University of California San Diego School of Medicine Individual responses

⭐ Overall Impressions ▼

How did the interview impress you?

Positively

What was the stress level of the interview?

2 out of 10

How you think you did?

No responses

How do you rank this school among ALL other schools?

No responses

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

No responses

💬 Interview Questions ▼

What is one of the specific questions they asked you?

What do you think will be the most academically difficult aspect of medicine?

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What is it about working with the community you enjoy so much?

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Why medicine? Personal strengths and weaknesses? Where do you see yourself in 10 years? What do you do for fun?

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What was the most interesting question?

What do you think about the Asian diaspora in America?

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What was the most difficult question?

Why do you think there are so many Indians in med school and so few Filipinos?

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🤝 Interview Format and Logistics ▼

How long was the interview?

50 minutes

How many people interviewed you?

2

What was the style of the interview?

One-on-one

What type of interview was it?

Open file

Was this interview in-person or virtual?

No responses

Where did the interview take place?

At the school

📍 On-Site Experience ▼

Who was the tour given by?

Student

How did the tour guide seem?

No responses

How do you rank the facilities?

No responses

What is your in-state status?

No responses

What were your total hours spent traveling?

No responses

What was your primary mode of travel?

No responses

About how much did you spend on room, food, and travel?

No responses

What airport did you fly into?

No responses

Where did you stay?

No responses

What is the name of the hotel you stayed in?

No responses

How would you rate the hotel?

No responses

Would you recommend the hotel?

No responses

What is your ranking of this school's location?

No responses

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

No responses

What are your comments on where you stayed?

No responses

✅ Interview Preparation and Impressions ▼

How is the friendliness of the admissions office?

No responses

How is the responsiveness of the admissions office?

No responses

How did you prepare for the interview?

Read my AMCAS and secondaries, studentdoctor.net, and mock interview with med school faculty.

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What impressed you positively?

They had a 100% first-try pass rate for the USMLE Step I 3 years in a row. Last year broke the streak, but it was still high with a 96% pass rate. In the first two years of school you're given the time to take up a wide range of electives. I read through the medical school catalog and the offerings for electives is impressive.

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What impressed you negatively?

The amount of lecture time. (I believe you're in class for approximately 5-8 hrs a day.) However, our student guides and my interviewer made a good point about the this type of lecture-based learning... with lectures it's up to you if you attend, in the case of case-based learning you're pretty much required to attend them all. In fact, at UCSD most students usually skip out on lectures covering material that they are already familiar with.

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What did you wish you had known ahead of time?

50% of their interviewees are offered acceptance. Contrary to popular belief they accept UCSD undergrads to the school of medicine. The top feeder schools for the med school are UCSD, UCLA, UCBerkeley, and Standford.

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What are your general comments?

Like the majority of students who have interviewed at UCSD I found both my interviewers to be very conversational and relaxed. It was obvious that both had spent the time to carefully read my application and each of them had different questions regarding my secondary application. Your day begins with a brief introduction to the school by the director of admissions. Afterwards, you're given your interview schedules and everyone meets back at the admissions office for lunch and a tour of the school. Me and my first interviewer spent a great deal of time talking about my cultural background and views on the current state of medicine. We got a pretty good dialogue going and even traded book recommendations. Unfortunately, our time was cut short. Otherwise I'm sure I could have talked to him all day. My second interviewer was a little more business with the typical "why medicine" and "where do you see yourself 10 years from now" questions. Not stressful at all. We talked about the curriculum of the school and the high caliber of the doctors the school seems to produce. Between the two of them I think they got a multifaceted view of me as a potential student. Our student tour guides shared lots knowledge about the school and said admittedly around 4 years ago a majority of the students were unhappy. However, a lot of changes have been made since then and first year students seem to be very happy. Overall it was a very relaxed day and if given the chance, take the tour of the free-clinics.

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What are your suggestions for the admissions office?

No responses

University of California San Diego School of Medicine

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