections to Minneapolis?"
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"How will you afford to come here?"
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"Why did you apply to UMN?"
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what do you do for fun in your free time?
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what is a health-care issue today that is a problem (i talked about medicare/medicaid shortages and the rising cost of prescription drugs)?
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what is your motivation to become a doctor (stemming from my AMCAS essay)?
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What sort of medicine do you want to practice?
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You are from PA, why Minnesota?
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How do you deal with stress?
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What do you envision medical school to be like?
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What problems do you see in rural communities today? (I am from a rural area and am placing an emphasis on rural medicine in my studies.)
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Describe a current medical crisis.
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How did you come to choose the medical profession?
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What makes you think you should practice medicine?
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Do you have any more questions?
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Do you have any questions?
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Tell about your path to medicine.
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So why did you not want to keep playing music in a band?
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What do you think of the current situation in healthcare?
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What is one issue in healthcare that particularly strikes you.
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Nothing too hard. Just questions stemming from conversation about me, my experiences.
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Tell me more about XXX (from my essays).
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What does activism mean to you?
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Who should represent patients in patient-advocacy?
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Why do you think you'd thrive in medical school?
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How would you discipline physicians that make mistakes?
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Why would you want to live in the cold?
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Describe your experience volunteering in the ER?
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How do you learn best?
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Is there anything about your application that you would like to address or tell the admissions committee?
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So, tell me why exactly you want to be a doctor.
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What is the biggest issue/challenge you think you will face as a physician?
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Where do you see yourself in 8 years? What type of medicine do you want to practice?
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Are you aware of any recent news about prescription drug problems?
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How do you think you'll deal with being probably the oldest student in the class?
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What kinds of hobbies do you have?
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Abortion question (see above)
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What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?
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What would a friend say to describe you?
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What major problem exists in medicine today?
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What concerns you about the future of medicine?
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Why UofM?
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"How did you meet your wife?"
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"What does your day-to-day work involve?" (I've been out of school a while and holding down a "real" job.)
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"What part of medical school are you most looking forward to?"
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What to do about health care in America?
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There were few discrete questions... it didn't feel like a list. We just had a conversation that flowed in out of my education, background, work experience, health care, study abroad, etc.
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So, what do you want to know about the University of Minnesota?
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What do you think should be done about the 43 million uninsured?
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What kind of doctor do you want to be? (I was confused if he meant what specialty, or more general, how will you act as a doctor...)
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Do you have any questions about the school?
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What clinical experiences did you get from your job?
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Why do you want to live in Minnnesota?
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Is this school your first choice?
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Tell me about your experiences in Egypt (went on a medical mission there)
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Tell me about your research experience
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just things specific to my application, detail clarifications.
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what else do you want to talk about?
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Every little detail from my personal statment and secondary. If you interview with my person, you better know everything you said about yourself or the interviewer will humiliate you.
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how do you solve homelessness?
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Lot's about universal health care
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explain what you think is happening during accupuncture ( I expressed an interest in it)
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know how to find a particular gene if you want to (pcr)
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If you got rejected from medical schools what would you do?
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Is there anything you would like to tell the admissions committee, or anything abt the school that you need more information about?
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Why are you compassionate?
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What are some challenges you can see physicians would face?
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What are some things that you wish you could change about medicine today?
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What was the last book you've read and what else do you read?
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How much medical experience do you have? (A lot of questions in this interview came from answers to previous questions)
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What do you read every day? / What types of books are you reading?
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Why haven't you done any research?
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Why medicine specifically, not nursing or physical therapy?
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Some HMO questions. This came up from one of my answers...one thing led to another. Try to know about the alternatives that have been proposed over the years but be honest. I simply stated that I really do not see a better system but talked about my takes on the single payer system.
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Special interests
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Why do you think you'd make a better physician relative to being a research scientist (I did a bunch of research work)?
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How did you prepare for the interview? (seems most interviewers read SDN!)
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What would make you choose UM instead of other schools? (see above)
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Why did you wait a year before applying?
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Conversely, what is one thing you will need to improve to be successful in an MD/PhD program?
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Do you expect to cure disease?
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What aspect of your personality will serve you best in an MD/PhD program?
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Describe your research.
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Do you think that you would like living in the Minneapolis area?
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Tell me about some positive and negative experiences that you have had with physicians.
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Why do you want to be a doctor? Why do you want to do this to yourself?
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Do you have any questions for me? (I strongly encourage you ask a thoughtful, genuine question, I asked about a female entering the medical field, something he could give me some good, qualified advice on, and he did!)
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I see here you have experience researching the GFAP protein in autistic post-mortem brains, and you also worked with a teenager with autism. How would you explain to him what you were researching?
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You said in your essay that you never intended to be a doctor. What changed your mind?
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Is there anyone at work that you don't like working with or don't get along with?
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What was the last book you've read?
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What prompted your decision to pursue a medical career?
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All questions were personal and specific to my essays.
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Did I have a "wild" lifestyle living off-campus? (my interviewer, bless his heart, had some preconceived notion that all college football players were wildmen)
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What is my role in my family?
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Why did I move to Minnesota?
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Tell me about your foreign and research experiences.
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What issues might a primary care doctor face in practice?
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Where do you see yourself in 15 years?
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standard questions.
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What do you think about health care CEO making millions?
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What do you think of universal health care and if the US will have it anytime soon?
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Why have you not considered the MD/PhD program? (returned to this question 3 times during the interview)
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What kind of doctor is your father?
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What kind of specialty would you go into?
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What kind of support network will you have if you come to this school
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What makes you think you would be a good doctor?
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What was the biggest decision you have had to make?
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So, you want to be a doctor? (this was the lead-off question as he was starting to open my file; I'm not sure he was really looking for an answer)
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Specific questions about my research
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What kind of a doctor is your dad?
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Where else have you applied?
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Describe how you get frustrated/stressed.
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Explain the importance of proffesional autonomy.
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What have you read the practice of medicine?
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Do you have any family members who are physicians?
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Name the last five books you read?
What was the most interesting question?
Students said most interesting question asked at University of Minnesota Twin Cities Medical School discussed a wide range of topics, including addressing suffering, healthcare costs, future career goals, ethical dilemmas, personal experiences, and opinions on healthcare systems. While some responses mentioned MMI or nondisclosure agreements, the questions primarily focused on the applicants' motivations for pursuing medicine, ethical reasoning, experiences in healthcare, and perspectives on current healthcare challenges.
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Types of suffering, how physicians can help patients deal with it
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Healthcare costs are rising rapidly. What are your thoughts? What possible solutions are there? My interviewer and I had a really good discussion about it.
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Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?
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Why do teams fail?
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I moved here about 15 years back and one thing that surprised me was how big youth sports are. Were you involved in sports as a child?
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Why minnesota? (im out of state)
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What was your leadership style
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How do you deal with failure?
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Describe a time when you were placed in an ethical situation.
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Tell me about... (about to talk conversationally about your PS and secondary essays)
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You seem to have a good thing going at (current school), why do you want to leave?
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How would you deal with X type of patient (not following treatment plan, engaging in risky behavior, etc.)
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How would a friend describe you/how would an enemy describe you?
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What do you like to do for fun?
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What is something that you were exposed to during your volunteering that you seeked out more information about?
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As a physician, how would you handle the death of a patient?
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Health Care reform
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What are you reading?
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Do you stay up-to-date with news? How do you get it?
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Patients I remember from my volunteering.
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(Gave an example of an emergency room end-of-life decision he had to make earlier that week) What would you have done?
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How did you do on the MCAT? This was interesting since interviewers were given all info except GPA and MCAT to reduce bias. I guess I would be curious too if I were interviewing someone.
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Stuff about abortion
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Are you going to be able to handle dealing with sick people all the time? What about when you can't help them?
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How does the health care system in the U.S. compare with the health care system of Germany (based on my experiences, not random!).
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Discussion about DIY home genetic tests.
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If we were able to switch positions, I were the applicant you were the interviewer, what would you ask me?
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what is your biggest weakness that you don't spin as a positive?
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Do you ever get involved in political causes?
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What do believe will be the biggest challenge for you in medical school?
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Why do you want to go into primary care? (Although our conversation was interesting and engaging at times, I wasn't asked any terribly interesting questions.)
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Let's switch roles... If you were the director and I were the student, what 1 question would you ask me?
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What do you think of the health care system in the US?
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are you confident that you'll be admitted to medical school this year?
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Current political climate in post-Soviet Russsia
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Besides diabetic interventions, what Other things need to be done if a patient's pancrease is removed? (I work in an organ transplant unit and the interviewer is a physiology prof)
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None--they were all very standard questions.
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Tell me more about making maple syrup? (it stems from one of my volunteer experiences in my application)
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What would you do if a patient told you to not tell his wife about his terminal illness?
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all very basic...why an MD, where will you be in 10 years, why this school
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All of the questions were VERY easy and definitely totally comfortable ''get to know you'' sort of things. Actually..my interviewer asked how slow the process had been which I thought was interesting (especially since MN has been very slow).
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Very general questions about my primary and secondary application.
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What is your greatest accomplishment?
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Just information about my AMCAS and secondary application, clarification about activities, questions about my research and interests
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Have any relatives attended this school.
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You are in charge of limited state health budget: give me programs to do. What book recently. Why do you want to be doctor? What are major issues in medicine to you? How could we fix them. What about a doctor's responsibility to prevent suffering? What about your family? What baout another occupation? Anything else to tell me? Any questions?
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everything was pretty interesting
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Is this reaaly your first choice?
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"Where should we sit?" (upon arriving in the large conference room were my one-on-one interview took place)
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Which aspect of the HIV/AIDS epidemic strikes you as the most interesting?
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What kind of outdoor activities do you like to do?
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Discuss the US system of healthcare.
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Most of the questions had to do with my research, the interviews were really just conversations about my research, and sometimes, the interviewers research.
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What would you do if a patient filed a malpractice suit against you?
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Would I do overseas work?
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From your shadowing experience, what was one thing that totally caught you off guard, positive or negative?
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I was given a specific medical scenario and asked what I would do in that situation
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Have you read any good books lately?
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What is your thesis about?
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Why did you choose to go to undergrad where you did?
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why do you think physicians have one of the highest rates of alcohol abuse?
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What is the largest problem you see with the US healthcare system? This may not seem like an interesting question but since I was an MPH student at the time, I fortunately had a lot to talk about and enjoyed sharing my views.
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tell me about your trips to the boundry waters canoe area
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Tell me about your parents.
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The interview was more of a conversation during which I learned so much about both the school, it's program and resources and also medicine in general. It was laid back and so fluid that I cannot remember a specific question except for: "do you have any personal connections to Minneapolis?" and "How will you afford the tuition?" (I am an out-of-state applicant.
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what is a health-care issue today that is a problem?
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Tell about your international experiences.
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Name two people who were influential in your outlook towards life and the how and why of their influence.
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They were looking for reasons for choosing medicine and path taken to get there. There is room for "diversity" in unique situations.
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Tell about your path to medicine.
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What do you think needs to be done to fix the current crisis in healthcare?
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Would you do (my major) over again?
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Standard questions
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Do you think today's physicians are involved enough in activism?
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Why would someone from the south ever want to go to school in the very cold minnesota climate?
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What scares you the most about becoming a physician?
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What have you learned outside of the classroom?
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How do you think you'll deal with being probably the oldest student in the class?
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What would you tell a 19yr old female patient who was pregnant who wanted an abortion.
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Nothing out of the ordinary.
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All the standard questions.
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"Why do you think you know what you're getting into?"
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Nothing out of the ordinary. What should we do about the "health care problem"
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A question about the neighborhood where I grew up.
-
What would you tell a patient who asked you to do something you morally disagreed with, such as perform an abortion?
-
What books have you read lately?
-
They were all pretty bland typical interview questions.
-
i go to a catholic school and he asked quite a few questions about it.
-
How can you explain the fact that Canadians have a longer life span compared to Americans? What does that mean for healthcare
-
what did you read in your brain and fiction class?
-
What would you cook for me if I asked you to cook your favorite dish (related to a hobby...)
-
Why do you feel like helping poor people? (this question was in reference to my volunteer work in a third world country)
-
What was your biggest disappointment/accomplishment?
