Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons 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?

6 out of 10

How do you rank this school among ALL other schools?

7 out of 10

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

5 out of 10

💬 Interview Questions ▼

What is one of the specific questions they asked you?

questions specific to my application

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Why Columbia?

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What was the most interesting question?

Almost all of the questions I was asked were specific to my application.

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What was the most difficult question?

My interviewer had one of my letters of recommendation infront of him and asked me to explain everything my psychology professor wrote about. Some of the reseach projects my professor mentioned in her letter were from 4 years ago, so I really wasn't fresh on the details. I felt like I stumbled over alot of answers because I wasn't prepared to talk about psychology the entire interview. Nothing we talked about was related to medicine.

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🤝 Interview Format and Logistics ▼

How long was the interview?

60+ minutes

How many people interviewed you?

1

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?

Neutral

How do you rank the facilities?

5 out of 10

What is your in-state status?

No responses

What were your total hours spent traveling?

4-6 hours

What was your primary mode of travel?

Airplane

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

$301-$400

What airport did you fly into?

EWR

Where did you stay?

Friends or family

What is the name of the hotel you stayed in?

No responses

How would you rate the hotel?

9 out of 10

Would you recommend the hotel?

yes

What is your ranking of this school's location?

4 out of 10

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

7 out of 10

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?

interview feedback, deep breaths

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What impressed you positively?

I liked some of the other interviewees.

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What impressed you negatively?

The location is not where I want to be next year. I wouldn't want to live in the dorms like the ones at Columbia. Also, the student body is composed of mostly ivy league grads. I think it's great Columbia gets such great med students, but it's too bad so many people have the same background. I'd feel like the token girl from the South if I went there. Lastly, several students told me that the secret to getting into Columbia is to write a letter to Dean Franz. They talked about him like he was some sort of God figure. Weird. I always write thank-you notes to my interviewers, but I refuse to write suck-up letters to the Dean in hopes of flattering him enough to get an acceptance.

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What did you wish you had known ahead of time?

1) I'd know every possible detail of my application thoroughly and be able to talk about each of them for 10+ minutes. I thought I knew everything really well on my application, but this interview really pushed me to talk about things in-depth from years ago. 2) I'd bring a granola bar. The lunch at Columbia was by far the worst I've had among all my interviews. 3) I'd bring something to read because I had to sit in the interview room for over 2 hours between my interview and tour.

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What are your general comments?

I enjoyed talking with my interviewer even though he brought up picky details from my application that I wasn't ready to answer. I waited around for hours before the tour and lunch. This was the most unstructured interview day I've had. I wasn't very impressed overall, so I withdrew a few weeks later.

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What are your suggestions for the admissions office?

No responses

Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons

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