How many people interviewed you?
| Response Average | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 1.03 | 311 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| Positively | 211 |
| Negatively | 61 |
| No change | 40 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 3.38 | 311 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 7.16 | 218 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 6.17 | 173 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| In Person | 1 |
| Virtual | 3 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 5 minutes | 0 |
| 10 minutes | 0 |
| 15 minutes | 2 |
| 20 minutes | 6 |
| 25 minutes | 7 |
| 30 minutes | 25 |
| 35 minutes | 20 |
| 40 minutes | 24 |
| 45 minutes | 63 |
| 50 minutes | 46 |
| 55 minutes | 7 |
| 60+ minutes | 117 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| At the school | 300 |
| At a regional location | 8 |
| At another location | 5 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| One-on-one | 310 |
| In a group | 1 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| Open file | 299 |
| Closed file | 11 |
| Response Average | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 1.03 | 311 |
"Describe a situation where you took on a leadership role."
"How and how many hours I studied for school, the MCAT, and before an exam"
"How many hours per week did I study in college"
"How I studied for the MCAT"
"Asked about my low GPA freshman year?"
"Reasons why I got 2 B minuses"
"Grades, grades, grades"
"Conversational style. Asked me about my interests, activities from undergrad, job, etc."
"What social support do you have for during medical school?"
"Why did you struggle in organic chemistry?"
"How do you approach academic challenges"
"Describe a stressful situation and what was the outcome and what did you learn from it."
"How will you handle living in NYC/Brooklyn? What is your support system/how will you deal with stress?"
"Specific questions about some of my activities"
"how did you study for mcat"
"Specific questions about red flags in my application."
"Do you see yourself as a leader?"
"How do you manage stress?"
"How do you study in college? How did you study for the MCAT?"
"What else do you want us to know?"
"What do you think medical school is like?"
"Specific questions about my AMCAS"
"Do you have a support system in New York City?"
"What do you know about Brooklyn and do you think you will fit in this environment?"
"Downstate has a book of questions that everyone gets asked. Among them are some very generic questions like: How do you study now? How did you study in college? How did you Study for the MCAT?"
"Why didn't you submit your secondary to Downstate last cycle?"
"Some specific questions regarding my career motivations that referenced my personal statement."
"Why do you want to come to New York? (I am from California)"
"Tell me about your research as if I know nothing about science."
"Why were your grades lower in second year?"
"Explain the withdrawals on your transcript."
"How did you study for your MCAT?"
"How did you raise MCAT score/Why Medicine"
"Give an example of a stressful situation and how you handled it"
"Why do want an MD/MPH?"
"Tell me about your volunteer experience."
"What would you want me to say to the admissions board on your behalf?"
"Why medicine? Why Downstate?"
"What do you do for fun?"
"How do you handle stress? Have you ever lost control and what were the consequences if you did?"
"did your parents want you to be a doctor?"
"You got great grades-- how did you study? How did you study for the MCAT?"
"Why downstate."
"Tell me why you got so so and so grade? (to be expected since my gpa was atrocious.)"
"tell me about a stressful situation"
"Why do you have 2 W's (my first and only interview where any specific grades were asked about, kind of caught me off-guard)."
"What are you extra curriculars? "
"What's an ethical dilemma you've faced? Did you do the right thing?"
"How do you study? How did you study for the MCAT?"
"When did you decided to do medicine?"
"What is your greatest weakness?"
"How did you choose medicine?"
"What was the most stressful experience you've had?"
"dont remember the first question... your grades are excellent, as if your MCAT score, how did you study?"
"Can you clarify the sequence of some of these classes on the AMCAS application?"
"None"
"how did you study for the mcats? did you think the test was fair? "
"What do you consider as an academic strength/weakness?"
"How do you study? In a group or by yourself?"
"What are your red flags?"
"Interview was very conversational. I don't remember any specific questions because it just sort of flowed."
"Describe a stressful situation and how you handled it? "
"What do you think of Brooklyn?"
"Tell me about yourself."
"How do you study/did you for the MCAT?"
"Tell me about your clinical exprience"
"what do you think you will do as a doctor"
"Any leadership experiences?"
"What are your non-academic interests/hobbies?"
"Tell me about one of your research experiences in detail."
"What does ___ mean on your transcript?"
"Why did you choose medicine?"
"Tell me about a time when you looked up something scientific for your own knowledge. Don't just tell me ''I looked this up one time.'' Tell me what happened that made you look it up, and tell me what you learned, using scientific terms. It does not have to be health- or biology- related. "
"What did you do in high school besides study?"
"tell me a little about yoursel that isn't on the application."
"Why do you want to be a physician?"
"The second I sat down, my interviewer asked: So, what do you want to know?"
"Tell me about your sexual assault counseling experiences."
"How did you prepare for mcat? "
"Explain this aspect of your MCAT. How did you study for the MCAT? Explain this grade on your transcript."
"What was your inspiration to study medicine?"
"What do you do to relax/out of class?"
"where do you see yourself in 10 years?"
"How do you handle stress"
"Why the big MCAT score jump?"
"Where are you from?"
"What was the most difficult thing you have gone through?"
"What do you do in your free time?"
"how did u prep for mcat?"
"Tell me about any medical related work you have done?(basically explain the AMCAS application)"
"why med"
"why do you want to go to medical school?"
"Tell me about yourself?"
"Is religion important in medicine?"
"Describe a stressful situation and how you handled it."
"Why I want to be a doctor?"
"Y did u get a C?"
"Why med school? Why downstate? Describe yourself. How did you prepare for MCAT? "
"Tell me about the birth of your child and your difficulties with health insurance."
"What do you like to do?"
"Explain your low grade?"
"Clarify what you did between certain dates on your AMCAS."
"Do you know what section of the MCAT med schools consider the most important? (He said Verbal Reasoning) "
"How did you arrive at medicine?"
"Tell me about your international medical experience."
"He had a very very long and thorough list of questions that he had to ask. He recorded my answers very thoroughly... Describe your research in as much/little detail as you like. Don't go for a lot of minute details since that's boring, but DO talk a lot about your research and show enthusiasm. "
"What makes you want to become a doctor?"
"What was your favorite part of Peru"
"What do you want to know about the school?....x4"
"What do u do in ur free time?"
"How did you study for MCATs."
"My interviewer asked what school's I applied to and where I'd interviewed, I answered honestly and he told me he knew I'd get in to them and asked me why I would want to go to SUNY-Downstate instead."
"How do you know what you want to do with your life at the age of 21?"
"how many hours do you study each night?"
"How did you decide that you wanted to go into medicine?"
"Tell me about your lower grades in ___ semester."
"You've applied to a lot of schools in the New York area. Why downstate?"
"Explain all of your C grades and why you withdrew from your philosophy class. Got me nervous cuz it was at the beginning of interview."
"How did you study for the MCAT? "
"How do you study?"
"why this grade? why the mcat twice?"
"How do you study? How did you study for the MCATs? ***Apparently this question is asked in nearly every interview (this is what two Downstate first years told me)."
"What clinical experiences have you had?"
"Your MCAT score, explain"
"Why do you want to be a dr?"
"It seems like you had a lot on your plate, how did you handle it? "
"How will you study in medical school."
"why didn't you become a classics professor?"
"Why medicine? Why not piano? Why don’t you teach physics since you’re so good at it?"
"I see you were involved in many things during college (work, volunteering specifics, lived at home (distractions)etc..) when did you have leisure time? What did you do?"
"Why are your grades low? Because I work two jobs and help pay my moms rent while living on my own and going to school full time. "
"basic. Why being a doctor and not research? I see you are very passionate about what you do"
"all questions were speicific to my personal file"
"Describe your path to medicine."
"What do your parents do?"
"how are your study skills?"
"How did you study for the MCAT? (the interviewer said it was from a list of questions she had to ask)"
"Didn't really have specific questions, mostly just chatted about things that were in my file. Talked about books to read etc. "
"Why do you want to do medicine?"
"questions specific to my amcas application."
"What is my support system?"
"Tell me about your research. "
"How are you prepared to live in this part of Brooklyn?"
"What's the difference between education and literacy? Are you literate?...proceeds to prove me wrong with trivia!"
"What do you expect to be doing 10-15 years from now?"
"How did you study for the MCATs"
"Tell me about your interest in Downstate? In medicine?"
"How did you decide to pursue medicine as a career? What do you see yourself doing in the future?"
"Tell me about yourself"
"How did you prepare for the MCATs?"
"How did you study for the Mcat?"
"Why medicine?"
"Since it was pretty much a conversation, I can't really remember specific questions!"
"How did you arrive at the decision to pursue medicine?"
"Why did you chose to go to MIT? Did you consider Harvard at all? or Princeton?"
"What stresses you out/how do you deal with stress"
"Have you ever lived in an urban environment? (What prepares you to live in this neighborhood)"
"why downstate "
"Where have you traveled? (one of my ECs in AMCAS was about my love for traveling)"
"What does your mother do?"
"Just get to know you questions like how do you study, how did you prepare for your mcats, some application questions about my grades, community work, volunteer work, etc."
"Do you have any family members who are physicians? Friends of the family?"
"How did you deal with a stressful situation"
"Why did you get a B in this class, were you too busy doing wasting time doing other things? What? is this 2nd grade"
"Compare your grad and undergrad ;How many hours a week do/did you devote to studying? "
"Why medicine? When and how did you know you wanted to go into medicine? Why Downstate? "
"what other schools are you applying to?"
"Why did you teach following undergrad?"
"Why Downstate?"
"Name a stressful situation and how handled it "
"why did you choose your undergrad school"
"Why Downstate, Why do you want to be a doctor, grades, MCAT"
"Why did your grades drop during your sophmore year?"
"What was your most memorable/significant clinical experience?"
"All related to clarfying things on my AMCAS app. "
"all of the ones previously mentioned on this site"
"Why Downstate? What do you know about Downstate?"
"When did you know that you wanted to be a doctor?"
"Why do you want to be a doctor?"
"10 standard interview questions: Research experience? MCAT preparation? Studying habits? Hobbies? Why Medicine? When did you decide Medicine? Why Downstate? What are you doing now? Where do you see yourself in 10-15 years? How did you like [undergraduate institution]?"
"Why did you take time off? Describe your research?"
"many questions that clearly violate the civil rights act of 1964"
"Why do you want to go into medicine?"
"Why are your graduate school grades so much higher than your undergraduate grades?"
"Why did you want to become a doctor"
"How do you deal with stress, tell me about a stressful experience."
"I think the first thing on the form is they ask you to explain any poor grades - so don't be shocked if they ask you about your one C+ - it seems like just an opportunity to give an explanation if you have one."
"All of the questions my interviewer asked of me were either said in a very angry tone or were very crazy. I know that sounds hard to believe but read the other horror stories about this school above and you will see what I mean."
"Why bother going into medicine?"
"How did you prepare for your MCATs? Why do you want to go Downstate? What type of medicine interests you? Are you really sure that you want to go into medicine? Tell me about a difficult situation and how you handled it? What do you get stressed out by? How do you relieve stress? Where have you volunteered? Why? What did you get out of it? Why did you choose to go to the undergrad you went to? How do you study (where, how much, when)? What do you do for fun? What do you like to do in your spare time? What are your hobbies?"
"How do you deal with stress?"
"What is your opinion of drug companies in medicine?"
"How did you prepare for the MCAT? (Apparently, this is a standard question that Downstate requires all interviewers to ask.)"
"why did you choose your high school"
"Describe a difficult situation (very common question for most Downstate interviewees, apparently)"
"How did you prepare for the MCAT?"
"What was a difficult situation you were in and how did you handle it?"
"What do you do in your freetime?"
"You must be a very lonely person? I would swear on a bible that this came out of nowhere. Im not sure if this was a stress interview ?"
"What do you do in your spare time?"
"What do you like to do in your spare time?"
"Why did you take time off after college?"
"What clinical experience do you have?"
"did you work while attending school?"
"Why do I want to become a doctor?"
"What type of books do you read?"
"Why this school?"
"Why did you take time off?"
"Tell me more about (insert experience)?"
"when did you decide to be pre-med?"
"WHy did u chose to go to the undergrad you went to"
"Please explain a low course grade."
"what was a difficult situation you encountered and how did you handle it?"
"How did you prepare for your MCATs?"
"What made you decide you want to pursue medicine?"
"How did you study during undergrad? Did you prefer to study alone or in groups?"
"Talk about a challenge/struggle"
"Tell me about your clinical experience(s)."
"How did I know I wanted to become a doctor"
"Asked about a course I didn't do well in."
"Asked about how I improved my GPA through college"
"Asked me about my job."
"Tell me about a challenge you had to overcome?"
"How long I studied for the MCAT"
"How did you study for MCAT"
"Lets say you're in a high stress situation, with tons of exams in one week, how do you deal with the stress?"
"Specific questions about weak points in your application"
"explain a low grade in a particular class"
"what did you change to prepare for your second mcat?"
"Describe a stressful stituation and how did you deal with it"
"Tell me about connections you have to NYC."
"How did you study in school?"
"What do you do outside of school?"
"How do you think you are prepared to live in Brooklyn?"
"Would you live on campus or at home? (I'm a close-ish NY resident)"
"How you handle stress"
"What do you do when you are under stress?"
"Tell me about a stressful situation in your life and how you dealt with it."
"What is a challenge in your life, and how did you overcome it?"
"Tell me about a difficult or stressful situation and how you handled it."
"Explain your academic record (took a confusing sequence of courses)"
"Asked for a detailed summary of the clinical research I am involved in."
"How do you study? How did you prepare for the MCAT? How do you handle stress?"
"Why did you list these fields of medicine as your interests?"
"How did you improve from applying last year?"
"How did you prepare for the MCAT?"
"Why do you want to come to NYC (OOS)?"
"How do you handle stress/What stresses you out"
"What clinical experience do you have?"
"How do you study for exams?"
"Describe a time in which you were stressed?"
"What other NYC schools have you applied to?"
"How do you study? How did you study for the MCAT?"
"What are your strengths and weaknesses?"
"Tell me about your research/job?"
"Beside from your academic acheivements what are you most proud of?"
"Describe your research, leadership experience, and community service."
"tell me about your research? and follow up ?'s on it"
"What are you most proud of?"
"Where do you see yourself in ten years."
"Why medicine, Why Downstate"
"Clinical experience"
"How do you handle stress"
"Describe you research?"
"Have you worked in basic science research? Tell me about what you do."
"What's the last book you read?"
"When did you know you wanted to become a doctor?"
"Are you sure you want to become a doctor? If so, what experiences have reinforced your decision to pursue a career in medicine?"
"Are you a good test taker?"
"What is your greatest strength?"
"Tell me about ______ (lots of questions about my ECs)"
"Some trick question about being a doctor and being told by a nurse to not go through with a life-saving procedure. The answer was that the nurse wouldn't have said it in the first place."
"Describe a situation where you demonstrated leadership."
"Why do you want to be a physician?"
"None"
"has anyone tried to dissuade you from going into medicine? "
"Do you have an hesitations in going into medical school?"
"What do you know about Brooklyn?"
"How has your MPH enhanced your competitiveness?"
"Why SUNY-Downstate?"
"Why medicine and why Downstate?"
"You were a bio major. Why is your bio MCAT your lowest (not that low, just PS and V were better)."
"What fields of medicine interest you?"
"How did you study for the MCAT? Why didn't you apply straight out of undergrad? (I am taking a year off)"
"How did you study for the MCAT? (in group, individually)"
"What EC activities did you participate in during college?"
"What made you decide you wanted to be a doctor?"
"what types of community service activities have you done"
"How will your job/ activities/ past expereinces translate to your medical school expereince?"
"Tell me about your extracurricular activities."
"What extracurricular and community service activities have you participated in?"
"What do you think of your MCATs?"
"What happened with phsyics/ochem?"
"Tell me a time in your life when you experienced a lot of stress. "
"How did you prepare for the MCATs? How you study usually?"
"Why do you want to be a doctor? What specialty are you interested in?"
"I was asked specifically how I became involved in the things I did. As in how did you find out about this or what did you do to get this."
"do you feel high school properly prepared you for downstate in regard to study prep skills."
"What field of medicine do you want to go into?"
"How do you study? Did you take a prep course for the MCAT?"
"You seem like a soft spoke person, how have you handled all of the leadership positions you've worked in the past?"
"How did you study for the MCAT? How do you study in general?"
"Describe a stressful situation; how did you cope?"
"Describe your clinical experiences. What motivated you to become a doctor?"
"Have you ever seen expert testimony from a physician in a courtroom?"
"Tell me about the classes you're taking."
"what is your research about?"
"How do you study"
"Why medicine after social services?"
"What do you do to relax?"
"Do you have any specific memory from your summer shadowing job?"
"Describe an ethical dilemma you faced?"
"what specifically about downstate do you like?"
"Explain your research ."
"a few required questions from a sheet with a contemptuous tone aimed at the admissions committee for making him ask them"
"Have you been to Brooklyn?"
"what do you do to releave stress?"
"Why did you apply to SUNY Downstate?"
"What sparked your interest in medicine? Please describe the defining moment. "
"How do you study in general?"
"Describe clinical experiences?"
"What do you do outside of work?"
"Where do you see yourself in 10 yrs? What happens if you theoretically don't become a physician?"
"Why do you think you were not accepted at X university?"
"What lead you to want to pursue medicine?"
"Why do you want to become a doctor?"
"What kind of research are you doing? Explain. "
"Are you working now? Why medicine?"
"What is the best way to learn? (He told me it was by teaching) "
"The researtch question I already mentioned?"
"Tell me about your community service"
"How do you study for exams? In groups or by yourself?"
"What was the most difficult experience that I've dealt with?"
"Did you notice any personality differences between the neurologists and the urologists you worked for"
"Why do you want to be a doctor, not a nurse, etc.?....this was not an offensive question at all, but actually part of the conversation"
"What part of medicine do u want to go into?"
"Tell me about your clinical experience."
"Explain why you did not do too well on the verbal section of the MCAT."
"What makes you think that you survive the rigorous medical curriculum?"
"Describe a standard day at your college. When do you study?"
"What do you do that's not related to medicine (as in, what do you do for yourself)?"
"What is the normal temperature reading if it's measuring the ears? I didn't know so he had to tell me."
"What do you do in your free time?"
"Explain your research."
"What do you like to do in your spare time?"
"how did you study in undergrad? how do you study now? "
"How did you like your undergraduate institution?"
"Why did you choose your undergraduate school?"
"Why was your verbal section so much lower than the other sections on your MCAT?"
"I talked of community outreach he said give me example of doing it, I was lucky in that I just started a new project"
"How do you relax? "
"Do you have any questions for me?"
"What will you do if you are having diffiuculty with class work or pressures in life."
"how did you prepare for the mcat"
"Have you been to Brooklyn before? How did you get here?"
"How do you study?"
"What community service have you done?"
"What are your plans for medical school, live on/off campus or at home?"
"how will you pay for school? I paid fully for my undergraduate educatioin"
"what brings you to medicine and to downstate?"
"If something happened in your family during medical school, what would you do?"
"Tell me about your volunteer activities and your research?"
"Why the big change? (I was an engineering major in college)"
"What was a difficult time and how did you deal with it? "
"What do you think about the increasing expenses of medical care?"
"Name 2 global public health issues. Influenza and tobacco-use are WRONG?!"
"How did you study for the MCAT?"
"How do you handle stress?"
"How did you prepare for the MCAT? What are your study habits?"
"Why do you want to become a physician"
"Why SUNY downstate?"
"What do you like to do?"
"Specific questions about resume"
"Describe a stressful situation and how you responded."
"I love this one... Interviewer: I noticed you got a lot of B's sophomore year, I assume the engineering courses you took are rigorous? Me: Yes, but in all honesty I should have worked harder. Interviewer: Well I'd imagine that your course load was very difficult at the time."
"tell me about yourself"
"How do you study for exams? (How did you study for the MCAT)"
"how did you study for the mcat"
"Tell me about your teaching for PRILA coming up this winter. (I am going to Fuyang city in Hangzhou province of China from December to April to teach English to kindergarteners)."
"What have you been doing since graduating in June?"
"Trends in healthcare?"
"Why did you apply so late? What will you do if not accepted?"
"What are your hobbies? "
"When did you first decide that you wanted to go into medicine? "
"What are your hobbies? How do you study? How many hours a week do you study? Tell me about your family. What do your siblings do for a living? "
"tell me about your undergraduate experience was it stressfull?"
"Why did you return to study medicine?"
"What do I do for fun?"
"There are a few non-science majors here who are having a difficult time...do you think that's going to be a problem for you? "
"where else have you interviewed (i dont really mind, of course)"
"Activities in undergrad, leadership qualities"
"Why medicine?"
"What do you think about your MCAT score?"
"Did you take a prep course for the MCAT? What was the topic of the essay on your writing section?"
"Why did you double major?"
"How do you study/How did you prepare for the MCATS?"
"Why do you want to go to school in NY?"
"Rest of the questions were asked by me."
"How did you prepare for your MCATS?"
"Tell me about your research."
"Tell me about yourself."
"What stressful situation"
"Why do you want to be a doctor, why Brooklyn?"
"How did you prepare for MCATs?"
"MY strong advice--dont go to this college"
"The information that you've given to me is inadequate (this was completely out of the blue and not in response to a specific question)"
"Did you work while attending school? Tell me about your research experience. What happened in that class? (I got one C+ and all A's... and he asked me about the C+!) "
"What do you do in your leisure time?"
"What do you do in your spare time?"
"What were your contributions to the medical team during rotations in grad school?"
"Why Downstate?"
"explain your weak bio science mcat score (i had an 11!)"
"Tell me about your interest in medicine?"
"Tell me about your volunteer and research experience."
"How do you study (where, how much, when)? "
"What types of community service & volunteer experiences have you been involved with?"
"How do you feel about the surrounding neighborhood? (not in those exact words)"
"What type of medicine interests you?"
"How did you handle the stress at your undergrad schooL? How did you like your undergrad school?"
"your grades were not stellar, what happened in semester of ....?"
"What are some of my hobbies?"
"What do you do for fun?"
"Explain activities..."
"Tell me about your community service experiences."
"Why this school?"
"tell me about your clinical experiences"
"Where have u volunteered.. why .. what did u get out of it"
"What do you get stressed out by?"
"Tell us a little bit about your research and your role in it."
"What was your favorite/least favorite course during undergrad?"
"Talk about your role on a team/leadership"
"Tell me about your parents."
"How do I deal with stress"
"How I studied for the MCAT"
"Asked me about my research."
"If I had any additional clinical experience not mentioned in the application"
"Talk about a non-medical volunteer experience that you had."
"What was one challenging course you had and how did you deal with it, if there are any?"
"Specific questions about some of my activities"
"tell me how you work in a group"
"What clubs and organizations were you a part of?"
"Describe a situation that was challenging and say how you dealt with it"
"Questions about my application..."
"Why did you choose to go to your undergraduate college?"
"How did you study in HS/how did you study for MCAT"
"When did you realize you wanted to become a doctor?"
"Are you ready for NYC? What made you apply here?"
"Tell me about your most significant volunteer experience and what it meant to you."
"What do you do in your free time (if you have any)"
"What are your hobbies and outside interests?"
"How do you study? How did you study for the MCAT?"
"How did you study for the MCAT?"
"What type of doctor might you want to become?"
"Any specific reasons why you want to be in Brooklyn?"
"How did you study for the MCAT? How did you choose your undergrad institution?"
"How do you like the neighborhood?"
"What are you most proud of/What do you like to do for fun"
"Where does Downstate Rank for you?"
"One good thing about you? Explain a stressful situation. What do you do for fun? Asked stuff about extracurricular activities. Asked about what I thought about healthcare reform. The rest was just conversational."
"Do you study before exams only or as you go?"
"What have you improved since last application(I'm a reapplicant)?"
"what specialty"
"Which of your ECs was most meaningful?"
"How did you come to decide a career in medicine. "
"Weak MCAT - So was asked about that"
"Do you need a licencse to be an MA?"
"what do you do for fun"
"Describe your upward trend from beginning of undergrad through grad school?"
"What other professions have you considered? What would you do if not medicine?"
"What do you like to do in your spare time?"
"How did you get here? What do you think of New York City?"
"What do you do for fun? What type of books do you enjoy reading?"
"Why Downstate? Why medicine?"
"Tell me about the......[chooses an EC from file]"
"Tell me about your drop in grades freshman year and how did you pick yourself back up?"
"How did you study for the MCAT? What is your learning style in general?"
"What do you do in your spare time?"
"Have you done any community service that is not clinical?"
"Tell me about your clinical experiences."
"None"
"why do you think a background in public health is important in a medical career?"
"What will you do if you don't get into any medical schools this year?"
"Why medicine? Why SUNY Downstate?"
"What do you do for fun?"
"General questions/''stress interview'' questions"
"What is your biggest concern/question about Downstate? "
"Describe one of your experiments at work; your hypothesis and how you tested it."
"Do you see education as being part of your future career?"
"Tell me about ______ course. (asked about many of the non-science courses on my transript)"
"Why did you choose to study _? (I'm a Chemical Engineering major, so that might be why)"
"How do you relax?"
"What kinds of things did you do during your summer internship?"
"(see the difficult/interesting question session)"
"how did I end up doing specific activities listed in my record"
"What gets you going?"
"What specialty are you considering?"
"With such a good GPA why such a low MCAT score?"
"Questions that every interviewer at Downstate has to ask: How do you study? How do you handle stress? What do you do in your free time? "
"Why do you want to go to school here?"
"Why do you want to come to Downstate?"
"She spent a great deal of time clarifying my timeline of education, activites, work experience, etc...all of which can be seen on my AMCAS...rather than asking questions of substance. Enjoyed the tour and student input, but the interview was the strangest I've ever had. "
"What would you say are your academic strengths and weaknesses? "
"What do your siblings do? "
"My interviewer asked specific questions about anything he found interesting. From a random class I took in college that I practically forgot about to specific questions about my research."
"Why did you get this grade during X semester?"
"Why Downstate over ____?"
"Tell me how you study, how did you study for the MCAT?"
"Please expound on one of your extracuriculars describing your level of involvent, leadership etc. Others I remember: Why downstate? How do you study (big chunks or spread out)? Do you know what specialty you are interested in? Nothing regarding ethics or anything out of left field."
"How did you get involved in this extracurricular activity?"
"What do you do to relax?"
"So, if you came to downstate, where would you live?"
"what's up with this bad grade?"
"Why do you want to become a doctor"
"Have you had interviews before?"
"How do you go about studying?"
"Do you have an iPod?"
"Why downstate?"
"thinking about a specialty yet?"
"Why do you want to become a doctor ?"
"who do you rely on for support?"
"What happened in Calculus? What about MCAT score?"
"What is the one industry that strictly uses English in their day-to-day operations? (I think this was just a fact that he wanted to see if I knew)"
"Are you leader? "
"Do you have any questions for me?"
"What do I like to do besides studying?"
"Why did you choose to work at ____?"
"Made me talk extensively about my research. "
"Why did you form a corporation if you were already working at another company?"
"What specialty are you interested in?"
"Where do you see yourself in 10 years -more specifically what aspect of medicine are you interested in (e.g. research, clinical, policy)?"