-
What do some of the physicians you've shadowed think about our current health care system?
-
What scares you the most or makes you apprehensive about the medical field?
-
Why do you think you'd make a better physician relative to being a research scientist (I did a bunch of research work)?
-
How many newspapers do you read each morning?
-
Imagine you had to describe your research to a group of legislators from Minnesota in laymen's terms and then had to explain why it was important for the state of Minnesota. Also, you only have one minute.
-
Nothing. The questions were mainly about things that I mentioned on my secondary.
-
"If two rockets take off, onw at the equator and one at the north pole, which one will reach orbit first"
-
hmmmm, nothing too interesting
-
Standard set of questions.
-
What do you think are the most difficult challanges faced by academic medicine researchers?
-
"What do you see as the biggest problem facing medicine today?"
-
What do I think of the situation in the Middle East?
-
How does the social system in Germany differ from the U.S.'s? (Came up during conversation about my experiences abroad)
-
"You probably won't go to Minnesota if you get accepted here, will you?" (an interesting twist on "why minnesota?") This was followed by a series of questions regarding the likelyhood of me staying in MN after graduation (do you have family/connections here, etc.).
-
What do you think of universal health care and if the US will have it anytime soon?
-
What do you think of "The Remains of the Day"? (I was reading it while waiting for her)
-
How would you describe your relationship with your step-mother?
-
Describe the last book you read?
-
just questions about my research
-
Do you read at all? last book read?
-
Have you seen the movie "The Jerk"?
-
None of my interviewer's questions struck me as interesting...they were all pretty straightforward.
-
if you had a magic wand and could change anything about medicine, what would you change?
What was the most difficult question?
Students said the most difficult question asked at University of Minnesota Twin Cities Medical School discussed a wide range of topics, including ethical scenarios, healthcare reform, personal attributes, and challenges in the healthcare system. Some respondents mentioned encountering questions about ethical dilemmas in a Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) format, potentially subject to a nondisclosure agreement, while others faced challenging inquiries about their motivations, problem-solving skills, and views on healthcare policies.
-
Questions were not hard
-
If you had the chance to interview someone, who would you interview? I was just thrown off/unprepared for the question.
-
Who would you choose to interview if you had the chance?
-
Describe how you responded to a obstacle or conflict.
-
An ethical situation that was posed. Initially it wasn't hard, but the interviewer then spun it in a tricky way.
-
How would you define compassion?
-
What do you think is the biggest issue with the US health care system? what would you do about it?
-
cannot think of any
-
Tell me about yourself.
-
What changes would you make to the health care system?
-
Describe a time when you really wanted something, but failed to achieve it.
-
Describe a conflict you had with a friend
-
What are your attributes that would contribute to the school?
-
What do you find boring about medicine?
-
Why do teams fail?
-
Name the biggest moral/ethical situation you have been in since you turned 19.
-
How do you feel about the health disparity you saw abroad?
-
None were really that hard.
-
How would a malpractice suit against you impact you and your career?
-
All were straight foward with a little preparation.
-
What are you strengths and weaknesses?
-
Discussing health reform, because my interviewer strongly disagreed with my answer. I don't know if he wanted to see how I would debate it, or if he just wanted to let me know I was wrong in his mind. Either way, I felt like I was put in a very difficult position. He and I just had different opinions, and I walked out of the interview feeling like my opinion in someway took away from my performance.
-
what do I think of the healthcare
-
How are you sure you want to be a doctor and not just pursue research?
-
There were no difficult questions asked.
-
If you prepared, none.
-
None
-
None were too bad, plus I was able to kind of dodge the health care one. Mostly it was a very conversational interview, moreso than my others
-
None too difficult, they are not trying to cream you.
-
I always find it difficult to answer about the problems in the health care system without coming off too complainy.
-
So would you say that University of Minnesota and Mayo are your top two choices?
-
I had to explain a very specific portion of my application that involved gangs.
-
4th year student asked about a situation where I acted in a morally questionable way.
-
Nothing really difficult, it was so much more conversational than anything else. Pretty chill n relaxed. Tho for me 4th yr interview, she was more intense I think. Asked about my most difficult experience ever, regrets i've had, how i've experienced diversity and stuff like that.
-
what do you think of U.S. healthcare?
-
How does X actually work? (a specific piece of hardware I mentioned that's related to one of my interests)
-
What type of person/personality characteristic do you dislike the most? How would deal with such a person?
-
Why did you wait three years after your undergraduate degree to apply to medical school? (All of my questions were straight forward.)
-
Why should I chose you over other of these candidates?
-
Nothing overly difficult
-
do you know who _____ (obscure musician from the 20th century) is? (luckily I knew the answer...)
-
Mechanisms of action of an anti-fungal medication (something a family member had to use)
-
What problems are doctors facing today?
-
Interviewer said that he thinks some diseases shouldn't be treated in certain cases (ones that are largely due to patient lifestyle) because the cost of treatment for some of these diseases is what is causing the high price and unavailability of healthcare. Then he asked me what I thought about that.
-
None--they were all very standard questions.
-
Whats the biggest problem in health care?
-
My interviewer told me what he saw as the weakest part of my application, so I had to discuss that with him.
-
Talk about a medical issue you have been following inthe news and discuss a possible solution.
-
None. Seriously they were all VERY easy.
-
If i had wanted to be a doctor in college and why i took time off.
-
All easy questions. By easy, I mean no hard policy/ethics questions. However, you better know everything about your experiences/desires for medicine/yourself front to back.
-
What do you want the admissions committee to know that is not in your application
-
Were no really difficult morale questions, mostly about my application.
-
What do you think that I should know about you that is not in your application? (there were 9 essay questions in the supplemental and I hadn't prepared for that)
-
personal question about my family (fair game, it was in my personal statement)
-
Who would you like to meet most, dead or alive?
-
"What do you see as the biggest problem in healthcare?" (I promise that this was the most difficult one although "what do you do to relax?" and "what was the last book that you read?" were right up there with it)
-
If you were the president of the United States, how would you go about changing insurance so that more people are covered?
-
tell me more about your research
-
Nothing really difficult. The questions were very straight forward.
-
Tell me about implicit memory development and face processing. (I didn't complete a lot of research in this area but was able to bring the question around to areas I knew more about)
-
How do you feel about Health care? (very general, I had a hard time getting specific questions)
-
Well, at first after explaining their process, he said that the first thing I needed to do was explain why I wanted to go to medicine. But without telling where he wanted me to go. Obviously "Why medicine" is fair but he asked it in a weird way. So I talked for a bit but then he started asking questions and made it more informal and conversational.
-
What is one of the largest problems in US health care today, and what would you do about it?
-
Who is your favorite composer, favorite woman composer, favorite woman soloist, favorite conductor, all asked in rapid succession so I didn't even have a chance to answer
-
What sort of limitations do you have that will make it hard to be a physician?
-
What do you think your biggest weakness will be when you become a physician?
-
What do you think the best and worst things about being a physician are?
-
N/A
-
Describe the last time you were extremely stressed or mad and how you were able to cope.
-
what is the biggest problem with healtcare today?
-
Ethical questions of health care delivery.
-
same one
-
What makes you unique from the other applicants?
-
What do you see as the solution to the current healthcare debate, i.e. socialized vs. privatized healthcare?
-
All average.
-
The previous was the only question. It has a long answer.
-
What issue in healthcare particularly strikes you that you want to talk about? (I talk about the aging US population)
-
None really. Maybe-challenges for docs and patients in the area into which i intend to go?
-
I didn't have any questions that were too difficult, but some others felt that they were grilled (be able to talk about everything you mentioned in your essays!)
-
I don't think it's possible for you to have done all these extracurriculars. Did you do this one? This one? Tell me how you calculated your hours per week.
-
What do you think should be done with physicians that make mistakes?
-
If I asked your friends to describe something about you they would change, what would they say?
-
When have you hit a brick wall in your life?
-
Are you aware of any recent news about prescription drug problems? (I talked about the recent Vioxx recall and how I thought it might affect the status of other COX2 inhibitors.)
-
Even if you support her choice to an abortion (see above), what would you tell her if you were morally against abortion?
-
Nothing too difficult.
-
Only standard questions.
-
No difficult questions, really. My application materials directed the questioning, so there were no surprises.
-
What didn't get on your application that you want me to know about?
-
What I'd do about the 45 million people who're currently uninsured.
-
See most interesting question.
-
What is your favorite basketball team? (I barely know one. I said I play b/ball, which is quite differrent from being an NBA fan, it is.)
-
Please tell me about a disease process you are familiar with and tell me everything you know about it.
-
question about future of healthcare issues
-
he asked a few short questions about my application, but mostly just asked me what i wanted to talk about. nothing difficult or strange.
-
How do you solve...(timeless questions like world hunger, war, etc)
-
how would you deal with being away from your family? (I went to college a hour away from my parents)
-
Nothing really
-
Why are you compassionate?
-
How do you keep up with the advancing technology field and its effect on your practice as a physician? Specifically, what if patients come to you and ask you for your opinion about certain websites/new technologies they've found in relation to their illness?
-
Tell me about your background. (It was so open ended that I didn't know where to start and fumbled for words a little)
-
see above
-
Since you are away from family, what would be your support system in Minneapolis?
-
What would make you choose UM over other schools you applied to? (besides acceptance, location).... I didn't really have an answer prepared, since I'm very interested in the school, they wouldn't have to do much to persuade me to pick them.
-
Do you expect to cure disease?
-
See above.... (FYI, I highly doubt this question will make it to a standard medical school interview question, but it has something to do with the spin of the earth)
-
How do you handle failure?
-
Interviewer grilled me with endless questions, even to the point of asking me how I sequenced DNA in my research experience.
-
The interviewer asked if I had any questions for him, I really wasn't prepared to ask questions.
-
I did not feel that any question was particularly difficult.
-
Why do I want to be a doctor as opposed to a nurse, physical therapist, etc?
-
Technical questions about an experimental technique that I myself have never performed.
-
see above.
-
Why have you not considered the MD/PhD program?
-
An ethical question regarding religous beliefs and treatments provided
-
Describe some of the debate surrounding genetic research and your opinion on them.
-
what do you do for fun?
-
How do you see yourself in 10 years?
-
How do you feel about 80-hour work weeks?
-
What drives you (internally)
-
How do you handle unethical situations? (Difficult because of the generality of the question - no specific situation given)
🤝 Interview Format and Logistics ▼
How long was the interview?
Most respondents had an interview of more than 50 minutes.
How many people interviewed you?
Most respondents were interviewed by 1 person.
What was the style of the interview?
Most respondents had a one-on-one interview.
What type of interview was it?
Most respondents had an open file interview.
Was this interview in-person or virtual?
Most respondents had a virtual interview.
Data includes both pre- and post-COVID interviews.
Where did the interview take place?
Most respondents were interviewed at the school.
📍 On-Site Experience ▼
Who was the tour given by?
Tours were most commonly given by a Student
How did the tour guide seem?
Most tour guides were enthusiastic about the school.
How do you rank the facilities?
Most respondents rank the facilities as above average.
What is your in-state status?
Most respondents rank the facilities as below average.
What were your total hours spent traveling?
Most respondents spent 0-1 hour traveling to the interview.
What was your primary mode of travel?
Most respondents traveled by automobile to the interview.
About how much did you spend on room, food, and travel?
Most respondents spent less than $100.
What airport did you fly into?
Respondents who flew to the interview generally used Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (MSP)
-
Minneapolis/St. Paul
-
Minneapolis - St. Paul Internat'l
-
Minneapolis
-
Minn airport
-
MSP
-
Chicago O'hare
Where did you stay?
Most respondents stayed either Hotel or at a hotel.
What is the name of the hotel you stayed in?
-
mnpls intl hostel
-
University Radisson
-
University Inn
-
University Days INN
-
University Day's Inn
-
The Commons Hotel
-
Radisson University
-
Hampton Inn
-
EconoLodge
-
Days Inn w/ shuttle
-
Days Inn University
-
Days Inn
-
Days Hotel
-
Airbnb
How would you rate the hotel?
Most respondents rated their hotel as good.
0 = Bad, 10 = Great
Would you recommend the hotel?
