Salt Lake City, UT
Allopathic Medical Schools | Public Non-Profit
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Overall, applicants ranked the school in the top 28% of interviews, indicating it is moderately regarded. They found the interview generally impressive with a moderate stress level and felt they did well.
⭐ Overall Impressions ▼
SDN Interview Experience Score
7.8
Good
Generally favorable experience overall, applicants reported positive interactions with some minor issues noted.
Based on 512 responses
Score Reference:
9–10 Exceptional
8–8.9 Very Good
7–7.9 Good
6–6.9 Mixed
< 6 Needs Improvement
The SDN Interview Experience Score (SIES) is a composite metric that represents applicants overall impressions of their interview experience, based on multiple factors such as professionalism, facilities, responsiveness, and stress levels.
What was the stress level of the interview?
Most respondents rated their interview as average stress.
How do you rank this school among ALL other schools?
Most respondents rank this school above all other schools.
How did the interview impress you?
Most respondents felt positively about their interview.
Positively (77%)
Negatively (11%)
No change (12%)
How you think you did?
Most respondents thought they performed well at the interview.
Great (36%)
Good (44%)
Average (15%)
Poor (3%)
Bad (1%)
What are your general comments?
Applicants generally found the interview experience at the school to be positive, with friendly and laid-back interviewers who focused on getting to know the applicant. There were mixed feelings about the school itself, with some expressing strong interest and others feeling less impressed or having concerns about certain aspects of the program.
Top 5 Responses: (Click below to see additional responses)
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It was a great day and everyone was so nice.
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Fantastic school. I was really impressed by the current students and the laid-back atmosphere of the whole interview.
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The call it holistic, I call it micromanagement (which seems to continue into the school requirements).
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If you can get your 6 letters of recommendation together, this place is worth applying to! People are kind and happy, and the living costs are pretty cheap!
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None. It is a great school and easily my top choice.
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Great campus, they should use it more to their advantage by putting it on display!
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Really positive experience, low-stress atmosphere, and helpful admission staff.
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Great school, nice people and students.
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Awesome quality of education/amazing recreation opportunities...But you also have to live in Salt Lake. I felt I had more in common with med students at other schools. The students seemed anxious to get their degree and get out.
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Many people say that the U is very hard to get into, and I agree; however, I feel like they are the only MD school in the nation who cares about what kind of applicants they're bringing in more than their stats. I have a very poor MCAT score, but an exceptional application and was invited to interview. Not one other MD school even waitlisted me for an interview this year. I feel like they all just looked at my MCAT and said, "well we couldn't accept him could we." I am not bitter about being rejected, but grateful for the changes the U is making in medical school admissions.
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Incredible experience, interviewers are interested in the applicant and have studied your file quite extensively....at least mine did!
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If you are not from Utah, go eat at Bombara in Downtown Salt Lake City. Aside from the interview, it will make your trip worthwhile. My favorite restaurant ever! Best of Luck!!
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I was impressed by the school as a whole and it is still my number one choice.
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Great school, please send an acceptance . . . or just call, 801 . . .
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Not impressed. Go somewhere else.
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First interview was really short (25 min) and she seemed bored before we even sat down. The second interviewer spent most of the time talking about himself and his practice and had the assumption I was applying for a residency post. The admissions office had me come back another day for a replacement interview as a result. The new second interview went really long (almost an hour) and she pressed me on doctor shadowing, leadership, clinical experience. The interview as a whole seemed to go real well though.
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I really like this school. I will actually be going there this fall so I guess that speaks for itself. I loved it!
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None
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Two interviews. One with a faculty member and the other with a fourth year student. 30 minutes or so each.
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Remember to just be honest with the interviewers, they also give you the opportunity to fix any discrepancies in your application before it goes before the admissions committee. DON'T EXAGERATE the make sure everything is verified.
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This was the most casual and relaxed of all my interviews. 98% of the questions were asking about activites I listed on my application.
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I was interviewed by a 4th year student and a professor. The student seemed to be much more interested in the interview but both were pretty laid back and interesting.
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I think the U resents the fact that they have to accept soo many instate so they make the process as dificult as possible. Just my opioinion it's probably wrong.
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The interviews are partially open-file. Interviewers have access to your AMCAS personal statement, activities, and your secondary, but not to your GPA or MCAT scores. The first interviewer (4th year med student) seemed bored and uninterested. He was checking his watch and yawning the whole time. He didn't read my file, and kept trying to ''wing it'' with questions like tell me about yourself, or tell me about leadership experiences. He also caught me off guard by asking me to tell me about my research and after I did (research was my strongest point - I worked in a lab for 2 years and have a publication in a peer reviewed journal as a first author) followed it up by saying ''Oh, so it's just basic stuff. Nothing really special.'' to which I had no idea how to respond. The second interview with the physician was a lot better. He seemed genuinely interested and knew my file pretty well. The interview itself was quite conversational and no questions were really surprising.
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The student interview was very relaxed. The physician interview was much more intense. They went through my application like a shopping list asking me what my role was in each experience and how many hours I spent on it. There were also several open ended questions. It was not conversational.
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Very good atmosphere, amazing staff, supportive and encouraging. Give yourself plenty of time...weather can be unpredictable. Just know your AMCAS well enough to engage in a conversation about any sentence you put into it.
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Showed up around 7, I anticipated a lot of traffic in SLC, but was wrong and ended up getting there super early. Sat around waiting for the activities to begin. Chatted with some of the admissions folks and other interviewees. Everyone was very nice and had interesting backgrounds. At 8 the admissions director spoke with us for half an hour about the interviews and the admissions process. He was a little ''over-bearing'' in regards to us switching classes that we said we were going to take. They frown upon people saying one thing and doing another once they get accepted, for good reason I suppose. We then had two-45 minute interviews. That left an extra hour before the actual health sciences tour that we could use to check out the campus on our own. Got the 30 minute tour of the facilities with a admissions staff member and a second year student. Then had lunch with a bunch of other students. They had a great cafeteria on the undergrad campus that we ate at. I ate pretty much garbage at my school as an undergrad, but here it is real nice. Everything was finished by 1pm. No more than 10 interviewees are scheduled on that same day.
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Great experience. The mountains in Salt Lake are unreal.
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Overall good experience. Friendly students, admissions staff, and interviewers. The interview day definitely breaks down preconceived notions of the university and adds a dose of reality.
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Overall, it was a very low-stress experience, and everyone was so friendly and nice. 2 interviews in the morning, followed by tour and lunch with 2nd year students. I also had a great student host, she gave me a ride to/from the airport and the interview, and even took me to dinner afterwards with other med students.
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The interviews, in general were laid back, especially with the 4th year med student. The faculty member was more serious even though he didn't ask any typical interview questions. He focused more on how I deal with diversity, health care, and with patients. No questions about my volunteering experience. Only questions on my research and leadership
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Laidback and easy-going. Great company and communication from co-interviewees. Admissions staff was friendly and fun. Initial meeting, faculty interview, student interview, tour, lunch with 2nd year students.
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The interview starts at 8:00 AM. You have two interviewees, one faculty and one fourth year med student. For the most part the interviews are pretty laid back, although I got some intense questions in my second interview.
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It was a good experience. Short and to the point.
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I liked everything about the school.
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Student interviewer was great, shared similar interests and was very friendly. Also seem like student had taken the interview seriously and studied my file closely which was helpful. Faculty interview was weird during the last half because of the hypothetical political nation mind game, I was not expecting that. I really hope they enforce the third interview policy on my file if the interview scores differed too much.
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Will withdraw application ASAP, I would not want to go here. Would rather go to a D.O. program.
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Overall, it was a great experience. The facility is great, the students are really friendly. There was a great sense of unity between them.
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I had a great experience. This is definitely my #1. All the staff was great, the students were very helpful too. I went to one class and talked to students afterwards. That was nice b-cuz I know those students weren't preped before hand. It was good to see how happy they were and how laid back the atmosphere seemed.
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From beginning to end it was very low-stress. The faculty, medical students, and admissions staff were very impressive and friendly. Great school!
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Very laid back. My first interview was with a 4th year student, and felt more like chat session than an interview. My interview with the physician left me quite impressed, and again was fairly laid back.
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I had a great experience and would choose the U hands down if given the opportunity. Not only was it a great school with great facilities but all of the people there made me feel at home. I could definitely spend four years there and be very happy.
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Very conversational and relaxed during the interviews. Everyone was ready and willing to help and answer questions.
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It was nice and I did find out that it was a good school. It seemed like you had to be proactive in order to get involved in programs that interest you (like anywhere I guess) - I'm just saying that they're not coming to you.
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Easy going; meeting with the dean then one interview followed by a long break in which we hung-out with first years and then a scond interview followed by lunch and a tour.
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The interviewers are really nice and easy-going. It is nothing to stress about. They don't really emphasize the whole ethical questions thing.
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Along with getting to know me personally based on the content of my essays/AMCAS materials, both of my interviewers seemed to be getting at the same information, but through their own questions. A few of those basic questions, though not verbatim, follow.
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My two interviews were first thing in the morning. Then there was time to sit in on a class, have a tour, and eat lunch with students. Both of my interviews were laid back-one was with faculty, the other with a 4th year student. The student talked as much as I did, telling me about the school and how it is to be a student there if you aren't Mormon. It's just something to be aware of while you interview to see if you think you will fit in there or not.
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The student was very friendly. He did seemed to be a bit biased toward his alma mater of which I graduated (thank goodness.) The faculty interviewer was almost a half hour late in interviewing me. He wasn't very friendly and wasn't interested in making me excited about the school.
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Very nice - besides the nazi research interview. Very impressed with the new facilities and adjuct facilities (Moran Eye Center, Huntsman Cancer Institute, Eccles Institute of Human Genetics, Biomedical Polymers Research Institute, University Hospital, Primary Children's Hospital) all surrounding the school.
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The 2nd year students were great to talk with. They were extremely willing to give advice and answer any questions we had. They seemed to love the area and the school.
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The 4th year student who interviewed me was a pleasant person; made me feel very welcomed. No arrogance there! He was surprised at the hours I had put into volunteering, clinical observations and research activities. How did I do so much? The MD that interviewed me asked me typical questions and questioned my research experience. Looked up in the computer if what I said was valid about my research experience. Fortunately he found it! He was very pleasant and kind. A good experience.
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The Utah campus is amazing. The Rockies are literally at your doorstep basically wherever you are in the city. Salt Lake was spread out but there was transit (bus, train) evident. The students were really talkative and gave me a few tours and peptalks before my interview.
