Iowa City, IA
Allopathic Medical Schools | Public Non-Profit
Application Cycle: 2009-10
⭐ Overall Impressions
How do you rank the facilities?
9 out of 10
0 = Bad, 10 = Great
How do you rank this school among ALL other schools?
7 out of 10
0 = Below, 10 = Above
How do you rank this school among other schools to which you've applied?
7 out of 10
0 = Below, 10 = Above
What is your ranking of this school's location?
9 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?
7 out of 10
0 = Bad, 10 = Great
How is the responsiveness of the admissions office?
8 out of 10
0 = Bad, 10 = Great
💬 Interview Questions
What is one of the specific questions they asked you?
There are 3 structured questions. The three they asked me were: 1. Why do you want to be a doctor?
2. You are considering performing a life-saving surgery on a patient that requires a blood transfusion, but their religious beliefs do not allow this. What do you do?
3. Describe a time when you went above and beyond the call and how it impacted you.
The structured portion is awkward because the interviewers are not allowed to clarify the question--they will only re-read it. They are also not supposed to show emotion or interact with you in any way (to make sure your response is not affected by them at all). It was a little weird and felt unnatural to me.
What was the most interesting question?
Name a specific example of how (insert volunteer experience) changed you?
What was the most difficult question?
I felt the structured questions were most difficult because they were rather awkward.
✅ Interview Preparation and Impressions
How long was the interview?
30 minutes
How did the interview impress you?
Positively 🙂
How many people interviewed you?
2
What was the stress level of the interview?
4 out of 10
0 = Low Stress, 10 = High Stress
How you think you did?
6 out of 10
0 = Bad, 10 = Great
What was the style of the interview?
One-on-one
What type of interview was it?
Closed file
Where did the interview take place?
At the school
How did you prepare for the interview?
Read through my AMCAS Application, my secondary application to Iowa, looked up current news about research at the university (especially biomedical research), as well as a brief glance at the curriculum and research opportunities available to medical students.
What impressed you positively?
The research facilities. MERF is awesome, and they are building a ~200 million dollar building devoted entirely to research, to be completed 2014.
From what I understand, they also have extensive bus routes (because parking is expensive), and monthly bus passes are $10.
What did you wish you had known ahead of time?
I wish I had known the interview would be near the end of the day--without the nerves, I would have been able to stomach a breakfast.
What are your general comments?
Great school, Excellent research facilities, solid curriculum, and overall very nice students. Seems that students M1-M4 really get along well.
What are your suggestions for the admissions office?
The admissions office is extremely friendly but I didn't discover this until I visited in person for my interview. It would have been even nicer to receive an email a few days (or a week) before my interview as a friendly reminder that they were anticipating my arrival. Other than that, the admissions office was fantastic and great to work with!
📍 On-Site Experience
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?
7+ hours
What was your primary mode of travel?
Automobile
About how much did you spend on room, food, and travel?
$101-$200
Where did you stay?
Friends or family
How would you rate the hotel?
5 out of 10
0 = Bad, 10 = Great
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