Most respondents would recommend their hotel.
What is your ranking of this school's location?
Most respondents rate the school location as good.
0 = Bad, 10 = Great
What is your ranking of this area's cultural life?
Most respondents rate the area’s cultural life as good.
0 = Bad, 10 = Great
What are your comments on where you stayed?
No responses
✅ Interview Preparation and Impressions ▼
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.
How did you prepare for the interview?
Applicants commonly prepared for their interviews by practicing with mock interviews, reviewing their applications, researching the school and its mission, reading interview feedback on platforms like SDN, and staying updated on current medical topics. Many also sought advice from current medical students, identified their strengths and weaknesses, and prepared answers to common interview questions.
-
Basic MMI prep, spoke to students, prepared answers to common questions
-
MMI preparation workshop with prehealth group. Mock interviews. Identifying strengths/weaknesses.
-
Used free mock-interview service at my school, did tons of MMI questions found on the internet with friends and family, a few sessions with an online interview prep person
-
Practice MMI
-
Basic interview questions. MMI questions from online banks. Practiced both. Reviewed my application.
-
I prepped with some of my professional mentors doing traditional and MMI style questions/format
-
Mock MMI and freeform
-
Practiced typical MMI questions.
-
I reviewed my primary and secondary application, made a list of the things about the school that interested me, and read the interview feedback on SDN.
-
Research
-
SDN, Interview feedback, school website
-
SDN, reviewing common medical school questions
-
SDN, school website, MSAR
-
SDN, school website
-
SDN, AMCAS, read information here and there
-
Brainstorm questions and answers.
-
Read the interview feedback surveys. Looked over my AMCAS
-
Reading over AMCAS/secondary.
-
SDN, interview feedback, reviewing application and school website
-
Researched school. Practiced answering obvious questions.
-
SDN, practice interviews, talking with first and second year students
-
SDN, interview books (yea yea I know), reading up the University of Minnesota mission statements and what they seek in applicants
-
SDN, read AMCAS
-
Practice Interview (twice) at school. Talked to advisor. Read studendoctor.net. Outlined answers to questions on here.
-
this site, their website
-
Reviewed the school's website, googled the interviewer, and read a few online articles regarding the interviewer's area of interest in research.
-
Researched the Healthcare bill. Re-read some sources on bioethics as well as looking over interview feedback
-
Enjoyed Minneapolis and learned a little about the campus, SDN interview feedback, made certain I was up-to-date on health reform, and developed my thoughts and opinions on the matter.
-
Mock interview, SDN, sample questions online, review my amcas.
-
Read SDN feedback, reviewed AMCAS and secondary essays, practice questions supplied by undergrad career center.
-
Looked over my AMCAS application.
-
SDN interview question review; basically, found the most difficult questions I could be asked and ensured I had good answers.
-
Brushed up on current events; reviewed health care reform; outlined health care system; SDN; school website; reviewed EC's
-
Previous interviews, researched the school a bit
-
Read secondary, primary.
-
Read SDN, UMN website
-
I read sdn, attempted to read up on everything I don't know about the health care system but gave up very soon, read some standard interview questions and came up with specific responses to "why medicine" and "why this school"
-
SDN, read website, read my application
-
Read primary and secondary, SDN, Med school interview package from school career center, Read on ethics.
-
Read an entire health policy textbook, bioethics and reviewed AMCAS application.
-
Reviewed primary and secondary apps, brushed up on US health care policy, nothing too major.
-
SDN, school's website, google's practice interviews n the like.
-
SDN, U of M website, went over my app
-
SDN, AMSAR, mock interview, read my application again, U website.
-
Read SDN articles and interview feedback posts. Read Health related articles online. Read through my essays and gathered personal experiences.
-
I read other student's opinions of their interviews, read essays on health care reform, read novels and essays by physician/writers, rehearsed with friends, and reflected on my decision to become a doctor.
-
Read papers by the people I looked to interview for.
-
Reviewed AMCAS and secondary applications, brushed up on current medical topics, found a test bank of sample interview questions, explored U of MN website
-
read SDN, school website, reveiwed my research,
-
SDN, googled sample questions, reviewed current topics in healthcare, went over my AMCAS and supplemental questions
-
Reviewed questions, SDN Int. Feedback., Reviewed PS, AMCAS, and Secondary.
-
SDN interview feedback, read over my AMCAS and secondary (He asked me questions based on my experiences taht I listed).
-
Reviewed my application, looked at standard interview questions and the feedback on this website; brushed up on my past research/work experiences so I could talk intelligently about them.
-
mock interviews
-
SDN and reviewed my secondary and primary applications. I also went to the free coffee night before the day of the interview to meet with current second years.
-
SDN, thought about questions and how I would respond, mock interview, reviewed AAMCAS
-
I looked in the mirror a few times and just thought over defining characteristics of myself and what I wanted to get across during the interview
-
SDN, my application
-
Reading SDN, talking to current medical students, reading over my AMCAS and secondary application
-
Read school website, went over AMCAS, wasted time preparing for ethics questions
-
not much
-
SDN, google my interviewer, school website, my essay shtuff.
-
website, SDN, sketch out ideas
-
reviewed AMCAS. supplemental, thought about common questions, SDN
-
SDN, reread my app, refreshed myself on my research, googled interviewer
-
SDN, read my amcas, asked others who interviewed
-
poorly (8am interview and I managed about 4 hours of sleep the night before because I had to finish a term paper. In case you had not already inferred from my late interview date I am what some affectionately call: a procrastinator)
-
Re-read application info, scanned newspapers for current health events, mock interview.
-
SDN, my brother goes there so talking to him and a bunch of his M4 friends
-
SD, looked over my research, internet review searches of current medical crises
-
Mock interview through my undergraduate institution, studentdoctor.com, re-read my application materials, researched the school
-
re-read essays (AMCAS and secondary), SDN, read through school website
-
StudentDoctor.net, talk to a med student, practice interviews
-
SDN, reviewed my primary and secondary application
-
mock interviews, sdn, reading my applications
-
Read SDN, read over essays that I wrote.
-
Read the schools web-site, SDN, and my application
-
studentdoctor.net, looked at the school website, reviewed my secondary and previous research
-
n/a
-
SDN, reread my personal statement and went over sample questions.
-
read my amcas app, school website
-
SD, UMN web site, look up current med issues, practice
-
Re-read all my essays and personal statements. Read a little about the school and it's program.
-
read SDN website and school website, looked up my interviewer to see what field(s) he was in (he was impressed with that), re-read my secondary application questions (IMPORTANT! a lot of my interview questions came directly off of mine, so make sure you know what you wrote!)
-
SDN, secondary app, AAMCAS app
-
Researched my interviewer, asked questions at a pre-function offered by the school.
-
Reviewed the school and my application.
-
Reread extensive secondary app, SDN, UMN website.
-
Read SDN, and the newspaper.
-
sdn, prepping with articles on health care reform, my essays (which my interviewer drew many of his questions from)
-
Read over my supplemental application, looked at the school website, talked to current students before the interview date.
-
Read SDN, read the U of M website.
-
application, SDN, reviewed research(my own and my interviewer's research)...that's about it
-
Visited studentdoctor.net, researched my interviewer on the school website, read my AMCAS and secondary applications, had my father interview me the night before from The 2004 Pfizer Medical School Manual.
-
Read over website, essays, possible questions.
-
The school provided me with the name of my interviewer in advance, so I looked him up on the school's website to find out his research interests. I also reviewed my AMCAS and secondary applications (especially since it was open file), and looked at previous SDN comments.
-
Read about the school, read articles published by my interviewer.
-
Reviewed 1st and 2nd apps, researched school, and this site
-
Read catalog and sdn.
-
I thought a bit about how I would approach "standard" interview questions (maybe two hours looking over a list I compiled from interview feedback on this site).
-
Nothing special -- I'm at the U for grad school, so I knew a fair amount already. Looked at the interview feedback page on SDN, that's about it.
-
Read the school's website, brushed up on health care in America (a weakness of mine), read over my AMCAS and secondary apps.
-
Read reviews on this website, read through my application, and read a Scientific American magazine.
-
Looked at the web site, brochures, pubmed, looked at USNews rakings, talked to people and read various commercial advice sources.
-
Typical
-
student doctor, re-read application, u of m website
-
read my secondary, AMCAS essay, went out with friends to relax.
-
went over personal statement, talked to others that interviewed there. Read up on current events.
-
read sdn, researched interviewers
-
SDN, talked to my co-workers who are all very familiar with the U of MN
-
SDN, current medical students' help, read my appl., read school's website
-
SDN, practice answering questions out loud, mock interviews, read over my apps, and read up on current medical/research issues.
-
U of MN website, this website, reviewed my AMCAS and U of MN apps, mock interview, kept up on current events in the health field.
-
This website, mock interview, went through AMCAS and Minnesota applications
-
Read apps, SDN, mock interviews, talked to current student.
-
Read my essays, AMCAS, UM website, relaxed, talked w/family about health care issues
-
I actually didn't this time. After so many other interviews it gets almost second nature.
-
read U of M website and this website
-
Reread applications, this site, answered some mock interview questions
-
Don't tell on me, but I just sort of "winged it". I know my experiences, I know my essay, and I know why I want to be a doctor. If you spend an hour "pumping yourself up", reminding yourself why you are a qualified candidate and go in there with self-confidence instead of a headfull of trivial MN facts, your interview will go much more smoothly.
-
read this site, read everything I could about the U of M, drilled myself and did a mock interview with a friend
-
read SDN, school website, healthcare primer, application.
-
Reread my application...calmed down.
-
Thought about possible questions and what I would answer.
-
SDN, knew my application well, read "Severed Trust", which details the troubles of our health care system (an excellent and very informative book)
-
Asked some friends in med school at Minnesota about their interviews.
-
Reread AMCAS, secondary apps; reviewed U of M website.
-
Read my AMCAS, read the Univ. of WA bioethics site. Look at one of the late October reviews for the link (it's excellent). Read my 2' app and thought over and reread some of my research. Looked at the website.
-
Reading interview feedback off this site, reading their website, and speaking with current medical students there.
-
Read over my essays, looked at potential questions
-
Review application and practice interviews
-
Reviewed Website, AMCAS application, secondary application, and answered typical interview questions.
-
read up on my interviewer's research (not a bad idea to get an idea of what he/she does); studied my application and research (definitely a good thing to do)
-
Re-read my application.
-
Read about the University of Minnesota, looked up my interviewer on the web.
-
Re-read my personal statement.
-
Explored the website, read through the catalog, wrote down a few things I wanted to highlight about myself as well as some questions for the interviewer.
-
u of mn website (not the best but good to get a sense of the school's curriculum) looked for sample interview questions online and also studied my application materials thoroughly.
What impressed you positively?
Applicants were positively impressed by the welcoming and friendly atmosphere of the school, as well as the enthusiasm and genuine happiness of the students and staff. They appreciated the emphasis on student well-being, the diverse opportunities available, the flexibility in the curriculum, the campus facilities, and the supportive learning environment. Many highlighted the personal interactions, one-on-one interviews, and informative tours that contributed to a comprehensive and positive impression of the school.
-
One-on-one interviewer was very nice, MMI interviewers helped me feel more relaxed
-
The admissions team and student ambassadors had a lot of good things to say about student life and support. I was happy to find out about their ongoing review of curriculum to integrate diversity, equity, and inclusion. Hands-on learning was also a major plus.
-
Friendliness of the school staff, the school made you feel welcome, students there seem to enjoy the school, free glass bottle with the school logo
-
Students seemed to love the school. New building incoming. Seems like lots of cool opportunities.
-
The staff and the students were all so welcoming and respectful.
-
Everyone was welcoming and friendly
-
I love this program and was very impressed by the students and faculty. I like the pass/fail class style. Overall, this is my first choice school.
-
Everyone was SO nice
-
Nice campus
-
The 4th year student who interviewed me and the 5 other students that I met during the panel and tour all seemed like people that I would get along with really well. The facilities blew my mind (I went to a really small school that had much less funding for undergraduate). What really finalized my positive impression was the faculty though. During the tour, we ran into 2 different faculty members. They seemed happy, excited to talk to us, and really genuine. I would love to have them as professors in the future.