"Where do you see yourself in 10 years?"
"What volunteer activities have you participated in? How did you prepare for the MCAT?"
"What does xxxx in your personal statement mean? "
"If you had a patient who was reluctant to speak, how would you get them to open up to you? This is after he complained that I wasn't talkative."
"Tell me about a stressful time in your life and how you dealt with it."
"Why pediatrics?"
"Why are you choosing to become a doctor rather than a scientist"
"What will you have to sacrifice to be a doctor"
"When did you decide that you wanted to become a doctor?"
"Various questions about my application"
"Do you know what field of medicine you want to go into? (She understood when I said that I was undecided)"
"What do you think of the future of medicine? What direction is it headed?"
"What sports do you play?"
"Do you go to a musuem? Do you play musical instruemnts? Tell me about your research and community service. What do your friends do? (not at once, but there was a lot of questions for a 35 min interview, and only a handful of them were answered well by me.) "
"What field do you want to enter? "
"Why do you want to become a doctor? "
"What do you want the committee to know about you?"
"what are your clinical experiences? don't you think you should have had more clinical experience?"
"Asked me how particular courses were in my transcript."
"What type of physician do you see yourself as in the future? What patient population do you see yourself working with?"
"know your application!, look for weaknesses they will ask specifics on grades"
"How did u prepare for the MCATS?, Why downstate?"
"how did you decide to become a doctor?"
"you realize that orthopedic surgery will require high grades and high board scores (said with a condescending tone as if he thought i wouldnt be able to)"
"How did you prepare for MCAT? Kaplan, etc?"
"Describe some of your leisure activities."
"Why did you take the MCAT twice? "
"Other questions were specific to my AMCAS file, including volunteer experiences and issues discussed in my personal statement (why medicine, who I am as a person and what my goals/life has been like)."
"What do you see yourself doing in the future"
"Really detailed facts about school, like what was invented in the school, any specific doctors, and other trivial questions that most people don't give a damn about."
"What led you to become a teacher?"
"How do you handle stress?"
"What kind of research did you do?"
"Since you graduated in May from college, what have you been doing since then?"
"what else would you like the admissions committee to know?"
"Tell me about a patient that stuck out in your mind (I do clinical research). "
"How did you prepare for the MCATs?"
"What was your path to med school?"
"Stuff about myself. How much do you study? Why these majors? What specialty? etc."
"What sort of experience did you have volunteering?"
"How do you study?"
"What would be your second choice for a career?"
"What was one difficult situation in your life and how did you deal with it?"
"Talk about your research experience?"
"How many hours do I spend per week studying?"
"What book and movie has impressed you most and why?"
"Where on Long Island do you live?"
"Do you think that there will be a crisis in the future (grandparents dying, etc) that might affect your performance in med school? "
"Tell me more about your research."
"Tell me about your exposure to medicine."
"Are you more interested in medicine or surgery? Clinical or research? Why not MD/PhD? How can your learning/memory research be applied to clinical medicine? Do you think the gap in our understanding of L/M is narrowing? What about stem cell research?"
"How did you study for the MCat? My interviewer liked the fact that i did it on my own and didn't become a Kaplan head. "
"Other questions pertaining specifically to my application. "
"Tell me about your different activities. Clarify what you did during each summer. "
"tell me more about "specific experience on your resume" ?"
"What do you see yourself doing in 10 years?"
"Explain first MCAT score?"
"what questions do you have for me"
"Overall the general line of questions"
"How do you envision yourself practicing medicine?"
"What have you been doing since graduating from undergrad? Exactly how many hours per day (They wanted to know everything)"
"What does your father do for a living? "
"Why aren't you going for a PhD?"
"Tell me about all of the activities that you did in high school and undergraduate and how they relate to the medical profession. Be able to answer about your transition to college and working experience besides medically related. "
"What have you learned about Downstate?"
"What volunteer work "
"Tell me about your research/employment/volunteer work/etc. What was your goal in these?"
"Why Downstate? What do you know about Downstate? - they really seem to like that they had a nobel prize winner in '98, so read about it on their site and tell them that it impressed you and talk about it."
"Tell me about your low MCAT scores (I had a 31: 10, 10, 11)!!"
"What questions do you have about Downstate? What else would you like me to convey to the admissions committee?"
"Why do you want to be a doctor?"
"Describe your research."
"How have you exhibited leadership qualities in your extracurriculars?"
"tell me the names of the 10 democratic presidential candidates and the 6 main california governor candidates."
"How was growing up in Milwaukee?"
"What else would you like me to convey to the admissions committee?"
"What questions do you have about Downstate?"
"When did you realize that you wanted to be a doctor?"
"Why would you want to go to Downstate?"
"What would you do if you didn't gain acceptance to medical school?"
"What was your reason for some questionable grades in college?"
"Why medicine?"
"do you shampoo or use conditioner? (joke) have you done any research? Alex F."
"Tell about a stressful experience and how I handled it."
"Tell me about your research experience."
"What are your hobbies?"
"Why are you interested in our school?"
"how serious are you about going here"
"Why do you want to go Downstate?"
"Describe a time when you experienced a lot of stress; how did you deal with it, and did anyone/anything help?"
"Do you think you'd fit in at Downstate and its Brooklyn location?"
"What do you do to relieve stress"
"Asked about my research, why medicine"
"None really, just focused on grades, study habits, why medicine, talk about a struggle stuff like that."
"What do you do for fun?"
"How will my research be used by doctors to help people, and how many people can it help?"
"What do you do for fun"
"What physician has influenced your decision to go medical school?"
"What personal accomplishment is memorable/valuable? The writing about a picture was also interesting (doesn't affect admissions though)."
"If you had a lot of money, how would you spend it?"
"writing a short paragraph about a picture presented on interview day (not during actual interview)"
"Describe a non academic setting in which you took a leadership role"
"You are treating a patient as a successful and competent doctor and a nurse on your team says that they disagree with your treatment plan , what would you do?"
"the questions were very run-of-the-mill"
"How did you study for the MCAT differently the second time you took it?"
"Hmm..they were all pretty standard."
"What was your most interesting research project?"
"How would you explain your research to somebody who has a limited understanding of science?"
"You said you read a lot of medical non fiction, have you read any medical fiction?"
"How would you define the word 'doctor'"
"None, very typical questions."
"You now have the opportunity to directly address the adcom, what would you like to say to them?"
"What is your typical day?"
"Nothing too interesting, it was very conversational"
"nothing was too surprising...they have a form of questions that they have to ask everyone. My interviewer filled it out while talking to me."
"The most unusual question asked was how I studied for the MCAT. There were no interesting questions though. The interview was easy."
"nothing interesting"
"They were all standard questions."
"What are you most proud of?"
"What defining moment inspired you to pursue medicine."
"What do you look for when choosing medical schools?"
"???"
"How do you feel about the school's neighborhood (Brooklyn)?"
"What role do you think religion plays in medicine?"
"none really, they were standard stuff "
"Question # 3"
"What do you feel has influenced our perspectives on illness and health, from a sociological perspective"
"Nothing. They were straight off of a sheet of paper."
"How do you learn/study?"
"Why was calculus so difficult for you? "
"I thought the questions were fair."
"Are you interested in a particular field of medicine?"
"What do you do to relax?"
"Tell me why Downstate without using info from the website."
"If you were at a party with 30-40 guests and you did not know anyone there, how would you behave?"
"None, my interviewer asked about my research and when I tried to explain it, he snapped and said that he knew that already."
"What do you do on your free time?"
"none"
"Nothing surprising or unexpected. Everything was the usual type of questions."
"There were none."
"How would you like to see healthcare change in the future?"
"Do you think you can call the shots?"
"You're from a small town, how do you prepare to study in NYC?"
"Why were you unable to complete your application in your last application cycle?"
"Have you seen much of Brooklyn?"
"N/A"
"Tell me about a job/activity you enjoy and why you like it"
"What I thought of Bourbon Street in New Orleans."
"The interviewer was interested in knowing more about my hobbies."
"What is the most stressful thing that's ever happened to you?"
"Describe a stressful situation, how you dealt with it , what you learned..."
"Everyone has a defining moment when they realize medicine is for them. What was your defining moment?"
"Tell me about your friends..."
"If you were accepted at all 4 SUNY schools, which one would you choose?"
"If you were in the ER as an attending physician, and a patient came in with a life-or-death situation that you knew exactly how to deal with, but the resident nurse told you that she thought what you were about to do wasn't right, what would you do? "
"interview was very casual and conversationsal"
"Any leadership expereince? Admisions wrote down questions for the interviewer to ask me on my file."
"Why medicine? My interviewer did not believe nor understand my response."
"None Really"
"None."
"Have you ever had second thoughts about going into medicine? Did some other subject ever attract you?"
"I was asked to describe how I spend my free time hour by hour. Not a hard question, but it took me off-guard at first. "
"What do you think is the origin of good and evil? ( I am a philosophy major and had just spoke about my interest in metaethical theory)"
"None. The interview seemed completely uninterested from the moment I walked in. Like it was an annoying interference to have to conduct an interview. She asked simple, textbook questions. No follow-ups. Like she had a list to ask and didn't really seem too interested in my response. We were told the interviews would last 45 minutes to an hour and mine only last 20-25 minutes. And she didn't even give me the opportunity to ask any questions. And she was suppose to show me how to get back to the admissions office, but just gave me so short, not so helpful directions so that I wandered around the hospital for awhile before finding my way back. "
"None too interesting"
"What does __________ mean (in another language...I wrote that I spoke it on my AMCAS)"
"I was interviewed by a neuroscientist and I have done research in neurology so I was asked a lot of specific questions about my research. I think Downstate tries to match people with the interviewer so make sure you are very knowledgeable about everything you claim to be knowledgeable about!"
"how well do you think your high school prepared you for college? *(why were we talking about high school test preparation?!)"
"Do you have any siblings and what do they do?"
"Nothing too interesting."
"Tell me a little about your experience with Myers-Briggs, and how you've used it."
"Why didn't you mention your parents on your application?"
"Your background suggests you should be a lawyer, why do you want to go into medicine?"
"None. Nothing from the ''sheet'' just talked."
"What I like to do outside of work/school"
"Why not social work?"
"What has shaped you recently in being interested in medicine?"
"Most questions were straight off of the infamous ''Question sheet''. We got off topic and spoke about the recent Yankees demise and the overabundance of iPods in America."
"Why not Harvard?"
"Are you good with computers?"
"Recall a stressful situation and how you dealt with it. "
"why medicine with all the problems and annoyances involved"
"What have you learned from living all over the world?"
"what else would you like the committee to know about you"
"Why medicine? (I was a business consultant before)"
"Do you think religion is important in medicine?"
"None. All questions were fairly straight forward"
"She asked me how I studied (I guess she meant what study techniques I use) and how I studied for the MCAT. This wasn't overly interesting, but then again there weren't too many questions and they were all very standard."
"If you are not accepted what will you do?"
"Describe an extremely stressful/painful experience in your life and how you overcame it."
"I guess I can call all of the questions asked "interesting""
"Why do you deserve a spot in the class?"
"None, really. Most questions were about clarifying my application."
"My interviewer didn't hit me with anything out of the ordinary. Where did I see myself in 10 years? What type of medical work did I want to get into . . ."
"What is the one difference btwn. Mexico and India?(according to him Mexico is not a religious country while india has a lot of faith) Name the top 5 religions. "
"Tell me about the research you are involved in. What is the main question? What mechanisim are you using to obtain data? What have you learned and how is it relevant to clinical medicine."
"Tell me about your family situation and family members."
"So...I see that your last name is ____[a name that does not seem to correspond with my ethnicity]. He had my last name circled on my AMCAS!!"
"Would your friends describe you as a nerd or the life of the party? "
"Most difficult experience that I've dealt with"
"I was asked all about my travels to Peru and Brazil"
"Why do you want to be a doctor, not a nurse, etc.?"
""What do you do in your free time?" ?, bec"
"AMCAS questions, nothing out of ordinary."
"No real questions, mainly it was just conversational. My interviewer recited parts of my file from memory. They apparantly hand pick your interviewer based on your application and your interests. So my interviewer and I had TONS to talk about and lots in common. He was soooooo nice and made the whole interview very comfortable. He had gone to undergrad there as well as now being on faculty, so it was nice to hear about the school from here."
"Do you think a class that teaches med students compassionate care is a good idea"
"nothing too interesting. we just talked about my application and he asked me to elaborate on the different things I wrote about"
"I saw in your recommendations that your teachers describe you as a quiet person, but that's not the impression I'm getting here. How can you explain that?"
"Very detailed questions about my application, I was surprised. Not only had my interviewer read my application, but they were able to recite parts from memory."
"What do you want me to tell the admissions committee?"
"What do you plan on doing after medical school?"
"What is the normal body temperature? Yea I messed this one up. I said 97.8 for some reason and had to correct my mistake when the guy gave me a weird look. Blah!"
"Why Downstate?"
"What do you do on weekends? (this question took my by surprise since all the others were standard questions up to this point)."
"when did you decide to become a doctor?"
"absolutely nothing (ugh)"
"Do you know what a duvet is?"
"Nothing in particular. Many standard questions were asked."
"What would you say was a difficult situation in your life and how you handled it"
"How do you relax?"
"Nothing much, My interviewer was extremely nice and laid back. He seemed overall impressed with my listed activities, work experience, and recommendation letters. His questions pertained to the file mostly."
"nothing too interesting -- no ethical questions"
"Nothing! The interviewer assumed I wouldn't be seriously interested in Downstate becasue my gpa and mcat are too HIGH! "
"What was the most interesting case you saw in your internships?"
"pretty standard questions"
"Why did you choose to apply to Downstate?"
"What is your favorite film?"
"On average, about how many hours did you spend studying on any given day? "
"Was there any single life changing experience that made you want to be a physician?"
"Nothing very intresting, they basiclly went through my AMCAS application."
"I see you want to go to a medical school, but you don't really show that you want to be a doctor?"
"nothing stood out. very specific questions"
"in research, how do you come to interpret your results?"
"all the questions were standard...there were no curve balls"
"standard questions"
"How do you de-stress?"
"What was the most difficult aspect of your experience in West Africa?"
"he followed a standard list of questions, and had me go more in depth. What are your strengths and weaknesses was asked, which can be tricky. Also "what else would you like the admissions staff to know" is how it ended, so be prepared to say something good about yourself :)"
"Why did you choose a Spanish major?"
"Nothing."
"Tell me about a difficult time in your life and how you dealt with it? What was your support system?"
"Do you think research is worthwile if nothing comes out of it?"
"Something to the effect of what my best secret quality was, or what I thought was really important about me that the adcom should know. "
"Why the long, convoluted route to med school?"
"Is it important to know a patient's religion? If a patient doesn't want to do something due to their religion, but its in their best interest (health-wise), what do you do?"
"What sort of patient population do you envision having when you pratice medicine?"
"None really, it was mostly a conversation. My interviewer spent most of the time telling me about her field of work and about the new school curriculum. She was more informative than interrogative."
"Nothing really. "
"Questions were fairly standard."
"Nothing majorly difficult... just your basic "tell me about yourself" and "why do you want to become a doctor?" "
"None really."
"What was one difficult situation in your life and how did you deal with it?"
"None. Standard questions"
"Nothing, I was asked standard questions: How do you study? How did you prepare for the MCAT? Why medicine?"
"About my work"
"Describe a societal problem, it does not have to be healthcare related."
"What differences do you anticipate in switching from a private undergraduate facility to a public graduate facility?"
"So, you live in a fraternity? I didn't think MIT had fraternities, is it weird living with all men?"
"The pressure of keeping up with good grades. How do you handle that? "
"how has your anthropology background helped you in the ER (and give specific examples of how you interact differently with different cultural groups)"
"None, they were all standard"
"tell me about your interest in science"
"What do you in your free time?"
"Pretty basic questions that were asked"
"nothing really caught me as interesting. they were all standard questions."
"Describe a very difficult personal situation and discuss how you handled it and what was learned from it."
"The interviewer pretty much told me I got in. As long as you get at least a "9" on each section (minimal score of 27), you are going to get accepted. However, he told me many students reject their offer because of the location so he bluntly told me if I would be comfortable living in the area and I told him I'm from Queens so it was ok."
"My interview went nearly 2 hours and was very closely focused on my file. So all questions pertained to my past experiences. I guess the most interesting question was how I responded living in NYC on 9/11."
"Grades, Grades, Grades. all they wanted to know about was my grades and MCAT nothing else"
"There were no real interesting questions asked. But just basic get - to - know you questions. It was more of a conversation rather than an interview."
"Being an out-of-state applicant, you know that the odds are against you at Downstate. How do you plan to deal with this?"
"Nothing really. She asked me the list of standard questions but it was very conversational. "
"None just grilling me about unimportant unrelated things"
"Tell me about yourself?"
"Nothing in particular. The session flowed well and the interviewer aimed to get to know me as a person. He asked few structured questions, even remarking that one was "stupid". "
"The questions were quite standard and most of them you can find on this site. "
"it was more of a conversation we both spoke an equal amount of time and it flowed pretty well."
"I liked discussing things outside of the application, such as personal interests (museums, books, movies, etc)"
"All of them. This was the most thorough interview that I have had to date. We spent two hours (!) going through my file. I am a post baccalaureate student and my interviewer had studied my experiences in depth. We had much to chat through."
"None. My interviewer read from a standard list of questions. This would have been fine, but his tone and attitude were unwelcoming and haughty"
"The questions were pretty standard. The interviewer wanted to clarify some discrepancies in my application, so that's what we talked about."
"The questions were pretty standard. "
"My interviewer was very nice. Most of the questions that she asked were about my childhood."
"nothing really"
"There are a few non-science majors here who are having a difficult time...do you think that's going to be a problem for you? "
"nothing terribly interesting, very standard get to know you conversational atmosphere, i was asking for probably half the time"
"The questions all came from a list he had in front of him. They could all have been answered by a quick glance at my application, which the interviewer had not read. More than a few were redundant. Some were really asinine, like 'How did you prepare for the MCAT? Self-study or prep course?' Does that really matter?"
"What do you look for in a medical school"
"Why do you think you will enjoy working in medicine?"
"Why do you consider yourself economically disadvantaged yet went to that undergrad (expensive and very competitive)?"
"No interesting questions were asked."
"Nothing interesting."
"none, the questions were all from a standard list and my interviewer did not even show the coutesy of l;etting me respond before blasting me with the next question in an accusatory tone"
"I was asked a lot about my volunteer and work history."
"What is the MOST stressful experience you have had in the past 5 years? How did you cope with it?"
"What is a typical day like at my undergraduate institution?"
"I was not asked any interesting questions. My interviewer was concerned about going through his list. He was bold enough to tell me just that at the start of our interview He did not wait for me to finish most of my responses. hewas also needlessly provocative, rude, and confrontational without reason."
"Why do you want to be a doctor(I have a non traditional background)?"
"What do you want to know?"
"All the questions were basic and applied to my application."
"why medicine (very original)"
"Why change careers at (blank age), when you have had a reasonable amount of success in your present career"
"None of the questions that were asked were too difficult or out of the ordinary. Just basic questions about my experiences- see below. "
"No interesting questions. Only the standard ones that everyone else got."
"What stressful situation have you encountered"
"How does someone's culture relate to their medical care?"
"Why do you want to move from suburban southern California to Brooklyn? (expected)"
"Why do you want to go to Downstate?"
"How do you deal with stress?"
"Nothing really, my interviewer was very bored as evidenced by his not paying attention to a word I said."
"I have to say nothing. These people are mentally ill and should not be in the business of caring for people"
"Becoming a doctor involves certain lifestyle changes. How do you plan to adapt to these changes?"
"What do I call you... you have a million names? (it was a joke... that I still really don't get because I only have one name)"
"Some questions relating my research with my interviewer's."
"Do you think your PharmD will help you as a physician? How?"
"How I was able to balance having many extracurriculars and still maintain decent grades."
"What school were your relatives educated at?"
"Nothing that interesting. Just the usual. My good academic record was mentioned a few times."
"No particularly interesting questions."
"Did you like The Matrix Reloaded? "
"No intersting questions."
"If you had to refer a family member to a physician, what would you look for in that person?"
"Having come from a relatively sheltered background, why would you like to go to school in Brooklyn?"
"nothing particularly interesting. Almost all questions were specifically about my past experience that I indicated in my application."
"Nothing in particular - the questions were pretty by-the-book. My interviewer was interested in my previous career and how I decided to get into medicine, wanted to hear about why I was making this huge change."
"Most of the questions were typical interview questions, such as why a physician? is your family supportive? waht happened in that class? no question really sticks out right now, they were all common."
"Why I chose to work instead of applying last year?"
"No interesting questions."
"How you relieve stress?"
"None. They had a standard list of questions. The interviewer stuck to those questions."
"I wasn't asked anything interesting or difficult, the entire interview was the interviewer asking me detailed questions about my research and volunteer experiences."
"It was a great conversation as we had some common background history. No realy questions as such."
"The interview was basically a conversation about my ECs and college. Interseting conversation, no spefic questions. we talked for quite a while"
"My interviewer had gone over my application with a fine -toothed comb. She asked me about specific grades, specific words used to describe my activities, dates, etc. Very nit-picky, very annoying. Be careful!"
"none, really, the questions all focused very strongly on my application"
"My interviewer really wanted to know is I felt truly prepared to handle all the challenges and stresses of life in med school. I felt that I answered all of his questions confidently. "
"Why after obtaining a PhD do I want to become a doctor. Fair enough"
"Anything in your application you think would be a concern to us (i.e. grades, extracurriculars, misdemeanors, etc.)? (Didn't have anything major, wasn't sure if an answer was expected or not)"
"How do you feel about your performance on the MCAT? How did you prepare for the exam?"
"Explain your GPA trend."
"Would I be able to adjust to living in Brooklyn (caught me off guard and wasn't able to phrase my response professionally)."
"To discuss my score on the MCAT."
"Most meaningful undergrad activity?"
"Not sure. They really wanted to hear about clinical experience; Downstate is superior in terms of students' clinical exposure in their program."
"Why was yours CARS section lower than your other sections?"
""Tell me about your research experience." The doctor who interviewed me happened to be a specialist in the topic of my research so there were many follow up questions that became challenging for me to answer without fumbling. However, I think she was asking out of curiosity as opposed to testing my knowledge."
"Do you think your verbal section score accurately reflects your critical thinking analysis? More follow up questions about this (I had a low verbal section)."
"Has there ever been a class where you just couldn't understand the material? (Felt like a trap)"
"What stresses you out?"
"Nothing too difficult. All pretty standard questions."
"none were difficult"
"None really..thankfully."
"Tell me something that you are proud of besides academic achievements."
"They were all pretty standard questions."
"Explain your undergraduate grades. In addition to the standard questions that everyone gets asked, each interviewer has a few questions from the committee that are specific to your file."
"Describe the most stressful situation you've ever been in and how you overcame it"
"Why I didn't complete my application to Downstate the previous cycle. Grilled me regarding that."
"Why don't you want to go into research?"
"Why have you chosen medicine?"
"She asked me specific questions about my sexual orientation...I found it really unprofessional and offensive..."
"Give an example of a stressful situation and how you handled it"
"specific question 1"
"Have you encountered any conflicts in a leadership position and how did you handle it?"
"Very specific questions about much of my transcript."
"Beside from your academic acheivements what are you most proud of?"
"Why should we accept you?"
"What are you most proud of?"
"Tell me why you got this grade..."
"Why medicine? Why not pharmacy? Why not research? explain this part of your PS...basically the paragraph detailing why i wanted to enter medicine"
"Question # 1"
"What proteins are involved in pulling cholesterols from the gut? (Supposedly related to my cholesterol study except it was completely unrelated to my research)"
"Ethical dilemma Q"
"What would you like me to convey to the admissions committee? Why not public health?"
"What do you think it's the reason that you didn't get in last time you applied (I'm a re-applicant)?"
"How do we know that you will stay in medicine? (I am a non-trad, formerly in business)"
"You are on-call at 2 AM and walking on a floor you were unfamiliar with when you pass an open room. You see a patient who appears to be unconscious. Upon closer inspection, you determine that the patient is in cardiac arrest. What do you do?"
"None, but my interviewer was unfriendly and impatient."
"none"
"None. Very conversational, non-stress questions. She just wanted to clarify some stuff from AMCAS application and just get to know me."
"There were none."
"no real hard questions"
"If you're accepted to all the SUNY's, where would you go and why? Rank the SUNY's."
"How do you define stress?"
"Why are you interested in coming here?"
"N/A"
"Tell me about what personal traits you have that make medicine a good profession for you?"
"Nothing difficult. very conversation"
"How were you a different student as a post-bacc compared to you as an undergrad?"
"Why not just teach? (in reference to my extensive TAing experience and rec letters highlighting my teaching ability)"
"Same one"
"Why not help people through other means, like counseling, social work or nursing?"
"If you were studying for an exam the next day, and one of your friends had an emotional breakdown, what would you do?"
"I was asked to account for a lack of community service activities"
"What specialty do you want to do, and why ? How do you cut back and de-stress?"
"Why didn't you do well on your MCAT's compared to your grades?"
"I specialize in minimally invasive surgery. I've worked at Downstate for two years and have interviewed students for a year...What's your story? It was the very first question, and it just seemed a bit abrupt. "
"Why didn't you do better on your MCATs?"
"What do you think is the origin of good and evil? (Obviously)"
"None too difficult"
"None, really. It was my fourth interview. "
"What were you like in high school? First question I was asked, wasn't expecting it and totally threw me off. I couldn't even remember what I was like in high school and babbled through the first awkward minutes of the interview."
"What happened to that verbal score?"
"Are you a conceptual learner?"
"Everything youve told me reinforces what Ive read on paper. Tell me something that I wont find in here."
"There were no difficult questions, the interview was more of a conversation than a question and answer event."
"Describe your clinical experience (only because I have very little)"
"There weren't so much hard questions by themselves but given the tone in which they were asked made for a very awkward and uncomfortable interview."
"Tell me about a difficult situation you had to deal with as part of your clinical experience. "
"None. Didn't even ask me why med/why downstate."
"So tell me about this bad grade you got your freshman year"
"Why I choose to a career in medicine as opposed to anything else"
"Why not social work? (my background = social services)"
"What would you do to improve the situation of the uninsured?"
"Referring to my mom's desire to enter nursing... ''Don't you find it unusual that someone jewish would enter the field of nursing?''... What?!"
"Why not Harvard?"
"Do you have any role models or mentors?"
"How do you feel about your MCAT score ?"
"How can you handle brooklyn ny?"
"same"
"How do you deal with stress?"
"recal a stressful situation and how you dealt with it"
""tell me about yourself". I was preparing for this in a strategic way and it was my hardest anticipated question I worked on."
"No really difficult questions."
"No difficult question"
"Describe an extremely stressful/painful experience in your life and how you overcame it."
"I don't remember"
"He wanted to know details about my research, and he went through every single part of my application."
"What thing exactly made you want to change your career to become a physician? (this is not actually a difficult question, but it was the most difficult one asked)"
"Why medicine? But this question is always hard since there is no right or wrong answer."