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It was great. The admissions office was very friendly as were the medical students. One of my interviewers tended to ask some tough questions while the fourth year medical student interview was very easy going.
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I think both interviews went well. The student interview seemed more like a conversation than an interview. A positive point for me was that they try to pair you up with people that have similar interests as you.
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Both interviews were with friendly individuals who seemed interested with using the interview to better present me to the admissions committee. Both made a point of saying that they viewed their role as advocate for the applicants.
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As far as their medical program...it's great. Great faculty, facility, students, and great opportunities for medical experience in the huge health science center. Very cheap also. I'm not too excited about the fact that the school is only 30% females...it says a lot about the environment the school is located in.
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The faculty interviewer asked a few tough questions that I didn't really know how to answer, but she was friendly and gave good clarification and feedback on questions. The student interview was extremely relaxed. There were a few structured questions, one on ethics, but the rest were direct questions related to my personal experiences. It was like "shooting the breeze" with a friend for an hour.
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I left the U of U with a far more favorable view of the school than I had going into the interview. Almost everything impressed me. One interview with a faculty member and one with a 4th year. Both had read my file and were well prepared. Both were genuinely interested in learning about my experiences. Felt like they wanted to discover the good things about me. Though a couple kids in my group had some really tough questions. Guess it just depends on your interviewer.
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It was a stress-fee experience, I got to sit in on a Neural Anatomy class, students all seem willing to answer questions and share experiences. One interview was with a faculty member and the other with a 4th year. I got along great with both of them. Originally this wasn't a top pick for me, however, I was really impressed with everything
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The interviews were short, cold, and really didn't ask me much: mostly just asked me if I had any question...(how can they decide anything when they do that? Why interview?)
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Good interviews and the admissions staff was great to work with. One interview with 4th year and one with an MD (not on admissions committe). Day included 2 interviews, financial aid presentation, lunch with 2nd years, and a tour.
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One faculty interviewer came in twenty minutes late, hadn't even opened up my file, nor did she know anything about the admissions process. She had just moved to Utah and she hadn't even heard of Utah State University. The second interviewer was a nice 4th year student. Both kept asking me about other med schools I was applying to and why in the world I would want to attend those schools rather than the U. I thought it was very irrelevant.
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I was very impressed with the school. i felt that the interviewers really spent a lot of time getting to know me and that they really had a vested interest as me as a person. one of the doctors that i interviewed with spent about 10 minutes after the interview just giving me advice about how to be a good student in medical school and what she feels makes a good doctor. i thought that was great that she would take the time to give me some advice especially with her not knowing if i would get into utah or not.
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Great experience. If you get a chance when you visit plan an extra couple of days to ski/hike or interact with the outdoors. Most students from out of state come there for precisely that reason....
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It didn't seem like they had a strong direction or momentum. They were just doing the same-old thing. Not very motivating.
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Arrive early in the morning (check in by 7:50 am). Have an orientation with the dean which was really impressive. He just seems very kind and concerned with the interviewees and students at the school and making sure things run smoothly for them. Interviews are from 8:30 to 11:30. You have two interviews during that time. One with and MS4 and another with a faculty member. If you have downtime during this time period you can go sit in on classes, explore the campus, etc. After interviews there's a lunch with MS2s followed by a financial aid presentation and then a quick tour. Overall I thought it was a very well organized day that definitely allowed me to get a sense of what the school is like and how it would be to study there.
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Everyone had two interviews - one with a faculty member and one with a 4th year student. both were very low stress and the interviewers were very nice and positive
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Was interviewed by a 4th year student and a pathologist. walked away feeling relaxed and confident
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My interview with the 4 year student was very laid back. he just told me about the school, how it was to be a med student and gave me lots of advice. he didn't really ask me about my file. my interview with the doctor was also laid back, but he went extensively over my file. all the questions he asked were just about my file and nothing else. the interview lasted over an hour and at the end he ask me to make a final statement.
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Friendly and casual (I think this 'style' is requested by the administration...to an extent). They want to get to know you. They do not know your grades or mcat scores, so I think that helps bring in a more well rounded class. My inteview questions were fairly straightforward, but *always* be ready for them to focus on your weaknesses. You are there because you have good things on your application. Now they want to ask about details of things that could be problem points. Show them what you are doing to strengthen them.
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The interviews went very well. They were low stress, get to know you type interviews. The interviewers knew who I was and they had been over my file. Whenever I mentioned something from the file, they knew what I was talking about, which was nice. I enjoyed my visit.
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All in all things went very smooth. My interviewers were very nice and asked questions that seemed pertinent. I had an interview with an MD, PhD, and so I was scared that he was going to grill me only on my research experience. We spent the first thirty minutes talking about my extracurriculars. Everyone was very nice, including the second years who took us to lunch. Apparently you need both interviewers to say yes, if one says no than you get a tie-breaking third interview. The school was very fair and unbiased throughout the process, but we'll see if I still feel the same come April.
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The first med student wasn't that interesting and was a geek and not really verbaly skilled. The second interview was great. The interview day kind of falls apart after that with an admissions person saying "well, I guess I'll take you on the tour."
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You have two interviewers: one faculty and one 4th year student. Both asked very basic questions and were quite friendly
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I had two other interviews at better schools and was way more impressed with them than I was with the U. If it weren't for the fact that all my family is from Utah I wouldn't even consider going here. One of my interviews was with a lady who spoke horrible English. I had to ask her to repeat most of her questions several times, and I speak a couple of languages fleuntly and have no problem understanding most accents. She also tried to tell me things about the U that I know aren't true (for example, professors teach all their undergrad classes--bullsh**) They did a lousy job of "selling" their school to me.
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Utah has an excellent school. Something I'm really looking for in a school is how unified students are. I thought Utah would have a very competitive environment, however, several students stated that one of their favorite things about Utah is the non-competitive aspect between classmates. I think this fosters a better learning environment for me. The only person I'm competing with is myself.
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This was by far the best experience I have had for an interview, and the most fair that I have experienced. First off, the interviewer sees your whole file except MCAT and GPA, because the school feels that those factors distract the interviewer from getting to know the student. I think even the admissions committee doesn't see MCAT and GPA. They judge you based on the rest of your AMCAS, extra-curriculars and interview scores. They give you a numerical value that's put into a computer, weighted 80%, and then MCAT 10%, GPA 10%, and they pop out your score and decide from there. Also: the interviewers are told not to ask you tough, ethical questions, as the school believes asking contraversial q's such as stem cell research or abortion don't necessarily reflect on you as a person. They really are just trying to get to know who you are, and both my interviewers were thoroughly prepared: they had both extensively looked over my application before I got there. All in all, a good experience, a good school. The students were genuinely happy and nice.
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Overall I really liked the medical school. I work in a research lab in the school of medicine now, and I liked that they let you continue your research during your first and second years. They seemed really flexible, and all the faculty and staff wanted the medical students to succeed and have a positive and healthy experience.
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Very laid back. Student led interview was more like an interview with the student asking lots of questions and not talking much. The faculty interview was much more conversational.
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One interview was nice, the second was non stop harrassment. The third was arranged as a tie-breaker, but by then I had arranged better options.
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I did not give Utah much thought before going but they really impressed me. Salt Lake City is a growing city but it still has a small town feeling to it which was very appealling. Because the school appears to be kind of small you know you will be able to interact closely with the faculty. Overall it was the least stressful interview and the school impressed me very much.
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First off before the interview; they have some pretty extensive secondary application requirements (6 letters of recommendation, second personal essay, etc.) that can be a major hassle! Each of the people being interviewed had 2 interviews (one with a fourth year med student and one with a physician or faculty member). My med 4 interview was much less stressful, and more informative, than my faculty interview. Overall, we were treated very well that day by the students, the school is not extremely large so there seemed to be fewer opportunities than larger schools may have. Great place for outdoor recreation!
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The day was very good. The interviewers were thorough but nice and prepared. The staff was friendly and wanted to help. It was good to go to lunch with current students to get their perspectives. I was excited about the school when I left, and I hope that things work out for me there.
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Very chill and laid back. Just relax and enjoy the hour break that you get to sit in on a second year class
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I don't know that I could have asked for two better interviewers. The first was a fourth year student the second was with a peds emergency medicine specialist from the children's hospital. I feel that I got lucky because both interviewers were well matched to my interests.
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Was good, but wasn't extremely impressed with the school as a whole.
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Great facilities, novel research. Nice program. The students were a little different. . .
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Very relaxed atmosphere and interviews.
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The current students really felt good about being there, and many positives to say (as can be expected). The number of opportunities that are available for research here are incredible, and they look very highly on students with research experience.
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This was a very easy, laid back friendly interview. The Dean of Admissions told us out right that we wouldn't be asked questions on abortion, stem cell research, or cloning. They ask alot about leadership and want to know that you have tested your desire to become a doc. Plus they like to know that you know what your getting yourself in to. The place takes all feed back very seriously. But really how do they evaluate candidates if their interviews are so nicey-nice? Also the interviewers don't know your grades or MCAT score. They say this helps prevent bias.
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This was a very easy, laid back friendly interview. The Dean of Admissions told us out right that we wouldn't be asked questions on abortion, stem cell research, or cloning. They ask alot about leadership and want to know that you have tested your desire to become a doc. Plus they like to know that you know what your getting yourself in to. The place takes all feed back very seriously. But really how do they evaluate candidates if their interviews are so nicey-nice?
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Both interviews were conversational. Stressful but not difficult.
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Great school. Only thing that sucks is that they will probably not let us know about an acceptance until April.
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The office staff and most everyone else were very accomodating. They were focused on ensuring a mellow, stress-free day.
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It was pretty average. Not too stressful or laid back. It's what you expect an interview to be like.
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My interview experience here was horrific. We all have nightmares about bad interviews, but this was worse than I ever could have dreamed. I was interviewed by a med student more interested in finding out if I was "cool" or a "gunner." Grades and test scores were thrown out. I then had to travel to Boise for another interview. Three weeks after that initial round, I was given a phone interview from hell by a non-MD faculty member teaching at the school probably still bitter about not getting into medical school in the first place. Luckily, I was already accepted into a good school, or I would have come out of this experience feeling next to mud.
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Fairly laid back, my interviewers gave me the heads up when they were going to throw me ethics questions or "why be a doctor" questions. Tour was nice, lunch is ALL YOU CAN EAT which is great, and the students you meet are a great resource. Dominique, the girl in the admissions office is a cutie, too.
