How is the friendliness of the admissions office?
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How is the responsiveness of the admissions office?
No responses
How did you prepare for the interview?
I read some interview feedback on SDN and went over a lot of resources on medical ethics. There's one interview feedback entry for this school that had a link that was very helpful.
What impressed you positively?
The facilities are very nice. Coming from a public university dealing with budget woes, everything seemed like a palace to me. Every person I met was friendly, and the students in the anatomy lab dropped everything to stop to the few of us interviewing that day. Students were not burnt out at all.
What impressed you negatively?
As others have noted, the living situation is not ideal. Apparently, most of the students live in Oak Park, so you may want to check out a map to see what you're dealing with exactly. A car is pretty much necessary, and the students claim it's a 20 minute commute each way. If you want to get up at dawn and drive from Chicago, you could do that too.
What did you wish you had known ahead of time?
I was a little early for my interviews, so I had some time to thumb through the viewbook a few times, and it really let me prepare some better questions. About 15 minutes into my second interview, my interviewer asked, "Do you have any questions for me right now?" and I was able to ask him questions for the remainder of the time. If I didn't have anything specific prepared, it would have been bad.
Also, give yourself time to walk from interview to interview. I got lost once and was running around with stress rising with every step.
What are your general comments?
I arrived at 9:00 AM for my interview, which I found out didn't actually begin until 10:00 AM. I had to fill out some paperwork (update your grades, courses for the spring, and a volunteer activity form,) and then I had time to watch a video about their summer medical mission trips. At 9:45 I left for my first interview with a surgeon, and I got lost. I got off the elevator and a fiberglass Ronald McDonald was staring me down (I was on the pediatric floor.) Luckily, a janitor pointed me in the right direction, and I arrived at 9:59:48. She was waiting for me, and didn't mind that I was just on time. The first interview went well, and she seemed to focus more on ethical questions and my experiences rather than giving me information on the school. After that, I went on a tour of the medical school with a second year student, and then to lunch. The lecture halls are fully wired and decked out with the latest in technology (even the shades are controlled from the podium.)
My second interview was at 1:00 PM, and I got there on time. We talked for about 20 minutes, and then he offered me a tour of the neonatology ICU. (I think he had to check on something actually, but it was still interesting.) After that, I went back to the admissions office and waited to make sure I didn't have to go to a "tie-breaker" third interview, and I was off home.
The staff was very polite and helpful. I felt very welcome there. It was finals week, so I was braced for a school full of strung-out zombies, but that really wasn't the case. I don't know if I got in yet, but this is my first choice.
What are your suggestions for the admissions office?
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