"What volunteer activities have you participated in? (I hadn't.)"
"What is the country with the largest English speaking population?(according to him India) What industry only uses English?(According to him the airline industry) "
"see above "
"nothing difficult"
"Usually interviews last an hour, but we're 20 minutes short. Do you know why that is? He told me that I didn't seem talkative which made my face fall bc I thought I had been doing pretty well. Whatever, I got in, so don't worry if you get an old senile man who can't hear anything you're saying. "
"Do you have any hobbies except sports? "
"they were all pretty easy"
"Nothing too difficult, the most difficult was the age old "why do you want to become a doctor?""
"Just that he kept saying what else, what else? It was hard having to keep coming up with things I didn't already know about the school, happy I did though because I learned a lot more than I thought I would."
"none really..."
"Nothing really difficult."
"How do you know what you want to do with your life at the age of 21?"
"What should I tell the admissions committee about why you should be accepted and why you are better than all of the other applicants?"
"Nothing too difficult."
"what are 2-3 pressing ethical issues."
"A woman comes to you with a 2 cm breast cancer. What do you do?"
"Do you know anything about the new therapeutic cancer drugs? I had no idea, he asked after i told him I was interested in Oncology, so it looked pretty bad cuz I wasnt caught up with treatments. "
"What do you want me to tell the Admissions Committee?"
"none."
"Do you have any plans if worse comes to worse and you do not get into medical school?"
"Don't you think you could have benefitted from more clinical exposure? "
"The admissions office generates a list of 3-10 questions specific to each interviewee. My interviewer was like "The admissions office wants me to ask about x,y,z." "
"Describe a difficult situation that you've faced. Also, discuss how you overcame it."
"Explain your MCAT score"
"None were difficult. Standard. All the questions everyone else has been asked."
"Nothing, every question was pretty simple and straight forward. "
"very straightforward"
"Nothing... all boring run of the mill questions. "
"Tell me about yourself"
"How have you handled highly stressful situations?"
"Questions about my lower grades (C's alongside A's in advanced science courses) and about my MCAT score - my interviewer simply said "let's talk about your MCAT" and then waited for my response."
"You can better health through law, public service etc. Why be a physician? Explain your MCAT scores."
"What else would you like the admissions committee to know about you"
"so what else did you do? (after going over all of my extracurricular activities)and then came back to that question about 3 more times"
"what downsides do you see about downstate? what negative aspects do you observe?"
"questions about my non-traditional status. he seemed to think that the field i left behind was better than medicine. when i told him that i didn't think so and explained why, he wasn't happy with my explanation and pressed me further. "
"If you got accepted to Downstate and the medical school of your university (I went to an Ivy League school), you would pick the later over the former, right? So it was basically, are you concerned about the name of the school where you go to and convince the interviewer that I truly wanted to attend Downstate, which I did."
"Why medicine?"
"nothing really, all just basic questions"
"Nothing."
"What is the most stressful situation you have encountered and how did you handle it?"
"None really, it was more like a conversation."
"Nothing really... pretty generic questions"
"Why I got a "W" in a class senior year"
"What do you think about medical care expenses in this country now exceeding expenses for education?"
"How does philiospohy relate to medicine? (Just a really broad question to try to answer.) ...and TRIVIA: What is the one industry where only one language is officially spoken and why? Name the world's religions (he's looking for a lot!). Why do we speak english in the US? Again, he's looking for something really specific."
"How did studying vary from the humanities to your pre-med classes?"
"There wasn't one. However, this doesn't mean that things are a breeze. You should really know yourself and be able to explain your committment to medicine/ Downstate."
"What stressful situations have you encountered in your life and how did you deal with them?"
"Strangely, the interviewer started to tell me that if I get accepted to Downstate and a school with a big name such as NYU or Cornell, I'll probably end up there. I guess he was testing me on the dedication to this school but it was strange. "
"What other schools did you apply to? If selected to more than one school which would you pick?"
"So where else are you applying? yea, it was really low-stress"
"Nothing, it was really just a conversation"
"What else would you like me to convey to the comittee? (I felt we had covered everything)."
"none of the questions were especially difficult, the one above just caught me off guard."
"What was the most stressful situation you have experienced?"
"Nothing really.......it was more of a conversation than an interview, very laidback."
"Why did you mess up in the math courses you took"
"What do you know about SUNY Downstate? (I don't know why, but i totally blanked on this one even though i had done my research about the school...go figure.)"
"same as above"
"Why some of my grades dropped during college."
"Nothing difficult. Most questions can be found on this website."
"What do you think about stem cell research and its application to treating Alzheimer's disease?"
"See above. "
"Often times very rude questions about my background. Interviewer seemed removed and disinterested."
"no really hard questions, more focused on getting to know the "non-paper" individual."
"Why didn't you apply as a disadvantaged applicant? "
"None of the questions were very hard. My interviewer just asked questions to clarify what was written in my application and about my reasons for wanting to attend medical school at Downstate. "
"Would you still have written this portion of your AMCAS personal statement the same way."
"None as he did not read my application and expected me to tell him everything on it in its minutia"
"I did not have much shadowing experience, and therefore the interviewer wanted to know why I was so sure that I wouldn't turn away from the first unpleasant sight I see as a medical student or physician."
"Talk about how you coped with a death/loss."
"pretty standard "
"nothing really, it was super low stress, he was just "weeding out the frickin psychos""
"There were no difficult questions, but the interview was still painful because it was so tedious going over the things I'd done item by item as the interviewer wrote them down on his legal pad. What was the point? It was all right there on my application! He also cut me off if I started to explain in detail what I'd done, as he was only interested in dates and general descriptions. All in all a total waste of an hour."
"Questions about low grades on my transcript"
"Tell me about all you unergrad jobs (since freshman year, exactly how many hours per week etc) Didn't really remember everything is so much detail."
"What are you going to do if you don't get into medical school this year? It was difficult to answer because I had already been accepted to another medical school so I wasn't quite sure how to respond."
"Nothing difficult. "
"all of the questions were asked in a manner that made me think the interviewer was annoyed that he had to be there and that he did not think much of the present application pool."
"No difficult questions"
"Same as above."
"None really"
"The most difficult part of this interview was dealing with my interviewer who had a major personality problem. Also he was a coordinator of a major rotation. Two of the other people who interviewed with me said that they were stunned by the rudeness of their interviewers"
"So, do you want to go to Downstate?"
"What else do you want to know?"
"None. Everything was related to my AMCAS application"
"why would we admit a person like you?"
"Why would you want to go into medicine if your parents are ----- . My interviewer was so incredibly offensive. If these are the people getting to do the admission's interviews, I have serious concerns about their other faculty. My interviewer was very abrasive, nasty, and mean spirited"
"(See above)"
"What happened junior year? (I had taken a semester off, and this was meant to be the "difficult situation" question, but because of the way he asked it I started talking about what happened to me personally, and that's not what he wanted.)"
"none...all very typical questions outlining my application"
"What type of patients does their hospital mainly deal with?"
"Tell me about a stressful situation."
"Why do you want to go to Downstate?"
"Nothing so much. They have a form that all interviewers get and my interviewer basically stuck to the form so I had seen most of the questions posted on this site."
"My interviewer fired question after question without waiting for me to give an adequate response."
""Why would you want to be a doctor if your parents are..." My interviewer was nasty and he coordinates one of their main programs."
"If you got in at SUNY Brooklyn, would you go?"
"nothing because I had read them all on this site"
"What other professions have you considered? Why not them over medicine?"
"Give a difficult experience and how you dealt with it (not too tough, most questions were straightforward)."
"Why did you pursue another degree instead of applying to medical school after your bachelor's?"
"Of all the people I know in the medical field, who is my role model?"
"Why did your parents get into the profession they did?"
"Do you really know what it's like to work with patients?"
"How many hours a day do you study? On weekends?"
"What was a difficult situation you were in recently and how did you handle it? (but I knew about that one from this site, so I was prepared!)"
"Why go to medical school, and not continue working as an EMT?"
"This place gives horrible interviews. They have the most emotionally disturbed faculty I met at any of the med school interviews I encountered. Since I work in psychiatry they paired me with a psychiatrist who was openly anti-gay, classist and just a general a.....e. For instance he asked me why since my mother worked ina bank and my father was a teacher would I want to go to medical school? This was not asked in an open honest way; the tone was derisive."
"No difficult questions."
"No difficult questions..."
"In the last few months, what was a difficult situation that you faced and had to overcome?"
"Describe a stressful situation and how you handled it. "
"it was hard to explain the grades, and what experiences perpetuated your desire to become a physician. I was not expecting that; in my opinion, i thought that the question that asked your reason for becoming a doctor was suffice enough."
"none of the questions were really to difficult."
"Are you really sure that you want to go into medicine?"
"Only one real hard interview, with the director he asked me a lot about research and asked me some reasonable questions that i was unfortunatly unprepared to asnwer."
"None. Straightforward questions. No ethics."
"see above"
"You are a certified EMT but have never worked on an ambulence.. why"
"What was a difficult situation I was in and how did I overcome it?"
"Why I want to be a doctor if i am interested in government, how I felt about the menstruation debate in New Yorker Magazine.... "
"Tell me about a difficult situation and how you handled it?"
"why should we give one of the spots to YOU?---my interviewed wanted me to convince him of my worthiness"
"My interviewer first asked me what I would do if I didn't get into medical school this year, and then he asked me why I didn't apply to dental or osteopathic school, because he had applied to osteopathic school. I think he was trying to see if I would break down or get all nervous and what not. "
"None. My interviewer seemed to be a hard ass"
"Copy and pasted SDN questions into a document, answered them on my own and reviewed the general topics I wanted to discuss. Went over the SUNY Downstate curriculum on their website. Also went over both my primary and secondary applications."
"Traditional Interview Prep"
"Reviewed my application, mock interviews, browse website, looked through the informational links provided"
"SDN, reviewed my application"
"SDN (which was very helpful) and prepped from previous interview"
"Reviewed SDN, common interview questions, mock interview with friends"
"Re-read my primary/secondary"
"SDN, Practiced answering common interview questions, went over primary and secondary application"
"Just got a good night's sleep"
"SDN interview feedback, practice questions on 3rd party sites, reviewing my application, and mock interviews."
"SDN, mock interviews"
"Reread my application and my secondary application. Practiced my basic answers: why I want to be a doctor, why medicine, 3 strengths and 3 weakness"
"Prepared to answer the "tell me about yourself", "strengths an weaknesses" question, "why medicine",etc. although these questions were not asked explicitly."
"I looked on the website which was very easy to navigate."
"Read SDN, Read Application"
"spoke with current students"
"I read sdn and had my ex give me a mock interview"
"Reading these."
"Read SDN, practiced normal answers"
"Reread application, primary, secondary; also looked up school information"
"Mock interview at school"
"SDN questions, really researched the school/location."
"Interview prep books, SDN, etc"
"Read through website, primary, secondary, feedback"
"Read my application, my secondary and SDN feedback."
"Studied my amcas application/secondary and learned as much as I could about the school."
"Read SDN interview feedback, plus a book on interviewing. I did a full length mock interview with my adviser before my first interview"
"Mock interviews."
"Used the SDN interview feedback to compile questions, then had a mock interview with a friend. This was after reviewing my application and the Downstate website."
"Sample interview questions."
"SDN, school website, talking with my student host"
"I read SDN forums and info on the school's website"
"Looked over SDN the night before"
"SDN/read about healthcare reform/went over my application"
"Read Fleenor's book, reviewed activities, mock interviews."
"SDN, mock interview, reread primary, school website"
"SDN, mock interviews, read over my application"
"SDN, application"
"Read SDN interview feedbacks mostly, and my secondary essays."
"Reviewed current events; SDN; reviewed health care reform; AMCAS; secondaries"
"SDN, mock interview, and practicing"
"Reviewed school website, SDN interview feedback, mock interview."
"Went over AMCAS, PS, SDN interview feedback. "
"SDN interview feedback, read articles about current issues, school's website"
"read over my amcas, looked over my grades, SDN"
"SDN, practice talking to myself in a mirror, outloud"
"SDN, reviewed file"
"SDN, mock interview"
"SDN, answering typical interview questions, SUNY downstate website, other students"
"mock interviews, amcas printout, sdn, website, talked to current students"
"AMCAS, Secondary app, SDN, mock interviews, read over ethical issues. "
"SDN, AMCAS, past research, Wall Street Journal, NY Times."
"Went over the questions asked on SDN and thought over them."
"website, mock interviews"
"SDN Interview Feedback, rehearsals, GoogleMaps"
"read secondary, amcas"
"Reading SDN interview feedback, reviewing my secondary and AMCAS applications."
"Interviewed the day before."
"I had an interview a week before so I was already prepared."
"SDN, reread my AMCAS, school website"
"AMCAS, SDN Interview feedback"
"read over amcas, sdn"
"Read SDN interview feedback and quickly browsed through the school's website."
"I read the website stuff, booklets, books on the school, and interview feedback websites."
"SDN website, read over amcas"
"SDN, AMCAS, Mock Interview"
"Visit SDN and school website."
"Had another interview the previous day, so didn't do any additional prep."
"SDN, School's website"
"sdn, went over amcas, mock interview "
"SDN, reviewed secondary, AMCAS, mock interview with physician"
"I went over my application and read over the SUNY Dowstate site. I also prepared for expected questions by taking notes down on my thoughts."
"this website, school's website, read NYTimes daily, thought about questions that are on ''commonly asked interview questions'' on various websites"
"SDC, Mock interviews, many lists of questions"
"SDN, AMCAS App, School Website, Friend at SUNY Downstate Med School"
"Re-read application information, get a good nights sleep, read the school's website."
"SDN, school website, AMCAS"
"Read SDN, the downstate website"
"researching school"
"Sdn, Answering basic interview questions at home, reading up on SUNY Downstate"
"Reviewed AMCAS."
"SDN, Pricton review Interview questions, friends, family, and proffesors giving me mock interviews"
"Reviewed AMCAS application, looked at SDN questions"
"SDN, website, read over AMCAS, read healthcare news"
"AMCAS, SDN, Supplementary app, website, online interview questions"
"SDN, school website, re-read application materials. "
"This website, school website, reading the newspaper about current medical issues"
"SDN, website, application, slept"
"SDN, my application, mock interviewing with friends, knew the website and curriculum by heart."
"other interivews, read amcas, downstate supp. app, downstate website, gathered questions from the student tour to ask interviewer, sdn"
"sdn, schools website, AMCAS"
"Other interview experiences. "
"School website, SDN and questions from other interviews."
"Student doctor, review my AMCAS (important, they do question you about it)"
"SDN, AMCAS, previous interviews"
"SDN, school's website."
"read schools website"
"Read this website, personal statement, essays"
"SDN,school's website"
"Review my app, read books"
"SDN, SDN, SDN"
"re-read amcas, this website"
"Looked over my AMCAS application"
"amcas, sdn, school website"
"Read SDN questions, school website."
"school's website, SDN, this site"
"Lots of personal reflection (write about myself, talk to myself, re-read AMCAS), talked to present and former students, mock interview with friends, read website....As you can tell, I was nervous and it was my first interview!"
"School's website, read interviews on here"
"Reviewed Downstate website, SDN, and AMCAS"
"I read over their website and my application."
"Read over secondary apps., reviewed my work activities and research activities"
"this website, review AMCAS"
"Reviewed AMCAS and secondary, SDN, brushed up on ethics - none of it turned out to be relevant"
"Practiced the obvious questions."
"review AMCAS, secondary, Downstate website"
"School website and SDN"
"SDN Reviewed Supplimental Application School Website"
"AMCAS, SDN, current events, etc"
"Read SDN, read website for school."
"this website, my amcas, the school website"
"SND, secondary, read web site info"
"Re-read AMCAS and secondary, SDN, and brochures."
"studentdoctor.net, reread my AMCAS application, read the news"
"Read about the school, this website, practiced with friends. "
"school website, SDN, read AMCAS and secondary, mock interview "
"SDN, look over application, essay, website"
"reading sdn, downstate website, reading over my amcas"
"sdn, school website, my application, amsa survey, MSAR"
"sdn, amcas, and the school site."
"reviewed application, visited school website, read feedback from this website."
"It was my first open file interview, so I poured over my applications and my research, which I didn't need to do because it was so laid back and conversational."
"SD, web"
"Read AMCAS, interview guidebook, downstate secondary application"
"studentdoctor.net, downstate website"
"This website, school's website, AMCAS."
"read about the school"
"Reviewed my AMCAS and resume, brushed up on my research work. Didn't know about SDN until last week."
"Read over AMCAS/secondary essay, SDN, current medical issues, practiced with a friend."
"Not much, I decided to just wing it cuz the last one that I prepared for didnt go very well either."
"Read website, SDN, etc."
"SDN, school's website, read medical ethics textbooks, read over AMCAS"
"I read my AMCAS and I looked at this site."
"just relaxed (tried something new this time)"
"look over my AMCAS, read SDN interview feedback."
"reading SDN interview feedback, reading the school's website, speaking with other Downstate intervieweew"
"sdn, my amcas app"
"AMCAS, SDN, Reviewed prior research"
"This website, Downstate website, AMCAS application."
"web site, sdn, amcas"
"read the website, medical journals, ethical essays, new york times"
"sdn, amcas"
"SDN, school website (which is absurd), reviewed AMCAS"
"previous med school interviews"
"SDN, School website, MSAR"
"This site, other health care/ethics sites, school's site"
"SDN, school website, prepared answers to obvious questions so i could have the main points fresh in my head"
"SDN, AMCAS, practiced with friend, reviewed my research"
"read this site, read the brochures that they gave out before interview, also went on their site"
"sdn, amcas, school website, practiced with friends"
"SDN, read school website, amcas"
"read sdn. read my amcas."
"SDN, talked to a student there, Downstate website, talked to friends who interviewed there"
"SDN, looked at school's website"
"sdn, website, amcas, the usual"
"read SDN, read website, and websites of affiliated hospitals, read AMCAS application and secondary application, and amednews.com"
"SDN, talked to med students"
"this site, read over AMCAS, looked at school's website"
"This site, reviewed my application, thought of possible interview questions/answers"
"this site, read over my AMCAS, looked over my research, played video games, and good night sleep"
"this website, AMCAS app, 2nd app, mock interviews"
"Browsed website. Read interview reviews (non of which prepared me for this guy!) Know your AMCAS! And play some trivial pursuit =)"
"SDN, Downstate materials/website"
"SDN, school website, read over AMCAS app"
"Reread my AMCAS app and Downstate secondary, SDN website"
"SDN, AMCAS, Downstate website"
"school website, Kaplan interview questions, my application"
"This site, mock interviews, school website"
"Looked over application and school information. "
"amcas, sdn, downstate wb."
"SDN, AMCAS app., Downstate website"
"this website, read over my AMCAS and secondary, mock interviews"
"SDN is a great resource. Reviewed AMCAS and Downstate website."
"Reviewed Downstate website, SDN & AMCAS"
"SDN, AMCAS, watching the simpsons and family guy."
"SDN, AMCAS, and school brochure. "
"read SDN, went over AMCAS, essays, and practice interviewed"
"Read SDN, read over AMCAS/Downstate apps, read newspaper"
"sdn, re-read my application. interview feedback for downstate is very good."
"SDN, this site, downstate's website, my AMCAS application"
"SDN, School website and catalog"
"SDN, AMCAS, secondary app, SUNY Downstate website, tried reading newspapers and magazines about current health issues but i found out, i didn't really need to"
"Read their website, SDN"
"Read through SDN. Also, I made sure that I was very clear on everything I presented in my application and how it applied to me. You have to really "know yourself" in order for an interview to go well, in my opinion."
"AMCAS"
"Played video games."
"SDN, re-read AMCAS app., Downstate Website"
"This website, AMCAS (primary) application, SUNY (secondary) application, the Downstate website. Got 8 hours of sleep the night before and had a bagel for breakfast. (Bring water to the interview lest you be taken by severe cotton mouth!)"
"This site (though it is completely misleading about some aspects of the school) and my amcas application"
"Brooklyn Website, SDN"
"school website, sdn, friends who had interviewed already"
"SDN. AMCAS. School's website. "
"I read this site, my primary/secondary application, NY Times, and the Downstate website. "
"read thru thir website and documentation"
"looked at website, looked over my app"
"Got a good night's sleep. "
"sdn, amcas app"
"read the interview feedbacks from SDN, the school's website."
"SDN, school's website, reviewed my application"
"read this site and downstate website"
"SDN, school's website, current 1st year medical student, bioethics.com"
"Read over my application, New York Times, visited the school a day before to know where things were."
"brochure, here"
"Just read your application and be ready to present a condensed version of it offhand, for the sake of your own sanity."
"this site, school website"
"SDN, School Website, School Brochures, Discussions with other applicants/doctors who had interviewed already"
"Read materials for the school, read their wedsite"
"I read the interview feedback website, went over my AMCAS application, and glanced through Downstate's website."
"Read this website, looked over AMCAS."
"The school's literature"
"THIS SITE!"
"Read up on school site and SDN"
"Read the website for the school. Read my AMCAS application. This website as well, provided me with all the info I needed."
"This site, mock interviews, and read about health care."
"school's web site, other literature about SUNY Downstate"
"Read their website, read SDN."
"Mock interviews, AMCAS, NYTimes, SDN, SUNY Downstate Website"
"SDN, school website, mock interview"
"sdn, website"
"SDN, web site, written info"
"Read over this website and looked over the suny downstate website."
"this website, read my application, read the booklet they sent me, talked to an alum"
"SDN"
"SDN, school website"
"SDN, website, New York Times"
"Mock interveiw; this site."
"sdn, school website, amcas app."
"Read my amcas appplication, web site, sdn"
"SDN, MSAR, website (which is a joke), re-read primary and secondary apps"
"This web site is the best resource on the planet! I also did a practice interview at Career Services, read my file, read chapters on interviewing... by the way all that is overpreparedness... just read this site and your set."
"Read over AMCAS, read Downstate website"
"Looked at their website and my AMCAS, slept well."
"this website, Downstate website, MSAR"
"SDN, read my AMCAS app, and the school's website."
"Didn't"
"SDN, read over my application, checked school's website"
"Read this site, AMCAS, my research notes."
"Read over my AMCAS, read interview sections in 2 med school prep books I have (Barrons and Kaplan), read the school's website (which was partly down and painfully slow) and read this site, which was by far the most helpful."
"read downstate's website"
"Read the web site and reviewed my amcas application"
"Checked Downstate Website."
"Read SDN, website, re-read application"
"Read this site, my application, downstate website"
"Looked over schools website so that I could ask them some intellegent questions."
"I looked over my applications and the school website like everyone else, I prayed to the lord to help me speak the king james's english, because i tend to use slang, fortunately, i did'nt happen"
"Looked over application, catalog, articles on current issues, read newspaper."
"Read up on the school online"
"Website, this site"
"interviewfeedback, sdn, school website, pamphlets"
"Read the school's brochure, spoke to someone who went there"
"interview feedback, sdn, school's website"
"reread AMCAS, checked out school's website, read articles about healthcare issues"
"Reread my application, this site, read up about the school"
"I read the website, my AMCAS application, read about ethics and current issues"
"Reread the school materials I had. Skimmed my AMCAS application."
"read about the school, read over essays"
"went over printed materials."
"Read newspaper and medical articles. Studied my AMCAS and other personal information. Read over website. Practiced possible interview questions."
"reviewed my AMCAS"
"Re-read my AMCAS, read the SUNY Downstate website, got re-acquainted with my research and extra-curricular experiences."
"I read the school information on the web and the interview packet"
"Interviewer was very friendly and easy-going. Felt more like a conversation with a doctor at a clinic than an interrogation."
"The interview was conversational and free-flowing. I didn't feel too much anxiety or pressure the way I have in other interviews."
"How engaging and passionate my interviewer was. She was very kind."
"The school serves the underserved in Brooklyn."
"Those interviewing with me were relatable and were easy to talk to."
"The students seemed excited and happy to be there"
"Large, up-to-date facilities. Big student center and new study spaces."
"Close student community, nicer facilities than I originally thought (new sim center and study spaces)"
"The school didn't waste money on frivolous lunches or trying to impress people."
"Very friendly faculty and students. Everyone seems to want their peers to succeed."
"Staff and tour guides were extremely friendly."
"The staff and interviewer made me feel very relaxed and therefore, I was able to be myself and answer questions with complete confidence and honesty. The student-led tour/lunch was impressive. I had a great time talking with the students. They seemed to be very happy with their decision to attend SUNY. Also the picture prompt was pretty fun."
"How friendly my interviewer was, how much time he took to get to know me, how well he knew my application, how much time he took to answer my questions"
"School seemed very collaborative and low stress"
"students seem happy"
"The amount of clinical exposure you get from the start, how much the students I met loved the school, and the friendliness of everyone I met. Plus my interviewer really knew my application."
"Staff were nice."
"there are a lot of oppurtunities to do research."
"The students seemed very happy to be there."
"Friendliness of students and staff"
"Friendliness of staff, interviewer, student guides."
"friendliness of staff, students"
"Everything. Mainly the newly renovated anatomy lab, and the fact that they have mock anatomy lab practicals that are essentially harder than the real thing. Great prep!"
"friendly students, very diverse"
"Students are very friendly, the staff is very friendly. They have a great student run clinic and serve a very diverse population. In state tuition is significantly cheaper and they have a 4 year MD/MPH program."
"The anatomy lab is brand new. The students are very down to earth and seem happy to be there. Pass/Fail grading system promotes a sense of camaraderie among the class."
"The school really has a no-frills approach to medicine-nothing fancy, but you know the clinical years will be great."
"Students were very enthusiastic about the school. The anatomy labs were renovated very recently. Each student is given a desk and computer with a locked drawer as a space to study in the main building. This is in addition to being able to use the library to study."
"Anatomy labs, friendliness of students and people there, the student center being right across the street and having everything there (basketball courts, squash and racquetball courts, pool, gym, etc)"
"General happiness of students. Opportunity to be involved in clinic."
"The student tour guides were incredibly enthusiastic about the school, everyone highlighted the clinical training as a strength of Downstate's program."
"He knew my file pretty well and made connections very fast."
"The clinical experience opportunities, the dorms were actually really cool, Brooklyn is pretty awesome."
"Youth and kindness of interviewer"
"I like the clinical experience available and it would be nice living in Brooklyn. Even though the surrounding neighborhood isn't my first choice, you could definitely commute from trendy nearby areas if you wanted."
"Laid back conversational interview"
"kch offers top-notch clinical experience;"
"The students all seem very happy, very nice anatomy lab, great clinical exposure reputation"
"The school's dedication to the community, and the study carrels!"
"Student Facilities, Lots of buildings, Interesting Curriculum"
"enthusiastic students, clinical opportunities"
"everyone was helpful/pleasant, great anatomy lab, the city is great, everyone attests to good clinical experience."
"The diversity of the class, faculty and population! The clinical rotations for 3rd and 4th year are all over NYC!"
"In-state tuition after one year if living off campus, nice new anatomy lab"
"Has a diverse patient population in the surrounding areas."
