Pennsylvania State University College 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?

7 / 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?

2 interviews. First a welcome talk, then the interviews, lunch and a tour with a volunteer (he was very friendly and informative). I didn't mind having the tour with the volunteer but plan to pepper the med students with questions in the limited time you have with them, because the interviews were rather rushed, and the only time you get with the students is at lunch because only 2 came. Stay at the Days Inn. My room was huge with everything you could ever need inside (free internet, iron, microwave, fridge). Breakfast, pool, fitness center. It was $50/night which includes a shuttle to/from the airport or bus station AND to your interview!

Interview questions they asked

Who was your main role model in deciding on a career in medicine?

I was asked this too

What was the most interesting question?

What is your favorite Shakespeare play? (I'm an English major)

I was asked this too

What was the most difficult question?

For some reason I answered the "problems in the U.S. health care system" question weird this time and talked too much about financial stuff, which led the interviewer to feel the need to explain to me why medical school is expensive. I think it came off as if I was complaining about the price of tuition, but I was trying to make a statement about the cost of medical education and medicine in general . . .

I was asked this too

How did you prepare for the interview?

read the website and sdn. prepared for "why penn state" and "why medicine" questions and came up with questions to ask about the school.

What impressed you positively?

the humanities program! very very friendly atmosphere and good student fac. relationships. the patient project is cool (you visit a chronically ill patient in the home). they have anatomy right away. the cost is comparatively reasonable. the have the lectures online. the residency match was much more impressive than i expected.

What impressed you negatively?

The normal grading scale (fail/pass/highpass/honors is basically ABCD). I really liked the school but I think the town would be a big problem for me. I would definitely need a car or I would go insane. Everything is so spread out . . . and the med school seems to be in the middle of nowhere. You can go have fun in Harrisburg if you can get there, but I was barely motivated enough to leave my hotel because it seemed so uninteresting in the town.

What did you wish you had known ahead of time?

About the cool humanities program.

What is your ranking of this school's location?

1 / 10

0 = Bad, 10 = Great

How is the friendliness of the admissions office?

10 / 10

0 = Bad, 10 = Great

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

1 / 10

0 = Bad, 10 = Great

How is the responsiveness of the admissions office?

10 / 10

0 = Bad, 10 = Great