How is the friendliness of the admissions office?
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How is the responsiveness of the admissions office?
No responses
How did you prepare for the interview?
Read this website, studied the school's website inside and out, studied what I said in my application, studied myself: knew my personal statement and activities and what they taught me/how they related to medicine, thought about all the hard questions I had ever read beforehand.
What impressed you positively?
I go to UVa and have spent some time volunteering in the main teaching hospital of the SOM, but what impressed me was that rooms I thought were just closets in the hospital were really huge, tucked-away classrooms and laboratories within the hospital itself. Also, all lectures are recorded on video and placed online, and all class notes are written by the teachers themselves (not a student-run service) and given to students. Most schools do one of the above, but it was nice that UVa did both.
What impressed you negatively?
The administrative building of UVa was run-down and seemed old--think of high school.
What did you wish you had known ahead of time?
I wish I had known that most of the questions that would be asked me, both here and at all the other schools I have interviewed, would be mostly based on what I wrote in my applications. Luckily I wrote my personal statement on something I love to discuss, since most questions are based on that essay and the other secondary essays I wrote. One woman at the interview wrote on insurance in her personal statement, which made her interview questions much more technical and business-oriented than mine. The personal statement is what really makes each interview different--the interviewers mold their questions to your application, rather than ask everyone a rigid laundry list of questions.
What are your general comments?
To preface this entry, UVa told us decisions would be made within two weeks after the interview and that our letters would be mailed to us by October 15th telling us if we are accepted, rejected, or wait-listed. I received mine on the 16th and I was accepted.
The interview day started at 11am with a five second greet and usher into the waiting room with the other interviewees. In my experience, the other interviewees were really nice and informative and really added to the experience. At 11:30, after a short 10 minute welcome meeting, we were taken to the university’s faculty dining hall by two fourth-year medical students. My overall impressions after the tour were that UVa was a stressful in its first two years--not uncommon at a medical school, but it seemed that the students were slightly more stressed than students elsewhere--and that UVa has a very flexible curriculum (almost all classes are optional, all necessary notes are taken by faculty and delivered to students, even labs can be done on computer), and that students had a great relationship with faculty. My first interview was with a fourth-year med. student. The tone of it was so relaxedâ€â€definitely more like a conversation than an interrogation. It was actually her first interview ever as well as mine. She asked me mostly questions based on my application, and maybe spent almost as much time talking to me as I did to her. The second interview was with a physician who also asked me questions based on my application essays and activities. This interview was slightly more formal, giving me more time to speak, but still very much conversational. The second interview was definitely less get-to-know-you (unlike the first interview) and more about seeing me speak in person about the issues I raised in my application. The first difficult question below was the only question not directly related to my application.
What are your suggestions for the admissions office?
No responses