-
Nice facilities, Flex MD programs, lots of research opportunities
-
Their curriculum is very solid and has a very good reputation. All lectures are recorded and uploaded, so you hardly have to attend lecture. All exams are based purely on powerpoint from lecture (also uploaded), so no need for textbooks (save for anatomy). Plus it's a big school so every imaginable resource is available
-
The number of opportunities at the school. The possibility to do clinicals all over the state. The friendliness of the admissions staff. How laid back the interview was (it was like having a normal conversation).
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I really liked minneapolis, it is a really nice city. I liked the facilities, they are a bit on the older side but they do a lot to make things feel homey--lots of little study nooks and cafes in the school itself. I really liked my interviewers, the students and my tour guide, everyone was very nice and down to earth.
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very nice and friendly people: I feel I got to know people, my interviewer, medical students and fellow interviewees. The only medical school in the area: many opportunities/hospital rotations are open to medical student.
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N/A
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Both the faculty and MS4 were extremely nice. The interview was sooo low stress. It was more of a conversation than an interview
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Everyone went out of their way to make sure that my questions were addressed.
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The main room for the interview day was very nice and had plenty of snacks and beverages. The admissions staff was very kind, as were the interviews. Very relaxed.
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Facilities, research.
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Location, friendly students, campus facilities
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The students.
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The city of Minneapolis, the campus, the facilities, the interconnectedness of the medical campus with the undergraduates, graduates and other health professions, the facilities dedicated to medical students
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Facilities, the Dean meeting with you personally
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The community! the students are so willing to answer all of your questions. some M2s will even have coffee with you the night before.
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The students seem awesome, very friendly. Facilities are nice and the location is great. I love their new curriculum and all the opportunities it offers
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Positive attitude of the medical students.
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The atmosphere of the school, including staff and administration.
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The students: both those in my interview group and current students. I felt like they were a pretty chill, laid-back group and got along really well with everyone. I'm way out-of-state, and everyone was really interested in learning about me and my job, life, etc. The curriculum is changing for the better, in that they are becoming more clinically friendly in years 1 and 2. Also, I like the criteria they use to chose students: personal character and experiences are more weighted than MCAT and GPA. Minneapolis seems like a great city, too.
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The MS2 students, very down-to-earth, friendly and open.
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Everyone was so nice, the students seemed to really form a cohesive group, the opportunities and number of hospitals are amazing.
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Friendly atmosphere, despite the large school size. Good food.
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The school is the only medical school in the Twin Cities. This means that they have the monopoly on some of the best hospitals in the nation.
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The students seemed genuinely happy to be there; the facilities seemed really nice; great lunch; flexible MD program
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Good ranking, unexpectedly small interview group, the Dean was a nice guy
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Friendly atmosphere, collaborative learning. No ranking, not cut-throat.
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Facilities seemed very nice. Students were friendly and several came up to the conspicuous group of us interviewers and said hello.
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I like Minneapolis, there is live streaming of the lectures, the admissions people were friendly, the interview was incredibly laid-back (with the med student, it was almost impossible to remain professional, felt like I was talking to some guy, a friend), pass/fail, anatomy is right away so you don't stink for an extended period of time, I like the VA a lot, and there is free printing, so people print their course packets for free!
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Elective opportunities, lectures videotaped. Minnesota nice. :-)
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Close-file interview. The interviewers are nice.
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The friendliness of the entire staff, as well as the tour of the school. Very, very impressive!
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The enthusiasm of the students; they seemed very laid back and happy to be there. The 4th year student I interviewed with was very honest about his experiences in medical school. Free and plentiful lunch.
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People in the school, City. Although it gets quite cold... And yea, the best was the office of diversity..best in the world I think.
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student interviewers were great- really friendly- made me want to go to the school
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They made an effort to still give us some serious student contact during the day, even though students were on vacation. Our two tourguides were incredibly cool and fun and spent a long time answering questions, and it was great to also get some time with a 4th-year student. Students seem really happy and diverse. Lunch is really great, with no dollar limit!
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The faculty and student positive attitudes. The description of how enjoyable medical school is from current med students.
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I was very impressed by the students. They seemed genuinely happy at the U of M, and they seem to have a strong sense of mission and purpose without taking themselves too seriously.
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Everyone was unbelievably friendly and the students served us an incredible meal. Thanks guys!!
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laid back friendly students, faculty members i met really friendly, Minnesota nice place
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The people (students, faculty, physicians) were extremely friendly
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good lunch, HUGE campus, underground tunnels connecting all building so you don't ahve to go outside in the winter
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Our tour guides were very friendly and enthusiastic about the school. The assistant director of admissions who gave us the introduction was informative and welcoming. The lunch was fantastic! We got to sit in on a second year test and tour through some of the labs--very nice.
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The school, the admissions students who toured us.
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You can eat as much food from the cafeteria that you want when you have lunch (people were eating ~$20 meals), the student ambassadors were very enthousiastic. They gave us great info about what sets their program apart from others - which was good to hear since my interview was later in the day, and the cpre teaching hospital and the rest of the health campus is all connected to eachother via tunnels (it gets cold in MN in the winter). They are renovating all the classrooms.
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The secretary was very nice!
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visiting a class
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All the med students were so enthusiastic! You could tell they loved their school, and they were so encouraging.
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Everyone was incredibly friendly and students work together to help each other learn
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Most of the facilities, comments from the students regarding some programs on campus,
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Everyone (except the administrative assistant) was extremely positive and nice. The school has some awesome programs and facilities, as well as opportunities to go abroad.
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The facilities, the interviewer was supre nice, the students were really encouraging
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Up until we met the students, I was leary about the school (see below). However, the lunch and tour were absolutely awesome. First off, the students were VERY enthusiastic about the school and did a bang-up job of highlighting it's strengths. Most of these ''highlights'' are nowhere to be found on the website. eg...top ranked research/primary care, very dedicated faculty, tons of opportunities to work with rural/international health, extremely flexible for taking time off or doing clerkships at other schools. Yeah, crazy huh. I also loved Minneapolis; it's just like Seattle (best city in the US in case you were wondering).
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facilities and enthusiasm of students and staff
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This school was everything I thought it would be.
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if you do a rural semester , there's a tuition reduction; flexible MD. Chatting with med students. Lunch is delicious.
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it was a very relaxed atmosphere, everyone was enthusiastic and interested in the students being interviewed
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Kindness of interviewer
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Honesty of the students... they admitted that the admissions committee has problems with judgement and organization.
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The interview was in the morning, allowing you to relax for the rest of the day. Very friendly students. They seem to cater to different kinds of learning styles (online lectures, 24 hour access to labs etc.)
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the students, the professors and the people in general are incredibly nice
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The interviewer was very casual and gave me ample time to respond to all of the questions. I was really impressed by the flexibility that the school provides.
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The students really seemed to enjoy the medical school and found the atomosphere very positive and low stress.
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Everyone seemed very friendly and genuinely happy.
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Great facilities, friendly interviewer who was on the admissions comittee. At the end he checked to see if I could sit in on a med school class
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The wonderful opportunities the U provides to individualize one's medical education, and the Student's impression
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the enthusiasim of the medical students they seemed very happy to be there
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The enthusiasim of the students there. The number of activities that are available to the students. They are very flexible with the students in order to allow them to pursue their own career goals. The staff seemed very laid back and easy to talk to.
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How flexible the school and classes were to each individual students own needs. How much the students enjoyed going to school there.
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how happy the students were
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wonderfully nice minority/native american affairs dept and SNMA student hosts.
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Absolutely everything. The students were fantastic. The admissions office staff were very kind and helpful. The facilities impressed me as well even though I had heard otherwise. Also, go to the coffee hour they have the night before the interview. I learned so much from chatting with two 2nd year med students. I am now two days away from starting school here and couldn't be more excited.
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facilities, students, faculty
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The school, the city, the country, the cleanliness, the friendly people, the great facilities, the direction they are going with their school the future
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Everyone was SO FRIENDLY!! It was the most pleasant experience, and they made you feel so welcome. The atmosphere is pretty laid back and very supportive. The admissions staff really cares about the applicants, and they gave wonderful presentations about their programs and financial aid. It's facilities are pretty cool and seem very up-to-date.
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everyone was SO friendly! I'm from the midwest myself and I was so taken with how inviting and enthusiastic everyone was. random students would wish us luck along the way, and we ran into a group of first years right after they had taken an exam, and they took the time to talk to us about their experiences. it was wonderful.
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I really liked the campus. All of the buildings are connected by tunnels so you don't have to go outside in the cold very often. Students seem to love it.
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Excellent hospital system for rotations, extensive study abroad options, highly developed program in primary care.
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Facilities.
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Enthusiasm of students, excellent interviewer (chief of EM). Video available for all lectures. Pretty good cafeteria. Good clinical training facility.
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Everybody was really friendly. They all really liked the school. The facilities seemed nice, even though it was cold.
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Facilities and location- I am from the area but had no idea how new the facilities are and there really is a campus to this large university.
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The Twin Cities (Minneapolis & St. Paul) have a huge breadth of health care facilities, all of which are open to having students do rotations there. The facilities and faculty are available for students to explore interests in primary care, rural medicine (one of the best programs in the U.S. for this), urban medicine, clinical/lab research, international medicine both locally (large immigrant population in Minnesota, esp. Hmong & Somali) and abroad.
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The students are really happy, interesting, fun people. I would love to go to school with that group.
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The people were awesome. Seems like a great place to go.
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The interviewer expressed to me that he was just trying to get to know me as a person. I also really enjoyed touring the school facilities. The school is very nice, and they offer a lot of high tech training instruments. Mary Tate is always a pleasure.
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Everything. They have a million opportunities for students, and the staff really cares about you. The students were really cool, and you got an all you can eat lunch. The tunnels weren't bad either. Also, there was no downtime at all between any events.
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The new interdisciplinary health resource center is quite impressive for its ability to remotely monitor student-patient clinical testing, practice simulated IV sticks and work on a high-tech programmable "dummy". In addition, all of the students seemed really happy with their choice and felt that the "Honors/Pass/Fail" grading system reduced competitiveness and fostered a sense of class comaraderie.
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The interviewer, the facilities, the admissions staff. The students who conducted the tour were very nice and friendly (in contrast to the student mentioned below).
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The students and faculty were realxed, friendly, and welcoming. Very non-competitive.
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The interviewer was very nice and open to my concerns.
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Everyone at Minnesota seems happy, helpful, and upbeat. This applies equally to staff, students, and faculty.
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The amount of thought that had clearly been given to provide prospective students with a positive and complete perspective on the school.
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The great enthusiasm with which everyone spoke of the school. I appreciate the cooperative, low-stress atmosphere. My interviewer was great for putting me at ease. Talking to her was like talking to someone you'd meet at a party.
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Everyone at the University of Minnesota is glowingly happy to be there. They are laid-back, welcoming, unintimidating, and excited about what they do. The staff is flexible with all the students' needs--many students there have a children or are pregnant and the school provides every means to help them balance their school and family lives.
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Every single person that I interacted with, faculty and students, have very good things to say about the school - they can't all be faking it! The Minority Affairs Office is very active and a strong advocate for prospective and enrolled minority students.
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The tour was conducted by an upbeat student who was happy to be there and had lots of info to share about the school.
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number of opportunities, beautiful facilities, minneapolis, international rotations encouraged, all lectures also on-line
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the flexibility in the 3rd and 4th years. the student that gave my group a tour was really cool and very laid back.
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A wealth of opportunities in every respect
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the neuroscience research going on there, and the fact that they are trying to recruit more young researchers
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I really like the clinical opportunities an chance to work with underserved communities. Also the simulation and learning resources areas were amazing!
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The students here are awesome: helpful, laid back, friendly. Our tour guide was open to answering any and all quesions frankly.
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international opportunities available for early med school students
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The new facilities and the student-led tour.
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The interview was very good. I think that the one-on-one, personal interview allowed me to get comfortable and allowed my interviewer to get a better idea of who I really am as a person. The school is very student-oriented.
