University of California San Diego School of Medicine Individual responses

⭐ Overall Impressions ▼

How did the interview impress you?

Positively

What was the stress level of the interview?

No responses

How you think you did?

7 out of 10

How do you rank this school among ALL other schools?

9 out of 10

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

9 out of 10

💬 Interview Questions ▼

What is one of the specific questions they asked you?

Have you ever traveled outside the US? Where would be the first place you go?

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What is the first impression people have of you? What do your friends think of you?

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Why didn't you have a lot of clinical experience? (even though I had quite a bit of experience, so I corrected this misconception)

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What was the most interesting question?

What is a typical day in the life of a primary care physician?

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What was the most difficult question?

Do you think non-citizens should receive health care? Do you really think our tax dollars should go to caring for people who do not pay taxes?

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🤝 Interview Format and Logistics ▼

How long was the interview?

45 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?

Neutral

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?

Airplane

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

< $100

What airport did you fly into?

SAN

Where did you stay?

Hotel

What is the name of the hotel you stayed in?

Sheraton

How would you rate the hotel?

No responses

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?

10 out of 10

How is the responsiveness of the admissions office?

10 out of 10

How did you prepare for the interview?

The usual, mock interview, SDN, reading about UCSD on the website.

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What impressed you positively?

Dean Kelly is awesome - very friendly and enthusiastic about students. Research opportunities are excellent.

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What impressed you negatively?

-The students weren't as friendly as those I've seen at other interviews. They were talking amongst themselves right in front of interviews and did not seem too enthusiastic about meeting us. -Some buildings look run down. -The curriculum is still very traditional. -Clinical is not interwoven seamlessly into all 4 years, although there is an effort to incorporate it in recently. (UCSD is becoming more progressive but still quite 'purist' in their curriculum)

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What did you wish you had known ahead of time?

No responses

What are your general comments?

The day before the interview, there was a tour of one of the free clinics and then dinner. This was pretty helpful, but there was only one student involved, so we only got one perspective of the school. The interview day started at 8am with a PPT presentation by Dean Kelly. She was a super friendly person. Afterwards there were 2 one-on-one interviews. I got one faculty and a resident physician. The interview was much more stressful than other interviews I've had - felt like I was being grilled sometimes. My interviewers were sometimes skeptical of my answers and asked follow-up q's as if they wanted to prove me wrong. Due to the stressful nature of the interviews, the UCSD interview experience ranks low. After interviews, there was lunch with current students (they were NOT enthusiastic and were defensive about rumors about the UCSD competitiveness and curriculum structure, leaving me with a bad impression overall). As of now, the weather, in-state tuition, and research opportunities are major factors that sway me toward UCSD. Their friendliness factor needs some work. I wish everyone at UCSD were more like Dean Kelly :)

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What are your suggestions for the admissions office?

No responses

University of California San Diego School of Medicine

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