Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine Individual responses

⭐ Overall Impressions ▼

How did the interview impress you?

Positively

What was the stress level of the interview?

6 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?

From my first interview: Why did you take two years off? What led you to medicine? Why did you choose to go to your undergraduate institution, and why did you choose your major? Explain your study-abroad experience. Why Penn State? Do you have any questions for me?

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From my second interview: I'm going to ask you to do something a little unconventional. I want you to explain everything about yourself in a four letter word. But before you do that, I want you to explain everything about yourself 20-30 years from now: (What are you doing? Where are you living? Who are your patients? How much money do you make? How much money do your patients make? Can they afford medical care? What if they can't? Are you still going to serve them? How are you going to pay for their medical care then? What if there isn't any insurance? There is only so much you can pay yourself, so how will you pay for their medical care? What if fund raising and grants aren't enough? How will you change the system? I'm counting on you to change this system. Okay, now going back to the first question - I'll give you five seconds to give me a four letter word describing yourself. What did you say - gosh? Okay, I'll write down gosh! (yikes - so I reacted because I was caught off guard, but I ended up saying a more appropriate four letter word) Do you have any questions for me?

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What was the most interesting question?

Describe everything about yourself, from what motivates you, to what you do for fun, to what your goals are, in one four letter word.

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What was the most difficult question?

See above. (And my interviewer counted to 5.)

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🤝 Interview Format and Logistics ▼

How long was the interview?

40 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?

Other

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 the website. sdn. reread amcas and my secondary applications. practiced interviewing

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What impressed you positively?

students seemed to be very happy - seemed happy with the academic and social aspects - they were all very inviting and warm. I was also impressed with the respect the faculty and staff have of medical students inputs on the curriculum.

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What impressed you negatively?

whenever anyone asked "so what do you do for fun around hershey?" med students usually answered by saying, "well, there's not much in hershey itself but harrisburg is nearby, baltimore is an hour and a half away, and nyc is four hours away." Hmm...and I don't know if this is a negative, but it was definitely interesting and a learning experience to interview with someone who seemed frustrated with his medical practice (or at least pretty major parts of it.)

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What did you wish you had known ahead of time?

No responses

What are your general comments?

the first interview was typical questions asking to elaborate and explain parts of my application. i really liked my first interviewer - he made me feel very comfortable, and was very honest about the pros and cons of the medical school. the second interview was bizarre, with the "explain who you are in a four letter word." It's one thing to ask the question, it's another thing to also count to 5 and then not allow the interviewee to explain the answer (which is what happened). the second interviewer also seemed to want to know if I was really serious about medicine because when he asked me another question: "explain who you are 20-30 years from now" he basically guided me to a conversation focused on insurance and other financial aspects of medicine, (which are basically his main frustrations with medicine.) I don't know if this was the best thing, but when he asked if I had any questions, I basically asked what his opinion was about serving those that couldn't afford medical care. (If he cared so much to guide the conversation that way, I felt like he must have some interesting points of view about the subject.)

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What are your suggestions for the admissions office?

No responses

Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine

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