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Honestly? Almost everything. It's very hard to find a negative thing about this school. Affordable housing, enthusiastic staff, friendly students (no acting), diverse population, EXCELLENT LUNCH, beautiful city, lot's of scholarship (out of staters--dont worry too much about paying the fees). Airport is less than 30 mins from the school ( I fly a lot)I can go on and on. The school is pretty fancy for a state medical school.
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All students and staff were very friendly and laid-back. They had us do our interviews first, so we could relax the rest of the day (for the tour, lunch, etc.). The interviewer was personable, kind, seemed genuinely interested in me as an individual, asked questions relevant to my app, not just 'standard' questions.
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The faculty and students I met with were really great. The new lab space is gorgeous!
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Students really like the school and have an excellent support network to help them.
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Well, I actually attend this school, so I there were not too many suprises, but I was impressed with the brand-new, state fo the art. Also, my interviewer was really cool. I liked him a lot! He was retired but still active in admissions, and he talked about his grandkids, and some of his experiences with the changes in the medical field, etc.
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all the lectures are videoed so you can watch them later, and the clinical exam rooms
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Big school, lots of people, easy to get around town.
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The students and the facility...very impressive.
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The flexibility of the program and the opportunities in the school.
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Many of the buildings are either brand new or have recently been remodeled. The friendliness of all the staff and students. The first year students that gave our tour were very happy to be at the U and had nothing but postive things to say. The wealth of opportunities to get involved in activities outside of academics. The new curriculum/schedule gives more time during the summer.
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The interview was very conversational, and the interviewer was impeccably mannered and polite.
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The students who gave the tour were extremely friendly and engaging. Also, the histology and other lab facilities are brand-new and state-of-the-art.
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Students loved it there, seemed to be pretty cohesive (studying in groups, even though I don't usually do that myself). Anatomy curriculum is packed into 8
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The city and people. Minneapolis and St. Paul had a lot of nice places to visit. I was also impressed by the "Minnesota Nice."
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The balance of the curriculum (lecture/lab/small groups) and the attitude of the students and faculty
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The high quality of the other applicants
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The array of resources available to students in terms of study aids
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I am a U of MN student, so I'm very familiar with the school. But the flexible curriculum in years 3 and 4 look great, and the new ananatomy course looks like a nice addition
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They described how the admissions process worked, or at least went through the steps that an application would go through after the interview.
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My interviewer, who was very energetic and excited about the school.
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Lots of new buildings and labs...lots of student groups
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Friendliness of the students and staff. The atmosphere seemed very supportive.
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the interviewer told me exactly what he knew about me--basically the first part of the AMCAS application--no grades or test scores. i could see the sheets and he had highlighted portions of my personal statement, which he later asked me about. he really knew my application info and asked about it--so be prepared.
What impressed you negatively?
Applicants commonly expressed negative feedback about the following aspects: technical difficulties during the interview day, lack of diversity, outdated facilities, disorganization in the interview process, long waiting times, and a perceived lack of enthusiasm or preparation from interviewers and tour guides. Suggestions included improving communication, updating facilities, enhancing diversity, and providing a more engaging and informative interview experience.
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Technical difficulties throughout interview day, as a result did not receive MMI questions ahead of stations
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nothing really (oh, except there was a snowstorm the day before my interview)
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They ask the same questions each year. This seems lazy and promotes dishonesty in the review process - putting those who find out questions in advance at an advantage.
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Summer/Fall in MN is beautiful, I guess technically so is winter.
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Lots of construction going on at the school, parking was difficult
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It was freezing, snowing, and crazy windy there. The winters are no joke.
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Dated facilities, MMI didn't seem very fair.
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N/A
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Traditional curriculum, too much lecture
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The school feels archaic. They acknowledge that the school feels outdated and have been trying to make improvements. But this is just a symptom of a very large state school, not particular to U of M
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none
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I have to wait 2 months before I find out the result of my interview!
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nothing really. could I hope the winter is shorter?
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Some of the interview locations were a little hard to find, even with someone leading you (mostly) there
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I would have liked to see more of the campus.
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A couple rude interviewers.
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Construction on campus
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The Dean of Admissions was unnecessarily rude to one of my fellow interviewees.
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Nothing really. One slight turn off was the amount of "Why Minnesota?" questions I was asked and the feeling that as an out of state applicant I didn't really stand too much of a chance. Also (not completely negatively but as I said before, kind of a turn off) were the questions about "Do you think you'll fit in?" and the minor expressed doubt that I could acclimate to Minnesota and get along with Minnesotans because I had interests (like hobbies) that might not play out so well in Minnesota. Additionally, the lack of an answer by the students to my question about the class dynamics and interrelationships between the students.
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Excessive down time during the interview day
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that they switched the anatomy course to be online for incoming med students
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The place where medical school classes occur are sort of tucked away... not a huge deal though
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Medical School is mostly underground.
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Listening to a lecture after an anxiety riddled hour of questioning was a bit taxing.
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-Common complaint: admissions doesn't appear to operate with a normal time frame, and is very very slow compared to other schools. I waited nearly 4 months after my interview to hear anything, despite having been told that I would hear within 6 weeks. I wondered how an admissions committee could even remember me after 4 months. -Those familiar with UofM already know that most of the med school classrooms are underground. I should think it might be kind of depressing if that's how you spend most of your days.
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Nothing.
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The students seemed a little lack-luster about some things... not as motivated as I would expect (at least my tour guide). Also, no university housing for med students (unless you live in a fraternity)
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Much of the school is underground, which is kind of depressing for we outdoorsy types.
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Overall, the day was short. Granted, I didn't want to be there all day, but I feel that they didn't "sell" the school like some of the other medical schools.
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I mean the state is 96% white so i knew it wouldn't be THAT diverse but still...also the entire school seemed to be underground...weird
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high tuition for public school (even IS), no electives the first two years, facilities left something to be desired, most of the interviewers were running late
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Expensive in-state tuition.
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The study spaces didn't seem particularly comfortable, the whole place was underground, which was a little strange, you probably need a car in years 3 and 4 bc the Light Rail isn't particularly developed yet, and worst of all, the social atmosphere is said to be pretty cliquey - there is apparently a "popular" student council-ish group like in high school! My 4th year guy also said there is too much practice in simulations, not enough with real people.
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Students I met didn't really give thoughtful answers to my questions. Too many people I went to high school with are there. Not a very diverse school ~85% Caucasian, ~85% Minnesotan.
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The volatile weather, a sunny brisk day suddenly turns windy and cold.
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It would've been nice to meet the dean but she was gone for the day.
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Some facilities were old. All classes held in the same room, tho' different for diff years..
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couldn't get into any of the labs and most lecture halls, etc cause our guide didn't have the right codes
-
There was a great deal of confusion about the 4th-year student interviews. We were informed that the school was ''moving away from formal student interviews to an informal group Q&A'', however it turned out at the end of the day (after I had let myself relax, thinking I didn't have another interview) that the students were still conducting formal (30-minute, closed-file) interviews. Even though the ''free coffee'' attachment was sent to us with our confirmation email, the event actually wasn't happening since all the students were gone. Also since students were gone, we didn't get to observe a lecture or see many students in their natural ''habitat''. Too much dow-time during the day! You'll have a minimum of 1.5 hours of just sitting, so bring something to do. Tourguides couldn't get us into the anatomy lab or bio lab because security had changed the codes on the doors.
-
The slight disorganization of the interview day. We, the interviewees, were meant to have a second interview with a 4th year med student, but none signed up to interview us on that day.
-
My interviewer thought I was supposed to have my interview an hour earlier than the admissions office told me. This made the interview feel a bit rushed. Also, while I thought my interview went fairly well and was fair, my interviewer didn't seem very well prepared for my visit.
-
Parking in Minneapolis kind of sucks, but I guess you're gonna find that in any city.
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didnt like the interview with the 4th year. the interviewer became quite uncomfortable and a little threatened after i asked him/her a difficult question.
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Lot of down time spent just waiting
-
not an organized day... lots of downtime between events so you're just sitting there
-
nothing
-
Nothing. It was great.
-
Not much. We didn't get to sit in on a class because there were none scheduled since everyone had tests the day before. I was looking forward to watching a lecture.
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The interviewer seemed somewhat bored and uniterested, and she didn't seem to know a lot about the medical school.
-
how boring the professor was
-
seating in lecture hall is very uncomfortable
-
some stuff could use some updating
-
nothing!
-
Not much really, I think the cold eventuall will but when I was there it was pleasantly mild!
-
The main rant I have is that the interviews are FIRST thing in the morning and are VERY LONG. My interview was at 8:30 AM, and lasted until 9:50!! Not only is it pretty tough to be on your game at 8:30, but you go into it without having heard all of the good stuff about the school. Because the school website doesn't have a lot of information about the school, it's really hard to get a good answer to those ''Why do you want to go to U of M'' questions. The facilities were moderately ghetto. By that, I mean some parts were brand new, and some parts were hella 60's. I guess that doesn't really matter unless your materialistic. Just kidding, I'm sure non of you applicants are materialistic ;)
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Finding my way to the room, but really not that big a deal.
-
Dean lecture = boring. ANatomy labs have frosted glass, so it remains morguelike.
-
some of the facilities could have been better, students said the social dynamic was very much like high school
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My interviewer was rude and interrupted me often.
-
The lack of cultural diversity. =
-
the facilities were very EH, it had everything you'd expect a med school to have but nothing special, nothing more, you know?
-
The medical school facilities appear to be so condensed into one area (although the school is very large and there are ample facilities).
-
Our tour was not very complete; we weren't able to see many of the laboratory rooms.
-
The interviewer was almost too casual. I had a hard time getting him to focus.
-
There was supposed to be a 2nd year med student tourguide, but after waiting no one showed up. So the 4th year who had given the talk gave the tour but she got lost and was kind of random. Then we didn't eat lunch until after 1pm which was tough since my interview was at 8:30am.
-
Some of the facilities seemed pretty out of date
-
The admissions committe
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The fact that they changed my interview time and failed to inform me. (I had to wait 45 minutes outside the interviewers office.)
-
That the classes were all in the same room with no windows and the classroom was a little out-dated
-
the gopher way -- the underground tunnels linking buildings -- must be good during the winter, but the need for such a thing is frightening.
-
Nothing. It was awesome!
-
nothing. Well... Minnesota is a little cold and far away from my home (New York).
-
the interview day was a little disorganized. also, i wish they would have had multiple interviews...mine was even shorter than the 60 minutes i thought it would take.
-
Nothing really.
-
Parking is expensive, the climate is freezing...and I already live here.
-
Too many interviewees at once.
-
Confusing tunnels between the buildings.
-
The weather was cold. But that is to be expected in minnesota during the winter.
-
Parking. I had to pay 11 bucks for six hours of parking! Try to get a ride if you can. Otherwise, I have no complaints about this outstanding institution!! (besides that i'll have to take biochem this summer if i get in :( )
-
The interview day was not particularly well organized. There is 1 interview, which is immediately after you arrive, but no one was sure if we were supposed to go to the room (some of which were on the other side of the school) or wait for the interviewer to pick us up. There was also some down time during which nothing was scheduled - the office sent us down to sit in on a lecture.
-
The school seems a bit pressed for money. I don't see that getting better as long as Pawlenty is governor.
-
facilities could have been a little nicer...but I hear they are renovating.
-
My interviewer was not expecting me. My file was in his box but he had not checked it and was not aware that he had an interview at that time.
-
You have to find your way to the interview room, which is not too bad but can be unnerving at the U.
-
Nothing--My BA is from the Duluth branch of the U of MN, and this medical school is definitely my first choice.
-
The student who was supposed to tell us about student life at the medical school. It really seemed like he did not want to be there, and had someplace better to be.
-
It's cold as hell in MN!
-
The tour was unimpressive.
-
Study area around the medical school aren't exactly stellar. On the other hand, some renovations are under way.
-
Secretary seemed disorganized.
-
Nothing in particular.
-
Nothing. It just confirmed that Minnesota is a great place to learn.
-
Talking to just one interviewer.
-
My interview seemed extremely nonchalant and unorganized. I understand the need for a relaxed setting but I had spent the time to dress up in a suit and tie and my interviewer looked like he barely had had time to come his hair, let alone wash his jeans and fleece. Also, the general atomosphere was stuffy and I felt like we were supposed to feel like we were privileged to be there. I didn't feel welcomed
-
not much, maybe the weather
-
they're a little disorganized, or so it seemed.
