University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine

🙂

How did the interview impress you?

Positively 🙂

What was the stress level of the interview?

2 / 10

0 = Low Stress, 10 = High Stress

What are your general comments?

They day was very nice. Let the admissions officer, Leslie Taylor, know if you have any dietary restrictions. They were very accomodating. Interestingly, most (but not all) of the other interviewees were either undergraduates or graduates already at UofT.

Interview questions they asked

Tell us about yourself.

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What was the most interesting question?

How do you rationalize your concerns about animal rights with a professed interest in research (ie. animal testing)?

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What was the most difficult question?

You have applied for a grant to do medical work in africa to combat AIDS. You receieve the grant of $5000 and are about to leave. What are your concerns and how will you spend the money?

I was asked this too

How did you prepare for the interview?

Read interview feedback. Read online about the canadian medical system and ethical issues (euthanasia, abortion, jehovah's witnesses' blood). Reviewed my essay and my research.

What impressed you positively?

The interviewers seemed very interested in me personally. They asked questions (aside from the scenario ones and a couple standards) that demonstrated they had carefully reviewed my application.

What impressed you negatively?

Many interesting areas of the medical school were temporarily closed, and first-year students were in the middle of a test, so we didn't see any of them. First year, they have classes 9-5. Tuition is very high for a canadian school, $18,000 for residents (I think) and $30,000 for americans/international. In US dollars, those numbers are about 14,000 and 23,000, respectively.

What did you wish you had known ahead of time?

How friendly everyone would be. I had gotten the impression that the interviews would be harsh and the students more competitive. The interview was certainly challenging, but the interviewers were very personable. Also, UofT does a lot of research and gets a lot of money. They have far more research money than any other school in Canada, and the school puts out the second largest number of publications in North America, after Harvard.