💬 Interview Process ▼
Length, number, and type of interviews
🕐
Length:
45 Minutes Average
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Number:
2.4 Interviews Average
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Interview Type (Interaction):
100% One-on-One
0% Group Interview
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File Type:
78% Open-File
22% Closed-File
💻
Interview Modality:
100% Virtual
0% In-Person
UTAH-SOM-COMP interviews are an average of 45 minutes, with an average of 2.4 interviews. 100% of interviews are one-on-one, 0% are in-person, and 22% are closed-file.
What is one of the specific questions they asked you?
The most commonly asked interview questions at medical schools include inquiries about ethical scenarios, personal strengths and weaknesses, motivations for pursuing medicine, views on healthcare policies, leadership experiences, and details about research, volunteer work, and clinical exposure. Some respondents mentioned an MMI format, indicating ethical questions and potential nondisclosure agreements during the interview process.
Top 5 Responses: (Click below to see additional responses)
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Why do you want to be a doctor?
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N/A
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It was an MMI style interview so it was ethical type questions.
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Three greatest weakness
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Tell me about X activity.
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How do I think the affordable care act will affect medicine over the next 10 years?
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What was the last book you read for fun?
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What would I change about the health care system if I was the president and congress.
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Define what being a leader means to you.
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If a patient of yours died, or worse, what would you do?
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What is a strength and weakness you have?
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Why medicine? Why Utah? What are your strengths and weaknesses? Why should we pick YOU over everyone else?
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Do you think there is a rationing of health care in our country?
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Why do you think the University of Utah considers research to be one of the necessary criteria to be considered for admission?
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Asked about my research
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Explain to me your research.
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If you could kill Hitler, the 9-11 hijackers and someone attacking your family would you?
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If you could go back in time and kill Hitler/the 9-11-2001 terrorists/someone who attacked your family, would you do it?
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Tell me about your research, volunteering, clinical exposure, etc.
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Tell me about your research. What is the big picture?
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Tell me about yourself.
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Why Medicine?
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Why do you want to go into medicine?
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Who do you admire as a leader and what qualities do they possess.
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What are your weaknesses and strengths?
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Name a leadership experience in which you had an extreme dificulty and how did you handle it?
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(With all the presidential debates going on and what not) how do we need to fix the healthcare system in America to make it better?
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What do you think the lifestyle of a physician is like?
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How do handle pressure and stress in school?
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Tell me about your research.
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Tell me how you maintain a balance in your life.
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What are two extracurricular/volunteer experiences that you'd like to talk about?
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Have you had a chance to understand how other cultures view healthcare?
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Talk about specific experiences in application.
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What would you do as a leader if....(a host of different questions)
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Why Utah?
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Questions about my research, I was asked to clarify it more and explain it in simpler terms.
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What about the University of Utah do you like, what makes this school your first choice?
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Tell me about your service experiences?
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Tell me about your research experience? Leadership experience? Service Experience?
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What was your research hypothesis?
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Tell me about your research
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Describe to me the process of medical education.
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Why medicine, why no phd, why no D.O. schools, etc.
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Tell me about your volunteer experience.
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How did your volunteer experiences impact you?
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Why medicine? What qualities do you posess that will make you a good physician? What makes a good leader? How do you deal with stress and difficult people?
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What role does a rural physician play in their community and how do you see yourself filling that role? (I'm interested in rural medicine)
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Why was your research important?
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How did you manage to do so much of the activities in addition to school work?
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At what point did you decide to choose medicine as a career?
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Explain how this influenced you (activity from resume)
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Why do you want to be a physician.
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If you had one liver to transplant and two candidates (a 30 yr old alcoholic and a 14 year old honor student) which would you choose and why?
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Tell me what you feel makes a good leader and then relate that to your own leadership experience.
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Just asked me about leadership, service, clinical work, and research I have done...stuff they had in my file.
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Tell me about your leadership experience.
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Have you applied to any other schools? Which ones?
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Asked me about my leadership experience
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Questions regarding my file!!
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Why not do research?
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Why a doctor?
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What's a weakness you have?
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Why Utah? (I'm from out-of-state)
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Tell me about your time working in the operating room.
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Why do you want to go to medical school?
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Tell about a hardship you have had and how you dealt with it.
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Why do you want to be a doctor? Do you know what you're getting into?
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Tell me about your volunteer work.
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Who was a teacher that influenced your life, and how did he/she teach?
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What are your strengths/weaknesses?
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What is the last book you read?
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What type of difficult person have you encountered and how have you dealt with them?
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I see you took the MCAT twice (which I did not). How did you study differently to do so much better?
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Talk about your research experience?
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Was there a moment or experience that had an impact on your decision to become a physician?
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How would you design a spice rack for a blind person?
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What is a weakness you have?
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Weaknesses/Strengths
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"Where else have you applied?"
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What are the pros and cons of being a doctor?
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How do you see your life being 15 years from now?
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Describe what makes a good leader.
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Tell me about your research/ involvement with XX organization, etc.
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Tell me about yourself. What you like to do.
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Woman getting a Cesarian and her platelets are low. Of course, her religion calls for no infusion of blood products. She says no blood products. She passes out. She is in a bad way. Her husband says "give her blood." What do you do?
What was the most interesting question?
Students said most interesting question asked at University of Utah School of Medicine discussed a wide range of topics, including ethical dilemmas, personal values, healthcare reform, and leadership qualities. Some respondents mentioned scenarios related to physician-assisted suicide, patient consent, and the role of religion in medical practice, with a mix of standard and thought-provoking questions. Some responses indicated a focus on MMI format, suggesting a nondisclosure agreement may have been in place for these interviews.
Top 5 Responses: (Click below to see additional responses)
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N/a
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The interviewer told me his 90yr old mother with dementia needed a hip replacement surgery and asked if I was her doctor whether or not I'd try to convince him to allow the surgery. Why or Why not?
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How would you describe your best friend?
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Nothing out of the ordinary at all.
-
How do you cope with failure?
-
What are some suggestions you have to alleviate the problem of overworked doctors?
-
Ethics: Physician assisted suicide scenario. After the interview, the doctor told me his father had suffered for two weeks in hospice care before dying because the doctor was afraid to prescribe too much pain medication. I was really happy about the way I answered, and that I stuck with my convictions when he criticized me.
-
What do you think will be the worst part of being a physician in the future?
-
Talked about healthcare reform, health policy.
-
What was Taiwan like?
-
1
-
Would you kill Hitler?
-
Nothing really, all the questions were pretty typical.
-
Nothing really out of the norm.
-
The questions were very basic. They didn't even ask why medicine or biggest health care problem.
-
Question #3?
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Who do you think is a strong leader?
-
You made the claim that you had researched for over 50 hours over only two months with this professor, that seems like a lot, should we call to verify that?
-
Explain how education is the key to ending the cycle of poverty (something from my personal statement)
-
Same as most difficult.
-
If you had a magic wand and could fix one problem healthcare faces, what would you fix and why?
-
An ethical situation. Say you are a 3rd year student on rotations as a OB/GYN. You and 3 other people are attending a patient knocked out on anesthesia and your attendee tells you to perform a pelvic exam. The other students perform the pelvic exam, and it is finally your turn when you realize that you haven't personally obtained the patient's consent. What do you do? What if the attendee threatens to write a bad evaluation that will affect your chances for residency if you decline to perform the pelvic exam?
-
What accomplishments are you proud of?
-
Do you think Competition is good or bad?
-
Tell me about X country that you visited and your medical experiences there. Tell me about the culture.
-
Tell me what you think about this ethical situation...
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What do you think is the biggest problem with healthcare today? (there were no questions that were particularly intellectually stimulating)
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What are some of the negative aspects of health care you've experienced?
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What is the riskiest thing you have ever done? What is the most important public health issue and how would you choose to attack it?
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The faculty interview was great - informal/conversational. The 4th year interview was strange because he simply pulled out a sheet of ''good'' questions. The most interesting involved a heart transplant dilema and deciding between two patients - a 35 year old drugee or a 70 year old grandfather.
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If you were a leader of a country that had a conflict with another country, how would you make decisions? Who would you have as advisors? What are the important characteristics of a leader? Much more questions about leadership.
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Tell me an experience that has shaped your life?
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How did your up-bringing affect your choice to become a doctor?
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A lot of students say they want to go to medical school, what is the difference between you (the ones that do), and the ones that don't go through with it.
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If you were the leader of a country what things would you take into consideration, who would you consult?
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What characteristic in you will make you a good doctor?
-
If you could only persue one extra-curricular activity throughout MEdical School, what would it be? (I said sports and he really liked that!)
-
If you were any object, what would you be and why?
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Why does a fire truck come on every medical call? Can't an ambulance just handle it? (talking about my job)
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What was the most influential experience you had while volunteering?
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Tell me about a time you failed.
-
Why is Dostoevsky considered exsistential (we were talking about my hobbies)?
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Would the debt incured from a medical education effect your choice of a specialty?
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If you could only choose one extracurrucular activity to participate in during med school, what would it be?
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What is the biggest problem in medicine today?
-
Was asked about a Tolstoy book I was reading, turned out the fourth year interviewing student had an interest in philosophy.
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If you were the director/physician of a clinic in France and one of your nurses wore a head covering as part of their religion, knowing this is against regulations and the law how would you handle the situation?
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I volunteer at a research clinic that is doing clinical trails for drug companies. The MD wanted to know the names of the drugs and some of the ingredients used. Some of the information he asked I am not allowed to give due to privacy issues. I mentioned this to the MD and he understood. I gave him one ingredient that is used in the research and he checked it out on a computer during the interview.
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What role do you think your religion will play in your practice as a physician?
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How would you as a leader manage potential conflict?
-
Tell me more about your research.
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A Basic Ethical Question
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Do you have intentions of becoming a writer on the side?
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If you died today, what would you want engraved on your tombstone to reflect who you are?
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We were talking about problems in healthcare and the foreseeable changes in American healthcare, and the bureaucracies in medicine, etc., and I was asked where I felt I would fit in all of that, as a physician, and what role I would play.
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What is the best critisism that you have ever recieved?
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What would my friends say about my strengths and weaknesses if I was not present to hear them?
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If we do not accept you, what will you do to improve your application for us next year? (As if I wouldn't be applying or getting into any other medical schools!)
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If you were working in the ER and a patient came in complaining of back pain and you suspicion was that the patient just simply wanted pain killers, what would you do?
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What demands might be placed on a rural physician in Utah (I am from out of state...)
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What other service have you completed other than what is listed in your application?