-
Lack of community atmosphere with class
-
lack of more explaination about the program, came away feeling like it was just long day filled with answering questions about myself but learning less the other way around, also don't know much about the med program
-
The buildings all share space with the pharmacy and dental schools, so it seems really big and not intimate, though I was consistenly told the opposite by current students.
-
My interviewer could have been a bit more relaxed about the whole thing. It was a quasi stress interview...
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nothing really
-
They have the 4th highest public school tuition in the nation.
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Nothing, I was really impressed with this school.
-
The winter. However, there are tunnels and skywalks so everything is cool. Like I said, you must have a pretty nasty experience before you find a bad thing about this institution. I really hope I get in.
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Not much... I wish they would have talked a bit more about student groups, volunteer and shadowing opportunities. However, those are questions you can ask the student guides directly. Oh, parking is expensive.
-
A little disorganized. For example, I didn't receive my interview schedule until the day before I left for Minnesota.
-
Not much
-
There was a program about financial aid, which wasn't very interesting to me, although it probably would have been beneficial to have at least pretended to pay attention. (These are the things that can come back to haunt you...)
-
The inteview day itself- it wasn't organized very well and we didn't get to talk to that many current students. And it was short- I'm glad I didn't have to fly here for it.
-
School didn't really emphasize their unique characteristic; I felt as though it was a normal med school.
-
The cold.
-
Traffic. I got lost. Alot.
-
The presentation by the admissions person could use some work. Nothing about the school or program.
-
The tour guides were friendly, but didn't know where the hell they were going on the tour.
-
The financial aid presentation wasn't particularly informative.
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1) The director of medicine was like a car salesman, and really spent his time talking about his illustrious career and how great UMN med is- if it's so great, let it speak for itself a little more. 2) With the pass-fail grading system, students I talked to mostly just seemed intent on JUST passing, even though your scores will be used for residency selection, recommendations, etc. My tour guide quoted me that students probably only study 1-2 hours (if at all) a night.
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The weather. It was raining everyday I was there.
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The prepared spiel about how wonderful the school is - I'm getting tired of hearing the same old propaganda :)
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Their presentation on the school
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Some of the medical student study areas were runned down and not appealing.
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The classes the first two years look really standard and boring
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everything is pretty spread out; wasnt a "central" medical school building.
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The students, the smell in the anatomy lab.
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The weather. It was cold and raining.
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my tour group. make sure you get into a group with outgoing people, otherwise your tour and lunch won't be overly fun.
What did you wish you had known ahead of time?
Applicants overwhelmingly wished they had known ahead of time that the interviews were relaxed and conversational, not designed to be challenging or to throw them off. They emphasized the importance of not stressing, being themselves, and enjoying the experience while also highlighting the need to be prepared for potential downtime and the campus layout.
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Everything is very straightforward and relaxed
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Relax more, interviews here are definitely pretty chill and laid-back. Interviewers are nice and friendly.
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Don't stress too much!
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MMI was lower-stress and more conversational.
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Not to worry! Everyone is kind and welcoming.
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N/A
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Interview was very conversational and none of the questions were really challenging or designed to throw me off. I did not need to be so nervous
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How laid back the interview was/not to be nervous
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There are lots of stairs and walking-heels suck :) Very thorough but nice tour.
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nothing really surprising. I feel the tunnels underground feel like subway.
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The student interview is a closed-file (blind) interview.
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How friendly and low stress everyone was.
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How relaxed the interview would be (especially the faculty interview in my case). I am glad I didn't spend more time prepping, because it really isn't needed.
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All interviews are scored, not just steering committee members.
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That there would be no breakfast and not too much interation with the student body (granted the day I went no one was in class - the first years were all in exams and second years were on independent study time)
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The interview is assessing the 4 areas that the U of M believes is essential in medical students (on their website). The interviewers ask questions to gauge these aspects, which would have been nice to know and tailor answers to what they were assessing.
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to not stress. i could have slept easier that night if i had known how fun it was going to be.
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to relax! I was asked none of the questions I studied before hand. Just go into it and be honest.
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Nothing.
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Nothing - I did what I set out to do, which was to show everyone who I was and what my goals were.
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not to stress out, my interviewer didn't drill me at all.
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How relaxed and informal most of the day would be. I had friends who were grilled during their interviews, but mine was one of the easiest yet. Just depends on who you happen to get I suppose.
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The whole day is relatively short compared to other interviews. We were done at 1:30 (after lunch).
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nothing
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that we got to sit in on an M2 class
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NO breakfast was served.
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How relaxed it would be.
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Not to be nervous, and that they weren't going to ask me any ethical questions. I was all worried about answering questions about the U.S. health care system, but I got along with my interviewer so much that we actually got into a long an involved conversation about the topic!
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How cold it would get!
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That huhurrica Ike would hold me up from getting back to Texas for 4 whole days. Yea I spent four extra days in MN, cos of IKE!! :(
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that no one would really be around cause it was right after Christmas
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Discovered after my interview was scheduled that all the students were on vacation as of 12/17 and there would be no lecture to observe. Also discovered after my interview that my interviewer may well have been the discoverer of the sodium pump!
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The day is very relaxed and laid back. There's a lot of down time.
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I didn't realize that the U of M's anatomy is done in a condensed 8 week period at the start of year 1.
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that the med school is on the same campus as the rest of the U, huge busy place, felt a little disoriented
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Where I was going, I hadn't spent much time on this campus
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That Michael Crichton is an M.D.
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I was pretty well informed about everything, but people should read up on the MED 2010 initiative, the flex MD program, and the U of MN's goal to become a top 3 public research institution in the next decade. They want to know why you want to attend there, and you might interview early in the day before the presentations about this material
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how much time I would have between the interview and the rest of the day
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There are so many unique programs here that are not discussed on the website.
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i had to find my own way to my interview (in another building)...in previous interviews I had been ushered to it
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A little disspointed that the school is not located in the ''heart of Minneapolis'' but still not bad enough to deter me.
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I wish my car wouldn't have broken down while driving there! Other than that, everything was pretty much expected. No moral/ethical questions really.
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Maybe I was too preoccupied with other things, but I didn't expect Minneapolis to be so freaking cold. On my interview day, the temp was about 4 degrees farenheit. It snowed 6'' about 10 miles south of the city. Plan this accordingly since the airport can sometimes be shut down due to snow delays, especially this winter. ALSO, Minneapolis has AWESOME light rail. For about 1 dollar, you have a fast ride from the airport to downtown, and to the Mall of America. See my plug for mall of america above.
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parking is expensive!
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That this is the right school for me and I would have not done any prior interviews.
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Financial aid is a little different than I anticipated.
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The med school gave me the wrong room # of my interviewer. Luckily, someone saw me looking lost and helped me out.
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I was well informed.
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When you are waiting for your interview they put you in a room filled with food, drink, and other various breakfast items
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that the medical center is a MAZE
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Nothing that I can really think of.
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There was a dinner for us in the evening. It was a really great time, but it would have been nice to know about it advance for planning my travel schedule
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Nothing. (I am pretty familiar with the campus because I attend undergraduate here.)
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Eat a big breakfest or bring a granola bar to snack on. Lunch will be late. Parking is also expensive and kinda hard to find.
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How late lunch would be.
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Prepare yourself to have some down time after your interview and before the programed meetings and tour
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If you know someone who goes to school there, stay with them because campus is huge and a little confusing to find things sometimes.
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that I would have more than an hour and a half between the end of my interview and the next activity
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the buildings are impossible to navigate without a map
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Just plan to arrive a little early because traffic around the U can be bad.
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How awesome it was.
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The school really believes in it's mission: changing the inequities of healthcare throughout the world. It's refreshing to be in such a left-wing and compassionate environment.
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not much, thanks to SDN, but i should point out also that they interview a tight pool of candidates, so they offer admission to about half of them...AKA relax!
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They have a modern clinical skills lab. I thought that they didn't and it impressed me that they have a pretty nice one.
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How wonderfully integrated the SNMA chapter is with the University.
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It was a relatively short interview with a long presentation and tours.
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I wish I had had more time to research my interviewer; they changed it at the last second.
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First two years are pass fail. I learned this at the coffee house hour the night before the interview. The student was really helpful with information.
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I was a little stressed because my last interviews had gone well, but I was waitlisted at both. I wanted to make a good impression because it's my state school, and so many things about it are appealing: amazing facilities and opportunities, cheap tuition (not compared to other instate rates, rather to private schools), nice students, and close to my family! As someone mentioned before, they do take half the people they interview - so relax! If I had to do it again, I would be a little more solid with stuff on my resume. Oh, and make sure you are pretty comfortable talking about current health issues.
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Applicants are told to arrive at different times. I had one of the later arrival times, so even though I got there a bit early, I felt late. That threw me off a bit.
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nothing I can think of
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Nothing really.
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How much I would like the U.
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I wish I'd known how laid back the interview would be! Judging from the other interviewees reactions, their experiences were similarly relaxed.
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The first name of my interviewer.
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MN is still cold.
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Nothing was new, really. I've lived in the Minneapolis area almost my whole life and have been hanging around the University for years.
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The day lasts through 2pm. I'd have been able to prepare better if I'd not anticipated being done by 1pm or so. Also, ~460 people are interviewed; 250 are offered admission. I had no idea that the odds were that good.
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The interview was SO casual that I was a bit angry at myself for getting so nervous. I would have been better in the interview if I would have just calmed down beforehand.
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There was more down-time during the day's events than I anticipated. They really could do a better job 'meating' the day's schedule or provide the option of dropping-in just for the interview. It can be tedious spending a great deal of the day with fellow candidates. I guess what I'm trying to say is they probably need more interviews ....one?!
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that i would have to take a shuttle to my interview off-campus
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What avagadro's number was, what it means, and when he was a scientist...
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there's a shuttle from the day's inn to the biosciences building
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I wish I had prepared better for a stress interview. I was more prepared for a conversational interview.
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we were going to be walking and might be outside for a brief period of time without a jacket.
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That the state has cut a lot of the school's budget in the last couple of years.
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That the mascot was a gopher :)
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That the admissions process has changed this year, so they give fewer interviews; also, they have no quota for residents/non-residents... they're considered in the same pool. all this means we had better chances of getting accepted!
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How early the day starts -- 7:30 am.
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traffic can be terrible and parking is expensive.
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My fly was down. (Just kidding!)
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The cold.
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That anatomy is done in a block in the first seven weeks. The students said that it was strenuous, but enjoyed only having to worry about the course by itself. Your application is evaluated by a number of people before the final decision is made.
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Why I wanted to be a doctor as opposed to a nurse, physical therapist. I fumbled that question during the interview.
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How much more expensive it really is for out of state applicants, and how much they can press you for "why MN" if you're an out of stater.
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I wish I prepared better for the weather. I forgot my umbrella!
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It is very easy to get lost
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how laid-back the interview was
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The weather changed between when I left and when I arrived - 31 degrees instead of in the 50s.
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The U of MN offers many joint degree programs (MD-MPH, MD-MBA, MD-JD, etc.)
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We didn't eat lunch until 1:00 - I was starving and could have used a snack.
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this didn't happen to me, but make sure you don't park in the hospital parking ramp; it will cost you big $$.
What are your general comments?
Applicants generally found the University of Minnesota interview process to be low-stress and conversational, with a focus on getting to know the applicant. Some applicants mentioned positive experiences with faculty and students, while a few mentioned concerns about communication from the admissions committee and the interviewers' level of preparedness.
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Very pleasant staff, low stress interview, interesting MMI questions
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On Zoom. 20 minute interview followed by MMI. Lots of breaks. You get the questions at the start of the day and don't know which one you'll answer until you are in the breakout room.
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Be prepared but don't freak out. Be professional.
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The admissions committee at this school has poor communication with applicants. Applicants are encouraged to ask questions, but answers are often too vague to provide any relief during a difficult and long process. Other schools are more responsive to feedback and give more meaningful information.
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LOVED the interview day. The MMI was honestly pretty fun and interesting. Everyone was really nice and friendly.
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it's pretty lazy to not change the questions from year to year, and quite unfair to honest interviewees.
