Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

😟

How did the interview impress you?

Negatively ☹️

What was the stress level of the interview?

4 / 10

0 = Low Stress, 10 = High Stress

How you think you did?

4 / 10

0 = Bad, 10 = Great

What are your general comments?

At first glance, Case seems to be a promising school with an innovative curriculum. But the interview day itself was disappointing--poorly planned and full of surprising failures by both the admissions staff and the students. A good school if you're into research, I guess, but otherwise, look elsewhere.

Interview questions they asked

Why do you want to become a doctor?

I was asked this too

What was the most interesting question?

Nothing. My interviewer asked me the Big-3 and nothing more.

I was asked this too

What was the most difficult question?

Nothing.

I was asked this too

How did you prepare for the interview?

Looked over Case's website, read sd.net.

What impressed you positively?

The newly built research building (where the admissions office was) is beautiful, and Case seems to be well-funded. All students seem to get laptops their first year. The class we sat in on talked about the biology of love, which I though it was a very unique and refreshing topic for a lecture, and the professor seemed very amiable and had an entertaining lecturing style. The Dean of Admissions himself also came to talk to us, which I thought was very flattering and impressive, especially since he was so fascinatingly soft-spoken but appeared very dedicated and driven toward the goals he had for the school.

What impressed you negatively?

The entire interview experience was, sad to say, fairly mundane. I had read on sd.net that most interviewees at Case had had a wonderful time there, and I was looking forward to the same experience, but I never got it. Perhaps it was just a fluke, but that day there were only about 8 interviewees, and there was A LOT of dead time, which gave the impression that the interview day was not well-planned. My interviewer showed no evidence that she had looked over my application, and instead asked me a few basic questions and then responded to my answers by answering the questions again herself. She didn't write anything down or showed any interest in representing me before the applications committee. What other little exposure I had to faculty was promising, but in the class we sat in on, many of the students seemed ridiculously bored--perhaps the free laptops are not a good idea, because I saw quite a few students sitting in the back of the lecture hall, playing computer games and completely ignoring the professor. Regarding the curriculum, research is mandatory, which didn't quite agree with me. Finally, the admissions staff told me I would receive a reply by mid-December, but at the time of this writing, it is now January and I haven't heard a thing from them. Case seems to be well-funded, but in the end, I couldn't quite say whether or not that money is going to the right places.

What did you wish you had known ahead of time?

How poorly-planned and disappointing the interview day would be. If I had known, I would have brought a book or something to pass the time, or better yet, never gone at all.