"How laid back all the students were! They seem like normal people and seemed really invested in their classmates! Also this is one of the most diverse student bodies in the country! Faculty is really into working with students and is also really diverse"
"New Anatomy Labs, upcoming change to curriculum style"
"students were nice"
"The new anatomy lab is gorgeous! I like their systems-based curriculum."
"Clinical opportunities and student run clinic"
"students, staff, facilities, great clinical experience, everything. "
"I like the location of the school since its close to family for me. The students were friendly."
"everything is close by"
"umm.... they have a pool and you get a desk you can study at in some window-less room. new anatomy lab. my interviewer was nice. school is close to the subway."
"Student tour was very well done, the school seems to be a very hands-on-experience driven institution. The student body seems to be happy and tight-knit."
"friendliness, punctuality"
"The admissions staff and tour guides were really happy to see us and seemed to really love the school. Everyone just seemed really happy and they emphasized the helpful environment. The anatomy labs are really nice and new (plasma tvs and HD cameras for displays) and the learning environment is well designed. Everyone gets their own desk with drawers"
"Clinical exposure/experience, friendliness. Neighborhood is not as terrible as I'd heard."
"the clinical opportunties and research "
"Supportive environment and the extensive clinical experience. Students are well respected and the faculty is really committed to providing the best education possible. Good opportunities to get involved in clinical research! My interviewer was very friendly and really tried to make me feel comfortable. "
"Students are friendly. Brand new anatomy lab. Cheap Tuition (IS=18800/yr)."
"all of the students seemed to love the school and really emphasized the great clinical training they are getting"
"new anatomy lab and 1960's architecture of the student recreational area. "
"anatomy labs, friendliness of staff and student, have student housing, clinical opportunities, focus on community service, curriculum, transcription services & podcasts"
"New gross anatomy labs are top-of-the-line."
"Students were very friendly. Great clinical opportunities, which is what I'm interested in."
"The other interviewees were friendly."
"The woman that interviewed me was great and the interview was very relaxed and comfortable."
"students were so enthusiastic"
"the new anatomy lab is gorgeous! the facilities are awesome. you will see "everything" in kings county hospital."
"How enthuiastic the tour guides and my interviewer were about downstate. My interviewer took time to sell me the good points about downstate and the interview was mostly conversational"
"good clinical training. you'll see a lot of different things at kings county hospital the dorm is right across the school and it has a nice gym in the basement w/swimming pool"
"The interviewer. I truly felt that she was the nicest and most open person to talk to of many interviews I've had from past work and school related interviews. My strong feelings towards the school was largely affected by my experience with her. She was extremely content about her career as an ER physician and was very encouraging."
"Nothing."
"how enthusiastic the students were, the early clinical exposure (Kings County) and student-run clinic"
"How much clinical experience you get, the proximity of everything to the dorms, how friendly the admissions staff was (they personally escort you to where you need to go)"
"The interviewer was friendly and down to earth."
"How nice the admissions staff was."
"Unbelievable case mix and student responsibility at King's County. 100% Step 1 pass rate."
"The diversity of SUNY, the admissions staff was really nice, cost."
"how happy the students seemed to be with how the curriculum is set up, the free clinic that's opening in fall 2008 that will be entirely student run, and first year students are allowed to work it "
"The students are laid back and seem pretty content. Everyone kept raving about how the clinical preparation there is great because they get to do so much as med students."
"My interviewer was very down-to-earth, very honest, and very helpful. At the end he even gave me some pointers for future interviews- criticism that he did not write down in my file. "
"Atmosphere, student life, the location is not as terrible as people say"
"Welcoming admissions staff, concise visit and laid back atmosphere."
"Enthusiasm of students and their happiness with their institution. The benefits of having King's County Hospital across the street."
"enthusiasm of the students, description of the curriculum, helpfulness and friendliness of the admissions staff"
"The friendliness of the staff, the amount of clinical exposure that the students get early on. There is a free shuttle to nearby subway stops during late hours from the medical center. I was also pleased to hear they have a free transcription service for lectures, and lectures are also PodCast (though not videotaped, yet)"
"community service orientation of school"
"Have this quasi-MPH course ''the essentials of clinical medicine'', Schoolhas own dorms on campus, right across the street from Kings county hospital, students do a lot of PBL courses, lectures are podcasted"
"The students were enthusiastic and eager to answer questions. They seemed very grounded and sincere."
"Student's seemed to really like it, it was match day so people were pretty happy all around"
"How happy the students were to be at Downstate."
"The emphasis on getting students to actively participate in clinical, patient work early on, as well as the systems-based curriculum. Exams are given after each subject block as opposed to a midterm and a final encompassing many subjects and organ systems. "
"Students are enthusiastic, amazing clinical experience at Kings County Hospital. "
"The enthusiasm of the students. The tour guides lauded their experience, although being honest about their work loads. Also, the diversity of both the student body and the surrounding neighborhood is amazing. "
"It was actually nicer than I'd expected. I'd been to the area before and knew the buildings were older and had the impression that it wouldn't be a very comfortable place to practice medicine. The facilities were definitely old, but not horrible. The students were very enthusiastic and really seemed to love it there. I liked that there was housing facilities right next to the school, with a student center, including gym, pool, and a ton of activities. It seems like they are really focused on giving students a ton of extracurricular activity options to help relieve stress. There are also ''mini-classes'' that you can register for,held after regular classes, such as dancing, photography, yoga, etc. There also seems to be a lot of community outreach and clinical experience, and they are opening a student run clinic next year. Also great international opportunities. "
"Friendliness and helpful nature of staff and students"
"Students were really nice, staff was very friendly, anatomy labs are not huge open floors, but smaller rooms with ~6 bodies per room. 2nd years tutor first years. "
"The dinginess of the facilities is totally over-hyped. They aren't out of this world but they aren't too shabby either."
"the building maybe a little crummy in comparrision to other schools, but the experience you get from working at Kings county hospital, will prepare you more than any other med student graduate. student's loved the school, the experience, and the reputation of graduating with having some stuff under your belt"
"The history of the school...very impressive."
"Clinical exposure and how well Downstate prepares its students for the real world of medicine."
"The early clinical experience is key for me. I was truly impressed by how much background knowledge my interviewer had about me. This was the first interview I'd been to where my interviewer had such indepth knowledge about both my AMCAS and secondary applications and had meaningful questions to ask about my experiences. I was also impressed by the student center and the library. The guides were excited and had lots of positive things to say. "
"The student guides were really enthusiastic and chilled out. One of them kept saying ''let's do it!'' referring to the next part of the tour. The intwerview itself is designed to be low stress."
"Everyone seems to enjoy the school."
"The quality of the study carrels and the student center I must say were pretty decent looking. I suppose I pictured the absolute worst but I was pleasantly surprised. Also, students are well-trained for residencies because of the great experience they get during their clinical years."
"The school seems to have everything you would need for a good education. Administration seems cooperative and flexible. Residency placements are excellent. Top-notch trauma center. Affiliation with Kings County Hospital and various others throughout NYC. Students raved about amazing clinical exposure, which is possible in the first year, and later on students said they basically managed their own patients. Libary was supposedly very good."
"Early and strong clinical exposure."
"location was very urban"
"The people and students seem very nice...the faculty seem like they want to help, the students also help each other"
"Friendliness of students, faculty and staff. The organ-based curriculum and schedule look great."
"Very kind people at Downstate. The interviewer was welcoming and thoughtful."
"Admissions staff was awesome. They took you to your interviewer."
"Nothing much, I wasn't IMPRESSED with anything."
"It was organized, and relaxed. They escorted you around, and gave you time so you never felt rushed."
"How casual the interview was. All the students looked happy to be there. "
"enthusiasm of the students"
"building not as bad as i imagined from the other posts"
"Enthusiasm of the tour guides, they were really happy to be there. The neighborhood is really diverse."
"the students made it seem like there is little competition between them"
"Organized. Our group of interviewee's were told exactly where to go and what to expect next before and after interview. I was brought back to office by my interviewer."
"The students speak very highly of their classmates and the supportive environment that exists there. "
"The tour guides were extremly excited about the school and the depth of clinical exposure. Apparently Downstate has a very relaxed enviornment. It's all about fostering learning and working cohesively with your peers."
"I love that they have the county hospital pretty much as part of the school. That is incredibly convenient. I also thought that both the students we met and the other people I interviewed with seemed like very bright, accomplished people. Also the residency placement record is pretty good."
"How relaxed and easy going my interviewer was."
"The immense size of the facility. The school and its affiliated hospitals etc took up a few city blocks. Diversity of not only student body and patients, but of the area itself. Im taking about food. THey had a "roti" stand outside next to a hot dog vendor. You cant get more NY than that."
"The enthusiasm of the students about the school"
"The school, despite its poor facilities and location, really prepares its students well for the world of medicine. The clinical experience is supposedly superb, the patient population is so diverse that you will see everything and anything, and you will actually be active in treating patients. "
"Enthusiasm of students, deeper understanding of curriculum."
"The quality of the clinical experience, and that the students seemed genuinely happy to be there. Everyone was very friendly."
"The students. They all seemed very close, enthusiastic and helpful. They had a "cooperate to graduate" attitude. So did the other interviewees that were there, now that I think about it. I liked that there was an air of cooperative learning rather than competition. I was a big fan of the amount of experience and exposure even 1st year students got to patient care. I didn't get to see the inside but the new hospital was really nice. Brand new! Finally I was a big fan of how compact the campus was. "
"The office staff and students were very nice."
"the tour guides were very friendly"
"School curriculum"
"Students' enthusiasm and diversity of the student body."
"Great clinical exposure, diverse student body. "
"How friendly the staff and students were. The interview was very low stress."
"the enthusiasm of the med student. the availability of patient contact at the clinical rotations"
"My interviewer was so wonderful to talk to and spoke very highly of the students and faculty. We had a really great conversation and I felt completely at ease."
"The students were really nice, very enthusiastic. The proximity to the hospitals is nice. The case based learning is a big plus."
"The interview was a "getting to know u more thing" after the admin stuff in my file."
"Nice students. Excellent clinical experience."
"I liked the location, 20 minutes from lower manhatten, short walk to the train, IT IS NOT IN THAT BAD OF A NEIGHBORHOOD. Come on people, it's Brooklyn. And the neighborhood is a plus because you have such an amazing patient population and the opportunity to work in an underserved area as opposed to practicing boutique medicine in Manhatten (though this is still an option as they have associations with medical school's there). Student's were enthusiastic, facilities were nice just old because the medical school itself is old. Lots of interesting research happening at this school. It was at the top of my list when I went and the interview day really solidified that for me."
"The interview. I was grilled, but it was the style of the interviewer. I left with a very possitive feeling. "
"I actually liked location. It will facilitate a very hands on experience. "
"case based learning is big"
"The hosptial being in the same building as the school, with another one right across the street. Also there are many hospitals all around the NY area that you can do your clinical work in."
"the admissions staff is wonderful! they have great clinical experiences "
"Integrated curriculum, big trauma center across the street, small group study space."
"The genuninely nice faculty and students. They really wanted you to like downstate. "
"The place seems to be very friendly, students seem happy, and the dorms are pretty nice"
"The clinical experience is really outstanding! Students there have opportunities those at other schools don't have."
"the students really go out of their way to help each other out, some nice clinical sites, the individual 24-hour carrels are a nice touch"
"Everyone was nice and the students seemed happy to be there."
"the students' honest impressions of the school; the upperclassmen serve as a really useful support system for the 1st/2nd years; the school really wants to provide its students with the best opportunities possible (including research, study abroad)"
"The students and faculty that i met were WONDERFUL. The first years seemed very happy and so laid back. Literally TWENTY hospitals to do your 3rd and 4th year rotations in (plus a few international hospitals). The location is great -- 25mins on the subway to Union Square (NYC), 15mins to Park Slope, and honestly Flatbush, BK is a pretty nice area (if you're used to urban life). "
"Support systems available for students;diverse patient population; enthusiasm of current students for their school; and just about everything else"
"The enthusiasm of the tour guides and how much they love the school. The great experience you receive in the clinical years. "
"The block system"
"I was really impressed by the way the curriculum was established. Also the availability for academic support was a very positive aspect of the school. "
"Everyone (faculty, students, security personnel) seemed real welcoming and friendly. The students who gave us the tour told us we would see things here that we wouldn't see anywhere else due to the large diversity in the area. Plus, we get huge clinical exposure and research opportunities. "
"students seemed really happy."
"nothing really stood out"
"the wireless internet in the dorms and library "
"my interviewer was a very friendly physician, i felt like i was getting to know her as she was getting to know me...she was very open about her thoughts about the school"
"Student Tour Guides"
"The diversity of the school and surroundings and the clinical exposure."
"The proximity of dorms, hospital to the school, the multicultural community, the students there seem very non-competitive with each other and seem to work together"
"friendly staff! Everyone was so nice!"
"The entire school. Somepeople look down on the school because its not top quaility but for me I like it, gave me a sense of nitty gritty, that the adminstration doesn't want to make it all pretty just functional."
"the clinical experience, their block scheduling although most schools do it now"
"kings' county hospital and university hospital; they'rea cross from each other"
"very friendly and helpful administration"
"everyone at the school was VERY nice, the student tour guides were very helpful and they seemed very happy to be at downstate and not too stressed"
"the clinical opportunities."
"Someone personally escorts you from the waiting area to your interviewer."
"The students and faculty are super down-to-earth. They were honest about things that were obviously not great about the school: ie, the bad neighborhood, the pain of parking, etc. I loved the atmosphere,the guarantee of working with underserved populations"
"great clinical experience"
"The students seemed like they were really happy there, and everyone raves about Kings Hospital being an excellent experience during your 3rd and 4th years"
"the amount of clinical exposure that Downstate med students experience"
"honesty of the students giving the tour, friendliness of admissions staff"
"The people are really nice, the students seem happy and Kings County Hospital seems to be an amazing place to get your training. (The anatomy labs weren't bad as many on this site have said)."
"The enthusiastic students... you can tell that they really like the school. Anatomy labs aren't as bad as they are made out to be on this site."
"Interviewer was awesome, I really clicked with the person, and I was impressed with his comment that Downstate graduates do have many options available to them for residency"
"The attitude at Downstate- their commitment to use medicine to serve the underpriviliged"
"Students seemed laid back and liked the school. P/F grading limits competitive atmosphere and encourages people to share resources and help each other."
"They have an admissions person find you and take you to your interview, so there's no worrying about making it on time or finding the place."
"The interviewer and the staff in general were very friendly and accomodating. Also met a med student in the hall who was so nice that she even gave me her phone number to call in case I have any questions. "
"The niceness of the staff, the satisfaction of the students"
"People are positive, diverse, and friendly."
"the staff was extremely nice. When we were taking a tour and walking down the hallway, the current student were wishing us good luck as they were passing by. Everyone seems very happy to go there. The directions to campus very also very precise."
"Good facilities for studying."
"The people there are amazingly nice. "
"the clinical exposure phenomenal"
"1)The students seemed happy, they didn't look washed up and depressed. 2) University Hospital is attached to the school and King's county hospital is literally across the street."
"the neighborhood (not nearly as bad as I expected), the students I met, the hands-on experience you get there"
"My interviewer was very nice and supportive even when I responded to her question about a weakness in my candidacy. The people at Downstate are friendly, and the day was organized and short. "
"Not much... friendly staff and really nice interviewer plus the clinical exposure that's possible there."
"I was pleasantly surprised with the school, after reading a lot of the negative feedback, I was very nervous about my interview. The campus is not spectacular, however the students seem very nice and the faculty seems very down to earth. As for the cadaver labs, I thought they were fine, I mean seriously, ITS A CADAVER LAB PEOPLE, not the Plaza Hotel."
"Very laid back. People seem very nice and helpful. The great clinical experience the school has to offer. "
"The interviewer-- he was incredibly nice and made me feel less nervous. "
"Students seem genuinely happy there, and the clinical experience is unparalled. The neighborhood is not nearly as bad as I was led to believe upon reading so many negative reviews from the SDN. If you've ever been to true urban areas, this is nothing new. Everyone I spoke with from both the school and community was very friendly. "
"clinical training is great, school has a lot of involvement in community, people are down to earth. its possible to change your state of residency and switch to instate tuition."
"Attitude of the students, staff and faculty. Contrary to some of the posts on this site, everyone was amicable and friendly. Really helpful."
"The school provides the ability to get early clinical exposure and is also as far as urban based medicine goes i think one of the best places to end up. they are very involved in the community and the dorms look pretty decent i dont know why everyone was putting the neighborhood down i mean if you have spent any time in NYC you know what to expect"
"high percentage of first-choice residency program matches for graduating seniors, students were helpful and laid back, they really seemed to enjoy their school, the amount of clinical exposure students get starting even in their first year (our tour guide was a 2nd year who had actually delivered a baby on her first shadowing visit her 1st year)"
"the staff and my interviewer were EXTREMELY friendly and warm. I was walked to my interviewer's office and walked back down to Admissions, which was a first. "
"Downstate sees very interesting cases and services a very specific population. By practicing medicine there, you are definitely able to make a difference."
"Very good school with great facilities. CLinical exposure is one of the best in the state. Trauma Center and ER is always busy."
"The interview was SO relaxed and positive. "
"i wish i could say something good for the $300 i spent comming out to interview at this dump."
"The kindness of the admissions staff and esp. the interviewer. I was expecting the worst interview but came out feeling pretty good. The tours were pretty good as the tour guides were very friendly and answered every question thrown at them. The tours were also more extensive than other schools I have visited. The early clinical exposure given to students, and the diversity of cases seen at the hospital. Plus CHEAP TUITION compared to other med schools."
"(1) The tour: Facilities aren't gorgeous (hey, it's Brooklyn) but Downstate students love the school -- Kings County Hospital affiliation is a big plus (interviewer couldn't stop talking about it), residence halls are available (and look decent, though I had to leave tour early to interview), carrols (study rooms) provide individual workspace for each student and are open 24 hours. (2) My interviewer took "open file" to a whole new level: he knew *everything* there was to know about me based on my application and letters of recommendation."
"Mostly everything. My interviewer was so warm and friendly and the students were really genuine. The facilities aren't top notch but they aren't horrid either. Are most of you ppl that snotty about buildings? I don't care about the facilities as long as they are functional and you get a good education and clinial experience. Downstate is nice friendly and offers good exposure to many different cases in brooklyn. "
"Nothing the school and education in general are substandard. Several students told me that they were not very happy with the attitude of many of the professors nor were they happy with the location of the school. "
"The support system. Sub groups of students share a study room w/ the school providing all the books for the semester...very nice study area "
"Great clinical exposure, diverse patient population. orientation of school toward serving the community. Students were content there and chose Downstate over other institutions. "
"All the negative comments written on this site were WRONG. I had a GREAT time visiting Downstate. Everyone was very nice, welcoming, enthusiastic, and answered all the questions I had about the school (even about the negative criticism on this site). The physicians and staff at this school are incredibly dedicated to the Brooklyn community and strive to uphold their mission to serve those who otherwise would not receive good medical care. Downstate offers so many options in early clinical work, study methods, and extracurricular activities. "
"low stress level"
"students LOVE the place and they get an amazing clinical education. the staff and students are really warm and friendly. "
"King's County Hospital-plain and simple! Med students training there see such a wide range of diseases and health concerns that I believe they are more prepared for their residency responsibilities."
"nothing, too many students per cadaver, bad attitude of staff, lack of respect for interviewing students"
"I found the admissions staff and interviewer very nice and helpful."
"early clinical exposure, diversity of the school, library..."
"The group study room was very unique to the school. I liked how within each study room, the school provides you with all the textbook needed for the semester. I liked the organ-based learning system. "
"The clinical opportunities at this school sound AMAZING and the students seem pretty happy. "
"the interviewer seemed really happy to have me there and the students were excited about their school, obviously the clinical experience is amazing, students said they had delivered babies, scrubbed in for tubal ligations, and the surgeon i interviewed with said he would walk a student through an appendectomy if they were interested! awesome! plus, the facilities didn't seem that bad for me, and the area is not terrible, i felt totally safe walking around in my suit and looking like a white boy from the suburbs. eh, i'm used to cities though, so i guess it depends on your own experiences."
"The admissions people were nice. I didn't experience any of the negative energy other applicants seem to have."
"clinical rotations in 3rd year, 1st and 2nd year schedule"
"It is a community hospital with amazing resources for being a public institution"
"The students there seem to like it and were happy with their decision. The amount of clinical experience they got."
"Well, honestly, not much. However, I found Downstate's feature of offering each medical student his own study desk cubby quite unique. The secretary in the admissions office that day was very helpful and supportive. For example, she walked me to my interviewer's office."
"Great clinical education in an urban environment. If you are interested in urban medicine, immigrant health, etc... this may be a good place for you. You will see a wide range of pathologies in the hospital, like malaria."
"students"
"Friendly staff"
"Very warm and positive atmosphere. People here seemed happy."
"The great clinical experience that Downstate offers its students."
"To tell you the truth I wish I had saved my money and time by passing on this interview. "
"I expected the worst after reading this site. I'm not sure where all of you guys are coming from. I came to Downstate very stressed(my flight was delayed, I was late for my interview, etc). The administrators were very accomodating and nice to me, and my interviewer even rescheduled me in for an afternoon slot. My interviewer clearly really liked Downstate, and I got the impression that the clinical experience is better than at most other schools, because at Downstate you can really get "down and dirty". "
"Students leading the tour were hard workers and never missed their classes. Staffs were eager to assist. Interviewer was cordial and attentive. "
"The students seemed happy at the school. It seems like Downstate provides their students with excellent clinical experience."
"nothing"
"not too much. "
"The atmosphere was very laid back. The curriculum includes a block schedule in which you only take one course for about 6 weeks and then move to another course so you never have finals for more than one course. This is very advantageous in my opinion. The faculty and students seemed very nice and welcoming. "
"the international opportunities that students have and the stipend they get, the fact that my interviewer read my application thoroughly and referred to it many times"
"the bredth of pathologies and populations you'd get to see at during clinical years"
"Nothing--- my interviewer was over an hour late and he only stayed for 15 minutes and then said "unless you have any questions I think we are done""
"Diversity of patient population, urban location, organ system-based learning blocks. (Stay in the dorms for FREE!!)"
"Great price. Facilities seemed comprehensive."
"Warmth of staff who seem eager to let students in and get them involved in anything."
"nada."
"nothing. The facilities are horrendous. This school is inexpensive and this no doubt contributes to some of their faculty feeling as though they can be as hostile as they like without reprisal."
"The neighborhood was much better than people said it would be"
"I arrived two nights in advance and slept on a friends floor the first night and in guest housing (a bed) the second night (for free). I took two classes to get a feel for the class and learning style. The notes and transcript service are awesome. The people are REALLY friendly and "chill" is the appropriate word. None of them looked stressed out. All of them really like the organ systems approach. There are LOTS of student activities that go on. I didn't meet anyone that wasn't involved in less than 7 activities. Students have the opportunity to teach "mini-courses" in things such as Yoga, Karate, Swimming, Photography or whatever else they are good at... and as the instructor you can keep the tuition that you set. The web resources are really great... online quizzes and other things. There will be a completely wireless network in a few months. You can apply to be a resident assistant or director in your second year. Discounted tickets are available for broadway shows and the student center is really equipped with a nice pool, gym, and bball court, pool table etc. They have a problem based learning course called CBL, and they also offer early clinical experience. Also, there are electives offered in your first and second year which is pretty rare for medical schools. Everyone gets their own personal workstation outside of the dorms to be able to study and read textbooks. Speaking of textbooks, most people get by without them and use them as supplementary material. You get tested on the notes. The lectures that I attended were not boring (at least I didn't think so). The professors tie in clinical correlates (minimally) with the material they present. The students are really excited about their early clinical experience. The Emergency elective is a shadowing experience so most are psyched about that. "
"My interviewer was extremely friendly, told me to relax right at the start and that we were just going to have a "little chat." Nothing about the interview was scary. The tour guides were friendly too. "
"Opportunities at SUNY and King's County Hospitals, lots of clinical exposure, extremely nice students/faculty/staff, good gym."
"Clinical opportunities are unbelievable! You have a lot of chances to get involved with patients as early as the first year of school."
"The students and faculty were very amiable and approachable. The tour was not too long, but showed key points of the school. My interviewer was very laid-back."
"Admissions staff was very nice"
"Strong clinical preparation and vocal enthusiasm of the students"
"Very nice interviewer and enthusiastic students. Very friendly admissions staff. Strong neuroscience curriculum."
"The fact that my interviewer was as concerned with answering my questions about Downstate as he was about asking me questions. My tour guides were great, too. Downstate's big selling point is the excellent clinical experience, so both my interviewer and tour guides discussed that aspect of the school. It really eroded my previous snobbish attitude about attending a state school."
"Students and faculty all seemed happy to be a part of downstate, and clinical experience at downstate is top notch. You get a real hands-on education at Brooklyn. "
"the students who gave the tour were very nice"
"Student tour guides had very positive attitude towards the school and had good information on classes/dorming/etc. Great clinical sites for 3rd and 4th year rotations."
"The honesty with which everyone (faculty, staff, and students) answered my questions!"
"The facilities are better than people have made them out to be. The clinical exposure is extremely strong - this a prime example of a large system of hospitals serving an underpriveliged, urban patient population."
"dean reassured us that interviews are not stressful"
"The facilites, while not sparkling, are basically comparable to that at other schools I've seen (though fewer computers). The cost - for in state, this school is a serious bargain. The honesty of the students regarding classes, lectures, books. Description of early clinical experiences. Rec facilities are pretty good."
"I liked the fact that it had a sauna and a jacuzzi i think. the recreational facilities were equipped with everything from wieghts to a punching bag. the students were down to earth, they did'nt try to hide anything. they told us that books were not needed, all the notes were given in class and on website, if needed be you can use college books for reference."
"I met with the minority affairs co-director and was impressed with the support they offer."
"The dean of admissions was very, very nice. All of the students seem to think it is a good place to go to school."
"Wasn't as bad as everyone said on here"
"lots of clinical experience for students, close subway stop, everything is nearby (hospitals, dorms, stores, etc)"
"The clinical experiences-- if you are interested in urban medicine, it is a great place to learn"
"the amount of clinical exposure early on"
"how friendly everyone was, how much clinical experience students really get, and how positively the students talked about the school"
"The helpfullness and warmth of all the people"
"STrong clinical exposure early on in medschool. Residents from downstate have an excellent reputation"
"How relaxed the students were. They didn't seem stressed at all."
"the diversity of the student and patient population"
"the cost, quality of primary care experiences"
"King's County Hospital"
"The atmosphere was friendly, everyone seemed like they genuinely wanted me to choose that school. "
"The amount of clinical experience and exposure the student recieve"
"Nothing really. My interviewer didn't ask me too many specific questions, so maybe they didn't really read through my file ahead of time."
"The facilities are very run down and depressing."
"Spent 3 out of my 4.5 hours just waiting, had to write a response to a pictures prompt (just describing a photo), tour was 20 minutes long - not sure if it was because it was rushed or that was all the school had to offer, food was basic and not appealing (I couldn't even finish because about 5 mins into easting I was called to be interviewed)"
"Facilities are a little old."