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Top notch school. Friendly and professional staff.
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This is really a great school. While it's old, it really does have a massively collaborative environment and very good academics. I would love to be accepted here
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At the beginning of the interview day it was one of my top schools and became a solidified top choice after.
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Please speed up the turn around between interview and notification of result.
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I would be happy if I can go to school here
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Everyone here was extremely nice. One student saw that I had finished my interview and walked with me answering questions for thirty minutes.
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This is a fantastic school! Can't wait to (hopefully) matriculate next fall!
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na
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I wish they would take letters of update or intent into consideration but Dean White specifically said that they do not.
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Great program, everyone is friendly, students are happy
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I got the general impression that none of my interviews were trying to set me up for failure. They just want to get to know you, make sure you're normal, and that you have an interesting perspective on medicine.
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Love this school
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Low stress interview. If they invite you to interview than likley you have already impressed them.
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Excellent experience!
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UofM is an awesome school and I congratulate all those who got in. I was bummed that I got wait-listed. I rank it very highly next to the other schools I visited.
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I went in with low expectations since I was unimpressed when I visited as a Sophomore, but I loved my visit this time around.
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None
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interviewer had secondary essays and AMCAS except grades/MCAT.
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Could not have been a better interview.
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Remember you have pretty good chances if you get this interview and don't stress about it too much. Very very conversational. The lunch is so good.
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Great school overall. People in MN are really friendly but of course it is cold for about 7 months of the year.
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The faculty interviewer doesn't know your GPA or MCAT, so the whole interview is very unbiased. They want to know if your personality would fit with school and medicine. It's very relaxing. Student interviewer doesn't know anything about you. You'll have to explain, which is good.
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I was very impressed by the school, especially how well the students got along and how dedicated the faculty is to the students. Our student tour guides were very unconventional and simply gave us their raw opinions on various aspects of their school... mostly positive. From their feedback, I gained the impression that the staff was very dedicated. Every student also agreed that the environment was very cooperative, as the P/F system essentially neutralized any competition whatsoever. Also, everyone (including professors) heads to the bars after exams. Awesome.
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If you interview with Dr. Martel, consider yourself lucky. He makes you feel very comfortable and puts you at ease. He just wanted to know about me and what my passions were. Just a nice conversation in general.
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Nothing really. Its a cool school...a lil bit on the expensive side compared to the nat'l average, but a good school none the less.
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positive- i had 2 student interviewrs- both gave really thorough answers to my questions
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Arrive at 8am, curriculum and fin. aid presentations for ~1hour, then interview. Then we sat around for an hour; then 2nd-year students showed up for long tour (in which doors were locked so we couldn't see labs) and tasty lunch. Tour was entirely inside, but it's a lot of walking. Then we sat around some more waiting for our 4th-year interviews.
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Very informative. I gained a better understanding of what the various years of medical school might be like at the U of MN. I am now even more excited about attending.
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Overall, I was impressed by the University of Minnesota. The students and faculty I met were helpful, and there seemed to be a genuine feeling of community and dialogue amongst everyone at the school. I was disappointed that my interviewer and I were told different times for the interview, which caused the interview to feel rushed. I also wish my interviewer would have been more prepared for my visit. I'm not certain that he had read my personal statement. I actually liked him a lot, which prevented me from feeling completely disappointed with the mix-up. It was energizing to meet someone who has been in medicine for a VERY long time and still really loves what he does.
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Interviews were great with faculty of choice, and students were some of the nicest people ever!
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lots of downtime, nice school though with laid back, normal students
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It was a great experience. The people were incredible and we were treated well. The interviews were very laid back and the entire day had minimal stress.
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two interviews- first with a faculty member, admissions committee member... those last about 45 min. then you attend a lecture, tour, eat lunch, do a lot of waiting in between, and have a 4th year student interview you... which is awkward depending on your interviewer... some are very friendly and others are way too shy and not very easy to talk to...
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The day was well organized and it is obvious that the administration wants to attract good candidates. The only ''hitch'' in my day came up during my interview with a 4th year student (new feature in the interview process) because they forgot to forward him my file. But we ended up having a good interview regardless. If anything, I was sold on the school just based on how happy the students were and how willing they were to offer insight and advice.
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It was positive. My interviewer was very intelligent, and he cut me off quite a bit, but it was a good experience.
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Very laid back and informative. I didn't have any hard ethical questions, just a ''get to know me'' interview.
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Everything was exactly as expected. The interviewer just went through my application and asked questions based on what I had written. I could tell I was the millionth applicant she had gone through this with.
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The day begins with the interview. Mine was at 9:30 AM. My interviewer's previous interview ran long, so mine was a little late. Since my interview ran a little long too, I wasn't able to sit-in on a class. It was optional anyway, so I just waited in the admissions office waiting room. Paul White gave a presentation on the school, and a financial aid representative spoke. Afterward, we were picked up by the student tour guides. My tour guide was really hilarious and enthusiastic, and the school was great. Lunch was the last activity of the day, and it was a great meal.
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excellent and very relaxed
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Very comfortable day. I checked in to the office at 845, had my interview from 9 'til a little after 10, had an opportunity to sit in on class, got a tour, a schpeel from the admissions director, and a delicious lunch.
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My interview was the first thing on the agenda and lasted for 80 minutes. We could have attended a class but both first and second years were taking exams that day. We sat around for an hour and attended a seminar by the dean of admissions, financial aid office, and the dean of students who came in for Q&A. We were then greeted by our two awesome tour guides who took us around on a tour and then to lucnh at Fairview. Overall the day was great.
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Pretty informative and everyone was super nice! The director of admissions was really funny and my interviewer was very sweet. Lunch was amazing and overall the interview was very laidback, they really wanted to get to know you and not stress you out. Interviews are suppose to be 30 minutes but lasted longer.
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I wasn't really sold until the student's met us for lunch/tour. The early interview (first thing) could be considered good or bad depending on the person. But, since the website doesn't have a lot of info about the school, and the interviewers want to know exactly what you like about the school...It would've been nice to have the tour first. Minnesota is cold as balls, so prepare accordingly. Finally, I would recommend you go to the Mall of America. It's quite a spectacle: 400+ stores, 50 places to eat, huge indoor amusement park, wedding chapel, over 3 million square feet. Good way to kill time before a flight. Take the light rail from downtown, it'll get you there in 20 minutes for less than a buck. INFO ABOUT THE INTERVIEW: your interviewer only has your AMCAS without grades or MCAT scores. They do not see any of your letters of rec, or anything from your secondary.
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My interviewer was very friendly and really helped me to feel comfortable. Truley was interested in me and why I want to be a doctor.
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*It's okay*
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It was a very positive experience. At the beginning of the interview, it was clearly stated that it was a chance for the interviewer to get to know me. The interviewer was very open and the interview was very conversational. We got caught in a conversation and had to cut it short because I had to go sit in on a lecture. At the end, the interviewer was positive and said he would like to be a colleague of mine.
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My interview was very straightforward. No ethics questions, in fact, no questions that were meant to make me squirm. My interviewer treated me like a young professional and didn't even ask "Why medicine?" I got the impression that he felt that if I had made it this far, I knew what I was doing. We basically went through my list of ECs one by one and I described them in greater detail. I brought along a minature version of my research poster and showed it to him. It was easier to briefly describe my research by showing him pictures rather than going into long boring detail. I had googled him beforehand and saw that in the 60s he had studied under a surgeon who had a building named after him. When he asked if I had any questions, I asked him about the surgeon. He lit up and pointed to a portrait on the wall and told me that it was that particular man, then he went on to describe this person's philanthropic principles. He said he hoped I got in and he'd write up a good recommendation for me. I couldn't have asked for a better interview.
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Rough... the weather was bad, interviewer was rude... and I was tired.
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My interviewer was very old (ca. 85 years) and made several inaccurate statements regarding items on my application. I wasn’t sure if he was intentionally making “mistakes†to try and catch me off guard and trap me in a lie or if he was just old and had not thoroughly read through my application. I did my best to politely correct him but after about the 5th or 6th mistake it became a bit awkward.
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My interviewer was kind of strange. His name is Dr. Levitt of Physiology. He was very kind but also very soft spoken and non-conversational. He loves details and anything he asks you about he will pry deep underneath it. He didn't just focus on my application though, which was nice, and we ended up talking politics for the last half of the interview. At first I thought that he was taking notes while I was talking but soon realized that he was just doodling on my application. I think the guy might have a mild case of Asperger's syndrome, but that might just be me being quick to diagnose. But he was soft spoken and had trouble making eye contact and very detail oriented so maybe I'm right.
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The interviewer was very casual and gave me ample time to respond to all of the questions. I was really impressed by the flexibility that the school provides.
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Overall it was reletively low stress and personal. Many of my questions were pretty non-traditional regarding things I was interested in and the ways I felt about current medical issues. My interviewer seemed to want to get to know me more than anything else.
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Everyone was very casual, which almost made it difficult to keep a professional attitude. Make sure you don't get so caught up in casual conversation you forget to sell your good points. (I think this happened to me a bit.) Have things you want them to know about you ahead of time and make sure you fit them into the conversation. They don't seem to ask the generic questions but just ask questions off your essays. Also, side note, don't worry about weather too much. There's underground tunnels everywhere so we never went outside. It's easier to not have to cart around a coat.
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I enjoyed the interviewer and going to the 2nd year class. The rest of the program wasn't very organized, but I think that was because the dean was out of town.
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I arrived at 8:30 for my interview at 8:45, but they had changed the time on the interview without telling me, so I had to sit outside her office for another 45 minutes. That was the only bad part of the day however. I interviewed with Dr. McLoon, she teaches anatomy to the 1st years. It took a minute to connect with her, because she likes to talk alot, but she was very nice. The questions she asked were pretty standard though. After the interview there is a short presentation about the school (short but impressive) and then there is a tour that is given by students. Make sure that you wear comfortable shoes, because the med school campus is large and spread out. I didn't have problem but some of the girls in high heels did. After the tour they take you to the cafeteria and you can eat whatever you want. There was quite a bit to choose from so that was good. Overall the experience was good, and I hope I can go to school there.
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I had a great interview experience, my interviewer was very friendly and interested in finding out who I am as a person and the school was great in how the classes are run and the information presented.
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I had a great experience- I was really impressed with the school, programs, and students.
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my interviewer was a nice old man who had recently moved from TX to MN. i talked about myself a bit, then asked him about his research (tumor vaccines).
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Very positive. I was a little afraid because I was interviewed by a 4th year student. I assumed beforehand that she wouldn't have as much weight as the other admissions committee members. I was completely wrong and she was great at making me feel comfortable and welcome.
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We talked about our backgrounds and why we each were interested in medicine. Dr. Hill asked me question based on my responses to understand how I see medicine and what role I will play as a physician.
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Amazing. It was just the best interview in all of my graduate and undergraduate experiences. My interviewer was so excited and kind and really made me feel relaxed (and very welcome).
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pretty good, the staff and faculty were so enthusiastic about the school and very passionate about everything they talked about. you could tell they really believed in the school and its qualities.
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1st year students host a coffee hour the night before for any questions. Everyone was very friendly and interviewer was great.
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I had a great interviewer who put emphasis on the conversation more so than interrogating me, which I was worried about beforehand due to horror stories I had heard. It was a "getting to know you" exercise and it seemed to go well, with few awkward moments. One thing I appreciated was at the end of the interview he made me stop and take the time to think, for a full minute, of anything I had forgotten to add to the interview...he didn't want me to leave the office and regret not having said something. Also, the questions flowed nicely between one another, and while there were some difficult ones he never seemd condesending if I didn't have a snappy answer. Rather we would discuss and debate the issue between us.
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Informative, boring.
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I was really impressed by UMinnesota. I'm surprised they don't rank higher.
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Very good. The applicants were all friendly, the students were nice....everyone seemed very intelligent and down to earth. My interviewer was extremely friendly as well.
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Very positive- my interviewer made me feel like we were old friends, looking back I think maybe it was TOO comfortable... but at the end he told me he liked me and was going to write me a good review.
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The interviewers don't get your scores or grades, only the responses to the essay questions, which they have looked over beforehand. Know thyself, and know thy application, too!