-
Nothing particularily interesting. Just basic med school questions. They try to keep it very conversational. Interviewers have everything in your file except grades and MCATs and the interviews are designed to assess whether you as a person would fit in at the school.
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What is your favorite book? why? followed up by, what is the last book you read?
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A variety of ethical questions.
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What are some positive and negative parts of the medical profession as a whole?
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None, all the questions were about my file.
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What is the best piece of criticism you have received?
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All of the questions I was asked were very straight forward.
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If you were in a bind who would you call?
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So, tell me about some adventure you've had.
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What do you think are some of the qualities of a doctor?
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Why did you choose to go to (my undergrad school) instead of the U?
-
Describe the strengths and weaknesses of one of your friends?
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Which characteristic trait helped you to overcome [X experience]?
-
So, tell me about this Wedding Coordinating Experience? (I spent last summer running 3 weddings, one of which I did all the flower arrangements and cake for)
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I was asked typical questions. The interviewer didn't have my grade or MCAT info, but asked a lot about my activities and experiences.
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Why did you travel and what did you do there? That was a great question to answer and I liked the interviewer alot. There was a question about the state of healthcare today, which is pretty standard I would guess.
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What do you think is the biggest problem in health care and how would you fix it?
-
Why have you not written more letters to the editor?
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Talk about a time when you faced adversity and how you dealt with it?
-
What is the hardest thing about being a follower?
-
If you have a 5 quart bucket and a 3 quart bucket only and a tap of water (unlimited source) how would you measure 4 quarts?
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Tell me about an ethical situation you have been in, and what did you do about it?
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What I thought about malpractice insurance?
-
Everything question was about my file, like... I read in your file that you did this... tell me about that experience. It was a very pleasant conversation with both.
-
What are your weaknesses and do you really believe they are weaknesses?
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Who has been your greatest mentor?
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How do deal with suffering?
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What my stance was on the pending case against McDonalds, which states that McDonalds caused a man to become overweight.
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What has been one of the most influential criticisms you have received in your life? What did you do with that criticism?
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What do you do in your leisure time? Yeah interesting right? I know its not but really every question was very basic. They could have asked my favorite color and it would have been more interesting.
-
What do you think are the challanges of a doctor?
-
I want you to tell me a joke?
-
We discussed the State Audit done last year on the U of U's admissions process.
-
Tell me about your work with an environmental group.
-
How do you feel about Physchiatry?
-
If you could eat with anyone in history, who would it be?
-
Will you do an Elvis impersonation? (Had to do with ECs)
How did you prepare for the interview?
Many applicants prepared for the interview by practicing MMI scenarios, conducting mock interviews, reviewing their application materials, and researching the school's website. They also utilized resources such as SDN, sought advice from current physicians and med students, and studied ethical and healthcare policy issues to feel more confident during the interview process.
Top 5 Responses: (Click below to see additional responses)
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Practice MMI's and mock interviews
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Worked through practice type questions, became an expert on my application.
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Mock MMI
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Looked through the website. Did the recorded video interview. Ate breakfast. Everything was situational/ethical without any interviewer knowing anything about your application so there wasn't a need to review what I said in my essays/experiences.
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A lot of MMI practice!
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Practice interviews with some MDs in my clinic.
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Completed one mock interview with two MD friends
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Reading over my research (this was key), reading through my secondary application, and looking over the schools website.
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SDN, practice, talked to people that had interviewed there already.
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Pre-Med adviser, SDN, practice.
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SDN, reviewed school website, interview books, mock interviews, reviewed applications
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Read SDN, went over application
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Read through Utah's website. Researched all recent news on them (ex.. they just cut a bunch of medical student seats because of loss of funding). Educated myself about current health issues.
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Reviewed my application.
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Be yourself, know your application and you'll do great
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SDN Interview Feedback. Wrote out all my questions and answers. Practiced speaking out loud by myself or with friends
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Mock interview, review of interview style questions, advice from current physicians, etc.
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Stressing out a lot, drinking tons of coffee
-
I did a few other interviews before this one, so I didn't do anything extra for this one.
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Mock-interview with my school's career counselor and practicing common interview questions. SDN.
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SDN, mock interview with a current med student. I also read lots of health care research and policy analysis at sites like heritage.org and cato.org, these sites are awesome!
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SDN, Mock Interview, Reading NY times Health Section, Ethics Journals, Relaxing, and reviewing my application slash polishing up on remembering the scope of my research.
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SDN, mock interview, reviewed my apps
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Read SDN, application, talked with others who interviewed there.
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I read classic cases in medical ethics, how doctors think, and some leadership books. I also spent time researching health care policies in other countries that have been successful in providing health care coverage to all of its citizens.
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I studied my own application and tried to figure out what I had learned from each of my experiences.
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SDN, Mock interview, Practice, prayed
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Read over my application, mock interview with advisor, surfed the net for possible interview questions.
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Reviewed AMCAS and Secondary Application. SDN. Reviewed current health care policies. Practiced interview questions with friends.
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AMCAS, SDN, Interview Practice
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Had multiple previous interviews at other schools, so I just reviewed their website and brochures.
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SDN, read AMCAS and secondary apps, school website, mock interview
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SDN Interview Forum, Undergrad Career Services website, AMCAS, Secondary, Interview Workshops
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Reviewed AMCAS and secondary essays, common interview questions, SDN and mock interview
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SDN, my amcas, mock interview
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Various online sources for interview questions. Mocks with friends/family. Primary/secondary apps. This forum.
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SDN interview feedback, UW ethics questions, study my amcas.
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Website, secondary app.
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My file, SDN
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SDN printed off all school interview questions in database and reviewed them. Used Kaplan workbook for interviews. Looked on website to make sure I would have some good questions to ask them.
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SDN, Primary Application, 2ndary, Web Site, Mock-Interviews, etc.
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SDN, Primary application, secondary application
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SDN, school's website, mock interviews, study everything about my application
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Had multiple (>6) mock interviews with various premed advisors, physicians, and faculty.
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Read over the SDN questions, did a practice interview with my school, reviewed my primary and secondary applications
-
Mock interview, read my applicaton, SDN, etc...
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SDN, review possible questions, UofU SOM website
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SDN, looked over my secondary and primary, found a suit to wear.
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AMCAS/secondary/premed evaluations
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SDN website, school website, read over secondary and amcas applications, current event things.
-
Read SDN, U of U website, etc.
-
SDN, school website, reviewed AMCAS and secondary
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AMCAS, SDN.
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Reread my personal statement, reviewed previous research projects, got online and learned about major programs at and around the school.
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SDN, AMCAS, secondary application
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SDN, Mock Interview, my application
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Mock interviewed, talked with UUSOM students, went over my application and read school website.
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Read my secondary and this website
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Read the medical school's website, practiced mock interview questions, read over my secondary
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Reviewed application/viewbook/general medical/ethical topics
-
Looked at the school's website and read over my primary and secondary apps a zillion times VERY THOROUGHLY. came up with potential questions they could ask about my app. mock interview.
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SDN, Pre-med advising material, discussed sample questions with friends and family
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This site. Tried to bone up on healthcare a bit. Practiced, aloud, answers to anticipated questions. Attended a lecture at the Huntsman Cancer Institute a couple days before my interview and checked out the facilities.
-
SDN, AMCAS, secondary, stayed current with the news
-
Sdn, school literature, websight, etc
-
Reread secondary materials and AMCAS, plus previous interview experience.
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School's website.
-
SDN, reviewed secondary app., studied health care issues.
-
Reviewed the schools materials, my files (essays, resume etc), went to the places that I would be at the next day, and went for a relaxing hike in the mtns behind the med school the day before.
-
The usual.
-
Thought over previous interviews, reread applications, studied up on the school
-
Read about the school, reviewed my ap, read about current medical issues and ethical issues (although I wasn't asked about any of these)
-
Just read about the school.
-
Sdn, looked over website and application
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Sdn, reviewed my file, school's website
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This site and their site
-
Read over possible interview questions. SDN interview responses.
-
Thought about how I might answer typical questions.
-
Student-Doctor, and reviewed my file
-
Read school litrature, talked to my aunt and uncle who work there, read this site.
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StudentDoctor.net, researched the school's website
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Read this website, reviewed my application
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Studentdoctor.net, primary and secondary applications. Practiced questions usually asked to Utah applicants.
-
U. Utah website, looked at the local paper online to see what was going on in the community, studentdoc website
-
I didn't.
-
Read up on the website, Studentdoctor and this interview site.
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SDN, talk to students, website, amcas, cnn.
-
Read interview feedback and researched the school.
-
Read SDN website, read over my secondary application for the UofU, looked at the UofU website.
-
DSN, Current students, Website
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This website, other students
-
SDN, read about the school (I wasn't asked why do you want to attent the UofU)
-
AMCAS, secondary app
-
Read up on LDS church and its role in SLC and the medU.
-
Mock interviews, reviewed applications
-
Reviewed AMCAS and secondary application.
-
AMCAS application, practice interviews
-
Reviewed interview feedback (incredible help!), reviewed my application.
-
Read U of U web site, read interview feed back. Few mock questions from my wife.
-
I tried to just relax.
-
Researched school, reviewed secondary, this site
-
Reading my application, interview feedback
-
Interviewfeedback.com Spoke to current med students and others who have interviewed there.
-
After very postive interview experiences at Wash U and Columbia where they focused on the experiences listed in the application and asked some questions about my motivations for medicine, I just reviewed my AMCAS application.
-
Look throught the viewbook, UUSM website, other interview feedback site, practice interviewing with freinds.
What was the most difficult question?
Students said most difficult question asked at University of Utah School of Medicine discussed a wide range of topics including why they chose medicine over other professions, their views on healthcare policies, handling conflicts, ethical scenarios, and personal attributes relevant to being a doctor. Some respondents mentioned encountering politically pointed questions, while others highlighted the importance of being well-prepared to discuss past experiences and research involvement during the interview process.
Top 5 Responses: (Click below to see additional responses)
-
N/a
-
Sorry - I will decline to share this.
-
Why do you want to be a doctor opposed to a nurse, PA, etc.
-
Rural providers often report becoming burned out. Why do you think you would be able to avoid burn out? Why are you different?
-
What are 2 good things and 2 bad things about Obamacare, how would you change it to make it more plausible.
-
How do you picture health care in 20 years?
-
How is the medical profession changing?
-
Tell me about malpractice in America?