"Gave vague details about STEP, wouldn’t tell us an average score. Tour was also rushed."
"Meh area around the school, meh food options immediately following the school."
"The neighborhood around the hospital is typical gritty New York, but that's not Downstate's fault. They're the shining light in the middle of it all."
"The hospital facilities/dorms are a little dated. I anticipated this because of feedback I heard from alumni and reviews online."
"4 students per cadaver"
"The facilities/ the dorms"
"The residence halls"
"The facilities are old and look worn, but I can't really say it's unexpected, given how old the school is and its location"
"very little organization to interview day"
"Honestly nothing. The facilities are relatively dilapidated but hold a certain charm. I wish my tour was longer and more in depth"
"The location is terrible, the school itself looks rundown, and the interview felt more like a bored inquisition."
"The dorm rooms."
"The tour was very minimal so I didn't feel like I got a good feel for campus/surrounding area. We had to submit a writing sample that seemed pretty pointless."
"The facilities are a little bit older than expected and the gym could use some work."
"Lunch, and the gym needs some work"
"the surrounding area, some of the student spaces, the gym."
"Nothing really, except the gym hours. Closed on Saturdays?! Really?!"
"Nothing at all.. loved it"
"The buildings are old."
"The lack of formal global health opportunities."
"Facilities. Could've been nicer. But, it's in Brooklyn, what do you expect?"
"That the curriculum is changing in 2013 so the class starting in 2012 won't get to experience some of the positive changes being made. Also the new building won't be complete until 2014."
"Lecture halls were a bit old and decrepit but that's not too bad a flaw"
"Old facilities, ESPECIALLY the gym and student center."
"The wait period between tour and interview. Rather than leaving us in a room with just the other applicants, it might have been better to give us more time to talk to current students and/or faculty."
"He did not let me finish some of my answers."
"Facilities are very run down, and it doesn't feel like the safest neighborhood at night."
"None"
"I thought the students seemed pretty unhappy and unenthusiastic. The school itself was really dreary and the facilities were kind of bare-bones...My interview was also very high stress and the doctor interviewing me asked some pretty insensitive questions. Basically, I'm glad I got into other places."
"nothing :)"
"Pretty short interview day."
"Some older facilities Lunch was really bad; bring food."
"some immediately surrounding neighborhoods are sketchy."
"The facilities aren't the most up to date stuff. But their anatomy lab is new and they are making changes to the curriculum."
"My interviewer had a poor impression of the school. She said some students went to good schools for residency, while some just stayed at Downstate."
"Pretty poor facilities."
"Facilities were definitely a bit run down. Not the greatest area. "
"interview was awkward, but also my first"
"I was not asked a single question about the current health care debate. Obama had addressed the nation the night before, for crying out loud. And I work full-time for Medicaid recipients. I was disappointed that I wasn't asked about that."
"The building are kind of old and run down but what can you expect from a SUNY school. The area is a little ghetto-ish although it's safe according to everyone who lives there."
"I was asked what would you do if you don't get into medical school. I looked at the interviewer and said I WILL get into medical school ;-) Honestly, I don't blame her, my grades in undergrad were atrocious, and she was asking questions to bring the best out in me. "
"run down area, its an urban adventure"
"facilities look old and run down (except for the new anatomy lab). basically didn't see much of anything on the tour. students don't seem too happy/enthusiastic and there doesn't seem to be much camaraderie. no videotaped standardized patient rooms or simulator (though they claim to have the latter). neighborhood is not nice and you'll have to pay more and commute to live in a nicer neighborhood. the only school where they mentioned failing a class as an actual possibility whereas at others it seems they will catch you before you fail. "
"The location is a double-edge sword (bad area, great clinical exposure). Might be a culture shock for someone with little experience in a urban environment."
"location"
"The tour guides were late. My interview (and that of two others) was pushed from 2:00 to 1:00 so the tour for us was cut short. We didn't see the student center or the library and had to eat lunch after the interview, which was plain. My interviewer had not seen my application and asked questions straight from a list. He was skimming the app throughout the interview."
"Neighborhood still isn't great... but that is the price you pay for excellent clinical exposure."
"the dorms are a little bit old...."
"School is in the poor part of Brooklyn. Not much to do around the area. 8 student/carcass in anatomy. although it's two teams of 4 students take turns. it's still not the same as 4 students/carcass."
"the neighborhood directly surrounding the school is not the safest, but there is easy access to nicer areas of Brooklyn as well as Manhattan"
"classrooms were dimly lit, location of the medical center is deep in Brooklyn"
"location (tour guides kept saying the area isn't safe and crime rates are posted on site), facilities were worn down"
"Neighborhood is pretty devoid of cultural life, buildings are old."
"I'm not a fan of NYC in general. I had coffee at the cafeteria before the interview and the people there were so miserable it almost made me want to leave."
"The interview day was disorganized. We sat around in a room for over two hours with no one, but one person to greet us. Also, the buildings are old and residence halls are too expensive considering their condition."
"The students, facilities, and location did not impress me. The tour was given by two students who forgot to show us the library and had nothing interesting to say- just pointed out classrooms and other areas. Also, the whole day was unorganized. I didn't know if I was done and should leave or if there was something else, and no one was there to ask."
"buildings look sort of old"
"the location is pretty awful..."
"the location and facilities"
"facilities are by far the worst i've ever seen. lecture hall was falling apart. anatomy lab was just as run-down as the surrounding neighborhood."
"Of all 7 schools I interviewed, facilities at Downstate ranked 7. It was a bit lacking and depressing. I don't mind the area as much as I will be living in another area."
"The neighborhood, the unfriendly students."
"old, shoddy looking buildings. not such a great neighborhood"
"the traffic is horrible in the morning (busy area), the neighborhood isn't THAT bad but it's still a bad place to be especially at night, 8 people to a body, there is basically NOTHING in the area except for a Key Food and a Duane Reade -_-"
"The neighborhood."
"Place was dirty and far too institutional- even for a hospital. Interviewer was disinterested and wrote 4x more than he inquired"
"It felt like a medical school stuck in the 80's. Students seemed to think that the natural state of a med student was overwhelmed and unhappy. That's not been my experience at any of the other three schools I've interviewed at so far. A large part of that unhappiness seemed to stem from the traditional curriculum (it's organ-based, which is an innovation of the last decade, but it's also taught mostly by a different PhD every lecture and therefore filled with minutiae that the administration seemed to have no interest in filtering out."
"The facilities were a bit old, the area was pretty bad"
"the location, i'm not a fan of the nyc area and I'm very used to and happy with suburban areas in which streets are clean, cars are undamaged and you can actually have personal space but if you like nyc its right there and its very diverse"
"the tour was rushed, we didn't get to see the anatomy labs, it didn't feel like the school was trying to impress me at all or make me want to go there"
"Facilities, neighborhood, interviewer apathy. "
"neighborhood"
"the surrounding neighborhood, but I expected it."
"The buildings WERE a bit run down, but by no means decrepit"
"facilities maitenence issues"
"Lecture hall was a little old but looked adequate. Gym was a prison wieght room. Girls wouldnt like using it"
"nothing to do during down time"
"Neighborhood."
"The neighborhood and the facilities are a bit shabby and run down. "
"poorly organized interview day - I had 2.5 hours of downtime, and wasn't given any way of exploring the hospital. My interviewer was too busy to concentrate on me, and finally gave up and took me down to the floor with him. Be prepared to get all your positive points accross bluntly - you may not have enough time/attention to do it normally. "
"The admissions presentation"
"The old facilities. The INTERVIEWER! I can't help but wonder if my interviewer is typical of the faculty at Downstate, if they are all so stand-offish, removed, and uninterested in students. Other schools I've been to that have been very community-oriented, all faculty I encountered were very interested in meeting interviewees, getting to know you and helping medical students to be the best they can. I didn't get that feel at Downstate. Typical of NYC, I noticed a lot of people who seemed worn out and frustrated...not too many noticably happy people. Also, while you do get a great deal of clinical experience early on, I can't help but wonder how much supervision and assistance you get from faculty. Being that it's a more low-income, urban area with a high patient population and shortage of staff, it may be that the students are being given these opportunities in order to pick up the slack, rather than as constructive learning experiences. "
"Fact that we didn't get to see the library or dorms during the interview"
"Well, location is a given... but its Brooklyn.. what do you expect? "
"The neighborhood is what it is, and that is Brooklyn. But it is so close to Manhattan and the subway ride to midtown is like 30 minutes tops."
"lectures are not video taped, the building is old and not beautiful and warm being as how im always cold. no place to get food outside of downstate building."
"N/A"
"Facilities & Location. The second I crossed the street, dudes were tryin to sell me stuff on the street. Plus there was this really cute girl there whose name I finally got at the end but I will probably never see here again. If you're reading this, thanks for your presence."
"The school is a little run down. The neighborhood does take some getting used to."
"The rooms and the lecture hall definatley need renovating."
"Facilities could definatley use improving"
"The gross anatomy lab looked like a piece of crap and the neighborhood surrounding the neighborhood is pretty dangerous."
"Facilities was bare-bones, old, or decrepit. Neighborhood is not pretty, though it is accessible to Manhattan. "
"Facilities, organization of the admissions and tour."
"facilities, lack of organization and time spent on interview/tour by administration"
"The area is Brooklyn, so kinda run down and old. Housing is pricy for not much. But thats all to be expected"
"The elevators SUCK. yes, the digs are not so swanky."
"The facilities dont have bells and whistles but thats to be expected at a state school."
"Tour guides seemed totally apathetic about their school."
"The neighborhood really does suck. I've been in NYC 16 years, worked in Harlem and be in other so called ''bad'' neighborhoods and never felt so awkward before. It might have been because I was in a suit."
"The surrounding area is a little scary."
"The neighborhood isnt the best, but it wasn't that bad."
"the interviewer was an a s s hole"
"The building kinda sucks but you know that. The area's probably dangerous late at night so just be smart about it."
"the state of the facilities, the area around the school"
"Although everyone I saw seemed happy, the buildings, including hospital and schools seemed old and a bit gloomy."
"The area, but not nearly as bad as everyone makes it sound"
"Everyone says this school is located in the ghetto, and I thought that some of them were overreacting or maybe hadn't actually really seen what bad parts of LA look like for example, but in fact they were all accurate. It is located in the hood. The school is exactly 2 blocks from the metro stop but at night there are vans to take students to the subway TWO BLOCKS because it is so shady. The facilities are also pretty old and run down. The students who gave the tour did not really have much to say and weren't overly enthusiastic. My interviewer definitely gave the impression that this was the first interview she had ever conducted, and it was a little awkward although she was very nice. Overall I didn't get the sense that there is really too much pride or cohesiveness as a school, and lots of people seems to be 22 years old right out of undergrad. "
"Echoing what many other people have stated, the facilities are a bit dreary."
"Facilities, lack of structure of the interview day, 8 per cadavre, the interview"
"Not much. I already expected poor facilities and location."
"Nothing. Honestly, after all that I had heard, I was expecting much worse in terms of neighborhood and facilities. But it was actually better than I had expected."
"The facilities"
"The facilities are a little run down but being renovated. Got stuck in the elevator - but it was kinda our fault. All 15+ of our group squeezed on the elevator with the big sign that said "no more than 10 people." It was actually kind of funny - so that isn't too negative. "
"The location of the school."
"The facilities are falling apart and dirty. The students didn't seem especially accomplished. The clientele consisted of uninsured "lead-pipe beatings," stab wounds, and other gang-related type violence. We didn't even get to see the library. 8 to a cadaver. The neighborhood is dangerous and there is nowhere to shop and nothing to do."
"my interviewer - was odd. "
"condition of the school. its not so bad, but its not that good either"
"Poor condition of the buildings. The lack of admissions office staff presence throughout the day."
"The facilities are decrepit, but I really do think that they would be able to offer their students a clinical experience that is hard to find anywhere else in the country. "
"The facilities looked a little rundown but it seems they are putting a lot of money and time into improving them."
"looked a little dingy. "
"Some of the facilities were a bit dingy, but they were all functional"
"The facilities aren't the greatest. The neighborhood is bad, but not as bad as I had heard."
"When they brought us to the basement, it was still under construction with wire exposed and all. The infrastructure in the school was pretty bad. We got stuck in the elevator but we went to a more modern part of the school--the student center."
"Bad location and not great facilities."
"I had a personal bad experience. I arrived to stay with a student, but the student never showed up. So starting there, I had a really bad impression of the school"
"The facilities seemed a bit dingy, especially the anatomy lab. The fact that so many students commute. The lack of interaction with medical students besides the student tour guides."
"Run down facilities, how the students seemed very unenthusiastic about downstate, 8 to a cadaver, didn't really like the neighborhood"
"Nothing really. The facilities could use some renovation, but all things considered, they are up to acceptable standards. Also, the anatomy labs have two groups of 4 students each working on the same cadaver."
"Location wasn't the best, not everyone was so friendly, dark and old buildings."
"The location in a bad area of Brooklyn. The facilities could be newer. "
"The neighborhood might be on the dangerous side and anatomy lab is in a dark basement. "
"Having lived in Manhattan the last few years, living near Downstate could be difficult."
"nothing to do in area, the labs don't look that great"
"my interviewer, the location (very dreary and boring)"
"Aesthetically the hospital and campus are not the best...but you get such great clinical exposure since the hospital is in the center of an enormous community. "
"The facilities need improvement."
"deep in bk"
"Nothing, thought the school was great"
"Nothing at all. The school is great. "
"campus was a bit gloomy."
"the location and facilities -- but King's County Hospital would be a great place to do rotations"
"The condition of the facilities. The labs are dirty and the buildings are falling apart. The interviewer asserted that some candidates are too good to go to Downstate! "
"where should i start...the location, the people, the facilities, the tour, the dorm, the lunch, kings county hospital, the travel"
"im glad that i brought a snack in my bag because my interview was right after the tour so i had to have a late lunch"
"Interview Waiting room "
"The neighborhood didn't seem too safe."
"Nothing really. "
"we were a little rushed through the tour. But the students were really friendly and open to questions, anyway."
"the facility is even scarier then i imagined, the labs are hurrendous, but hey what do you expect for 18,000$ , plus you are there to get experience"
"didn't get to see much of the facilities (raining, classes being held)"
"The facilities don't look so great but they are serviceable so I didn't really mind. Anesthetics are not the reason I'm going to this med school."
"nothing really"
"i wasn't thrilled with the location, the tour guide told us most students try to study 5 hours a day (8 hours for 2nd years) in addition to class/lab, which is a scary thought.... "
"The area is not the best in the world and the facilities are a bit run down, but you have to realize that some of the buildings have been there for quite some time. They also really promote independent studying. A lot of schools tend to "baby" their med students, but apparently not so much at all over here. "
"the interviewer."
"some of the facilities didn't seem so great, but they were renovating the anatomy labs"
"The neighborhood... not because it is "ghetto" (which I don't think it is) but just that there doesn't seem to be much in the area to do. "
"Possibly the location... but it's what you expect if you know Brooklyn"
"The whole area and buildings were old and run-down, little organization and security was not as tight as I'd expected. "
"Could have been a nicer area."
"It was a nasty rainy day so the school just looked gloomy. And (agian) I didn't feel like I got a fair chance due to my interviewer. "
"None of the students seemed to have chosen the school just because they loved it."
"The school seems so run down. The anatomy labs are scary and the whole place has the atmosphere of a depressing mental hospital ---long gloomy hallways, all rooms look alike, etc. "
"nothing"
"Parking is terrible and the garage is only for MD's and 3rd and 4th years."
"The neighborhood is not the safest I've seen."
"The location isn't the best. The campus is pretty closed off."
"The neighborhood is pretty sketchy"
"There was a lot of construction going on while I was there, so a lot of the buildings looked shabby, i.e. they were missing ceilings."
"the facilities are a bit old, but definitely adequate"
"The facilities are not that nice but the average debt that students graduate with is very reasonable."
"Scary neighborhood, bad facilities."
"Nothing much, the neighborhood isnt the greatest, but it is what you would expect of any major city. "
"the facilities. "
"facilities-- not great, but that's ok :)"
"They didn't have an information or welcome session, the day was pretty much simply the interview, a quick tour (which I missed because my interview ran overtime), and lunch. It could have been much more thorough because I still don't feel I have a great handle on the school. "
"not a beautiful campus. "
"The neighborhood. It's not the safest one in NYC. "
"some of the facilities such as lectures halls were a bit run down and the anatomy lab was pretty bad too."
"the state of the anatomy labs (even though they're supposedly being totally relocated and revamped for next year), the location: even though i used to live in New York, it was a bit tough going back to an area like that since now i'm from northern california, good things about location though: you get lots and lots of clinical and hands-on exposure through the huge hospital across the street"
"the gym; that we were competing for the waitlist =("
"Though you are able to work with an under-served population, the surrounding area seemed a bit scary to actually live in."
"The neighborhood. You can't live too far from the school. Medical students told me that getting mugged or people asking for money is rampant. You need to be in the school/hospital, or stay in your residence that is close to the school. You just don't feel safe there."
"The facilities are really run-down, the building was very poorly ventilated. It seemed like a very depressed atmosphere."
"The rundown building and anatomy lab, they need to go through some major rennovations. the cost is going to increase next year (really the only thing that is attractive here is the price and thats out the window too). Hospital is so undermaintained and students dont look happy. the class rooms are some of the most broken down rooms. class sizes are huge compared to other school ie SUNY Buffalo and Upstate."
"Of course some parts of the building are run down (b/c it is old) however I feel that if you can still learn the same material the same way as everyone else then the ambiance isn't really a bother."
"The weather: It's gonna take a lot for this Southern California boy to get used to the cold east coast winters!"
"The only thing is the area surrounding the school though i was impressed with their security measures. "
"I was told by a med student at Downstate that the teachers at downstate treat their students as inferiors. Professors apparently often jump down students’ throats for asking questions. I don’t understand why because the school sucks and is so run down. Their anatomy lab was one of the worst I have ever seen. Downstate apparently has one of the worst records on safety likely a result of the location and facilities. Most other SUNY schools provide better preparation for the USMLE and residency."
"gross lab was just that...pretty bare, not the top of the line labs I am used to seeing. Although there are 8 students per cadaver, it is staggered so that only 4 students at a time actually work on the body. One team per side...but I wonder what happens for organs that aren't in pairs, like the liver?"
"The long wait between lunch and the afternoon interviews. Didn't get to see dormitories or the university hospital (for good reason - the students doing the tours were volunteers and had a schedule). Also, interview was rushed b/c interviewer had an appt. scheduled after me. "
"facilities were sub par"
"nothing."
"I had some concerns about personal safety if I was around the hospital late in the evening."
"see above"
"The shabby condition of the buildings."
"lunch"
"The facilities weren't very impressive. The food was really bad. I wished that they showed us the dorm rooms."
"It was really cold, the waiting room did not have any heat so I was really cold. The anatomy labs had a bad smell and it was really cold."
"It was really cold, the waiting room did not any heat so we were really cold. The anatomy labs had a bad smell and it was really cold."
"The facilities are a bit old and the cost of living is expensive. "
"they still basically have a/b/c/f system with honors/high pass/pass/fail although the students didn't seem to mind"
"The interviewer was a nice guy, but obviously didn't take too much interest in who I was as a person. The anatomy lab and hallway were literally freezing cold, and the facilities were generally run down (but not horrible). The school assigns 8-10 students per cadaver for anatomy, which seems like way too much. Why pay the same as the other SUNYs for less than half the resources?"
"some of the facilities, housing issues, it is an older school"
"The neighboorhood around the hospital"
"The interview was too long and draining. I got really tired of talking. my mouth was dry. Bring a bottle of water with you for this one."
"I didn't care for the area surrounding the school in the sense that I wouldn't feel comfortable living there or commuting there on a regular basis. The facilities also negatively impressed me because they appeared quite old without much renovation. One of the two student guides that day also negatively impressed me in the sense that he appeared ambivalent towards Downstate. He talked to us about how he chose Downstate over other schools mainly because of the in-state tuition. Finally, my interviewer also left me with a negative impression about Downstate. His tone and attitude made me feel as though he didn't want to be conducting interviews. He would ask me another question before I finished answering the previous one, which increased the stress level of the interview. Some may say that "stress interviews" reveal those applicants who can work well under stress, thus simulating physicians' daily experiences. While this may be so, it certainly didn't leave me with a positive impression about Downstate."
"Things falling apart, but I expected that. The area is pretty rough, even for me, a new yorker. Overall, I'm not sure if this is an ideal place for learning medicine. "
"the buildings are decripit; the staff represented were rude and very unwelcoming. A few of us were spoken to by some of the administrators there and were stunned at their poor attitude."
"facilities & neighborhood"
"The facility looks a bit old."
"The neighborhood is a bit scary. Some of the facilities at the school were falling apart."
"The facilities seemed a little old."
"The interviewer was prejudiced. He seemed very intolerant and judgmental. He also had a chip on his shoulder about so many things re: students."
"The school's not in the best neighborhood. Brooklyn is pretty cool though."
"Feeling out of place on the streets of Brooklyn."
"The neighborhood wasn't that nice. The facilities were not that impressive either. Plus there was a lot of waiting time betweeen the tour and the actual interview."
"the amount of free floating negative energy this school gives off. My interviewer was not a kind man. The last person I would want treating me or someone I cared for"
"The faculty was rude, the admission's office people minus the secretary were stuck up. The dean of admissions seemed very insincere and two faced. I think all of the negative comments on sdn were righton the money"
"The area isn't the greatest but it is Brooklyn, you can't expect anything much better. "
"everything else - the facilities (especially the gym), the tour was disorganized (I was looking forward to see the anatomy labs, but they didn't have the code for the door), the fact that they changed my interview time without telling me, the inferiority complex that they have"
"facilities, neighborhood"
"You sit around waiting all day...they dont schedule the day very well."
"Urban location (not much around the campus), old facilities, slightly apathetic/frustrated vibes from some students."
"Comprehensive facilities were not aesthetically pleasing."
"Facilities could be nicer, but I didn't expect more from brooklyn."
"everything"
"The amount of negative energy given off by the interviewer(s), a fellow applicant said his interviewer was incrediibly inappropriate"
"The school is totally dilapitated. The student tour guides knew nothing about the school. One student told me he only studies 1 hour/day, and "plays video games" on the weekends....and he gets straight A's. Must be a rigorous curriculum! The lecture hall that students spedn their 1st year in is falling apart. The anatomy lab is hidden in the basement and is completely cramped."
"The public showers in the dorm style housing are too short. I had to bend down to wash my hair! The surrounding neighborhood lacks stores and places to eat. There's a pizza place, sandwich place and a dunkin donuts. BUT, the student center has a cafeteria and you can always order takeout. Printing isn't free in the computer labs so you need to buy a printer or fork out 10 cents per page. The way they teach anatomy is fairly unstructured but it gets the job done. The anatomy labs are NOT in a dungeon, however, the hallway they are located in could use some renovation (wires hanging from the ceiling)."
"The student-led tour was a lot more casual than I expected, to the point where I couldn't get excited about anything I was seeing. The anatomy lab itself is not a "dungeon," although it is in the basement and the stairwell that leads to it is really hot. Once inside, it was fine except that it felt a bit too crowded. Also, I didn't like the comments we were getting from students passing us by (like, "oh it's interview season" "go to law school" "don't listen to anything they're saying")"
"Lots of sitting around (although the other interviewees were pretty cool), the neighborhood wasn't that great, and the school is much further out in Brooklyn than I thought it was."
"Facilities and neighborhood aren't exactly pretty. There was a huge lag time between my interview and the student tour! The other candidates and I sat around in the waiting area for over 2 hours!!!!"
"I was a little concerned with the brevity of my interview. 20 minutes is kinda short."
"Where to begin...the interviewer was rude, antagonistic, hostile, racist, and asked illegal questions. the lunch was horrific and cheap. the anatomy labs are in a dungeon. the day was not organized well at all. "
"Nothing much. The facilities weren't as good as the those of other schools I've visited, but they're not that bad."
"We didn't get to visit the dorms. I didn't get asked anything about my research."
"The facilities are nothing fancy. Also, the school-owned housing isn't much more affordable than local independent housing."
"There are no bars or cafes around campus. You must make the 20 min trip to park slope if you want to hang out off campus. "
"The interviewer, Dr. Selzer, is a disgrace to medicine. The second interview, which the school promised would be "blind," was not. He referred to my first interviewer openly in his questions. Also (I'm being serious), there were signs of dementia and other cognitive problems. He and the other interviewer were in the same subfield of psychiatry and undoubtedly knew each other."
"Facilities are old - anatomy lab is like a dungeon, not really well ventilated."
"(nothing that I can think of)"
"The neighborhood is Brooklyn is not nice at all. You have the option of commuting from other parts of NYC, though, so you don't have to live there."
"old facilities"
"Not a very cohesive student body type school. You can tell, in some ways it is an underfunded state school. It just doesn't look pretty."
"I can't think anything negative about the school, i liked it alot, i hope i get in. praise him!"
"The anatomy labs were rather creepy."
"My interviewer was unprepared, and a little cynicial. He kept shuffling through my file, and asked me the same questions about my activities over and over again. "
"Nothing really, i was very impressed with the school. Everyone talking about how its so terrible made it amazing when i saw it."
"horribly rundown facilities. disappointing anatomy lab. did not click with interviewer"
"the surrounding area is not safe, doesn't seem like a place I would want to live (but many students live off-campus)"
"location. Students said it wasn't exactly safe to go out at night in the area around the school."
"the area around the school"
"The area. Its a pretty rundown area"
"the location is a bit of a downer"
"The location and the facilities, esp. the gross anatomy lab."
"not the greatest neighborhood"
"the students, the work level, the facilities"
"The neighborhood and old facilities"
"the attitude of my interviewer"
"Although everyone was friendly, there was not a sense of excitement to be there. The students who gave the tour were very lackadaisical and didn't excite us at all."
"The main building seems to be really old."
"Could have studied the curriculum a bit more in-depth."
"More about Downstate's history"
"That it's difficult to find the 450 building via Google maps."
"Where they wanted us to meet/have our interview (it's in the big, new glass building on Clarkson ave, GPS would take you to the building next to it)."
"That there would be a lot of sitting around waiting."
"They recently changed their admissions timeline, nobody at the interview could speak to when we’d get a decision."
"Would take a subway to the school the day before if possible (during the day) so you know what to look for. Took some time to find the entrance."
"Downstate has an actual Nobel Prize in the lobby where you enter for your interview. I had no idea, and had never seen one in person before."
"I wish I had prepared questions for the financial aid office. You are given an opportunity to meet with them if you'd like."
"Be prepared for any type of interviewer."
"How relaxed the interview would be. Also, I wish I brushed up on the minute details of my research projects ahead of time."
"I wish I knew how much longer it would take to get to the school from my hotel which was only 1.5 miles away during morning traffic. I come from a highly populated area. I was pretty frantic when I realized that I was going to be late, even when I thought I had accounted for traffic. Don't trust Google Maps for time estimates."
"I wish I had known how relaxed the atmosphere would be."
"I read about, but didn't appreciate what the location would be. Which is to say, it sucks."
"It was very relaxed."
