Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center School of Medicine Interview Feedback Summary
Richmond, VA
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 very impressive with a low stress level and felt they did well.
⭐ Overall Impressions ▼
SDN Interview Experience Score
8.2
Above Average
Higher scores indicate a smoother, more positive interview experience with professional staff, organized logistics, and a supportive environment.
Based on 1,165 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 low 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 (85%)
Negatively (8%)
No change (7%)
How you think you did?
Most respondents thought they performed well at the interview.
Great (37%)
Good (50%)
Average (10%)
Poor (1%)
Bad (1%)
What are your general comments?
Applicants generally found the interview experience at VCU to be positive and relaxed, with interviewers focusing on open-ended and conversational questions tailored to the applicant's experiences and application. The school and facilities were well-regarded, and the admissions staff and students were described as friendly and accommodating. Some applicants appreciated the emphasis on student advocacy during the admissions process, while others highlighted the diverse patient population and clinical experiences available at VCU.
Top 5 Responses: (Click below to see additional responses)
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Everyone was super nice!!
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Interview wasn't as intense as I had imagined. Maintaining eye-contact while speaking to the interviewer is emphasized.
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This school's MMI format impressed me more than other schools that used MMIs and was more enjoyable.
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Loved this school so much
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Solid school that really supports and cares about its students
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Great place!
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#1 choice and amazing program focused on helping the community!
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Loved everything about this school. am overly excited about attending this fall.
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Changed from traditional one-on-one interview to MMI format in the 2017 cycle. Total of 9 stations. Washroom/water break halfway between the stations.
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VCU SOM was a top choice for me since day one, so I came into the interview quite biased in favor. I had a very smooth interview and interview experience as a whole.
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Had a great time at my interview and had a friendly interviewer. VCU is one of my top choices.
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I absolutely loved this visit and would matriculate here in a heartbeat
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Great school and program! Looking forward to hearing back.
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Loved VCU! Would love to attend!
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Really great school.
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Awesome day! prepare more or less using the questions here, but then relax. most of the interview is just talking about your application, and the "behavioral" questions are mixed in.
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VCU is middle of the pack in terms of rankings/prestige, so I was very pleasantly surprised by how engaged and happy all of the students seemed! I really got the impression that the students here are satisfied with the education they are receiving AND have fulfilling lives outside of school. In addition, the interview day was well organized, and the tour was very comprehensive and enjoyable. Having no preconceived notions about the school's reputation or cost, I think VCU's interview day left me most impressed with the school, even more so than some of the more "prestigious" places I've interviewed.
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I was very impressed by the interview day. This school is incredibly friendly. The new curriculum is exciting, but only time will tell how successful it will be.
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Talking to other candidates, it seems like this interview was not the norm. Most people are saying that it was casual, relaxed, and conversational, with little to no behavioral questions. Mine was the exact opposite, it was essentially a grill session.
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Really liked the school overall
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Great school with resources for everything a med student could ask for!
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Great school, great interview! The most low-stress interview I've had.
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Overall, very nice school. OOS tuition though:-( Positive experience. Read your file and their entire website...and don't worry.
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VCU is definitely trying to climb the ranks and improve their rep, and it seems that they are doing a great job of doing it.
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Interview was very conversational, which is why I was not able to provide many specific questions. We spoke about both of our backgrounds, cultures, experiences and it was very open. A previous interviewee warned me that my interviewer would ask random questions (like, who are the Senators of my home state), but that did not happen. I even asked the interviewer why he didn't ask me those types of questions and he said it was clear that my head was not buried in the pre-med sand.
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Interview was a very positive experience. Faculty, staff, and students are very kind, and VCU definitely accomplishes its goal of training competent clinicians (check out match list).
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The interview at MCV was very relaxed, and the interviewer was very friendly. There is no reason to be nervous at this interview. If you get an interview at MCV, you have a 50/50 chance of getting accepted.