-
Asking me the outcome of the research I was involved with. back in 2008. I didn't follow up as it was my former job/research, so make sure you know what's going on with your research even if you aren't there anymore! Oh and your interviewers may or may not grill you for the hours you post for each activity. One of my interviewers was surprised at the amt of extracurricular hours I had, but in turn that surprised me! Med School Applicants are expected to do a lot, especially in the case of the U of U secondary! =)
-
Why aren't you applying for the M.D./Ph.D. program?
-
1
-
Stem cells and abortion.
-
Tell me about your leadership experiences. Not really a hard question, the interviewer pressed on me to explain how they applied to my everyday life. From the amount of follow-up questions, not sure I was giving her what she wanted...
-
Why do you think you'll make a good doctor?
-
What would your boss say your strengths and weaknesses are?
-
Please explain your activities while you were volunteering at the ____? The interviewer was not satisfied until I talked for over ten minutes about it.
-
Are you able to work with the elderly. Not a difficult question but it did catch me off guard so I fumbled a bit.
-
How will you use your strength to overcome your weakness?
-
Describe a time when you had a particulary dificult patient and how you handled it? I didnt have a lot of Patient exposure.
-
Tell me about yourself.
-
Describe yourself to me. (first question the interviewer asked)
-
Why is diversity important to you?
-
None too hard.
-
No hard questions.
-
None
-
No difficult questions really - just specific ones asking me to elaborate on experiences in my app.
-
What is a health program implemented by a President that has continued to run even after the President's term was over?
-
Either the one above or another weird situational question about uniting my clinical rotation team as a third year med student.
-
Same as above.
-
Same
-
See above
-
Suppose you were the leader of a country that went into a conflict based on data from your advisor and then realized that data was wrong? What would you do? (This seemed too politcal and it made me uneasy)
-
Same as above, this was very politically pointed even though staff are not to ask those kind of questions.
-
What do you think a doctor does everyday?
-
If you were in congress today, what would you say about the proposed revisions in Medicare spending? (Hint: the debate has to do with whether gov't should negociate drug prices or private parties)
-
What is something negative about you and how are you working to fix it?
-
What do you think makes for a good doctor?
-
How would you distinguish between a patient in pain and a patient seeking drugs?
-
Probably the one above...none were really difficult, per se, however.
-
How would you fix the problem of the uninsured?
-
Can't remember
-
What is the best criticism you have ever received?
-
Same as above. (Oh, we beat that one to death...)
-
Drilling questions about my undergrad research projects.
-
Given the fact that medicare patients will triple in the near future with gov't spending staying the same...what are your thoughts of this situation?
-
Above
-
(After I gave a summation of my research and findings) Why didn't you study this aspect XYZ in your research?
-
What do you think will be the most difficult thing about being a physician?
-
What are some of your proposals to increase healthcare to rural areas and indigent people?
-
No "difficult" questions, very friendly interviewers.
-
There weren't really any difficult quesitons...all pertained to my app.
-
In the 60s a campaign was launched to promote a healthier America. American citizes today are much less healthy than they were then. What is the problem and what would you do to fix it?
-
Probably the same as above. The questions were, for the most part, pretty straight forward and came mostly from my file. Didn't get any ethical questions.
-
Think of a common medical practice that is against your beliefs, and explain how you would deal with it? (I lot it was a little confusing)
-
What would my friends say about my strengths and weaknesses if I was not present to hear them?
-
Tell me about your leadership experience.
-
I haven't had a chance to look at your file yet, so tell me a little about you.
-
All of them were pretty straightforward. The interviewers (1 retired faculty & 1 4th yr student) both had thorough notes and used my file to ask relevant questions about my experiences.
-
When was the last time you had a conflict and how did you resolve it?
-
Questions about leadership and problem solving in leadership position. These kind of caught me off guard.
-
Do you think you have a blanced life?
-
What has been your best criticism?
-
All pretty straight forward.
-
What type of person bothers you? How would you deal with this type of person in a work situation?
-
I was asked to point out some weeknesses in my application.
-
Nothing tricky
-
You're working in a rurual clinic and only have one dose of a medicine to cure a particular disease. All of the sudden, two ambulances roll up--one is an 80 year old and the other is a 20 year old and they need this medication to survive. What would you do?
-
Nothing was really difficult. The interviewers asked me questions about myself. There were no ethical questions. I felt like the interviewers were really trying to get to know me. Also, they do have everything in your file, except MCAT and GPA. Utah feels these last two credentials create bias in the interviews.
-
See above.
-
Yeah, everyone's had those experience. So what else? What else is special about you?
-
How do I deal with stress...(because I was really stressed at the moment of the question)
-
I didn't find any of the questions too hard to answer; I had to defend my interest in rural healthcare a little bit and to explain my research experiences - which I suddenly found I had a hard time remembering the exact details of. Normal stuff, I guess.
-
How can you possibly sit there and tell me you want to be a pediatrician?
-
Why Utah?
-
What did I have to offer to the University of Utah?
-
Name a person in history or in literature whose life most closely represents yourself and why.
-
What would my best friend say were my negative qualities
-
I didn't get any tough questions. One of my fellow interviewers that day got asked what he would do if he was the CEO of a major health organization....he said "shoot myself"
-
None really, the second interviewer drilled me on my research. He wasn't an MD, and thought that research makes you a good doctor.
-
How independent has your research been?
-
Ethics Question about whether to give narcotics to a patient in the ER complaining of pain.
-
Nothing difficult at all. A few interesting questions regarding current state (and future direction) of healthcare.
-
No real difficult questions.
-
Discuss a time when didn't receive or pursue acknowledgment for an accomplishment? Yeah like I said not tough and not interesting either.
-
None.
-
What's the probelem with American health care in one word?
-
What would you change about yourself, and why? When I finished with my answer, she asked the same question again--what else would you change? What else besides that? She wouldn't let up on this topic.
-
Say you have a 16 year old who is looking to get birth control and she doesn't want her parents to be told. Explain what you would do and more importantly, why.
-
Several ethics questions were asked, but weren't difficult.
-
I was asked a crap load of dumb unreallistic questions. One of the interviewers asked me to formulate a medical problem (when I asked him what he meant, he said some students talked about health-care reform etc...), describe the factors associated with it, and then propose a plan for correcting it. I was also asked to describe the participates in a typical small group, identify the different personality types that might be in that group, and then tell him how I would lead this group of people to a postive goal. That is only two of the six questions he asked me. What a nightmare!!! His final question was "what are you going to do if you don't get into medical school?" Not a good sign. The interview was done by phone two days after I had surgery. I was also asked to travel to Boise, Idaho for another interview.
-
Ethics question about being a student and a resident screwed up a dosage but it was a small error...the attending says it was only a small goof, no need to tell the patient...do you tell?
What impressed you positively?
Applicants were overwhelmingly impressed by the new and state-of-the-art facilities at the school, the friendliness and enthusiasm of students and staff, the beautiful location near the mountains, and the supportive and low-stress atmosphere during the interview process. Many also appreciated the emphasis on student success, collaborative environment, and opportunities for research and clinical exposure. Suggestions included increasing diversity and cultural representation among the student body.
Top 5 Responses: (Click below to see additional responses)
-
The facilities seemed nice
-
They were so nice and everything ran so smoothly. They used technology to the fullest and I enjoyed the entire day.
-
Speaking with students at the end was great; learned more information than I expected, e.g. ultrasound honors program
-
I appreciated how put together their interview process was. Very on time and to the point.
-
Nice City.
-
Class is only 4 hours a day. Most students study for 4 hours and attend/watch lectures for 4 hours and go home. Most of them treat school like a 9-5 job for the most part unless they have finals or other big tests to prepare for. Lots of students go hiking/campling or do fun stuff on the weekends. The school/life balance seems really good at the U. I saw some classmates from undergrad and they seemed to be just as happy and stressed as they were during undergrad. The school interviews exactly 4 times as many applicants as they have seats (they put applicants in different pools depending on in-state/OOS/Idaho and keep the 4:1 ratio in each pool) so getting an interview is a big step and statistically means you only have to beat 3 people to get an acceptance, even if you're OOS. The education building where classes/labs are held is brand new and the school of medicine is supposed to be torn down and replaced within a couple years. Lots of collaboration within the classes, not a lot of cut-throat competition.
-
The facilities, the happiness of the medical students and the Dean.
-
People in Salt Lake City are EXTREMELY KIND! As a liberal who has lived all over the country, I thought that the city would be rather sheltered but it's surprisingly progressive -- albeit there is not much to do outside of winter sports. The educational facilities are quite new. The medical students are very happy.
-
All of the current students were very positive about their experience there and were willing to answer ANY questions you had about attending the U for med school.
-
The student-led tour of the health sciences building, the facilities were absolutely beautiful.
-
Great school, incredible resources, 3 hospitals connected to campus.
-
The low-stress atmosphere. I felt like the interviewers just wanted to get to know me.
-
The school is amazing. There are many hospitals on the campus and so many research offices and departments. Also, the school sits up on the mountains overlooking the city.
-
Everyone was very friendly and informative
-
Their facilities are brand new/awesome. Opportunities abroad.
-
Friendliness of the staff
-
A lot of the interview was discussion based. They would ask me a question, and then give their opinions on the matter - a fair amount of back and forth
-
Student support by faculty and administration. Brand new school facilities
-
I was amazed by how comfortable they made me feel while in the middle of the interview.
-
I'm doing a Master's through the dept. of Pathology so the people that I work with, the teachers, in general the attitude towards the importance of research.
-
It's in Utah, and I'm from Utah. That's about it.
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New lecture hall looks pretty nice and the new curriculum is interesting. Students for the most part look pretty engaged with their studies.
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Pretty much everything. The building is new, has tons of windows and a beautiful view over the Salt Lake Valley. The students I met were all really nice and helpful. The faculty the interviewed me was super nice and fun to talk to.
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Love the facilities that they have to offer. The outdoor stuff is amazing. The students are very friendly and the faculty were awesome.
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The facilities, everything is brand new, hospital on-site of medical school, beautiful view of the Salt Lake Valley, it was snowing, the massive mountains, the friendly interviewers.
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The resources available to students. Every student I talked to, had no complaints about anything. They had no regrets and loved it. They emphasized how the school goes head over heels to make sure you succeed.
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The schools facilities are the nicest I've seen, there seems to an excess of funding.
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The facilites, tuition and how cohesive and happy the students were.
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The health sciences building, the changing curriculum.
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New HSE building and the possible move to more clinical exposure beginning earlier than year 3 and tuition.