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Although my interviewer was a bit challenging (I had to defend everything; he seemed to think I had lied on my application - I had NOT!), the school seems pretty good. I'm not sure it's the right fit for me, but I can definitely see other people having a great experience here.
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University of Minnesota sounds like a great place to go to school. True P/F cirriculum and you get to make your own schedule for rotations in your clinical years. Very well balanced school as far as research and primary care. Seems like whatever you want to pursue, they afford you significant opportunity to do so. Most importantly, you are are surrounded by great people.
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It was a relaxed atmosphere, we were very welcomed, and it was an overall great day.
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Everything was relaxed and laid back, the other interviewees were nice; everything was good.
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Completely laid back--I think they mainly want to see whether you're a down-to-earth candidate who will fit in with the school's atmosphere.
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It was great. Even though I am familar with the U of MN campus and student life somewhat, I found myself still very impressed by the facilities, student and faculty.
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The interview covered my application file and allowed me to add any new information to the file.
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The interview itself was pleasantly relaxed. The interviewer had copies of my AMCAS PS and Experiences, but nothing else (as far as I could tell). Having the interview over before 9:30 AM made the rest of the day more enjoyable.
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Of the 5 I've done so far -- U of M Duluth, U Chicago, Georgetown, George Washington -- this one impressed me the most.
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Overall, the day was very pleasant. Our interviews were scheduled first thing in the morning so that we could enjoy the rest of the day. The formal presentation by the admissions department included several members of the administration who both seemed very eager to help us out any way they could. Two second-year students gave us a thorough tour and offered their candid opinions (largely positive) on a variety of subjects. Unless you have a good reason to do so, don't stress out about this interview.
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The interview was laid-back and conversational. No surprise questions. The interviewer only had my personal essay and secondary application essays to go off of, so we mostly stuck to discussing things I had mentioned in them.
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We were taken for a tour of the clinical skills practice area by the director of admissions, whch was special. She seems very down-to-earth and was very open about how the admissions process works at UMN. We had a rather lengthy tour of the campus with two medical students that were happy to be at the school. Lunch was great, the second best I've had on my interview tour. My interviewer was quite nice though I don't feel we adequately discussed my application, interests, strengths and intentions. He strayed a deal into sports (an unfamiliar terrain) and when I told him that I had an issue on my application I wanted to highlight in case it came up in the Admisions Committee's deliberations, he told me that wasn't necessary because he had taken a close look at my application. Considering that it was the only interview I got, I thought the response was unusual. Other than that, I think the University of Minnesota is a great school if you look past the out-of-state figures.
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I was totally unimpressed and disappointed by the majority of the admissions staff. They are unfriendly and would prefer to not talk to you or answer questions if they could. The school seems ok but the lecture halls are all underground and they look uncomfortable. Overall, I'm sure it is a fine institution but the school is a reflection of its northern climate, cold.
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overall it was a good, conversational interview and the whole day around it was great. the students really like the school and were laid back. i was impressed by the facilites and all of the resources they have available for the students. we were also able to sit in on a lecture which was nice. we were given a lot of information and the day was very worthwhile I thought.
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very relaxed; i actually had a good time. my interviewer was really cool and it was conversational.
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This was by all means that one-in-a-hundred unforgettable hellish interview. My beliefs were attacked at every step of the way, from the college I attended to my political stance. I realized the interviewer wanted to see how I could think and how I could defend myself, but I was really turned off by the interviewer's seemingly arrogrant attitude. After nearly two hours of arguing, I left the room feeling pretty awful and angry, and it was even worse to hear how every other student interview was really laid back and conversational. But don't worry, I got accepted even though I thought I really messed things up.
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the professors you meet are doing very interesting research and they'll be happy to answer questions on what they do and even invite you into the lab to show you so those parts are fine, the interviewers are kind, but it feels like you're make to jump through hoops
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I had a great interviewer, so it was really low stress and easy. I liked that they told me the name of my interviewer ahead of time so I could look him up and know a little about him. The admissions office seemed a little disorganized in that I didn't receive my itinerary until the day before my interview, and they told me the wrong place to wait for the shuttle to the other campus to find my interviewer...
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The school is great. The staff was helpful and friendly, and the students here like to have fun. The facilities are nice and newly renovated in some parts, and others need to be worked up a bit. My interviewer was supposed to be conversational, but ended up as him asking me one question after another, more like a grilling session. Some of the questions were very tough. Overall, my experience was +ve and I would not mind attending here in the least.
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My interviewer was a PhD so she drilled me on my research projects. At first, it was not very laid-back, mainly just question and then answer, but then toward the end when I asked her about her own research, we got a bit more conversational.
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The program was a little unorganized but made up for it with outstanding resources and an obvious committment to education. The students were really accessible and my interview was casual and comfortable.
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I really had a great day. The school has a great program and the people there are always willing to help the students. The facilities for pre-clinical work are pretty cool also.
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Interviews are supposed to be 30 mins. My interviewer was pretty cool so we "chatted" a lot as she was conversational. I spent about 15 mins talking about her own research so my interview was over an hour. Great institution! They feed me really well. Everything was organized and professional but they still communicated the fact that they want you to be comfortable. Some of the special things at the U includes: Emphasis on International medicine Emphasis on research Numerous hospitals around for rotations Early clinical exposure Flexibility in classes during the 3rd and 4th year Massive emphasis on physican and medical student well being.
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Overall, I really liked it. The students seemed non-competitive and laid-back, and they genuinely liked the school. The physician I interviewed had many positive things to say about UM graduates as residents.
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It was a fabulous day (except for how early it started)! There are three steering committee interviews, which were really interesting. They were all very different, and yet still probing in their own ways. Then there is a student interview, which is pretty lowkey. Finally, there are three informal interviews with faculty at the school to introduce you to some of the research going on there. There is also a tour and a nice lunch at a restaurant at the top of the memorial union.
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The interview was open file except for GPA and MCAT scores. It was very friendly and relaxed.
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My interview was very laid back. He started off by asking me where I was from, what I liked to do and why I wanted to be an MD. From there, he told me some interesting anecdotes and a detailed description of how the admissions process would proceed. He emphasized how hard they try to make the process fair but luck sometimes played a role. He then asked me if I had any questions. I asked several and then he sent me on my way.
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I got there early, and my interviewer was already there so we started early! It was extremely laid back, and I suggest being honest. My interviewer asked my what books I read and I honestly told him I didn't really read books. He laughed, and I got accepted, so don't worry... you don't have to be a perfect candidate! Just be yourself!
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I chose a morning interview, which was great so I could relax the rest of the day. Had about an hour program at the school from 11-12, where we learned about the cirriculum, financial aid, admissions. Then a current student took us on a tour of the school and to lunch. Pretty short day!
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Overall, interview is supposed to be unstressed unless you get stuck with a griller like mine.
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It was overall a positive experience and I would recommend anyone who has an interview at the "U" to attend. Please try to take advantage of their student hosting program as it really helped me.
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The interviewer had my secondary application and my personal statement but didn't have grades or MCAT scores. He pretty much just asked me to elaborate on things I wrote about that he found interesting or important. He spent about a quarter of the time getting off topic and telling stories. It was more of a conversation than an interview.
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The interview was very laid-back and informal. The questions were all personal and related to my essays and experiences, nothing ethical or hypothetical. My interviewer was very encouraging and genuinely seemed interested in me. He had worked at a number of other institutions and said that the U was his favorite. Overall I felt that the interviewer really got to know me (as much as someone can in 45 min.)and what I had to offer.
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The day overall was enjoyable, the fellow interviewees in my group were nice and the interview went well. The lady checking in folks at the admissions office was a little surly, but hell, I would be too if I had to deal with snooty pre-meds all day everyday.
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Overall, a good experience. The U of M med school seems very laid-back with little competition (gunners may consider going elsewhere). Be prepared to find your interviewer's office in the maze of buildings--you get no escort.
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My visit was enjoyable. I had my interview in the morning (you can request this- do so!) so during the rest of the day I wasn't nervous like the students who interviewed in the afternoon. I'm from out of state, so my interview seemed to be mostly about whether I would stay in MN after graduation- he perked up though once he knew how much family I had in the area/state. The students they've selected for interviews seem to be very relaxed and interesting people, and the whole health building seems to be actively growing.
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The interviewer had all my information except for test scores and GPAs. Many of the questions he asked were about my academic experience and experiences. The school seemed to try to make sure the interviewers did not ask inappropriate questions.
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Very, VERY informal, more of a conversation than an interview. It ran longer than the alotted hour. My interviewer was congenial and made me feel very comfortable, as well as really listening to what I had to say. We talked about books, our organic chemistry experiences, and how death is treated in the medical profession. An excellent experience.
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I was impressed by the students and the facilities. It is very easy to get lost, be careful. Allow lots of time for traffic!
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Although most interviewers said their interviews were casual and conversational, mine was not. The interviewer did try to be casual and informal, but it mostly ended up being question, answer.
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my interview was very relaxed and enjoyable. He just asked questions about my background (not difficult questions, just "get to know you" types of stuff). We went an hour and a half, although it it didn't feel like it. Just be relaxed, be yourself, have some fun, and you'll do fine.
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Everything seemed quite informal, from the presentation to the interview. Everyone interviews at different times, but all convene for an informational presentation, tour, and lunch. The disjointed schedule made for a very independent, relaxed atmosphere. The interview itself was nonconfrontational and conversational. I guess one should know why Minnesota (esp. if you are out of state).
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The interview was very laid-back and conversational. He was familiar with my application, and made a few general comments about my personal statement and a a few of my experiences. The interview concluded with "I'm going to give you my most outstanding rating. I think you're exactly the kind of person we want here. I hope you come here, and look me up if you come because I think you have the perfect personality to be a great surgeon." Yikes.
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My interview was early and went quickly. Interviews at the U of MN are notorius for being very laid-back and my interviewer told me right away that he would not ask any "trick" questions. Once the interviews were done, the 30 or so of us interviewing that day were given a short presentation about the curriculum and what the school has to offer in general, and then given a quick tour before lunch. The most beneficial aspect of the whole day was how they put all of us together in a waiting room...it seemed restrictive at first, but we were soon all talking and venting our nervousness. Although I didn't really click with my interviewer, it was a positive experience overall. I should also mention that interviewers were given by students (on the adcom), current MDs, doctorate level researchers, and even a retired MD.
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The interview was very laid back and my interviewer was very friendly. There was a information session, tour and lunch program from 11-1:30. Interviews were held before or after the program. It was nice to have the interview before so I could relax the rest of the day.
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this was my first interview. i was pretty nervous, but the interview was mainly converstaional. all of the students are really happy to be at the u of m, which really made me want to go there.
What are your suggestions for the admissions office?
Applicants commonly suggested improving communication and responsiveness from the admissions office, implementing more varied and realistic MMI questions, providing clearer website navigation, offering breakfast during interview days, and enhancing overall organization and timeliness in the admissions process.
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It'd be nice if the logo on the glass bottle is the school color. It'd be great if we can meet the dean of the medical school on the interview day. Some MMI questions don't really test how students would respond in real life (such as standing up to the people who have an influence on the students' career - how one acts ideally is different than how one would act realistically).
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So eco-friendly that they gave us all reusable water bottles to carry around during the MMI
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If you're going to use MMI and not change the questions, you'll select for dishonest students. You really need to get it together and not give groups the same questions session after session, year after year.
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Very slow to get back with interview dates or admissions offers.
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Was ignored by the admission's office about reimbursement
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I would suggest that they have some sort of breakfast for the applicants or at least let us know that there is no food at the interview day until lunch.
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No complaints. AMAZING lady in the admissions office. Seriously, if you don't know where the interview room is, just ask and she'll take you there
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None
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The website isn't set up very intuitively. It's hard to find the info you want. Way to go with rec
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Serve Breakfast!!
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None.
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Online payment! It is really annoying and archaic to have to physically mail a check.
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Everyone is nice.
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There's a sweet old lady in there named Lola Galvin... she was so helpful.
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My phone calls to the admissions office were rather unpleasant and unhelpful- the person I talked to
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Make sure the tourguides have working codes for the labs before the tour. Consider having the interv
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Improve timeliness and organization.
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These guys are the best!
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