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?
I choose not to prepare for this interview and to go in with just goals of being myself and confident.
What impressed you positively?
The part when Dr. Haight spoke to us about our applications and how we were already screened pretty well prior to being invited to interview. He stated that even if we are not accepted at TUCOM-MI we will be accepted elsewhere eventually. And even though this is hard to believe if you have not been accepted into a medical school yet, his words are true. The anatomy lab was impressive and the student guide was able to show us a cadaver. Students may choose to do their 3rd + 4th year rotations almost anywhere in the U.S. although they are pushing for more students to stay in the Bay area in the future. Also there is a new Genesis curriculum that sounded very promising.
What impressed you negatively?
The community just outside of Mare Island, the abandoned military buildings on Mare Island and the campus itself seems a little dated. Now this is an issue because it seems that one may have to live relatively farther away from this school than others to be in a better looking neighborhood. Personally I do wish to live very close to the school I will be attending to minimize travelling times. I was told the campus and the area will be significantly renovated and relandscaped in the next 5-10 years, but as I won't be around then that didn't excite me. Also renovation is slow because the buildings are considered historic, these are just a few things to consider.
What did you wish you had known ahead of time?
That our contact with the students was very minimal during the interview day. Dr Haight if you are reading this you may want to push for more time for the interviewees to speak directly with students. At the other DO school interviews I have been on this year we were given our entire lunch time 30-45 min when faculty was not around and a handful (2-3) students from different classes and different backgrounds were present to talk to us and answer questions we have about student life. Those were some of the most helpful times during the interview and speaking with students openly does assist in my decision making of choosing which school to attend.
What are your general comments?
The morning began with talks with Dr. Haight as well as Dr. Assefaw who is the director of the DO/MPH program. Though I am a believer that the combination program will lead to better physicians, I do feel that many medical school applicants are concerned enough with just a medical education and we were told about the MPH program a bit more than necessary. Dr. Haight told us how we got to the interview stage which was great, and we went around the room introducing outselves and this was helpful because Dr. Haight asked us some interesting questions each so we were prepared to answer more questions at the actual interview. We had an one-hour tour with a student guide and was able to see the entire campus then (which was not too big). We then were led to our group interviews in groups of 4 or 5 and even though it seemed like everyone did only okay on the first question asked, the rest of the interview went pretty smooth for everyone. We then had lunch and spoke a bit more with Dr. Haight, and that concluded the day. The interview day was very nice and relaxed. The shuttle that dropped me off from the hotel in the morning picked us up and we left the campus then.
What are your suggestions for the admissions office?
No responses
