University of California Irvine School of Medicine Individual responses

⭐ Overall Impressions ▼

How did the interview impress you?

Positively

What was the stress level of the interview?

1 out of 10

How you think you did?

10 out of 10

How do you rank this school among ALL other schools?

8 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?

Where do you see yourself in ten years?

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Why do you want to switch careers and go into medicine? (paraphrase)

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Why UCI? (paraphrase)

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What was the most interesting question?

You've had an impressive career. So why are you in my office?

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What was the most difficult question?

How can you balance research and clinical experience?

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🤝 Interview Format and Logistics ▼

How long was the interview?

50 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?

Student

How did the tour guide seem?

Enthusiastic

How do you rank the facilities?

8 out of 10

What is your in-state status?

In state

What were your total hours spent traveling?

0-1 hour

What was your primary mode of travel?

Automobile

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

< $100

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?

9 out of 10

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

10 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 AMCAS and secondary applications. went over the 140+ list of interview questions posted on SDN, and had an answer for each and every question. Learned about lots of issues for which I was unfamiliar - difference between HMO and PPO, capitation, HIPPA, biopsychosocial model of medicine, others. Watched lots of Discovery Health Channel to keep current on recent medical issues, stories, advances. Tried to find as much as I could about the downsides of being a physician.

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What impressed you positively?

Absolutely beautiful campus, the collegiality of the students, the genuine concern of the faculty and staff for the students, the new hospital being built (to be completed in 2009 - in time for at least one year for me to in it!), the noncompetitive atmosphere, the way the anatomy course is run, the location (Irvine is awesome - see elsewhere in this feedback for explanation). The fact that UCI students score very well on the boards. The Match List for last year's graduates were VERY impressive. The MD/MBA program.

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What impressed you negatively?

Lecture-based learning. Not a problem, but not very progressive. Don't get me wrong, I think that abandoning traditional lecture courses entirely for a problem-based learning format is absurd. Schools that do it are buying into the flavor-of-the-day in education. Anything new and different in education makes the feds all hot and bothered (i.e. they reeeeaaally like it). I think a combination of the two approaches is the best (I was an educator, so yes, my opinion is qualified). Also, the university-affiliated hospital is what can be a lengthy commute from the university, but hey, when you are in your third and fourth years, you aren't going to be going back and forth between the two locations often, anyway. UCI SOM has addressed this spatial issue by establishing a mock clinic on site for the first and second year students.

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What did you wish you had known ahead of time?

Ahead of time? Nothing. But while there, I learned a lot about the school and program that I hadn't known before. Things (see above) that elevated my impression of the school and made it my first choice!

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What are your general comments?

Pleasant, laid back interview day. No difficult questions, very informative day. See elsewhere in this feedback for more. Some other posters say that they don't like the location, that Irvine is too isolated. It's not. No place to hang out? What about Fashion Island? And the beach communities are VERY close! What do they want - inner city? UCI is on the edge of the city, so you have a get-away-from-it-all comfy feeling, but are not really isolated. Good for the med student soul.

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What are your suggestions for the admissions office?

No responses

University of California Irvine School of Medicine

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