Palo Alto, CA
Allopathic Medical Schools | Private Non-Profit
Application Cycle: 2009-10
⭐ Overall Impressions
How did the interview impress you?
Positively 🙂
What was the stress level of the interview?
2 out of 10
0 = Low Stress, 10 = High Stress
How you think you did?
8 out of 10
0 = Bad, 10 = Great
How do you rank this school among ALL other schools?
10 out of 10
0 = Below, 10 = Above
How do you rank this school among other schools to which you've applied?
10 out of 10
0 = Below, 10 = Above
What are your general comments?
After having researched the school, I did not go into the interview day as excited as I was beforehand. However, I came out absolutely amazed by what Stanford had to offer. True, there are some things that the school may not be able to offer when compared to others located in urban cities. However, I truly got the sense that the opportunities were all there for the self-directed and self-motivated. My interviews were brief, but I was given the chance to express the most important things. I had two faculty interviewers (as did the other interviewee), but that is abnormal and related to the timing of the interview day. The picture that you take on interview day will follow you the rest of your time at Stanford if you matriculate, so smile! This place was amazing, definitely explore it for yourself.
💬 Interview Process
What is one of the specific questions they asked you?
Faculty Interviewer #1: When did you get into Stanford? What do your parents and siblings do? What is your family history like? What are you doing currently? Why did you decide to take a year off? How do you feel about your undergraduate education? Can you tell me about an interesting clinical experience that you had? What kind of specialty would you like to go into? What are your career goals and how will you get there? How do your goals relate to your interest in Stanford? Can you tell me about (specific volunteer experience) and how it relates to your decision to go into medicine? Have I covered everything that you wanted to get across during this interview?
What was the most interesting question?
Faculty Interviewer #2: How do you think your parents feel about your accomplishments? Are your siblings as self motivated as you?
How did you prepare for the interview?
Previous interviewing experience, MSAR, SDN, School's Website, and Some research into the ethics of medicine.
What was the most difficult question?
Faculty Interviewer #1: Can you name a researcher that won the Nobel Prize for his work on ATP?
What impressed you positively?
The personal attention that I received during the whole day. The fact that the school was continually building and improving itself. The awesome tour guides. The school's willingness to help its students financially, although some of it comes from the student performing additional research through MedScholars or becoming a Teaching Assistant. The tremendous opportunities available here. The friendliness of the Admissions Staff. Only 4 students per cadaver in a decent anatomy lab. The option for self-motivated students to design a pace that is good for them, but this could be a negative as well.
What impressed you negatively?
The students were not as friendly as other schools that I have been to. Something like 70% of the student body will take 5 years to complete, mainly to do extra work to reduce financial costs. The lack of an urban/diverse patient population, but that can be offset by interaction with individuals that really care about their health. Stanford and Palo Alto may be too suburban/posh for some people.
What did you wish you had known ahead of time?
That there would only be two of us!
🤝 Campus and Facilities
How do you rank the facilities?
7 out of 10
0 = Bad, 10 = Great
What is your ranking of this school's location?
8 out of 10
0 = Bad, 10 = Great
How is the friendliness of the admissions office?
10 out of 10
0 = Bad, 10 = Great
What is your ranking of this area's cultural life?
6 out of 10
0 = Bad, 10 = Great
How is the responsiveness of the admissions office?
8 out of 10
0 = Bad, 10 = Great
What are your suggestions for the admissions office?
Thank you for the wonderful day!!
📍 Travel and Logistics
Who was the tour given by?
Student
How did the tour guide seem?
Enthusiastic
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?
SJC/OAK
Where did you stay?
With students at the school
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