Oregon Health & Sciences University School 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

How you think you did?

10 / 10

0 = Bad, 10 = Great

How do you rank this school among ALL other schools?

8 / 10

0 = Below, 10 = Above

How do you rank this school among other schools to which you've applied?

7 / 10

0 = Below, 10 = Above

What are your general comments?

The interviews themselves were very laid back. I felt like my interviewers really wanted to know who I was. We kept interesting conversation going the whole time and they ended up being longer than I expected. One of them did tell me I'd answered a question wrong, but she was nice about it and also said another of my answers was insightful. They don't have your GPA or MCAT, but they have everything else. I got asked about my activities, morals, outlook, and some usual stock interview questions from a list. The tour was great, and the dean did a good job of explaining the curriculum. I was lucky not to have excessive downtime, but some students did. The food was good and they even had enough for vegetarians (lots of schools I've been to did not).

Interview questions they asked

What do you think about the health care system? How would you organize and pay for it if you were in charge?

I was asked this too

What was the most interesting question?

What will you do if you don't get in? We often take older students and many people have to reapply.

I was asked this too

What was the most difficult question?

Questions about my gender identity. They were not out of context, but I wasn't expecting them to be quite that blunt, despite listing lots of GLBT and trans activism on my activities sheet.

I was asked this too

How did you prepare for the interview?

I work for OHSU and have lived in Portland all my life (except for college). This was also my fifth interview, so I didn't prepare except for reading the info they sent me.

What impressed you positively?

Having classes in blocks, so you don't have to take multiple exams at once. The students cooperate instead of compete. There are facilities for bike commuters and the classrooms are nice. The students giving the tour were friendly and very helpful--they answered everything we could think of to ask and gave tons of extra info. The new pavilion and tram are sweet.

What impressed you negatively?

Some people had two interviews right away in the morning, and some had both late, making it hard for them to catch flights out. There wasn't anything planned during down time, but I was able to explore the facilities and sit in on a class. Ask about what you can do with your free time. I also wished they had given a financial aid info session, but it's probably because they don't have much to offer in the way of financial aid (they get maybe 3% of their funding from the state and do tons of charity care--not a fair setup for OHSU).

What did you wish you had known ahead of time?

I really liked the idea of a rural medicine block. More schools should do this.

What is your ranking of this school's location?

10 / 10

0 = Bad, 10 = Great

What is your ranking of this area's cultural life?

10 / 10

0 = Bad, 10 = Great