"Nothing in particular"
"there was a surprise. I won't spoil it."
"Nothing, I felt prepared."
"That my day would be over by 2:30"
"The feedback here was very valuable, their lunch is not great so eat before or be prepared to eat afterwords."
"There is a writing sample (very simple). Lunch was absolutely terrible so have a big breakfast."
"They give you a bottle of water with lunch so you don't need to bring one yourself"
"Which building was the basic sciences building"
"I would have liked to know more about the current curricular changes, these aren't apparent on the website."
"Writing sample."
"There is a writing sample!"
"The NYC train system"
"How low stress it was"
"The lunch wasn't so good, so don't get too excited lol."
"don't even need to prepare for this interview"
"the valet lot can get full in which case you need to find your own spot... I got lucky though a spot opened up while I was waiting right outside the hospital entrance"
"Not to worry about the interview! It was very relaxed. :)"
"Bad lunch."
"don't be so stressed."
"I wish I had known that the interview was not stressful at all. I had been nervous the entire day waiting for my interview but it went well. they just asked the basic questions. "
"Lunch is lame and rushed. Eat a big breakfast at home and pick 2 of the 4 things they give you to eat."
"The interviewer was so serious and knowledgeable! Hard to say how I did."
"That the entire interview day would be 3.5 hours."
"i didn't have to be so nervous"
"The only place it's really necessary to wear your heels is to the actual interview."
"How to properly look up what subways to take to get here and how long it would take."
"No need to be as nervous as I was"
"Valet parking doesn't take SUVs with roof racks. I had a Nissan Xterra with a rack and they said it was too tall for the underground garage. The lunch consisted of a water bottle, banana, small bag of potato chips, and a turkey and lettuce sandwich, not the most filling."
"I knew this beforehand because I had already visited the campus. If you're driving, give yourself an additional 15-30 minutes to get to the campus--so many traffic lights! Valet parking was great."
"that lunch is not given until the end of the tour so that I would have eaten a bigger breakfast"
"that their lunch would be so crumby so I would have eaten more breakfast"
"The morning and afternoon interviews go on the same tour, so you may end up being there for 6-7 hours as opposed to 2-3 hours."
"That this was going to be a waste of time."
"More about the area. It's located in a bad area of Brooklyn."
"can't see the residence halls during the tour"
"nothing that I didn't already know"
"bring a bullet-proof vest (j/k, but i've heard some crazy stories)"
"Everything was as expected."
"That the students need security escort to get to their apartments becuase the neighborhood is so nasty."
"that there was nothing for you to do outside of the admissions building if you arrive early"
"OOS students can gain NY residency in second year."
"Your previous application is still on file."
"That the MD/MPH wasn't granted by a nationally-accredited school of public health."
"traffic in NYC is horrible, even if you are traveling mid-day. "
"pot holes in brooklyn are dangerous, that they ask you questions straight off a booklet"
"Do NOT wear uncomfortable shoes. I was nearly tearing during the tour."
"This would be completely stress-free/not include many standard questions"
"not much."
"I wish I had prepared more questions to ask the interviewer about the school"
"history of certain clinical and educational innovations that have occurred at downstate"
"Essentials of clinical medicine, PBL learning, 8 students per cadaver"
"That the interviewer would be rude and confrontational."
"A LOT OF TRAFFIC GETTING THERE IF YOU DRIVE!"
"That the interviewer would, depending on his/her specialty, not be very knowledgeable about certain aspects of the medical school curriculum including research opportunities. "
"I now know that Downstate has a very slow admissions process. Don't be surprised if they take 3 months to get back to you or if they send you a ''no decision'' letter. "
"That interviews aren't always held in the school, but at offices around the school as well. "
"There will be a lot of waiting time if you have an early morning or late aftnernoon visit. Other than the info session (maybe 5-10 minutes, not too helpful. nothing you couldn't get from the website), the tour, and lunch (all of which lasts maybe an hour to hour and a half, there are no structured activities. "
"Short interviews are not a bad thing...I got in"
"I was definitely over prepared. The interview could not have been more easy going and relaxed."
"don't do valet!!! park at a lot down the street for less $$"
"N/A"
"This interview was RIGHT after my finals so I had no time to prepare. I wish I knew that my interviewer would really be probing me to see how much I CARED about the school."
"That the interview will be very low stress."
"They don't show you the dorms or Kings County Hospital."
"How I had no reason to be nervous(this was my first interview). "
"I would not have time to sit in on classes yet still have 4 hours of downtime!!!! And all the freaking have to do in the waiting room is read up on downstate or read medical journals. The TV isn't connected to cable and there were no Tapes for the VCR! "
"Nothing new"
"Nothing, I visited the school beforehand, that way I could time how long my trip would be from home (queens)."
"It's MUCH better to have a morning interview than an afternoon interview."
"I wish I had worn more comfortable shoes. "
"where the parking lot is"
"that no matter how well you are prepared for the interview or how many interviews you've had - yout interviewer can just be crazy"
"parking is a little tricky."
"The neighborhood could be intimidating, but was not as bad as people make it out to be. Come on folks, this is NYC. The neighborhood folks are nice, there aren't alot of bars on the windows until you start traveling south east of the campus."
"That most students commute to the school."
"Nothing. I made a practice run down to the school previously to time how long I would need to get there. I recommend this if you are in the NYC area."
"That sometimes no matter how well prepared you are -- you're interviewer can just be crazy! "
"According to a faculty member, the patient population is not as diverse as I thought."
"If your interviewer looks like he's sleeping/looks like he's staring out the window/is hunched over the desk and looks like he's not paying attention to what you're saying, KEEP ON TALKING!!! Don't get discouraged, just yammer on. "
"How difficult it would be to find parking."
" "
"That driving 90 miles to Brooklyn would have taken 3 1/2 hours."
"The ride was pretty long."
"The MRI was invented there, I thought that was interesting."
"SUNY is NOT close to Manhattan"
"how confusing it would be to drive around brooklyn"
"No matter what time you go, there will be some traffic. Leave extra time, even if you aren't going at rush hour."
"That the school is better than what I expected. Maybe I would have prepared more if I knew about that. I decided after my tour that I wanna go there, but by then it was interview time. "
"I wish I had known that the 5 also travelled down to Downstate. "
"how deep in Brooklyn this school really is"
"the facilities are a lot nicer than people make them out to be. i expected the anatomy labs to look like holy hell, but,surprisingly, they were nicer than the ones at a few of the schools i've visited."
"MDs at Downstate won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1998 and 40% of first years live in the dorms across the street."
"Nothing. It's helpful, though, to visit SUNY Downstate before your interview so that you'll know where the admissions office is located. Since I was not from the area, I knew that I had to visit the school in advance so that I would not get lost on my interview date."
"The new renovations at the hospital. There is going to be a new surgery ward that should be completed by the end of this academic year. "
"That I was wasting my time considering Downstate "
"the location is scary, the facilities are horrible"
"should've tried to find on-street parking rather than paying $10 for valet"
"How friendly everyone was"
"That it was going to be so cold that day!"
"I wish I had eaten a little more b/c I did not get to each lunch there."
"that there was no parking, and even if they tell you that you can vallet, don't believe it the valet guys were not even in sight"
"though downstate has the reputation of being "scary", i found it to be like any other new york neighborhood. it didn't seem dangerous at all."
"There were no surprises-but I live nearby so I knew the neighborhood and knew about the school"
"there would be no breakfast."
"Nothing. A friend had shown me around the school prior to my interview. But on the tour, they don't show people the dorms, which are nothing marvel at."
"nothing, i was suprised at how much i liked the school!"
"more about the area the school is in"
"I wish i read over my AMCAS application a little more so that i could repeat everything i did because they asked me in the interview to tell them all the volunteer activities that i did, and i didn't remember all of them. So i listed a few of them, but definitely forgot other ones. So knowing your AMCAS applications means being able to recite everything on it without hesitation."
"The directions from the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel say to take the Prospect Expressway, but that exit is closed until 11 AM. So, I was late to my interview, but they were really nice about it!"
"Not much. I was pretty familiar with the school."
"that the B-44 bus will drop you off in front of the main hospital building"
"That I would be asked about the economics of medicine."
"That there wasn't an info session. Just a tour. And they left without me because my interview went long."
"It's hard to find a cup of coffee in the neighborhood."
"That only 50% of students actually get on campus housing."
"nothing"
"Nothing."
"The facilities are a bit old, but everyone is realyl nice, and it's one of the best places in the country to do the clinical rotations. "
"All those comments about the faculty and school are all lies. Downstate is great "
"I wished that I had known that the people who posted negative comments about the neighborhood are obviously suburbanites or country bumpkins, since Downstate is in a typical new york city neighborhood."
"that you can't park in the parking garage yourself, the valet people have to do it"
"I would stick out like a sore thumb there."
"The nice people in admissions offer to hold on to your back pack while you go into the waiting room. Silly me, I left my IPod in my bag. You end up waiting a long time between interviews and tours and such. So bring some music and something to read."
"The transfer station for the R train to the #2 train is actually Pacific Street, not Nevins St, as the website indicated. "
"i should have brought a book or something. depending on your interview time, you may wait a while after your interview but before the lunch and tour."
"That its a 2 hour subway ride from my home in queens and I should have allotted more time. The fabulous NYC MTA decided to take a chill pill in the middle of the transit and stayed immboile for an hour. Adding to that, the subway car was boiling! By the time I got to the school (over an hour late) I looked like I got out of the shower. Luckily I only missed the tour and got there just in time for my interview."
"nothing really."
"i'm really impressed with the school. yeah, it is in a not so great part of the city, but what do you expect?...their matches are impressive"
"Apparently, Downstate is very strong when it comes to producing physicians that end up on the faculties of other schools. I believe they said they were #7 in the country."
"The part of Brooklyn that Downstate is located is notorious for crime/gang activity. "
"Make sure you bring your own bottles of water as they don't serve refreshments in the waiting room. Also, how long I would have to wait between the tour and the interview...2 hours!"
"that the price is going to go up next year. and that i wouldnt attend this school even if i wasnt excepted anywhere else (thank g-d i was though)"
"Bring some water with you because it is a long time before lunch and there are no refreshments in the waiting area."
"(1) That there's no reason to be nervous: Downstate interviews are more like conversations than anything else. (2) That many New Yorkers don't even know the area well, so don't feel bad if you're an out-of-state applicant. (3) That Downstate doesn't give "stress interviews," so relax. (4) That your interviewer is really on your side, trying to get lots of information out of you to convince the admissions committee that you should be accepted."
"That you can have an interview in another building outside of the basic science building where the admissions office is located"
"How bad a school downstate really was so that I wouldn’t waste my time or money going to the interview"
"there is a shuttle service that goes to and from the subway...could've saved me a couple of bunions, and frostbite."
"That it wasn't as bad as people have made the school out to be. Anatomy labs were much smaller than I thought they would be. "
"knew a lot about the school ahead of time, so i was prepared."
"How helpful the student guides would be."
"that I will not go here. "
"This was my first interview, and so I wish that I had looked more carefully at my AMCAS application."
"That the school was about 6 blocks from the subway station because it was cold and I wasn't wearing the most comfortable shoes!!!"
"Eat beforehand."
"That I would be interrogated about my grades"
"That I would drilled about my grades"
"that drivers in manhattan don't know their way around brooklyn very well, although he got me there."
"That it would be a total waste of time and money."
"many first year students live in on-campus housing which can be good or bad"
"That there is a lot of walking up and down stairs. "
"how tough this school really is. "
"I wish I had given myself more time to travel to Downstate. That morning, there was a long delay with the subway lines to Brooklyn, so I arrived late."
"Not much, this website says it all. "
"I should have heeded the comments on this website. Whereas, there are obviously some decent people at downstate, like everywhere else, the rotten apples far outweigh the good ones. Personally, if you have been accepted elsewhere, I would spare yourself the financial expense of visiting this school-- the broad spectrum of depts and persons I encountered were not indicative of a place that I would send a healthy person, never mind a sick one"
"That skipping this interview would have been a good thing. I would say that my interview expereince was so negative, that should I get in, I will not attend this school."
"I assumed a cab driver would know how to get there from the airport. He had no idea, and we ended up asking random pedestrians where to go."
"I had to eat my lunch in 5 minutes."
"that the faculty here were so emotionally troubled."
"that I should have saved myself the expense of attending this particular interview"
"Traffic"
"That having enough time to eat lunch is not guaranteed, so make sure I don't come there hungry"
"The waiting room and the hospital are very warm...they have the heat on very high!"
"Urban desolation (you had to be there...)"
"They are all very proud of the 1998 Nobel Prize winning research that was done there."
"Plan extra travel time."
"that I should not have wasted money applying to this trash pit"
"That this medical school is a complete waste of time"
"How bad the school is"
"There is a shuttle service from the school to the nearest subway stop due to safety precautions. (a very positive feature if you ask me) The people are really down to Earth and 99% are not cut-throat competitive. The class size is fairly large, and there isn't much in the way of personal attention BUT if you went to a large university as I did, then you know any experience is what YOU make of it. You can always seek advising and get it."
"I've seen cadavers before, but I didn't realize we were going to see all the students working on them in the anatomy lab. "
"Debt is high for a public school!"
"That there's a lot of waiting time. Bring something to read!"
"Leave extra time for travel- more than you think you'd need."
"That my interviewer was a jerk and that he would try to attack me (to no avail) for 60 minutes."
"Nothing really. My dad went to Downstate, so he briefed me pretty well."
"That the administration has a poor sense of the kind of people their faculty are"
"Directions to the school arent too good on the website. Stress was placed on past community service?"
"Although it's better than the other SUNYs, it's extremely difficult to get into from out of state."
"How nervous some of these out-of-towners get when confronted by an urban, lower-class neighborhood."
"if you are late, and it is trully not your fault, you won;'t be penalized for it, as long as you apologize. (I was 30 minutes late, traffic, and gettign lost)"
"Nothing really. it was really easy to find everything."
"how easy it was to get there from Manhattan"
"to order a vegetarian lunch, there were no veggies options. "
"that I wouldn't really want to go here"
"Positive experience. Interviewer was super friendly and easy to talk to. Questions were also very straightforward, but gave many opportunities to say something interesting about myself (hobbies, interests, etc). Felt respected as a candidate."
"Overall interviewing with Downstate was a very positive experience."
"It seems like this school is lacking in funding. We were told point blank that scholarship money is limited to about $5,000 to $10,000 per student per year (if they even qualify). The facilities look as though they haven't been updated in 30 years; everything from the interview waiting room furniture to the equipment of the student gym look worn and beat down. Anatomy lab was nice, though."
"Be prepared to wait, write a paragraph about a picture, and talk about any red flags on your application."
"Great school with outstanding clinical experiences"
"The only in-state school located within NYC. As expected, the facilities are not nearly as nice as the NYC private schools, but you cannot beat the price, so weigh your pros and cons. Interview was more relaxed than I thought, and the two tour guides seemed to genuinely enjoy their experience and classmates. The renovated School of Public Health just finished up this year (2019) which shares some facilities (library, study spaces, etc.) with the med school. New clinical simulation center as well. The area around the subway entrance seemed rough but closer to the school seemed safe. Many students of different years spoke honestly about the area and it seems that most of them commute to the school (10 mins of walking around) and have never run into trouble. However, the consensus was that the food options were subpar, though most students move to the nicer Brooklyn areas (10 mins) after year 1 or 2. Dorms are essentially connected to the school and are both (very) safe and fairly affordable (especially for NYC). If you have time afterwards, I would check out the dorms as we did not get to during our tour. Overall, they have an impressive match list and Step1 scores, are one of the oldest and most established institutions in the country, and offer a myraid of unique clinical experiences due to its broad hospital system which encompasses different patient populations. Plus, true P/F and non-mandatory lectures are a huge bonus. I turned down two other NY school acceptances, and look forward to my time here."
"The interview is like an interrogation. The interviewer just writes a summary letter and passes it on to the adcom (they don't sit on the adcom). Try to answer questions straight forwardly and quickly so you can get through them all and give maximum info to the adcom. Also, they love clinical experience and people who understand Brooklyn for what it is. All the faculty/staff I met were superlatively helpful and genuine."
"Great school with a great reputation. The aesthetics won't blow your skirt up, but hey, you aren't paying for a nice view."
"Great interview and great school!"
"The students were evidently very happy with their school and made some great selling points about the clinical education provided here, many of which I didn't think about prior to interviewing here."
"Had a good time at the interview"
"I really loved this school. The new program is great, and the interview day was incredible"
"Pretty good place and in a great area for clinical exposure."
"Waaaay more excited about this school now than before I interviewed here!"
"Overall, I really liked the school, the students and faculty there, and the new curriculum. Plus, its cost cannot be beaten by other schools. I will seriously consider SUNY Downstate if I get in."
"Great and short interview day, great school!!"
"Loved it. Hope I get in here."
"I really enjoyed my experience. The interviewer has a form that he/she will fill out throught your conversation. The form includes specific questions that the committee has for your particular file and it also includes more standard questions. The interview was a bit on the long side but I really liked my interviewer."
"The interviewer is given a list of standard questions to ask. The whole process is very low stress and informative. The tour could have been a bit longer to include the dorms and other facilities. Overall, I had a good experience but have nothing to compare it to as it was my first interview."
"Great school. I really enjoyed it despite the dinginess of the faclities. I think it's meant for people who are very clinically focused, and don't mind getting their hands dirty early. This also means being thrown into the fire as well."
"I really enjoyed my interview day at Downstate. I thought that the admissions staff was very nice to us, and the interview was not a stress interview"
"Was kinda intimidated by interviewer. It was my first, so that was probably the reason, but the interviewer did not make it any easier for me."
"My interviewer had a form from which he read pre-determined questions. There were also some handwritten questions regarding 'gaps' in my application that had been handwritten by the adcom. These centered on things like the 'W' on my transcript and the lack of shadowing."
"Great faculty! Pretty shady neighborhood.. Good school though."
"Just be straight on those questions and try to think of questions to ask interviewer based on specialty and area of interest which they tell you right beforehand"
"This school seemed really behind the times and I was previously really excited about potentially going to downstate until I actually visited..."
"The interview went smoothly and seemed only slightly more structured than a casual conversation. The tour was terrible - the students didn't show us the dorms even after someone asked and didn't show us the hospital. One of the tour guides made a rambling speech which boiled down to "P=MD is a very common attitude at this institution." The facilities were sub-par, as was lunch. The dean of admissions lacked the passion that the admissions officers of many other schools have. Overall, I am still attracted to Downstate due to the opportunities its affiliated clinical sites provide, but the few hours I spent there on the interview day were very discouraging."
"waiting room was hot."
"I love the school and the neighborhood. The school may look a little run down on the outside but it is very nice and welcoming on the inside!"
"The day only lasted 3.5 hours for me. The area was not scary at all during the day."
"everyone was kind and laid back. a little anecdote...I went to the campus the day before to check it out and an administrator came up to me, introduced himself, answered questions, showed me around. the anatomy lab looks awesome. students/tour guides were nice. textbook urban setting but great clinical experience. interview was more like a conversation and time flew by."
"It's a pretty nice place to go to school. The area isnt the nicest but its tolerable. The students seem cool and so are the doctors that interview you. Also, there is someone that walks you to your interview room which is pretty nice. Lunch wasnt much just a sandwich, an apple, a small bag of chips and water. But I missed out on lunch with the med students because I had to go to my interview"
"The area is not as bad as some make it sound. Campus security is really tight and campus crime rate is low."
"My interview lasted quite a while, probably close to 90 minutes."
"They do have a student host program that you should take advantage of especially for out-of-state applicants."
"Not exactly my first choice but it's my earliest interview and I'm IS so I get tuition reduction which is nice. "
"It's a nice school. If you have good grades, clinical experience you have a good chance of getting in. for me... i'm keeping my fingers crossed."
"the interviewers knows everything about you. lunch wasnt great at all"
"this school was a big disappointment and is overly hyped. their selling point is the "clinical experience" which is a consequence of their location and nothing else. "
"My interviewer, although nice towards me, seemed to be rather harried and frustrated that day. We kept getting interrupted constantly, so the interview itself was a bit choppy and rather quick. I did my best to convey my interest in the school and answer the questions (all of which were pretty standard) in the time alotted. Keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for the best."
"1v1 Informal Interview. My interviewer seemed very uninterested from the beginning and hurried through (didnt really make much eye contact). Several students I know confirmed the fact that this was the exception and not the rule, but from looking at SDN it seems like Downstate has a higher frequency than other schools"
"He asked me at the end about what other schools I applied to, then said "I'm sure you'll be fine"- greaaaat"
"Very conversational, very chilled out interview... but of course as anywhere, it depends who you get."
"The neighborhood is not as bad as it's made out to be...The school is really into being a healthcare provider for the uninsured and that's what makes it great and unique....Tuition is cheap even for out of state..."
"The admissions committee was extremely friendly and accommodating. The medical students were open, honest, and very informative. They were all different in their approaches to medical school, which was much appreciated."
"downstate is a nice school but the area can distract you from seeing the positives"
"More relaxed than I thought it would be; my interviewer did not ask any difficult ethical questions or grill me about my application."
"Going into the interview, I had pretty much no desire to go to Downstate. I went to school in NYC and was completely sick of it and only applied because it would be cheap for me and I thought I had a good chance of getting in. I ended up really loving the school and being really impressed with all the opportunities I would have there. I realized it's about deciding what's more important for me, location or clinical experience."
"Revamp the interview process."
"I was very interested in this school before the visit but the whole experience turned me off. I'm only going there now if I don't get accepted anywhere else."
"the school is conveniently located next to the subway station"
"if the location were better, i would adore this school. I was really nervous for the interview, it was my first, but the guy seemed nice although the interview was only 15-20min instead of 45-60min."
"Very low stress. The tour guides emphasized the great clinical program downstate has to offer. I like the fact that there's clinical exposure first year. The tour felt a little rushed and we didn't get to see the dorms. Valet parking was expensive - $10. No street parking available. "
"overall the interview itself was not stressful. director of admissions (who is very nice, maybe too nice) was pretty firm about not giving stress interviews for admission. but there was an INCREDIBLE amount of downtime. basically they wanted me to come in at 9am for my interview. the interview ended up coming about an hour late and i finished around 10:30 or so. the tour/lunch did not start until 12:30. so we just sat there in waiting room for basically 2 hours watching this video about the history of brooklyn and how wondeful it is to live there. the tape actually ended and we ended up watching the damned thing twice. i fell asleep waiting. so overall, the interview day seemed extremely disorganized."
"I came out of the interview feeling great about the school."
"This was one of, if not the worst interviews I had. The guy brought me into a room the size of a closet, with no windows, and a calendar hanging by a wire hanger. I don't think he asked me anything! He would ask something, get half way through, and the phone would ring. He would sit on the phone for 5 full minutes, and then ask a completely new question...never giving me the chance to answer the first one!! This happened repeatedly until we ran out of time. He never asked me anything, and I never answered. I sat and watched him talk on the phone to colleagues. Terrible. Disrespectful. I came all the way out here and was given zero chance to represent myself. I am now a fourth year med student who has interviewed many people, and have attendings as friends...and realize now how inappropriate that was. Heads up to those interviewing."
"overall - it was a positive experience. i think they have a list of questions they have to ask (like ''how did you study for the mcats?'') students seemed to be happy, not really stressed out. lots of opportunity to get involved in and around school. there was a bit of a lag time between the end of the tour and actual interview (i had 1.5 hours to kill). otherwise, good"
"All the interviewers had a list of questions to ask you. Some went down the list and just asked you questions. For me, my interviewer asked questions in a little more conversational tone. He was relatively nice but grilling me at the same time. Still relaxed, so nothing major to worry about. "
"The interview was a little unconventional. Unlike at other schools that I have interviewed at, everyone here was assigned an interview slot. Not everyone showed up at the same time. The interview was followed by a Q&A session, campus tour, and lunch. Each interviewee was asked to write down 3 questions on a 3x5 and the questions were asked anonymously in the Q&A session."
"Sadly dry and awkward. Both guarded- no connection."
"For the $60k difference over four years vs. Cornell or Sinai, it's just not worth it to go here."
"Honestly I have never written one of these things and this will probably be the only review I will write for SDN, and it is solely for the purpose of giving people hope. I waited so long to write this because I wanted to see what the judgement was on my file before voicing my concerns about my interviewer. The man who interviewed me was rude, short, and would intentionally phrase questions to criticize my application. He asked questions like, ''why didn't you retake the MCAT?'' and ''Why did you major in Biology if you did so poorly in it?'' -both of which I felt like were unfair and/or untrue. At the closing of the interview the man stood up and said ''well if you don't get in here, don't feel bad, we're really looking for some diversity, and you really don't fit the bill''. YET, I did get in, apparently this must have been a ''stress'' interview or else the admissions committee doesn'tt really take into account what the interviewer says. My adivce: be prepared for some rude questions, have some well-thought out answers ready (and witty responses), and you will be fine. Don't let the interviewer's attitude taint your visit as I did. "
"The interviewer was very nice, as were the majority of persons there, the medical students were awesome and seemed really happy with their decisions. They also said they moved away from the area and only go to the school when necessary bc everything is podcasted. The area is creepy as anything I've ever seen but I may just be sheltered"
"Very relaxed. Student tour for 30 minutes. The facilities were fine, nothing great or terrible. The neighborhood isn't that bad, there is just nothing to do in the close vicinity. The admissions office does a good job of pairing you with a doctor in a similar field to your interests/experience (I work in a myeloma research lab and was interviewed by a hem/onc phd). "
"The day was well organized. Staff and students answered our questions and showed us around. The interview itself was pleasant."
"Overall this was a pretty low-stress interview experience. The people in the admissions office are amazingly helpful and friendly. The area is not nearly as bad as everyone makes it out to be- and my interviewer was impressed when I told him I had taked the subway to get there. "
"I showed up early, they parked the car for me (small fee), put us in a room with magazines and 2 computers, waited for awhile. My interviewer was very nice, absolutely no stress. Asked me about my file, what type of doctor I thought I wanted to be... Afterwards there was a student led tour group and free lunch. Hard to say if the interview is matched or not. For some it was...I took a single epidemiology course and got matched with a public health professor."
"I lived with a friend/MS1, who was the main reason why I applied to the school. I came expecting the things that would not impress me so it wasn't too bad. I took the subway from JFK (2-3 hours) and traveled light/inconspicuously to move quickly through the neighborhood. The staff was hardworking, the interview process was brief but organized. My interviewer was a busy clinician, soft spoken and apathetic (as I would expect to be after 10 years of interviewing applicants). He ended up asking me questions that I had already answered earlier in the interview - but I think he meant well in the end. Be sure to pay a visit to Park Slope where many med students live (a more upscale neighborhood)."
"I found the entire process very beneficial. I walked away with a much higher respect for downstate than when I came. My tour guides gave very useful and honest feedback. My interviewer was very nice and relaxed, conversational. "
"It was a good day, the student tour guides were helpful, the interview was low stress. My interviewer seemed interested in what I had to say and had obviously read through my file because he asked specific questions about my clinical experience and extracurriculars"
"Given what I've read so far, I showed up at Downstate, expecting hookers across the street and gang fights! I was pleasantly surprised by the neighbourhood, and the people were very nice. Yes, the campus is not the newest or the shiniest, but the amount of clinical experience would make the place worth it. "
"overall it left a very positive impression"
"Left with a positive impression of the school, students, and faculty. Local area sux but so does inner city New Haven (Yale) and Princeton."
