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University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine

Philadelphia, PA

Allopathic Medical Schools | Private Non-Profit

⭐ Overall Impressions

How did the interview impress you?

No change

What was the stress level of the interview?

4 out of 10

How you think you did?

No responses

How do you rank this school among ALL other schools?

No responses

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

No responses
💬 Interview Questions

What is one of the specific questions they asked you?

What do you do when you're stressed out?
What makes you happy? Tell me about your college.
Why are you here? (there are questions my student interviewer aske me; the faculty interviewer did not ask any questions I could share, since they were specifically related to my personal statement).

What was the most interesting question?

Do you think it's human nature to be violent? (This was in relation to something I wrote in my essay)

What was the most difficult question?

None too difficult, really. My student interviewer asked me what I thought a community was - a straightforward question, but I think I rambled on and on. This was my first interview, I was a bit stressed out.
🤝 Interview Format and Logistics

How long was the interview?

35 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?

No responses

How do you rank the facilities?

No responses

What is your in-state status?

No responses

What were your total hours spent traveling?

No responses

What was your primary mode of travel?

No responses

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

No responses

What airport did you fly into?

No responses

Where did you stay?

No responses

What is the name of the hotel you stayed in?

No responses

How would you rate the hotel?

No responses

Would you recommend the hotel?

No responses

What is your ranking of this school's location?

No responses

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

No responses

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?

SDN, school's website, read up on healthcare (was not asked anything of this sort) and ethics books (again, the topic did not even come up).

What impressed you positively?

The campus is beautiful. The students seemed really excited to be there. The facilities are incredible.

What impressed you negatively?

We were there from 9:30 - 4:30 which is a really long day. By the end you're exhausted and really have no energy to sit and listen to the last part of the orientation (after the interviews some students come down to speak about themselves).

What did you wish you had known ahead of time?

Everyone gives you advice as to how to dress, how to behave, how to sit properly, etc...which makes you stressed out and really nervous. I should have been relaxed, really - being worried just makes you look unsure of yourself.

What are your general comments?

My student interviews was great. When I first went in, I was so nervous my cheeks were burning, at the end of the interview, we were chatting like old friends. She gave me her opinion about the school - the positives and the negatives which I appreciated (because not a lot of people there addressed the negative aspects of being a student at U Penn). My faculty interview was definitely strange. The interviewer offered me a piece of gum as I walked in because he was chewing one. Then he asked me a few questions from my application - but sometimes I felt he was being condescending and making light of what I wrote in my personal statement. Then we talked about Alaska the whole time (he had lived there, I've spent a few summers in the great north). At the end, he gave me ten minutes of "my time" and said he did not want to call it "questions time" because then students feel compelled to ask him your standard propective students questions, to which they probably already know the answer. So, we talked about Alaska the last ten minutes. This interview took me by surprise - nothing I was expecting. No questions like why medicine, why Penn. At the end, I really could not tell whether the interviewer really liked me or was mocking me...it was hard to tell from his attitude.

What are your suggestions for the admissions office?

No responses