University of Hawaii at Manoa John A. Burns School of Medicine Individual responses

⭐ Overall Impressions ▼

How did the interview impress you?

Negatively

What was the stress level of the interview?

6 out of 10

How you think you did?

5 out of 10

How do you rank this school among ALL other schools?

5 out of 10

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

3 out of 10

💬 Interview Questions ▼

What is one of the specific questions they asked you?

No responses

What was the most interesting question?

Nothing interesting... all standard

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What was the most difficult question?

Why Hawaii

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🤝 Interview Format and Logistics ▼

How long was the interview?

30 minutes

How many people interviewed you?

3

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 another location

📍 On-Site Experience ▼

Who was the tour given by?

Student

How did the tour guide seem?

Enthusiastic

How do you rank the facilities?

3 out of 10

What is your in-state status?

Out of state

What were your total hours spent traveling?

7+ hours

What was your primary mode of travel?

Airplane

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

$501+

What airport did you fly into?

No responses

Where did you stay?

At school facility

What is the name of the hotel you stayed in?

No responses

How would you rate the hotel?

8 out of 10

Would you recommend the hotel?

yes

What is your ranking of this school's location?

10 out of 10

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

9 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?

Read sdn, read some med ethics, re-read my app

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What impressed you positively?

Location is excellent, students seem friendly, if you like a very mixed culture with a decided asian cast, then this is great. Faculty were very friendly and accessible. If you're interested in cloning or stem cell research check out Wakayama's institute... he's a major hitter and incredibly friendly)

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What impressed you negatively?

The dean was very rude to me. He treated me like I was some sort of distasteful creature (presumablely b/c I'm a Haolee from the mainland). Without saying so openly, he made sure I understood that he thought I was too aggressive and that I wouldn't be welcome. He obliquely compared me to a cancer! (And believe me I did nothing to provoke him except wear a suit) Current facilities are second to third rate. This is especially true for research facilities. (Apart from one extremely well funded lab and the cancer institute.)

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What did you wish you had known ahead of time?

It's a waste of time to apply from out of state unless your family is actually from Hawaii and you recently moved away or you have some extremely random, but strong connection, like your parents used to be missionaries here.

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What are your general comments?

Hawaii is a nice place to visit but they don't want you live there. Basically the school is undergoing a transition from producing, as one researcher/faculty member put it, "barefoot doctors", to becoming a real biomedical research center. The president is pushing for the biomed angle, but the entrenched bureaucracy with the support of the local medical association is foot dragging because they favor the community doc model. On the whole Hawaii is happy to have you as a tourist, but there's considerable hostility not the least because mainlanders are driving up prices for real estate and an influx of mainland physicians would threaten the entrenched physicians. My own physician interviewer liked me a lot, said I was a strong candidate and he'd do his best but basically told me I should go to Boston, New Haven or New York or "someplace where they'd appreciate me." He also let me in on how racially politicized Adcom is, apparently there's 1 rep per ethnic group (white, chinese, japanese, korean, hawaiian, etc) and they rank each candidate on a secret ballot. Which says to me that the process is so politicized that they can't work together openly to shape a class. I was told to expect resistance if I come here to practice after graduation unless I bring a million dollar piece of equipment (like another doc/researcher did) or if I have an 'in' whether with an ethnic group or from doing med school/residency here. Overall, the experience really broke my heart because I really wanted to come here... even over some much higher ranked schools... but it was clear that (surprise) as an island society, Hawaii is very very insular and that I wasn't welcome.

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What are your suggestions for the admissions office?

No responses

University of Hawaii at Manoa John A. Burns School of Medicine

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