"I had an interviewer with a psychiatrist who ''likes to interrupt''. Horrible experience. She looked at my AMCAS and ripped my life to shreds. I was emotionally damaged for weeks afterward. I went on interviews at 8 other schools and this was BY FAR the worst."
"overall very laid back-- not a stress interview at all- and be prepared for the fact that your interview time could get pushed back if the doctor that is interviewing you is in with a patient. Also make sure you know all of your info inside-out because I think they pair you with someone in your field of interest!"
"Overall it was a very relaxed interview. No weird or strange questions. All questions came from my application."
"I have mixed feelings about the interview, but overall it went well. My interviewer was laid back but serious. It was hard to read him, though; I couldn't tell whether he kinda liked me, didn't like me or didn't care. When I talked about my summer biochemistry research experience, he seemed kinda bored, but I could be reading into that too much. "
"Great. My interviewer and I had a very casual conversation, both addressing what questions the committee wanted resolved, but also about my personal desires about a medical career."
"See above"
"Interview was very laid back, like a conversation-talked for over an hour. Interviewer was very nice and enthusiastic about the school, although could have known more about the preclinical curriculum. Overall very laid back and actually a fun experience."
"My interviewer couldn't make it, but they didn't find out till 10:00AM rolled around and he was a no-show. They got another doctor, who had not looked at my file at all, to interview me. It was stressful at first, but I kept calm. On top of that, my interview was only ~30 min, adding to the post-interview anxiety. Since then, I got in, and am 99.9999991% sure I'm going there in the fall. "
"Relaxed, enjoyable, stress free, and efficient. I had a morning interview and was one my way home by 1."
"really good. changed my mind about being on the fence for med school, the clincal experience gained at downstate is incomparable to any other med school and that is the most important tool to have when you graduate. this school is now my number one. the glitz and glamour of other rural or suburban schools doesn't match the exposure you get at downstate."
"I enjoyed it. It was my first."
"Very helpful admissions staff. Very laid back and informative interviewer. Overall, a quality interview & tour experience."
"Overall a very positive interview experience. The interview was very laid back and my interviewer was well versed in my application before I arrived. Nothing out of the norm, I liked the information packet they hand out, there was some good information available to students. I was a little intimidated by the area, it will take some getting used to."
"I got there around 11:45 and was escorted to the waiting room. An admissions officer came in and welcomed every one to their ''low stress'' interview (she kept stressing the fact that the interviews will be low stress). Then we all went on a tour and had lunch. Afterwards i waited some more for the interviewer. He was an MD and seemed really nice. His tone of voice was especially relaxing. He asked general questions about my application. No tough questions and no ethics. I was impressed with the fact that he is an alum of Downsate. The interview itself did not seem amazingly special, but since then i've been accepted to the school!!!!!"
"Met with the doctor, he asked a few basic questions (why downstate). Basic structure is we chatted a bit, then he'd go into the specific questions that he was supposed to ask (these don't vary student to student) and we'd chat a bit on tangents when it occurred."
"I'm quite familiar with SUNY Downstate so I suppose I'm a bit biased toward the school. I took a class there and now, I conduct clinical research in their ER. Although the school is located in a dangerous neighborhood, it offers an unparalleled, diverse clinical experience for its students and to be honest, that's what all pre-med students are looking for. Plus, it's as cheap as it could get! The only negative experience I had is with the interviewer himself. Frankly, he was a huge prick who seemed completely disinterested with what I was saying and it almost felt like he was trying to give me a hard time on purpose. Words cannot even describe how miserable I felt during the interview. On the other side though, the interview did last for about an hour so I really don't know what to think. I'm crossing my fingers..."
"The interview was fairly intensive, but non-confrontational. I was expected to have significant exposure to my field of interest, which I felt I lacked somewhat. However, my interviewer, a psychiatrist, was very interested in me and my background and I felt I was treated with respect at all times. I was asked many questions relevant to my specific interests. My interviewer did not have too much knowledge of the med school curriculum, though."
"Like the other 11/20 interviewee--was not impressed by admissions office. They kept us waiting a lot and the tour was very disorganized. My interview was good, but filled with plenty of awkward pauses: he would just stop talking, but he didn't ask a question so I didn't really have anything to say."
"All in all it was good, low stress, questions straight forward, not impressed or blown away by the tour, but seems like a nice medical school"
"My interviewer was very relaxed, and was enthusiastic about the school after having been at some much bigger named places."
"Very rewarding. I learned more about the plethora of clinical experiences students have and it seems like a great place to be."
"This was my first interview. I was very nervous the first few minutes and I think it was pretty apparent to my interviewer as we went off topic and spoke about the Yankees. After that I feel I was comfortable and back to being myself. My next interview I'll definitely be more relaxed."
"Get there, meet the other interviewees, get a brief intro. Go on tour and lunch. go back to waiting room. what was a group of 11 before lunch is now a group of three. wait. wait. wait. wait. wait some more. Wait a little bit. Now it is down to two. Wait. Wait. Wait. Share some of the reading material we found interesting. wait. wait. wait. wait. wait. then wait again. And then the other interviewee leaves. I'm in the room all by myself. I wait, wait, wait and then my interviewer comes. I wasn't sure if it was closed or open file but my interviewer definately didn't read the information about me before hand so I wait, wait, wait for him to read up on me and then we have a speedy interview. No very hard questions. I'm not trying to sound angry at the downtime because I wasn't. I was mainly bored and wish I didn't have to go last but the day was pretty enjoyable."
"I enjoyed it. This was my first interview, so I was nervous, but it was a very casual and relaxed day. This website was both good and bad to prepare with. Good because the questions were really identical. EVERY question I was asked I saw on sdn feedbacks (how did u prep for mcats, how do u relieve stress, why medicine, why did u attend your college, why downstate, why can you handle brooklyn). BUT this site also scared me, b/c a lot of the feedbacks are too negative. My interviewer was a great guy, and did not grill me or try to trip me up at all. "
"It wasnt at all stressful. I had an afternoon interview whcih can be both good and bad. One negative thing about having it in the afternoon is that you have to come in a few hours early for the tour and everything, the good part though is after the tour I knew everything about the school and community , so if the interviewer asks any questions about the school or Brooklyn you already have a good idea of both. Overall it was okay, the tour guides were 3rd and 4th year students they were really nice and very helpful, so is the whole staff."
"the interviewer basically told me i couldn't handle downstate bc i grew up in the suburbs and my parents were probably overprotective of me. he really tried to dissuade me from going there. it was a really bizarre interview. i really liked the school though -- everyone seems to love it who goes there."
"quick and low stress."
"It was pretty cool to see the campus. I had heard about Downstate and how they serve alot of the underpriveliged and underserved community around them. The interviewers were really happy they chose downstate and really encouraging to us since we interviewed first round."
"the interviewer asked some tough questions, but overall she tried to be fair about it. There were plenty of "
"My interviewer was very pleasant. It was a strange interview in that he seemed to have his mind made up about me in the beginning. He told me he wanted to ask me some standard questions, since he was taking notes on a formal piece of paper. Surprisingly, he really seemed interested in my personal situation, my mother had cancer, and he is a hem/onc doctor so he asked me a lot about her care and about my family. He asked me about my MCAT score and one of my grades from undergrad (I'm a postbacc). He asked about a difficult situation and how I handled it, what leisure activities, how prepared for mcat, pursue anything in arts or sports?, Asked about clinical experiences, what my research was about, why downstate, which other schools I'm applying to, other interviews. Tour was good, two enthusiastic first years, however wasn't really able to get any information about what they didn't like about the school. I was able to sit in on a lecture b/c I knew a second year. Friendly admissions assistant, ilana. I feel safe in the area, but there doesn't seem like there is anything to do. Overall, I was happy with my interview experience, I really like the opportunity fo hands-on experience, i like that the school is a bit gritty, fits with the whole clinical emphasis of the education."
"My interviewer was really nice and mainly asked details about my school and work history. He enjoyed sharing his philosophy on life, so it was very much a conversation instead of a strict interview format. "
"This was my first interview/guided tour so I don't have anything to compare it to. However, the interviewer was quite pleasant and easy-going as were all the people I met during the tour."
"I thought the interview experience itself was unimpressive. My interviewer didn't seem organized, the student tour seemed sort of apathetic and pointless, and the neighborhood is horrifying. It is a good school though, and if you live in Park Slope and commute back and forth then you don't actually have to live in the ghetto. Overall, it didn't feel that anybody was really trying to sell me on this school. Plus they told us that will hear back in TEN WEEKS. They insist there are still spots open, but ten weeks is insanely long. This is not my first choice school, but the quality of the education means it is not my last choice either. "
"Relaxing interview but nerve racking because it was my first one."
"My interviewer was very outgoing and jollow. We immediately connected and had a pleasant, often very humorous conversation. I wish i could give out his name here. No suprises here. Just the standard questions. "
"Out of the ordinary"
"Informative. Relaxed. The guy just wanted to know the essentials."
"The interview was very casual. The majority of the interviewer's questions were about my personal experiences, not about medicine or my relationship to it. That was a little surprising. I had prepared myself to answer deeper questions about my motivations to go into medicine, or about current issues in medicine. It just never went there. I left knowing I did not blow it, but not really knowing if I had done well."
"I had a bit of a negative impression of Downstate before the interview, but my day there definitely changed my mind. Yeah the facilities are pretty run down but everyone there was happy with their choice to attend. The tour guides were cool which was a plus and my interviewer was great. No hard questions...actually hardly any questions for that matter, we basically just sat and talked for an hour."
"Overall a very positive experience. I interviewed in the hospital so the admissions personnel walked me from the Admissions office to my interviewer. I had to wait a bit but my interviewer was very laid back. The interview was practically zero stress. It was more like a conversation than an interview. He opened with a few questions the committee requested clarification on. He had a few questions of his own which he explained why he was asking then he gave me plenty of time to ask questions myself. Then we talked about his specialty a little bit. He gave me a brief history on the school and walked me back to admissions. Time really flew. It felt like 20 minutes but was actually a little over 60 min."
"Overall I had a good experience. I got there about an hour early, so I had a lot of time to talk with other interviewees. The other students that were interviewing were very nice and friendly. My interview was in the hospital across the street and the interviewer was great. He asked me a few questions about my academic record, but for the most part we just talked about my past experiences in health care and my current research. The tour was a little rushed but there were 5 current students with us, so I was able to ask all of the questions that I had. "
"The interview was fine and not stressful. It was very much based on the AMCAS, which I don't think is the best way to interview. I spent a large part of the time clarifying what exactly I was doing between specific dates (I am a postbacc) since I graduated from college. I talked about my research and the specialty I am interested in (Neurosurgery) and my interviewer told me my current grades wouldn't "cut it" to get into such a competitive specialty. She seemed to really love the school (which she thought was pretty crazy - I did too for that matter, but didn't mention it) and so did quite a few of the other interviewees. Overall, I thought the facilities were horrendous, the location is the worse ghetto you can possibly imagine, and the patient population is going to be bottom-of-barrel. If that is something that you want in a school ("gritty" is the euphemism I have heard) then this could be the place for you. The one thing it does have going for it is that the patient population is largely uninsured or medicare, etc, so medical students are allowed to "practice" on the large patient volume (which would never happen at a private hospital, for example), so you do end up leaving with a very strong set of clinical skills which will serve you well in residency. The neurosurgery program was shut down a few years ago and there is talk of reinstating it but no final word yet (for those interested in that specialty). On the up-side, the neurology residents/med students pick up a lot of the slack that neurosurgery residents would be doing so it could be a good experience. The only wireless is in the library and besides the dorms which are across the street (and you may have to share one small dorm room with another person), you will have to commute to this school because the surrounding neighborhood is depressing and mad shady. To end on a positive note, Kings County is the busiest hospital in the country. If you can grit your teeth and bear it, a medical education at Downstate can serve you well as a resident."
"My interviewer was odd.He interrupted me every time I tried to answer of his questions. He told me my opinions were wrong and gave me lectures. He yelled at me for twiddling my thumbs. He liked to make large sweeping generalization like "mexicans don't have any religion" and "Christians, Catholics ... they're all the same". He also liked to tell me I was wrong at whatever chance he got--even when it was an opinion based question... I really don't know what to think. I tried to stay calm and answer his questions as best i could but who knows..."
"The morning began with an introduction from Admissions office staff, followed by my interview (some students had earlier or later interviews) and then tour. After lunch we were free to go. "
"Very good - the interviewer was very friendly, it was very laid-back."
"I hear that the students you interview with are always a good indication of the type of student body that the school has. The students I was with were so so friendly. One of them even stopped by after her interview to wish my good luck. Overall, I had a great day except at the end of the interview when my interview told me that I hadn't talked enough. But until that point, I thought the interview had been going really well. "
"The tour and lunch with the med students was very informative. They were more than willing to answer all of our questions and to give us their impressions of the school. If you have the 1 pm interview ( I did) be prepared to have an abreviated lunch. Everything there is to know about the school can be found on their website, so I basically used my time at the interview to learn more about student life and activities outside of the classroom. The facilities (including the "famous" anatomy lab) were not as bad as everyone says they are. I actually thought they were quite nice. Overall, I thought my interview went well, but then again it was my first one so I had nothing to compare it to. There were no real difficult questions. The interviewer just wanted to know some more information that wasn't present on my AMCAS and secondary. After about 30-35 the interviewer seemed to be done with all that he wanted to talk to me about and then he asked me if I had any questions. Luckily, I had prepared a few before the interview, otherwise the interview would have been over at that point. I definitely advise coming up with some questions for your interviewer. We were done with the interview in about 45 minutes which I thought was on the short side but I wasn't too concerned becuase I felt that I answered the questions thorouhgly. I enjoyed my visit to SUNY Downstate and look forward to hearing back from them soon. "
"The interview was very relaxed and calm. We talked alot about medicine, my research, her research, and health care delivery. The interview went really long- but it was very enjoyable. We just kept getting side-tracked from the interview questions. "
"Dr. Furchgott, who discovered NO as a signaling molecule in the human body and who won the nobel prize for that research, was a professor at downstate and did research there."
"After a horrendous drive into Brooklyn, during the tail end of rush hour traffic, we were put into a room with several other applicants. We had an informational session and then were taken on a tour. The students were really wonderful and seemed to be extremely happy where they chose to go to school. The facilities were not the best, but again should that be a huge factor in where to go to medical school? My interviewer and I met for 40 minutes. It was a pleasant experience, however I could not get a feeling about how I did, probably not a good sign :( Overall, I did like Downstate more than I thought I would, going to the school really sold me."
"Overall pretty good interview. Not much sweat but we agreed that the decision to "admit" was already decided b4 hand so interview reflects that?"
"Nice interviewer. Not too much stress."
"Overall a really great experience, one of my best interview experiences by far."
"Again, awful overnight experience. After a good info session, there was a tour. One tour guide said she is always tired and lazy and sleeps a lot, so she did not seem too enthusiastic about the school. The other loved SUNY. She did a good job selling the school."
"The interview was definitely more of a stress interview. It was difficult to establish rapport with the interviewer because for the most part, the interviewer was lookiking through my AMCAS application to ask questions. Most of the interview was spent explaining blemishes. The interview became better once it was time for me ask questions. But for the most part, there was a lack of flow between the interviewer and me."
"The interview itself was really pleasant. I thoroughly enjoyed talking to my interviewer and I think the interview itself was the most enjoyable I have had so far (this was my fourth). However starting from the tour it was downhill. The tourguides were extremely unenthusiastic and didn't help us at all get a good idea of what downstate is like. Just to sum it up I know I can cross Downstate off my list. I already got into schools that I liked much better."
"I was planning on parking in their parking garage, but I happend to find parking on the street. The admissions office is right inside the front entrance. I was brought by the admissions secretary to the interview waiting room. A member of the admissions staff then came in and gave a 15 minute overview of the school. We then had 2 students give a tour of the school, which included lunch in the student center. We then returned to the waiting room. My interviewer got stuck in a meeting, so I ended up waiting for a while. A member of the admissions staff then came to bring me to my interview, which was in the hospital (same building though). My interview was with one of the physicians who is a Downstate graduate. The interview was mostly conversational, with nothing too difficult asked. Most questions were about my AMCAS and my experiences. At the end they have you fill out a form evaluating your student tour guides. Overall a positive experience."
"You arrive at the school and check in with the admissions office. The staff escorts you to a comfortable room stocked with books, journals and comfy chairs. You are able to relax and talk to other applicants while you wait for your interview. The admissions staff will meet you in this room and escort you to your interview. The tour covers the anatomy lab (recently remodeled), dorms, and library. "
"Fairly fast-paced and conversational. We covered EVERYTHING you could think of relating to my application -- my interviewer was very very prepared. I had to talk about research I did in 2002-2003, and give really concise summaries of pretty obscure non-medical research. He asked me questions about my work, my school, research, hobbies, extra-curriculars, everything. Honestly, I felt exhausted by the end of the interview, because we'd covered so much. I was never asked questions that I wouldn't know the answers to, though. Things were always on topics with which I had some familiarity, and my interviewer seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say. My interviewer asked me the classic, "How did you realize you wanted to go into medicine?" and I started to answer, but somehow we ended up on this 10-minute diversion on food and cooking. My interviewer was quite pleasant and answered my questions without that condescending or impatient tone that other interviewers have used with me (dude, you know the one... where they're so close to ending the interview that they can't wait to leave)."
"My interview was great. They try to match you up with a faculty member who works in the same field that you are interested in. That made it much easier to discuss why I wanted to go intio medicine. My interview was more like a conversation. He didn't ask any of the typical interview questions. It seemed as if he just wanted to get a feel for me but knew I'd get into the school."
"Horrible to say the least. The school was nice but my interview totally stunk. The interviewer didn't seem too happy with any of my answers and I stuttered while explaining my research and clinical experience, and I didnt say a lot of stuff I wanted to. And at times, I was too honest and didn't try to sell myself enough. And me getting the normal body temperature wrong is definitely not good. I dont think i have a shot here anymore. "
"Overall, it was a very nice experience. The interviewer was genuinely interested in medicine and encouraging others to enter the field. "
"I had a great interviewer (he knew everything about me without even opening up my file), the interview felt like a casual conversation, the students were friendly"
"well, the reason i gave this one a yellow neutral face was because of my interviewer. i really liked everything about the school (aside from the location) and i think i could fit in really well there. however, my interviewer did not give me the time of day whatsoever. i feel almost cheated. she was rude, she interrupted me several times, she had this attitude like she had better things to do, even from the get-go. she also sat facing away from me as she wrote almost the entire time. i feel like i answered my questions the best i could, but who knows what she thought. the only thing i could gather from her was that she obviously had better things to do. i really wish people like her would not decide to be on the admissions committee. i mean, isn't it optional? i hope others have better interview experiences."
"Some people have interviews in the morning (9am or 10am), and others have them in the afternoon (1pm, 2pm, or 3pm). The tour starts at 11am, goes for about 45mins, then you have lunch with your tour guides and some faculty. The first year tour guides took a few students to an anatomy lecture in the afternoon. My interviewer was very friendly and the interview was conversational."
"I enjoyed my experience, despite my nervousness. My interviewer was very friendly and informative. I enjoyed the tour as well, even though freshly fallen snow covered the ground (hence, making it a little difficult to walk in my interview suit and shoes)."
"Basically just asked me about what was written in my AMCAS application."
"great, just waited for the interview to start, waited for 4 hours nothing to eat or drink, and was rushed through lunch, had to carry food to interview"
"Only asked the required questions. Cut me off several times in mid sentence to jump to completely different topics. Almost got the impression that the interviewer was trying to fluster me on purpose. He was extremely kind though, which made it even more confusing. "
"I was a little nervous at first since it was my first interview, but the interview was real laid-back. All the other prospective students said their interviewers were really cool too. "
"my interviewer was really nice and tried to make me relax but I felt he cut me off a bit when I was talking."
"overall, i was happy with what i saw except for the facilities and the location"
"the guy called me in, didnt even introduce himself or even tell me to sit down, and started with "tell me about yourself." half-way through one of my responses, he answered a phone call and talked for about 3 minutes. interview lasted about 20 minutes and i felt cheated. he asked me three times if my parents were doctors or if anyone in my family was a doctor.....DONT LET THE GREEN SMILEY FACES FOOL YOU...DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME COMING TO THIS INTERVIEW"
"Overall good. I really enjoyed talking with the student tourguides and my especially my interviewer about the school. I can tell they genuinely like being at Downstate. The cons are that the school doesn't get enough funding for nice renovations like other schools, but the fact that the clinical experiences at the renowned hospitals are so worthwhile: students get much responsibility in the 3rd and 4th years so they enter residency feeling independent and confident. Interview was conversational and not at all stressful. My interviewer mentioned that the school is concerned about students adjusting to city life."
"Over all, a very positive experience."
"This is the first interviewer I had who seemed uninterested in interviewing. It is disappointing when your interviewer doesn't seem like he cares about being part of the admissions process. He was busy with patients and feeling under the weather, and was basically saying that the school wanted him to ask certain questions even though he feels that they have already been answered in the application. He was not engaging or conversational."
"Overall, I had a good experience. I was nervous but by the time of my interview (i'd already had a tour and had an afternoon interview) I was much more relaxed and could talk about what I'd seen that day (facilities, etc..) Downstate is a great place to be if you thrive in an environment that is diverse and are comfortable being in a typical NYC underserved neighborhood (although the growth there is evident). Having gone to a city school, (similar urban setting), I felt great to be there and know that I can gain excellent clinical experience as well as student/faculty support during my time there. "
"all the people in admissions are really friendly and outgoing. my itnerviewer was not my scheduled interviewer but she was just as nice. we spent a while talking and she went into detail about what it was like to be a female physician in a very sub-specialty. it was a good day. it was hard to tell if she liked me or not because i could not read her expressions very well. I guess that's a good quality to have as an interviewer..."
"I think it was ok, I wasn't nervous and I planned on "owning the room" so to speak when I went into interview. When the interview was being conducted the interviewer didn't have much time to ask me many other questions about other topics than my AMCAS app. But I really like the school, although its not for everyone"
"I enjoyed it because we shared the same resource interests, but I felt like the guy was really milking me. He basically interrogated me for an hour and a half, but I think he really wanted the best for me. Something different to write for the committee"
"pretty relaxing day; conversational interview."
"overall, positive. the interview was basically a conversation. the interviewer was nice, but also severe. he didn't seem very positive or negative about my answers. however, based on the length of the conversation, i felt pretty good about it. "
"My interview was really nice...as mentioned he did have a list of questions and at times i felt like i was dictating answers for him to write on his notepad and had to repeat myself a few times or talk slowly so he would have time to write...he also seemed to try to re-word my answers so they would sound better to the admissions committee...the interiew was very long and be prepared to give details on all your extracurrics"
"the interview was pretty standard. we talked about our own respective families, talked about what brought me to medicine, etc. he typed a lot on his laptop, taking notes. the students there seemed to attend based on cost, but cost is no small issue when it comes to medical school. they seemed happy, and living in park slope is a nice benefit to attending the school."
"My interviewer was really nice and it seemed like she was really trying to convince me to go to the school so it was half interview and half recruitment."
"This was my first interview, and if I knew how relaxed it was going to be I would not have been half as nervous. I was part of a group of maybe 12 other interviewees. We went on a tour together, ate lunch, had a Q & A session with the med students and then had our individual interviews. The facilites aren't wonderful, but then again, who cares when you're in NYC. At Downstate, it seems guaranteed that you'll be taken above and beyond as far as acquisition of hands-on skills are concerned. "
"Good experience in general. I was a bit confused about the schedule at first, but basically, for morning interviewers, you have your interview, then you have a small info. session with the dean of admissions, then a tour and a light lunch. For afternoon interviewers, you have your info. session, tour, lunch, and then your interview. But overall, the place was easy to find, when you're walking around the area, just look for the largest and most gothic-looking brown building, and that's King's Hospital. The Science center is right across the street from it and the admissions office is right inside. I just wish they could have given a tour of King's Hospital. "
"met with admissions person who talked about the school to all of us other interviewees. med students gave a tour of the school. had lunch with med students. went to interview. went home. many of the people on this website who comment that the school is in the "ghetto" should really think of why they are going into medicine. being in an underserved urban community, downstate med students get a real chance to obtain hands on experience not available to med students at other med schools, and to make a substantial difference in someone's life which to me is one of the biggest perks of going to school in the "ghetto." if you want extensive clinical exposure, then Downstate is the right place for you. residency directors are continually pleased with the caliber of students that graduate from Downstate. also, remember that most of the really good med schools are located in underserved communities (Baltimore, Harlem, North Philly, etc.) because their students get phenomenal clinical exposure. i really liked the school, but I wasn't a big fan of the grading scale which is something like Honors/High Pass/Pass/Fail. i feel it may breed competitiveness which would be a bit of a downer in med school. people say that the Downstate interview will be one of the most mellow interviews, but that wasn't my experience at all. my interviewer was a female general surgeon. at the risk of sounding un-p.c. (although i think that pc stuff is bs) having worked in i-banking after college for two years, I've experienced that a lot of women in male dominated specialties act like aggressive ball busters to prove to others that they can handle the work, and this is exactly what my interviewer was like being a woman in surgery, a male dominated specialty. she was aggressive and cold. she asked nit picky questions about my application that didn't emphasize a holistic view of me (Why did you take this anthropology course? Why did you get a B in this class?). her closing comment to me was, "well, I hope you get a lot more interviews so you feel really good about yourself." thinking that this was the worst interview in my life, I wasn't expecting an acceptance letter from them which I received two weeks later. if I do decide to go there, I hope I don't have to ever work with her. i think that a lot of pre-meds should remember that as much we are trying to sell ourselves to the school, the school should also try to sell themselves to us. to the med schools that are browse this site, remember that most pre-meds interviewing early in the process will most likely obtain multiple acceptances, so it's important for the school to put on a favorable impression and to choose interviewers who are interested in getting to know the interviewees. "
"overall very positive...the professor who interviewed me was very friendly and did not seem at all intimidating. the interview was more like a conversation than a formal interview"
"After reading some of the comments on this site, I thought I might not like it; however, I must say that this place is definitely up for consideration if I get in. Tuition is great and the people are wonderful. "
"My interviewer was late, but his personality made up for it. This interview reinforced my belief that interviewers are chosen with the applicant's racial status/ethnicity in mind."
"This was an incredibly relaxed interview. It was my first, so I was kind of nervous. But the interview was more like a conversation where my interviewer spent a lot of time yammering away about Downstate and only occasionally stopped to ask me a question or two."
"I put "no change" for my impression because I liked the tour and the students, but my interview was pretty bad. My interviewer was a pediatric nephrologist. He was friendly but had a thick accent - there were times he didn't understand me and that I didn't understand him. I hadn't anticipated a language barrier. I felt like I fielded questions well but am worried that he didn't get it all. He asked trivia questions but called them "common knowledge questions" and acted like he really expected me to answer them. And on the serious questions, I felt like he wasn't really listening. He asked me a lot of things that made be repeat myself. UNFORTUNATELY for me, the other interviewees had much different experiences: very relaxed with basic questions. Guess it's just the luck of the draw."
