Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center 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?

7 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?

8 out of 10

💬 Interview Questions ▼

What is one of the specific questions they asked you?

Is there an alcohol problem at your undergrad? Drug problem?

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So why do you want to be a doctor?

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What fiction books have you read recently? What do you do to keep physically fit? What do you think of stem cell research? How about euthanasia?

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What was the most interesting question?

What are your views on Euthanasia. This prompted a disscussion about what a physician's role is as a healthcare provider, and also about the leaglity of the Oregon law (which I was fairly familiar with). Just FYI, it was recently upheld by the supreme court.

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What was the most difficult question?

None were especially difficult. I think they were intended more to encourage conversation than to intimidate or forcefully extract information.

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🤝 Interview Format and Logistics ▼

How long was the interview?

45 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?

Enthusiastic

How do you rank the facilities?

9 out of 10

What is your in-state status?

Out of state

What were your total hours spent traveling?

2-3 hours

What was your primary mode of travel?

Automobile

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

$101-$200

What airport did you fly into?

No responses

Where did you stay?

Hotel

What is the name of the hotel you stayed in?

Radisson

How would you rate the hotel?

7 out of 10

Would you recommend the hotel?

no

What is your ranking of this school's location?

6 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?

SDN interview feedbacks (very helpful, the questions were on all here I think), the school's website, the MSAR, SDN forum threads about VCU.

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What impressed you positively?

The facilities are very nice, and Richmond wasn't half as scary as I was expecting. The focus on training excellent and well rounded physicians. The faculty seem dedicated to helping the students learn, and not just to pursuing their own research interests.

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What impressed you negatively?

Richmond, while certainly not horrible, is a little run down with graffiti and wandering around alone at night is probably not a good idea. The school is in a pretty safe area, however. I didn't care for the Egyptian building; it seems like a strange place to take your first year classes. I mean, what the heck is that thing doing in Richmond, VA? The other negative thing was that Dr. Heldberg basically told us that if you are out-of-state, you should expect to be waitlisted, at best. The waitlist does move quite a bit though, and in the end, 30-40% of the class is OOS. Also, the OOS tuition is very pricey, but that's to be expected. I was also disappointed that we didn't get to see the ER that I've heard so much about (they used to take interviewees throught there, but I guess it was causing too much disruption).

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What did you wish you had known ahead of time?

That the focus of the school is clinical medicine (which is my goal, but I realize it's not everybody's), and they have a very good reputation in the mid-atlantic area. There is also research for those who are interested, and many students do participate in this during the summer (apparently most faculty members have a study going on).

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What are your general comments?

The interview was pleasant, although it makes me wonder how much the interviewer learned about me since none of the questions were particularly challenging or in-depth. The interview is your advocate to the admissions committee, so you want them to like you and give them the information they need to convince the rest of the committee that you would be a good doctor and a good medical student at VCU. Dr. Heldberg, the Dean of Admissions, gives an informative speech about the selection process post-interview. She is a very nice and very smart lady who actually reminded me quite a bit of my mom. But I have a science minded mom, so that's probably just me. 2nd year medical students provided the tour, which included a free lunch in the cafeteria. They are very helpful in answering any questions, especially practical questions like "Where do you live?", etc.

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What are your suggestions for the admissions office?

No responses

Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center School of Medicine

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