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The facilities are all new, the student body seems cohesive - everybody knows each other. The location is also great, Salt Lake is a nice city - great outdoor activities and more culural experiences available than you would initially think.
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The new facilities have been designed to maximize student comfort. Good place to learn. The students were happy and seemed to be a cohesive group. The new facilities seem to encourage students to hang out together since they all study, eat and hang out there.
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Faculty, Facilities
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I wasn't too excited about the school prior to my interview. I had never been there and hadn't heard too much about the program. After visiting though, I am completely sold on it. Excellent facilities for the students in the health sciences building (1st and 2nd year classes are taught there). World class genetics program (professor there won this years Nobel prize in the field), Huntsman Cancer Institute is amazing, along with many of the other centers. Large teaching hospitals all around SLC, to include the Inter-Mountain Health Center which opened the first week of November in the valley. Seems to be lots of money for scholarships, loans, etc at the school. Plenty of research going on there. As I mentioned, I wasn't expecting much, but was pleased to find the program and facilities better than any that I had visited to date. They say there is a lack of diversity at the school, but I think it actually does a pretty good job of representing the cultural make up of the community that it serves. I met with a gay student, several students from non-Caucasian backgrounds, was interviewed by a women. And I asked them specifically about the diversity aspect as it is a concern of mine. They said that SLC has diversity, you just have to look for it and that they got along great with all of their classmates despite what many perceive as a rather homogeneous mix.
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The facilites - very nice. The closeness of all the medical buildings.
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The amazing facilities. AMAZING.
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The new facilities - Health Science Building and Huntsman Cancer Institute - and the view of the mountains
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The Health Sciences Education Building. Its first class and fairly new. The views are very impressive. Tons of research opportunities.
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The health sciences building. Huntsman Cancer Institute.
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The new building. The staff, students, and faculty seemed very enthusiastic. The opportunities for great clinical experience and research.
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It seemed that the school is really open to feedback from the students
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How the students liked it and the mountains.
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New classrooms, I sat in on two classes which I really liked. One class was great, lecturer was funny and easy to listen to, the other class was boring so we left. Having lunch with the students was helpful.
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The new facilities are nice.
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The new facility
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The facilities are really nice!! They put their money where their mouth is. There are lots of different facilities really close there. I also liked how honest my student interviewer was in answering my questions.
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The new HSEB building. The chairs are AMAZING!
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The students and teachers were some of the most enthusiastic people I have met. They obviously love the school, and it made me excited to interview there. Also, the interview was extremely laid back. I felt extremely at ease with both of my interviews.
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Many things including the new facilities, friendly staff, location, enthusiasm of students and willingness of faculty to help you succeed.
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The new Health Science Education Building. Attitude of the students
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The ladies in the admisisons office were really nice, the interviewers didn't try to intimidate me (that much). They were trying to get to know me more and see if I could fit in at the school.
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The students were very friendly, as well as the staff. The facilities were amazing!
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The friendliness and welcoming atmosphere of the facilities and the students. The students were cohesive and really close. The facilities are new and very nice. The staff are very considerate and concerned about your needs.
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Facilities were nicer than I imagined. All of the students seemed to really enjoy the school. The Huntsman Cancer Center, Genetic Research Building, etc. are beautiful. Current classrooms weren't bad at all.
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The campus is beautiful-up in the foothills of the Wasatch mountains. The new building is as nice as they say, and there are tons of opportunities for clinical electives in SLC.
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New building is beautiful, even their new seats that they rave about the entire time. The setting is fantastic. The campus is in a cool place.
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Very friendly staff and student body - seemed like everyone was VERY happy to be there. The new Health Science building is AMAZING! and the cadaver labs were very nice compared to other schools.
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The new facility. As a Utah native I was surprised that I hadn't heard more about it.
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Even though this is a well established and "ranked" school I was impressed by the respect and friendliness of the interviewers and other staff towards me as compared to some DO schools that I have interviewed at: NOVA and KCOM. At these two DO schools they ragged on me about your MCAT even though my GPA is above most applicants!! So, if they are not happy about the scores why invite me for an interview? Just to make me feel little? Now, on the other hand Utah has style. I hope I get accepted.
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The students and staff were very welcoming and informative.
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The new building and the city is beautiful.
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The new medical school is very impressive. It was designed with technology in mind. It would favor the student who likes to bring their laptop to class.
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The new building is very nice, the mountains are fantastic, the students seemed very friendly and enjoyed going to school there. The curriculum is more interdisciplinary than I originally thought. It's also the cheapest school that I've applied to.
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The new Health Science Edcuation Building is AMAZING! State of the art lecture halls, lounge rooms, beautiful building. Also, the admissions staff is very nice and the students are very nice as well.
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Great school, great new facilities
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A lot, actually. The new facilities really are top notch. The other interviewees were all friendly. The students were great, and went out of their way (a few, at least) to welcome us and wish us luck. The admissions staff was great, particularly the lady who gave the tour (Tammy, I think). Sat in on a class and the lecturer was really excellent. Great opportunities for research. And the lunch was really good.
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New Fascilities are great, expansion of Research fascilities, friendly people
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The facilities are great! The new building is IMPRESSIVE
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Brand new health sciences building, with gorgeous views of the valley and mountains. Nice classrooms and hospitals.
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Location next to the mountains!
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Utah is a great school and the students that ate lunch with us and the we saw while we were there were super friendly and helpful. The new facilities that will be done come July 2005 will be awesome for the upcoming class. They have built a five story brand new facility essentially just for the medical students. The research facilities are amazing and the hospitals that are affilliated with utah are very nice and up to date.
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The Health Science Center facilities will be magnificent when they open in 2005. They are now have tours of it through May 23, 2005. This 5 story building is essentially just for the medical students. It is really quite incredible!!!
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It was pretty normal. Nothing in particular.
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The students were ridiculously HAPPY! At all other schools I've visited students seem kind of stressed out and overwhelmed but everyone at Utah had it together and seemed really happy. They're also extremely friendly. Random students saw me in my suit and just came over to talk to me about the school and how my day was going.
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Interviewers, admissions staff, and students were very friendly. all the students seemed to get along
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New buildings. Hospital was nice.
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There is a new medical education building, opportunities to travel abroad, second year students were happy and laid back, everyone was really really nice.
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Friendly students, great interviewers
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Very friendly and trying to put you at ease
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That they were interested in me. I never felt that they were attempting to show me how lucky I should feel to be there. They were very genuine and concerned about what I thought of the school.
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They are building a new building for the medical school and nursing school. The hospitals and research facilities are nice and the students seemed to enjoy going to school there. I also thought both of my intervewers were very good. Also, there is a lot of political gossip spread about the admissions committee at the University. I didn't see any of it, and I think the admissions committee tries their best to bring in the strongest class.
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New building coming next year!
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The hospitals that are so close to campus.
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Everyone was very nice and they really emphasized that not only were you there to determine if you were the right fit for the university, but also if the university was the right fit for you
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The day was fairly organized and lunch was good
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The detail that Utah goes into in order to select their students. Some may say that it is long and drawn out, however, I think it's actually beneficial in order to surface the most qualified applicants. After interviewing, some applicants are notified of their acceptance early, but a majority tend to find out around April.
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Location, quality of students, quality of physician-interviewer, library
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The openness and friendliness of all the students and staff. I went and sat in one a class, and had 2 students introduce themselves and many wish me goodluck while the passed me.
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The faculty and staff went out of their way to answer questions, and if they didn't know the answer they called someone or looked it up for you.
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The admissions staff really seemed to have tried to match up my interviewers with my age, gender and background which I thought was pretty nice of them. Also, the staff was consistently kind and friendly throughout the day and I really felt that they took a personal interest in me and my doing well in the process. Also, the other students in the school were really friendly and took time during the class break to come up to me and another interviewer to ask us questions and answer any questions we might have. Awesome! Because it's a small community and a small-ish school, I really felt that everyone was looking out for us and people smiled at us (in the blue suits) as we walked around the halls and campus.
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Friendly admissions staff and interviewers, the student who came and talked to the interviewees while hanging out in the student lounge, new facilities being built, research facilities
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The views of the mountains
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Students were very friendly and enthusiastic.
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Students, staff, and just about everyone I met was extremely nice and helpful.
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A few of the students being interview had a break and were able to go to a first year class and the first year students were extremely friendly and came up to ask and talked about the program.
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The education seems to be quality. The facilities are old but relatively nice. The faculty seemed interested in the students. Dr. Samuelson was friendly and honest. The students seem content.
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LUNCH!!
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The school is actually in the hospital and all the hospitals there including the UofU, Primary Children's and the VA hospital, as well as a few others are so closely linked. Research opportunities.
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First interview. 4th year student was very laid back and made it comfortable
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It is a beautiful place. Nice hotel, nice funding.
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The low intensity of the interview.
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Friendliness of medical students.
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New facilities, low cost
-
The location of the school is fabulous, and the number of different facilities is incredible.
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The setting. You can't beat the Wasatch mountains.
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The facilities.
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The Huntsman Cancer Center and Moran Eye Institute
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My first interview was with a faculty member--she was great. The interview became more of a discussion with the faculty member being very candid.
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The students and the dean's office. As opposed to others, I thought the students were very friendly. They always came up and introduced themselves and tried to sell the school. I wonder if the previous poster was justa prick and wondered why no one would talk to him. I have seen it at other schools where the arrogant interviewees ack like jerks and then complain that the students were "mean and rude". Anyway, the students seemed to have a lot of fun, but also studied pretty hard. It is hard not to play when the mountains are 30 minutes away.
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I was really impressed with mountains so close to campus. There is a lot of private money going into the Medical School, Huntsman Cancer Institute and the Moran Eye Center.
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Students had quite a bit of freedom, Huntsman Cancer Center=big MONEY for cancer research. Beautiful area.
What impressed you negatively?
Applicants commonly expressed concerns about lack of diversity among students and faculty, outdated facilities, long decision-making processes for admissions, unimpressive interview experiences, and a perceived lack of interest from current students during interactions. Suggestions included improving diversity initiatives, updating facilities, streamlining admissions decisions, enhancing interview experiences, and fostering a more engaging environment for prospective students.
Top 5 Responses: (Click below to see additional responses)
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The interviewer was a little bit mean to me. He was sarcastic with me and insinuated that none of my answers were good enough when he asked why I wanted to go to medical school (as opposed to doing another type of job such as an engineer or a lawyer). He made me feel like he didn't think I was good enough to come to his school. I feel like he was fishing for a specific answer and he didn't like that I didn't give him the answer he was looking for.
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Nothing.