"the school is a good school, but it seems that all the students are there because of the cost, not because they love it. though they did seem relatively happy. "
"The interview was very relaxed--she barely asked me any questions. Then we had a really brief tour and a pretty shabby lunch. Over all, except for the interview itself, nothing really impressed me about the school, except maybe the fact that Kings County Hospital is a great place to get clinical experience."
"The experience overall was very good. The staff in the admissions office was nice, and the interview was more conversational. My interviewer and I talked about our respective research and I believe that we clicked on a lot of things. Now to address something I've consistently seen written about Downstate: People have posted complaints about the quality of the facilities and in the same breath have praised the low tuition. If Downstate charges almost half of what other schools charge, one cannot expect state of the art facilities. That is the trade off! If fancy classrooms and anatomy labs are what you desire then, if you can, attend a more expensive school. I found the facilities to be very adequate. I think anyone who interviews at Downstate needs to maintain this perspective."
"This was my first interview so I was somewhat nervous but the interviewer was very nice and made me feel comfortable. The questions seemed standardized and were read off a sheet."
"It was my first interview so I was very nervous. But the staff and students really calmed me down with their jokes and positive attitude. It was nice that there is a hospital right across the street where students work in during their 3rd and 4th yrs. "
"Downstate is a great school. Considering clinical reputation and cost, I would definetly go if accepted."
"The interviewer basically told me up front that as far as he was concerned, I was admitted, and that the interview was pretty much a formality. After that, it was just an awesome conversation. He also had to fill out some form with questions on it. "
"Great day, everything went well. There was a lot of down time but I had brought a book, so no big deal. The interview was cool and I didn't have the crazy interviewer that some people mentioned on this website. My interview started out boring, since my interviewer asked me questions off a sheet and wrote all my answers down without even looking at me. But when we digressed and talked about topics not on the sheet the interview got a lot better."
"Very positive, I ended up liking Downstate much more than I expected. My interviewer was totally cool and basically just wanted to get to know me."
"The interviewer asked a series of questions off a sheet. There were a lot of questions, however, none were especially difficult. They were standard questions that I had expected. The interviewer took notes during the interview. I was never really pressed for a more in depth response and didn't feel like the interviewer wanted to challenge me. Although my interviewer had reviewed my file before hand, we discussed most of the experiences that I had listed on my AMCAS application for clarification of dates, etc. "
"Overall I was impressed with the school. My interviewer did not follow the so called question sheet at all. I had all my answers prepared on what I was going to say about Downstate and why I wanted to go to Downstate. We actually barely talked about anything medically realted at all. In fact, he was more interested in why I chose to go to MIT rather than my interest in medicine. I think he was surprised with me because I did not fit the typical MIT stereotype. We also talked about our mutual interest in how engineers need a larger role in medicine as well as the prospects of Bioengineering at MIT. The interview was seriously a conversation about anything and everything. I tried to prepare, but my interviewer did not follow the standard format."
"We spent the first 15 minutes on a couple of standard questions and the rest of the 45 minutes on Shakespeare, New York, and what Downstate has to offer. The interviewer was very nice and made me feel very comfortable. "
"I was very nervous at first, but once I started talking, things got a little better-- they try to be very relaxed and laid back. Everyone at Downstate was very friendly and eager to answer questions and give advice. My interviewer took notes during the entire interview, but explained what was going to happen very well. "
"The interviewer spent more time than I would have preferred talking about the courses she taught, and asking specifics about my undergraduate school because her daughter was looking into going to school there. The questions were more formatted than I expected- there was literally a worksheet she had to fill out. I felt she wasn't truly listening to my answers, rather simply asking the necessary questions. It was, however, not at all stressful, and I feel students really have a good support system here- from both peers and faculty."
"overall, i came away from the interview impressed w/the school. my interviewer was really nice, interested more in why i wanted to go to downstate. "
"Overall, I was pleasantly surprised. I had read many posts on this site and SDN which slammed downstate and I took that to heart. In the end, they were all wrong predispositions to have. The students were happy, the staff was very helpful (when the admissions director saw me run into the admissions office, he was gracious enough to stop what he was doing to walk me to my interview site across the street at Kings County) and the facilities really weren't as bad as they were made out to be. I guess the only drawback is the neighborhood, but in all honesty I doubt that that'd be a deciding factor in attending downstate. Heck, columbia med is on 168th street, an area comparable to downstate's location, but you don't see people camplaining about attending columbia because of it."
"I thought that it was a good interview but i ended up getting rejected. it goes to show you that you can never gauge these things. oh well i think its a good school if your not too scared of the city and if you wanna work in an urban setting where patients are from all walks of life"
"it was an overall good experience. my interviewer was totally cool and nice so it made my first med school interview ever as least stressful as it could have been. what really made me feel comfortable was that I think I won my interviewer over by just the fact that when I lived in New York, i went to Stuyvesant High School (he has sons of his own in high school, so he must know how hard it is to get in there...lucky for me i guess). in fact, he was more impressed by that fact than by anything else i had done, it seemed. by the end of the interview, which was for a wait-list position only, he was almost like a counselor, asking me where else i had gotten interviews and giving me confidence that i would most likely get in somewhere (hasn't happened yet, so i'm still crossing my fingers)"
"The interview itself went well. My interviewer had some positive things to say about me which was encouraging. The group of people I was interviewing with was extremely down to earth and great to talk to, unlike other schools I've interviewed at. The students at the school also seemed very happy there, and REAL. "
"Overall, I was pleased with the experience. The people in the admissions office were very nice. My interviewer was a really nice person, and he even offered me his home phone number in case I had anymore questions. We did have much in common, though, so I wouldn't say for sure that he does this for everyone. Still, it made me feel comfortable. He said positive things about the school but was honest with its shortcomings. Had I not wanted to attend a different school for personal reasons, I would have seriously considered going to this school."
"Interview went well, they didn't ask any hard questions, just the basics. However, I hated the environment. I felt like someone was going to rob me and current medical students told me that you WILL get robbed/mugged at least once a year, if not more. You have to live close to the school so that your life revolves around classes and then straight to your apartment. Places to go out for weekends are to Queens, Manhattan, or to the better parts of Brooklyn. This is a great school, but the worst possible location."
"My interview itself was wonderful. My interviewer really knew my file and was the nicest lady in history. It was very much a conversation and she clearly seemed to be on my side as far as getting me into school. I don't know if I can see myself at Downstate though. It is just such a depressing environment to spend four grooling years of hard work. However, I do not agree with the previous poster who said its not worth going if it was your only acceptance. I actually think they have a strong curriculum if you can handle the facilities/location. Fortunately I have other acceptances."
"Haggled over my grades and scores."
"Initially, I went to the Downstate interview feeling really stressed because of all the negative comments that I read on SDN. However, I found those comments to be false. The staff at Downstate is very friendly, esp. the Associate Admissions Director who even took the time to answer some questions after my interview. I was very impressed by how well prepared the interviewer was regarding my file. I spoke to other students at the interview and they also said they were surprised at how nice the interviewers were compared to what they read about this school on this site. "
"The whole experience was far better than I had ever expected. My interviewer tried to make things very conversational -- and very comforatable -- and seemed to really be on my side. Even though I'm not the strongest candidate, he focused on my high points as if he was building a strong case to present to the admissions committee. This was very comforting. The campus gets 7 out of 10 stars -- and if you've lived in a large urban city like Los Angeles or Brooklyn, then it's exactly what you'd expect. The tour sold me -- lots of talk about block curriculum and case-based learning, and the two medical school tour guides were very candid about grading system, group study, competition among students, etc. Overall, an incredible experience and a great school."
"I really liked downstate. The comments on this site are very misleading. I may be attracted to downstate because i'm from brooklyn and used to the urban atmosphere but really did you ppl expect harvard or vassar architecture in the heart of a depressed brooklyn neighborhood? Its not glamourous but its the realities of most hospital conditions in this country- functional and well kept but not the pretties thing in the world. Labs are fine- the smell was fine and i actually liked the set up. Also the student body seemed to be really awesome. If you aren't uptight and want to work with underserved populations this is the school for you. If you want to become a doctor for reasons other than prestige and money, then this is also the place for you. "
"I would choose any school over downstate with the lack of reputation and minimal training and down atmosphere that they provide with run down facilities and professors and administrators who think that they are g-ds gift to the world."
"good.relaxing. very friendly atmosphere"
"Besides having to hop off the train and into a cab due to technical difficulties on the subway, I had a great day. The other interviewees were nice, and we had a chance to talk to/get to know each other before we went on the tour. We received a very brief orientation session of about 15-20 minutes, and then spent some time with two med students, who took us on a tour and had lunch with us. Then, we had afternoon interviews, but only after sitting in the interviewee room for over an hour. "
"My experience was extremely positive. I had a great time talking with my interviewer. She was fantastic and made me feel so comfortable during the interview. The student tour guides were very positive and made sure all questions were answered. You can tell they really enjoy medical school."
"we talked for an hour and a half. The coversation was smooth and the interviewer was generaly a nice guy although a bit spacey. the students at downstate seem happy and overall it seems like a good school"
"the interview was very relaxed. everyone i met was very friendly. the students are very happy and there is great comraderie there."
"Give this school a thorough look. Kings County and the genuineness of the students improved my opinion of this school by light years."
"I would like to say that I had good personal recs, a high gpa, and high mcat score. I was insulted and accused of things that were not in my application. It was an outer world and horrible exp. "
"Overall, the experience was not as stressful as I thought it would be. The staff in the admissions office was very warm and welcoming, and their attitude made my first interview a much easier experience. Both my interviewer and the other interviewers I had seen were easy to talk to, and seemed very happy to be at Downstate."
"This was a horrible interview. The doctor that interviewed me was crude. He used a lot of foul language, which didn't impress me much. I could have dealt with, but it seemed like from the moment I walked in his office, he had it set that I should go to SUNY Stony Brook (which ultimately I got accepted into), but the point is that I was interviewing for Downstate. I don't believe that an interviewer should make this decision for you."
"I went in there with a stress level of 10 but by the time I met with my interviewer it decreased to 3. I wasn't asked any difficult questions. I was kind of worried going in after reading some of the negative comments that were posted on this site. However, I don't share the same opinion as those who were "negatively impressed" with the neighborhood surrounding the school especially since my undergrad institution is located in a similar area and I want to worked in an underserved community. If accepted I will seriously consider attending."
"Overall, I wasn't impressed. My interviewer focused on my grades and MCAT score. He wasn't interested in anything else on my application. I think there's more to an applicant than their grades. The school seems to care more about numbers than extracurriculum activities, leadership skills or ."
"Overall, I wasn't impressed. My interviewer focused on my grades and MCAT score. He wasn't interested in anything on my application. I think there's mroe to an applicant than their grades. The school seems to care more about numbers than anything else."
"I was kinda worried going into this one, just from all the negative experiences that have been posted on this site. But my experience could not have been more comfortable...my interviewer was extremely nice and enthusiastic. "
"it was overall very positive, i guess i was feeling a bit down on the school because of all the negative comments, but i think now that those may just be spoiled kids who aren't used to some of the realities of life or interested in underserved populations. the interviewer was great and said that i should get in, and let me ask all the questions i wanted. he tried to answer honestly, and it seemed to me that he did. cool school, unless you want to gimp out into some overpaid underworked uberspecialty."
"DON'T BOTHER!!! "
"It was a good experience, I like the fact that Kings County offers many opportunities"
"Overall, this was a very relaxed interview, everyone was very helpful and supportive, and made every effort to make you feel at ease throughout the process."
"My interviewer was late and the interview was too long. I left there feeling inadequate, like what I was doing now was not impressive whereas some higher ranked schools did find what I was doing very interesting and admirable. "
"Two students conducted the tour of the medical school, the library, the gym, and the study desks. Then we had sandwiches and cookies for lunch while we could ask the guides more questions. Then, after the lunch, I had my interview with an MD. I got the impression that my interviewer did not want to be there conducting the interview. He did not seem interested in my application and even questioned the significance of my clinical experience. I left Downstate with a very negative impression and I now know that I will not be happy attending medical school there."
"I have already been accepted somewhere else, but I decided to go on this interview because of it's location in New York City (the med school I got into is kinda of rural). I wasn't expecting much from the school, I just tried to see if I could see myself being happy at the school, which, I don't think I would be, even though it's only a subway ride from Manhattan. Also, I am interested in urban medicine and would someday like to practice medicine in an enviromnent where Downstate is located. But I think I want to get the best training possible first, and I have a feeling I wouldn't get that at Downstate. I had an interview with a physician who was very nice. She basically went through my application with me, asking me to clarify certain things, specically Grades (I have several W's). Since I have taken time off since college she asked me a lot about my job and things i have done outside of the medical field. Pretty straight forward, mostly just clarifying things in my application. "
"very negative"
"The questions that were asked were exactly as posted by other students on this site. "
"It was a nice experience overall...everybody interviewing there that day was nice."
"The interview went extremely well. It was very laid back and comfortable. The standard expected questions were asked, I asked a bunch of questions. My interviewer was very kind, and we got alone well."
"It was a very low stress interview. My interviewer seemed to have read my application thoroughly and asked me direct questions about what I wrote. Overall, I like Downstate."
"very negative. The comments about this school on the sdn website are very accurate. I'm glad that other people also shared a basically negative exp interviewing at this school. I had high hopes for this school, but having encountered such negative energy here from a variety of persons, I would not attend this school. There is no excuse for the way that their admissions' interviewers relate to students. Also the assistant dean of admissions was unhelpful and curt."
"Nice experience."
"I went to SUNY Downstate with an open mind and was pleased with the interview process. The staff ushered me to a waiting room where I met a few morning interviewees who were waiting for their tour and lunch. Most interviewees were generally reserved and quiet but I spent a lot of time chatting with a fellow interviewee. Then the associate dean of admission entered and gave his informal and "matter-of-fact" speech regarding SUNY Downstate's qualities. He admitted to not having experience working with students and was rather defensive over SUNY Downstate's shortcomings. The tour guide consist of three 2nd/3rd year students. The anatomy lab was a well-lit and spacious space (typically 4 person per cadaver). The lecture hall and student center (gym) were outdated, but the students stressed that Downstate emphasizes curriculum and clinical care over appearance of the infrastructure. Lunch consisted of a variety of wraps, chips, and soda. Morning interviewees have plenty of time to relax afterwards but I had only five minutes to eat!! My interviewer was fantastic partly because we went to the same undergraduate institution. He clearly have gone through my file as he recalls activities and courses that I mention without flipping through. He also kept eye contact and never wrote anything down, so I kept my answers brief since he won't remember the details anyway. He was clearly passionate about his work and environment which I had several opportunities to ask about. On the way out, he escorted me to the exit, passing by the ER/trauma room. I walked away with a smile."
"Heed the SDN warnings, several of my peers felt similarly and had interviewers that were angry people. Out of six of us, five reported a hostile interview experience."
"Overall very negative. The place is falling apart, the students were unenthusiastic, but nice. I think they felt the faculty was substandard in terms of how they relate to students"
"I came there with an open mind, not wanting to be influenced by all the negative comments I had read. I did not get the interviewer from hell, but nevertheless I did not get a good impression. My interviewer did not seem interested in anything I had to say - he just ran down his list of questions without asking many follow-up questions to any of my responses. Luckily I was able to answer all the questions after reading this website. When I got there the staff almost made fun of me for being nervous. The worst part was that I had just come off the red-eye flight that morning and was starving, and I couldn't eat my lunch because they changed my interview time to an hour early without telling me."
"overall terrific experience: admissions escorts you to your interview, interviewer escorts you back - students seem really happy there and get really excellent clinical training. other plusses: organ-based curriculum, extra mini-courses (photography or something of the sort), *CHEAP* tuition, supportive faculty. Downsides are the facilities and the sub-crappy neighborhood...but those are the prices to pay for really good clinical experiences."
"Overall, the students seem happy there but the facilities are old and not well kept up. "
"Led from holding-tank room to office of Anaesthesiologist, sort of antisocial, reading questions from a canned list and writing answers as I gave them. Not wonderful, but not horrible, decent tour (small campus), crappy lunch. Subsequent subway ride to Manhattan greatly recommended."
"Very low pressure interview. Everybody was extremely nice. It was a pleasure to be there."
"Horrible. The ass't dean of admissions is about as two-faced and phony as a human being could be"
"Facilities were aweful. Neighborhood OK. Students didn't show much cohesiveness at all. Tour was a joke. Lunch looked like it was made by the Dean's wife 5 minutes before we got there. "
"The interview itself was ok... just ok. My interviewer never worked with students; not in class, not in research. So he really couldn't answer my questions. He was a very nice man though. All my questions were answered the day before anyway by the students I had met. The overall experience was really good and the school does a great job educating their students and providing things to do outside of class. They tend to plug the whole "less debt" thing."
"Really chill, friendly environment. Wonderful place for a first interview because it wasn't intimidating at all. "
"Overall very laid back and easy-going. There is a lot of negative feedback here, but from what the student hosts said it seems like there's really just one evil faculty interviewer who is most likely the basis for all of the negative comments (so don't worry!!!!). Everyone I interviewed with had an extremely easy time. I'm still not entirely sold on this place, but the interview/tour left me with a good impression. Another thing to note for future interviewees - it was pretty obvious that they have a set of about 10 questions that ALL interviewees get."
"The interview was very low stress. Dr. Liverpool (Internal Med) had reviewed my file well and was interested in my pharmacy background."
"I was worried after reading several posts about the bad neighborhood and run-down facilities. If you've ever been to NYC outside of Times Square and other touristy places, you'd realize the neighborhood is not dangerous at all. While the facilities are not spectacular, the cheap in-state tuition more than makes up for it. "
"The admissions staff was very nice, as were the students, but besides that, the day was terrible. they charge u for parking. the day is organized so it is almost impossible to get to your interview on time. the lunch was truly pathetic. my interviewer was obnoxious. it was a barrage of questions start to finish. he did not care about my answers at all, all he cared about was trying to push me around. he asked insane questions that have nothing to do with anything (see above). he asked more questions in this interview than i had in 5 previous interviews combined. he insulted me personally. he treated me like crap."
"The admissions director was quite frank with those of us interviewing that day, and said that most of us will have very stress-free talks with faculty while some may have to answer some tough questions. Unfortunately, I fell in the latter category since I've taken some time off doing non-medically related activities. During the interview, no matter how I tried to explain my choices and decisions, I felt like I wasn't quite getting through to my interviewer"
"Nice and relaxed experience (my 1st interview)."
"Extremely low stress, it was a pretty comfortable conversation. The admissions staff were very friendly and my tour guides were hilarious, very informative and amenable to answering my reams of questions."
"I went to downstate expecting to be dissapointed. Instead, I was very pleased with all that I saw. The people I met were all friendly and excited to be a part of downstate. The facilities were perfectly fine. Yes, the anatomy lab was a little stinky, but come on people what do you expect? The interview was mostly just a conversation, and was not stressful in any way. Downstate is now one of my top choices, and the price is right. "
"After requesting a second interview and sending a letter about Dr. Selzer's behavior (as per the school's request; they had had problems with him before), I was then treated very badly. They sent me a "cover your a--" kind of letter that did not reflect the good will that I had shown them in mine. Though I am quite angry now, I was so incredibly patient then, that I will never forget how this institution allows its faculty to treat prospective students. If you are gay ( I am not), if you are a woman ( I am not) or if you care about issues related to human kind forget this school. Both faculty who interviewed me were white males in "high positions ( they give you the person's specialty and title when you get there)." If these are the people who they elect to interview students, all I can say is "
"The interview at Downstate was definitely a non stress interview. They asked the standard questions - Why do you want to become a doctor? What are your activities? Blah Blah Blah. After my interview, the interviewer tried to kid of "sell the school" talking about all of its strengths etc."
"My interview was great. The interviewer really took the time to get to know me and allowed me to tie up loose strings in my application. That doesn't happen very often! She and the rest of the admissions staff were very accommodating and receptive."
"My interview was with the Dean of Student Affairs and strangely, he didn't seem all that familiar with the school. The interview was not particularly high pressure, although I undoubtedly did most of the talking."
"Interview went very long, over 1 hour, but was very pleasant. A young practising doctor interviewed me and was very understanding and encouraging. Student tour guides were very positive about the school, but they gave me the feeling that the school community is not very cohesive --probably has to do with the location of the school."
"Overall, positive. If I get in here, I'm going here - the cost is great. Those of you not liking the neighborhood - I am a 10 year NYC resident, and have lived in a neighborhood right near the school for over two years (it was a 15 minute walk for me to get to my interview). While it isn't pretty, it really isn't dangerous, and you can find a decent apartment near the campus for the same or slightly less than the school housing. "
"it was really nice, my nervousness went from a 7 to a 3, because my interviewer made me feel comfortable, i came out gleaming from ear to ear, but you never know."
"It was good. It was my first interview so I was a bit nervous. The others students there interviewing were quite nice too. "
"My general impression was alright. While the other people that I met were very nice, my interviewer kind of soured the experience. He conducted the interview in the psych ER, on a couch in a small office. He was interrupted several times and was completely unprepared to interview me. I had to rehash my entire application over with him, and even so, I don't think he had all of the facts straight. He also read off the questions, and in general is ill-suited for conducting interviews. He left no time for questions. The facilities are standard and institutional. "
"It was pretty good, just a lot of interviews. The faculty interviews aside from the director was very informal. Seemed like a nice place, although i felt like i stood out walking to and from teh subway. Some of the restaurants have bullet proof glass hiding the clerks. Bit shocking but i even asked someone for directions on the street and they were helpful."
"My interviewer and I did not really click. Maybe b/c it was my first interview, but the person just read off the questions. jotting notes the entire time and writing the report as i was leaving! the school itself gave me good vibes."
"My interview was pretty formal, basically just reviewing my application. I spoke mostly about my experiences, no ethical or hypothetical questions"
"Overall, the experience was alright. The dean of admissions stressed to us that the interviews would be very low stress. My interviewer rarely talked, so I used this to my advantage and controlled the interview. It was kind of awkward because at times I felt like I was talking to myself. Wasn't all that impressed with the school. Worst anatomy lab I've seen."
"it was a conversation where the interviewer talked a lot"
"Great"
"ITs a good school, great clinical training, cheap. THe interivews are very laid back. its more of a conversation than an interview"
"Overall the interview was alright considering it was my first one. The questions weren't too hard, however I really don't think that the interviewer got to know me at all. He flipped through my application and some other papers alot. It didn't make the interview conversational at all."
"the facilities weren't as bad as I was expecting. the interview itself went into a lot of depth into everything on my application. the students were very open and friendly."
"Very nitpicky, My last choice and i got grilled. I felt like they were making a point. The students were lackluster and not that positive about the school. Made me feel lucky to have other interviews in NY State."
"The interview itself was really good, but the tour was somewhat lacking and the school isn't very nice."
"a good number of the students go to Downstate because it was the only place they got into, not because they actually wanted to"
"My overall impression was that the interview was tough, given that it was my first one. The interviewer seemed to be trying to break me down with every question, and what made it tough was that he seemed uninterested in a lot of things I had to say. At the end of the interview, however, he gave me positive feedback about how I did, although I have not heard back from them yet. Go figure, that's med school admissions for you."
"It was a tough but a fair interview overall. Maybe I am a little testy because I havent heard a thing from downstate yet and it is now April."
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| Student | 296 |
| Faculty member | 7 |
| Admissions staff | 3 |
| Other | 0 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| Enthusiastic | 140 |
| Neutral | 25 |
| Discouraging | 5 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 5.18 | 168 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| In state | 115 |
| Out of state | 50 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 0-1 hour | 89 |
| 2-3 hours | 47 |
| 4-6 hours | 17 |
| 7+ hours | 13 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| Airplane | 31 |
| Automobile | 68 |
| Train or subway | 63 |
| Other | 4 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| < $100 | 83 |
| $101-$200 | 9 |
| $201-$300 | 5 |
| $301-$400 | 9 |
| $401-$500 | 7 |
| $501+ | 3 |
Local airport
LGA
ewr
JFK
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| At school facility | 1 |
| With students at the school | 7 |
| Friends or family | 35 |
| Hotel | 15 |
| Home | 25 |
| Other | 0 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 6.23 | 171 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 5.56 | 176 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 6.48 | 175 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 7.32 | 91 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 8.05 | 92 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 5.48 | 81 |
"Organize the time wasted better, offer better options than tuna for food during an interview day, the picture prompt seems unnecessary and an additive stress for an interview day, interact with the candidates more instead of keeping us in a room for hours."
"None"
"There was a lot of downtime that could have been better spent during the tour, which felt rushed."
"Hire one more admissions coordinator, they were a little unorganized likely because of the tremendous volume of applicants."
"Those stool-chair things at the computers in the waiting room are weird!"
"Having a real info session and someone talk to you about the unique attributes of the curriculum"
"Make the waiting room less hot."
"Plan the day better. I had 2 hours where I was sitting in a room doing nothing"
"The admissions office can be a little warm, even if it is a chilly day. More variety of snacks and drinks like tea or coffee would be a huge plus for morning interviewers."
"N/A"
"offer interviewees to sit in on a class on Interview Day"
"Too long of a wait time"
"None at all, very short and stress free day."
"None really. The day was fine."
"Better lunch if possible."
"It would have been nice to have a financial aid presentation. I also would have liked to visit the student dorms."
"I know Downstate doesn't have a whole lot of cash, but making the school a little more cohesive and appealing would be nice."
"Have more of the correspondence be online. Snail mail makes the process even more drawn out."
"Most post-secondary contact is via post, I'd recommend shifting to more electronic communication."
"I think they should really switch to doing more things online and not by regular mail...it seems pretty slow and wasteful."
"The interview day program at Downstate is far below average and gives a very poor impression of the school. Each component of the day, as well as the overall schedule, needs to be carefully looked at and systematically improved. A committee of current M1s may be helpful because they have experienced the interview trail recently and can make suggestions based on what they encountered elsewhere."
"Awesome."
"More activities for interview day. Let us see the hospitals on the tour. Let us shadow classes/students for the day (even before we are accepted)."
"Make Secondary Electronic"
"The application process should be completed online rather than by paper-format in order to be eco-friendly."
"Had to go to the interview and did not finish the tour or lunch."
"It's better not to hold interviews at the room adjacent to the holding room, we can hear everything"
"None. The interview process was straightforward and well-run."
"Note: I've added this since completing my other interviews. Of all the schools i interviewed at I f"
"Try to give some time to the tour guides so that they aren't late. There should be some more time be"
"Admissions office presentation would help."
"Implement an online Status Check system"
"try to get back to students faster. they are painfully slow"
"There is too much of a lag between the post- interview and the tour. Also, an information session wo"
"Have a more professional, well spoken person to greet the group in the waiting room while discussing"
"try to schedule the interview so that there is less waiting time, or provide interviewees with thing"
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What is one of the specific questions they asked you (question 1)?