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?

3 out of 10

How you think you did?

8 out of 10

How do you rank this school among ALL other schools?

6 out of 10

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

6 out of 10

💬 Interview Questions ▼

What is one of the specific questions they asked you?

specifically about a research I did in China

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Tell me about yourself

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What do you do now?

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What was the most interesting question?

what do you think about Schwarzenegger's new California Health Plan? (I sort of brought this on myself by asking what the med school will do about it)

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What was the most difficult question?

very standard, nothing difficult

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🤝 Interview Format and Logistics ▼

How long was the interview?

60+ 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?

2-3 hours

What was your primary mode of travel?

Airplane

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

$101-$200

What airport did you fly into?

SNA

Where did you stay?

With students at the school

What is the name of the hotel you stayed in?

No responses

How would you rate the hotel?

7 out of 10

Would you recommend the hotel?

yes

What is your ranking of this school's location?

8 out of 10

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

8 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?

I did two mock interviews with friends, taped myself. I also wrote up 6 main experiences and all the main points I wanted to cover in my interview. I reviewed it and made sure I cover those points. Read SDN, and the UCI website

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What impressed you positively?

The place is so warm and inviting. It has the Southern California chillness and personal warmth. The people were super nice! The facilities are very new. The student and faculty have great relationships. The Faculty was willing to delay exams so students can go to Sacramento to talk the Governor about his health plan. The research and clinical possibilities made me feel like if I go there the only limiting factor of my potential is myself. This is a important criteria I look at. The student body is really tight. At dinner I could tell the students really like each other.

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What impressed you negatively?

Housing is not guaranteed. You do need a car because everything is spread out. The medical center is away from the campus. I actually don't mind this so much because by default you always need a car in the LA/Orange county area. So once you have the car, the hospital and the beach don't seem far away at all. The school is still developing, not like LA or SF where it seem matured. The free student clinic is a bit young(they look to Davis and SD for examples of where to develop to), international program needs more established sites. These things are not a big deal to me because I feel like I can contribute to the growth as long as I have good faculty support and peer support(which UCI has an abundance of).

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What did you wish you had known ahead of time?

housing not a guarantee. The place is so close to nice beaches. The dean told us while selecting applicants for interviews, they only spent 7 minutes on each app, probably true for a lot of med schools. After interview they will have a 5 member committee(of MD, PhD, staff) and spend a lot more time your app for a final decision. They will tell us 5 weeks from the interview date. Never give up hope on waitlists. Only e-mail the dean ONCE if you are waitlisted with your interests in the school. She said she had a bad impression of people who e-mailed her once a week for months.

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What are your general comments?

I loved UCI! The day started at 8am with an optional tour, which was great. Most of the morning was intro talks by the dean, who asked all 40 of us(UCI only interviews twice a month)to introduce ourselves and say one thing interesting about us. We had presentations on housing and a MS3 talk to us about his impression of UCI(with no faculty in the room). Lunch with med student/interview. Break then interview with Faculty at 2pm. Done by 3pm. It seems like the med school really cared about us and wanted to know us as individuals.

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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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