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Seemed like a commuter school, rather than a major university.
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The anatomy lab is in a separate building that is not right next to the others. It was not part of the tour because it was too far away. In-state tuition is still 39k+. They don't "give" you a laptop. You get an iPad air for the first 2 years then you have to give it back and they give you an iPad mini for clinical years.
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Housing facilities are quite old and run-down… But they are CHEAP
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General feeling of "box checking" on the interview day in general and the application process at this school ahead of time.
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Mandatory attendance. Out-of-state tuition. Apparently the air quality is really bad because of "the inversion" -- and I'll be honest, I'm an asthmatic.
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The mixed messages about when we will hear about the admissions committee decisions. Different UofU SOM officials reported different things, which has made the waiting process somewhat frustrating.
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The lack of organized activities (there was a full two hours that I was expected to fill myself, either with school work or a self-guided tour).
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One of my interviewers seemed to be in a rush and only spent 20 minutes with me.
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It seems that most of the students are male. Perhaps that could be cultural with in SLC and the LDS faith.
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Their interviews were not very challenging. Maybe one hard question per interview. The rest was very scripted and generic; made it hard to stand out. Also lack of diversity in Utah.
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Class size should go back up to 102, are you really saving that much money by only accepting 82 students?
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The location is a good and a bad thing. It's a good thing b/c it's peaceful, beautiful, and no distractions. But it may be too quiet at times, and not sure how the culture is since I'm an OOS applicant who was born and raised in Los Angeles and currently living in New York City.
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The inversion
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The office staff was not friendly, the secondary application process was really inefficient, and the school does not seem to do well with residency matches.
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A lot of med students I talked to here only got an interview invitation to the U. Not really a negative, but kind of weird...
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Um... Well they did say that the cadavers were in a different building a little ways away so maybe that's not ideal.
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How low the diversity is
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Too much construction. Plan for new curriculum but little explanation, although not surprisingly everyone is touting the change is going to be great.
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Not to be racist, but the demographics of the first year class we attended definatly don't match the demographics of the state of Utah or even the application pool,I'm sure of that. Hooray for Affirmative Action and the U's attempts to diversify.
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That you don't know if your in or not until April. There were only two women in the interview group.
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Rising tuition, almost all of the learning is done through a lecture setting as opposed to small group work or problem based learning.
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They are considering getting rid of the anatomy lab with disections. No rolling admissions/Finding out in April?!?!
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The tour was limited to the new building. The first thing my interviewer stated when he walked in was that he only had 4 hours of sleep. He seemed so bored throughout the interview, he kept checking the time and yawning.
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The medical school is sequestered at the top of the University of Utah campus. So it is a long walk to anything that is not medical school related.
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The weather!
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While there are opportunities for volunteering to gain clinical exposure, it didn't seem like it was too integrated into the curriculum, rather they use standardized patients to prepare for the new part on the USMLE. Wasn't able to get a really good feel for the curriculum, it seemed to be a mix between a traditional curriculm and system/regional based. Board scores are a little below national average ''they teach students to be doctors, rather than focus soley on the boards.'' That said, it seemed like the students were competitive on the match. Housing prices are higher than many other areas I have looked at.
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Lack of diversity in class and applicants.
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Distance of cadaver lab, lack of note-taking service for 1st year med courses.
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That there isn't much diversity, although they are trying to change this. there were only 3 women in my interview group (including me), and the other 6 were white males.
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We may not find out the decision on our files until March
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Construction in the area; however, this also means that the facilities are growing and getting better.
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The anatomy lab off of campus. How long they will take to get back to me on acceptance or rejection.
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The school seemed a little prehistoric, but the are constructing a new building
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The tour because it was right before lunch and I was hungry, other than that nothing.
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Faculty interview would always say ''Is there anything else'' after every answer I gave, it made me uneasy. It seemed faculty interview was not familiar with my file.
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Student interview was horrible (Did this guy even HAVE have a pulse?). The facilities are nice but go mostly unused, why? Students seemed a bit on the close-minded side.
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The lack of patient contact in the first two years.
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The only thing I didn't like was another guy in the interview group. He had an overwhelming attitude of arrogance. Everything about the school was great!
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The bathrooms down the hall from the admissions office.
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Nothing really. The facilities were very nice, as were the people.
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That I might not get in!!! :) Bathroom down the hall from admissions office.
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Not much
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They didn't say much about alternative opportunites in the educational aspect of the school like overseas clerkships, possibility of pbl, or tell me much about research opportunities. It seemed like there wasn't much emphasis on preventative medicine/nutrition etc from what the students said (even though the website claims that's a big part of things).
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The 45 min. harangue by the dean at the beginning of the day.
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There's not too much diversity, but they're working on that and it's improving.
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Pre-interview day "pep talk" emphasized that no matter what happened, we'd be OK (as if the interview, our day, or the news from the school that we were rejected would be devastating). "No matter what happens today, the sun will still rise tomorrow..." It was a little odd and presumptuous. Also, there can be a 3rd interview, in the event that something goes wrong with interviewing (inapproriate questions asked, etc.). Though rare, there are several each year. No other schools I've interviewed at mentioned a similar policy, and so it seemed strange. Computing facilities not well developed.
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The lack of diversity and the major predominance of Mormons versus non-Mormons.
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My faculty interviewer sucked. Who really cares about the new seats. Yeah, they are comfortable, but what else do they have? The class seemed to not be very cohesive. Clubs were almost nonexistant.
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The old school of medicine is small and outdated, but students aren't using those facilities much anymore, so I'm not sure.
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Nothing
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I was the only female interviewee.
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The severe lack of diversity.
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I was not too impressed with the city and its lack of a diverse population.
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Not a diverse student body in any way, and I'm used to going to school at very homogeneous places. The Dean went on at length about not finishing all the classes/majors/research projects, etc. that one might claim during the application process- if you mislead them, they give you the boot. That shouldn't surprise anyone, but he really hammered this point concluding with "don't try to play hardball with the guy who's got the biggest bat." Hilarious! I don't expect he caught the double-entendre of this...
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I'm not too excited about being cold for 4 more years and the school is only 30% female! yikes.
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Not much. The financial aid presentation was somewhat mind-numbing.
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The only thing they talk about is their new building
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The interviews were short, cold, and really didn't ask me much: mostly just asked me if I had any question...(how can they decide anything when they do that? Why interview?)
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Student body seemed a little "dorky". :)
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The shear arrogance and the "holier than though" attitude of the faculty and students.
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I wasn't to stoked about how far away the anatomy lab is. It is either a very long walk or a short car ride away.
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The inversion/smog (which occurs 20-30 days/year)in the city.
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It seemed as though one of them, the 4th yr med student, was probing my file for holes instead of focusing getting to know me outside of the numbers and stats.
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There are a lot of married students, and there is a definite discrepency in the male to female ratio. I don't know how these things would affect my classes but they might hamper study groups, class dynamics, etc. Also, not sure about the social scene in Salt Lake. There is tons of outdoor stuff to do but not as much typical "city" stuff like bars, concerts, etc.
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Some of the facilities seemed old, but a lot of new construction is being done
-
The match list was not as impressive as other schools I had looked at. I interviewed with 12 other guys, and me the single girl - it was a little strange. A lot of the student body is married.
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Nothing really
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Not very formal. The secretary who took us around didn't seem to have a set plan of what she was doing. It was almost too laid back, ie If you want to, you can check out a class between your interviews, or you can wander around campus or fall asleep, whatever you want.
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The tour wasn't very useful.
-
N/A
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Old building and they treat you like garbage. You are here by our good graces and we could care less is the standard attitude. Their admissions policy regarding out of staters....you can be a minority or you're out of luck unless you can conjure up strong ties to the state. AS IF UTAH IS THAT DIVERSE AND NEEDS TO PRODUCE DIVERSE PHYSICIANS!!!
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The only benefit they give for going there is the cheap tuition. That's the only reason, in their minds, that you should want to go there. They didn't talk at all about their students' success on the boards or anything else like that. It was all about tuition. The facilities are subpar at best.
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Nothing really. There are a lot of opportunities at the University of Utah.
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Lecture hall for years 1&2
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Because it's a state school, apparently there were problems in the past with minortiy women from out of state. Some of the other med school students from in state resented the fact that the woman got in an not one of their caucasian/local friend. I don't know how this is being resolved. But the school is DEFINITELY homogeneous (mostly male, caucasian and mormon), and a good majority of the student body is married.
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Some of the medical students were really great, answering questions and helping out. Some medical students seemed snotty and cared only about the free lunch they were getting. They even sat at their own table and had their own conversation.
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Well, it's not like Philadelphia or New York where there are about 5 other medical schools nearby. So it's definitely a school out there on it's own. Otherwise, nothing really negatively impressed me. It's a small town area which is great in alot of ways and the facilities seem up to the mark.
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The lunch with the second years. They mostly sat together and talked about other things so it was hard to interact with them. You got the impression they didn't care about meeting you; they just wanted the free lunch.
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Almost everything else. Utah certainly thinks it has a great program, and they seem to have convinced their studentbody of it. I don't gather that it's national reputations agrees, however.
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The boring psychiatry class I visited.
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Apparently all the lectures are in the same room.
-
Old facilities (but they are building a new lecture hall). I had some pretty off the wall interview questions (see below)
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The lenght of time for acceptance decissions is too long. The facilities are old, but they are building a new school building.
-
My second interviewer was like 80 and had not practiced in 12 years
-
The interview day was kind of hokey... not as elaborate and organized as other schools. I don't really have any complaints about the school.
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Too much emphasis on research
-
The students don't feel it is important to go to class. I also told a current student something in confidence and she told the program director straight away.
-
Attended a first year class and was surprised by the inattentiveness of some students.
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The classrooms are ancient, but they are building new ones. Also, the admissions committee is very slow at deciding who they accept.
-
The classrooms and such are a little outdated.
-
To touchy, feely.
-
Homogeneous feel to the applicant pool and students.
-
The second interview was with a medical student--the "What would you change about yourself"-student. She was ill-prepared for the interview, having just barely scanned my material. She wouldn't even talk with me--she just threw out question after question, seemingly unconcerned with my answers, or if I even gave an answer.
-
The medical students were very disinterested in the applicants. I attended two class periods and not one student said "boo." They did step over me to get to seats though. I was interviewed three times by the clowns in admissions!!! Holy cow, how long does it take to make a decision? My first interview was by a medical student, frazzled by Residency interviews, who seemed more interested if I was a "cool" medical student than a competent applicant. I also had to travel to Boise for an interview and do another over the phone. It did not impress me at all that several medical students (there was a free lunch that these guys came to) bragged about bagging 15 days skiing that semester. Sorry guys, I want to go to some place more devoted to studying.
