SUNY - Upstate Medical University College of Medicine

Tell me about your best friend.

What did you learn from your volunteering and extracurricular experiences?

Why medicine? What other careers have you considered?

Did you ever conflict with another person of different ethnicity?

How does your [non-medically related] majors factor into your decision to enter medicine?

Previous interview experiences

Enthusiasm of the staff, faculty, and students. Active student body on campus. Reputable athleticism of Syracuse University.

Some first-year course schedules run from 8am to 5pm, although students admit the tutorials are not essential and are low in attendance.

An interview is scheduled before you even find out much about the school.

The day officially begins at 9am and ends at 1pm or 2-3pm depending on whether you have an afternoon interview. The director of admission Jennifer Welch was very receptive to feedback and states she would rather hear them firsthand from students than read them on SDN. We hear about the nitty-gritty of the admission process, a bit about the programs at SUNY Syracuse, and financial aid. Syracuse is the fourth largest city in New York, centrally localized, and receives a diverse patient population. A decision (Acceptance, Waitlist-High Priority, Waitlist-Hold, or Rejected) will follow three to four weeks after our interview. She also assured us that in the event we do not gain acceptance to Upstate, we could meet with her to review our application (including interview feedback) and find out what went wrong. We are scheduled either two interviews in the morning or one each in the morning and the afternoon. It is tricky to find your way through the hospital so if your interview is at another location it is easier to go outside to the streets even though the buildings are all essentially connected through tunnels. Passerbys are quick to notice you as a visitor and are helpful with directions. Interview were low-stress, open-file and a good opportunity to see how well you fit into the school. While eating lunch, the director of admission will return to gain feedback on the interviews and explain the stuff that were in our folders. Basically, we were told to choose between the Syracuse or Binghamton campus for our 3rd and 4th year rotation. The separation is necessary because the Syracuse facilities have only a capacity of 120 students, so 40 students end up going to Binghamton for their clinicals. This was explained to be a strength since there are things that can be done in Binghamton (rural medicine) that can't be done in Syracuse and vice versa. The tour was led by three medical students who seems relaxed despite their workload. They'll have plenty to say as you tour their lecture halls, 24-hour computer lab, library, cafeteria, and anatomy lab (6 per cadaver). After the tour or the second afternoon interview we were free to go. Overall, SUNY Syracuse is a commendable school at an unbeatable price, with a great campus life.