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I sat in on a class that the professor didn't seem too excited to be teaching. That was kind of disheartening, but it was only one guy n only one class.
What did you wish you had known ahead of time?
Applicants wished they had known ahead of time about the relaxed interview style, the focus on health care crisis questions, the importance of being honest in the application process, the lack of need to stress, and the potential delay in receiving final decisions until April. It was also mentioned that the admissions process can be slow, there is a lack of diversity in the student body, and that the interview day may include multiple interviews with different types of interviewers.
Top 5 Responses: (Click below to see additional responses)
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I wish I would have been given a chance to ask students here about their opinion of the school.
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Nothing.
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Practice MMI!
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There's some snacks & water when you arrive but nothing breakfast-oriented, so eat before you arrive. It takes about 10 minutes from parking at the hospital to walk to the admissions office - and that's without getting lost. The directions they send to applicants are pretty good though.
-
Ridiculous level of "box checking" by the school
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50/50-LDS and non-LDS students, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but a current med student told me that the Mormons know who the non-Mormons are and they tend to stick together.
-
All requirements must be current within the last four years. If you take a year off before applying you can't count anything you did your first year on their secondary application.
-
How much they focused on health care crisis questions.
-
Be more relaxed.
-
SLC has smog in the winters. yuck. :(
-
They actually changed the schedule, we were finished at 12, not 3:30 as they said!
-
They really just go by your file. I've interviewed at U of U twice and this was the case both times. Really know your research, it's a big research school, but all in all both experiences, with all 4 interviewers was great and they make you feel really comfortable. They really do just want to get to know you.
-
I wish I would have known it was going to be a very relaxed interview style.
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That I was going to be interviewed by someone who had completed medical school at an age when I was still trying to stay out of jail.
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That it would cost me $100 to interview at a school that's so unfriendly.
-
Nothing really.
-
How great the facilities are for students, and how great life outside of school can be in Utah.
-
Parking was hard to find. I got a ticket! :(
-
How little my chances of being accepted are because I'm not "under-represented in medicine", also that they are going to verify EVERYTHING on my application before my final admission. I hope the person they call agrees I put in the same number of hours as I said on my primary and secondary applications. DON'T EXAGERATE
-
I should have brought some food. I was starving by the time we ate at 1:00.
-
I wish I would have known a little bit more about general problems that are happening in health care.
-
That my faculty interview would be so unresponsive to any answer I gave. I hope I did well.
-
My counseler at the University of Utah had told me that the interviewers would read and know my file. Clearly not the case with my first interviewer, which completely caught me off guard.
-
There are two interviews: one is conducted by a 4th year student and the other a physician.
-
I was told that OOS students gain in-state status after thier first year and therefor pay less for school starting the MS2 year.
-
I thought the interviews would be a lot more intense. But they were fine.
-
They wait until March for final decisions for the majority of applicants
-
That my interviewers would be so friendly and easygoing - I wouldn't have been so nervous the night before.
-
The interviewers would not ask me any questions on my volunteering but focus on research.
-
That I would have got the unique kinds of questions I did from my faculty interviewer.
-
That there were 2 interviews, 40 minutes a piece, one with a faculty and one with a 4th year.
-
You can become a resident if you take a year off.
-
GPA and MCAT are not included in the open book interview. The anti-( LDS white male ) thing is a myth, that just happens to be the majority of the people applying so you here stories about how the school won't except you if you fit that mold.
-
How shabby the whole university campus was. Very dirty and run down.
-
I think I was fairly prepared for the interview. But, if you interview during the winter, make sure you bring a coat; you do have to wak outside to different buildings sometimes for interviews.
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Don't worry about bringing a pen or paper, they provide those things for you. Just relax and enoy the experience!
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Reapplicant, so nothing!
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I really found this out after, but the essays(secondarys) can make or break you here. You really need to answer their questions explicitly.
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Who my interviewers would be.
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N/A
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I've heard negative things about this school from students attending other schools, there are a few negative comments on SDN, and the rankings aren't high according to US News. However, the students seem happy, the school seems like it will provide a good education, and the staff seemed supportive. In addition, tuition is quite affordable. Also, if you are married or have children, there is a lot of support available as a sizeable number of students are married and/or have children.
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How beautiful Salt Lake City is.
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I wish I had known what they were looking for, the University of Utah's program is very diverse and so there is no one 'right applicant.' They try to see who they think would fit in at the school.
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There are very few spots for visitors parking at the medical school. It is better to take a cab or get a ride from someone.
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Most of the med school buildings and hospitals are linked by tunnels, there is a lot of walking.
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Their are not too fond of students not completing the classes listed on their application or changing degree completions.
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That everyone at my interview day would be male and white and still in college (except me). And that there's little chance of finding out their decision until March/April.
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We did a lot of walking and I wish I had worn more comfortable shoes.
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It was so much less stressful than I had anticipated.
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That there was no need to stress.
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Nothing
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New facilities.
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They want applicants to be desperate! Being honest and claiming an interest in other medical schools, was the mistake that I made.
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The new facilites. it isn't very advertised that the school is building such nice facilities and that really made a big impression on me once i actually got there for the interview.
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How large the city was and how extensive the facilities were!! The U is an incredible institution!!!
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The anatomy lab is located off the medical school campus. Supposedly it's too far away to walk in the winter which might deter me from actually going to disect. Also found out they're building a new facility for health professions students which should be open in the fall. It seems really nice.
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A large portion of the students are married (students we had lunch with estimated 50%)
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The anatomy lab is off campus
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The simplicity of the questions.
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The coldness with which they treat applicants.
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That they discount LDS mission experience.
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There were no surprises.
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How long they take to get back to you! (April...)
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I wish that I had prepared answers for some of the typical questions.
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You probably won't find out if you get in until April even though they have rolling admissions.
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The lack of diversity in the studentbody
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That there are significantly more males than females in the medical school.
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While the curriculum appears to be very traditional, there are alot of opportunities to volunteer in clinical settings where there is usually a great amount of responsibility placed on the student such as interviewing the patients and deciding what tests to order and then reviewing with the doctor what you want to do.
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Wish I had had more hands on research.
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75% of the class is married with children. Many people here are just looking forward to the day they can leave.
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That I will not find out if I will get accepted until April even though they have already accepted 40% of the class.
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How slow the admissions process is at the University of Utah.
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The names of my interviewers. Oh I couldn't have found out. Really nothing.
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That it would be less stressful than expected
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How laid back this day would be. i gae myself way too much stress.
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I would be called back for a third interview. It's kind of a pain.
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Utah's application department has a bad reputation for being close to incompetent. I wish I had believed the rumors.
🤝 Campus and Facilities ▼
How do you rank the facilities?
Most respondents rank the facilities as above average.
How would you rate the Location and Cultural Life?
0 = Low, 10 = High
How is the friendliness of the admissions office?
Most respondents said the admissions office was friendly.
How is the responsiveness of the admissions office?
Most respondents said the admissions office was responsive.
What are your suggestions for the admissions office?
The most common feedback and suggestions from applicants to the admissions office include: providing timely rejections to applicants who are not competitive, streamlining the application process to be more efficient and less time-consuming, and improving communication and transparency throughout the entire admissions process.
Top 5 Responses: (Click below to see additional responses)
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If someone is not even close to being on the accepted list please let them know sooner than later. This is one of the biggest flaws I see with Utah is their lack of transparency and openness. It seems like they send out a giant batch of rejections all at once in March. Why can you not let those applicants know sooner that they have not been accepted? Besides that, I think Utah is an awesome school.
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Worst application process in the entire field. First, you have to reformat your entire primary application because their secondary is essentially the exact same but with less characters. Then, once you are invited for an interview, you must first complete an online interview and essay. Then on the interview day, (besides the fact that there's no parking and I got a ticket from their campus police) they ask you to complete their own situational judgement test (instead of accepting the CASPer like everyone else). And finally they have you do 8 MMI stations which is more than any other school had. The best part is, even if they are sure that they will reject you, you will not be rejected or waitlisted until mid-March. I waited around for 8 months post-interview to finally hear back from them. It left such a bad taste in my mouth. If you don't desperately want to attend school here, DON'T apply.
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Let people know as early as possible if they are rejected!
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Instead of using a "request this date and we'll call to confirm" system for interview scheduling, it would be nicer to have "pick from these available dates" -- only because I was twiddling my thumbs about booking travel while I was waiting for a confirmation of my interview date.
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Send out post-interview rejections fairly quickly to those that historically have absolutely no chance of being selected.
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The whole process went smoothly.
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The interview day should be less waiting around and more active participation by either current students or faculty. Sitting in the Starbucks for an hour was not the best use of my time at the school, and a self-guided tour is not a great way to impress applicants.
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Be friendly. Let us know you're people. Smile, it's not against the law since communism fell.
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Eco-friendly? Honestly SDN...
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It seems like they are more focused on students "getting through the hoops" than they are about the
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None
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I would like to know more about the curriculum and board pass rates.
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Eco friendliness is Dumb
📍 Travel and Logistics ▼
Airports Used
✈️
SLC
87% interviewees used SLC (SLC), with 4% using slc (slc) and 4% using Salt Lake City Airport (Salt Lake City Airport) and 4% using Zoom (Zoom).
What was your primary mode of transportation?
Most interviewees traveled by automobile to the interview.
✈️
29% Airplane
🚗
68% Automobile
🚆
1% Train or Subway
🚲
1% Other
Hotels Recommended by Other Interviewees
Most interviewees stayed at the University Guest House (average ranking 8.5/10), with some staying at Howard Johnson (average rating 6/10). (Top 3 displayed)
🏨
University Guest House
8.5/10
🏨
Howard Johnson
6/10
🏨
Embassy Suites
10/10
What was the cost and time spent traveling?
Cost: Low Cost to High Cost
What is your in-state status?
Most respondents are in state students.
Where did you stay?
Most respondents stayed either Friends or family or with friends or family.
Who was the tour given by?
Tours were most commonly given by Admissions staff personnel
Admissions staff (75%)
Faculty member (9%)
Other (3%)
Student (14%)
How did the tour guide seem?
Most tour guides were enthusiastic about the school.
Discouraging (1%)
Enthusiastic (74%)
Neutral (25%)
All Responses
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| Application Cycle ▿ | Impression | Performance | Interview Location |
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