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Nasty interviewer who was absolutely not interested in any non-trad applicants
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My impression of this school post-interview is amazing. I hope I am lucky enough to get accepted.
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I'd highly recommend the student host program. Tour guides were also extremely helpful. I didn't know that the White House of the Confederacy was on the VCU medical campus.
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Great school!
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Really, really love VCU. I wish the student tour guides would have talked a little more about opportunities available to students (ie., research, extracurriculars) other than the perfunctory interest groups etc. The students seem to really like the school, and the admissions people are excellent.
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Loved it!
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MCV was my 2nd choice going in and still is. I really liked the school. There's a good balance between what you do in the classroom and what you do outside of it. Even though the school has one of the larger class sizes, the students seem very close.
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Don't stress, just relax. :)
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The school is great. From what I understand, my experience with interviewing was a true rarity at MCV. Everyone else was raving about how awesome their interviewers were!
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It was really laid back and enjoyable. I stayed with some students and they all said the interviews at VCU are laid back, which they were. Tour was a little long, but the admissions dean told us they interview around 800 students a year and accept about 400 of them which was nice to know.
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Really awesome school. I liked it a lot more than I thought I would.
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I was interviewed by a fourth year medical student. They have full voting privileges on the admissions committee and I think that it demonstrates the school's faith in their students.
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It's really relaxed and easy going. The interviewer just wants to get to know you so they can vouch for you to the admissions committee. Just be yourself and know yourself. Be able to relate traits you want them to be aware of with stories/anecdotes. Don't just say I'm a good person, tell them why! =D Good luck!
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The interviewer was overly aggressive, and seemed to have preconceived notions of who I was. My experience was a stark contrast to the woman who interviewed after me. (Maybe the interviewer didn't like my suit.) :)
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I arrived, got lost in the parking garage/hospital, arrived at my interview exactly on time, it went quickly, typical financial aid and general talk, then tour with lunch - the tour went long
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Really liked my interviewer, though he asked me A LOT of questions. The interview was nearly 2 hours, but I hardly noticed; it was very conversational and relaxed.
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There was very little lag time which was nice. Started with an interview, then a meeting with financial aide and dean and then a very comprehensive tour and lunch with med students. My interviewer was unique. He was a long time faculty member and was relatively laid back, but also had 4 pages of questions that he asked me.
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Much better than i had expected. i came out of my interview thinking that i could definitely picture myself being a med student here.
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It was a very positive day. I had a very good dialogue with my interviewer and everyone else I came in contact with throughout the day.
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Interview first, tour, lunch
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I was the first person to show up for the early morning interviews. John in the admissions office was extremely nice, and I was impressed by how laid-back everyone was. I was walked to where my interview was (down the street) and had a nice conversation with my interviewer. He asked very routine questions, except for the ones mentioned already. He also seemed very interested in trying to find out if I really wanted to be in Richmond, as it's far from my home state. He reacted well to my answers and I felt that I did well based on his reactions. The tour was conducted by two students and is normal as far as school tours go. I was impressed by how new or updated all of their facilities are. The cafeteria is really nice, and it is provided (they don't mention this on the interview schedule). The other interviewees were nice and we had a lot of fun, so I think VCU picks good kids to interview and ultimately accept. There was a lot of walking, so wear comfortable shoes. The tour was over an hour long.
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Interview was very conversational. Not stressfull at all.
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There was nothing spectacular about the school or facilities, but the location has many of the pros of both rural and urban areas and the students are reported to be happy and successful
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I chose to stay with a 4th year medical student, which turned out to be the best part of the entire interview experience because he was very friendly, informative and just overall an awesome guy. The interview was very relaxed and low-stress, and actually your interviewer becomes your advocate when your case is presented to the admissions committee. I received an acceptance from them and MCV is currently my first choice based on the interview experience.
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Basically went through my file and asked me specifics about it, and asked a bunch of random ethical/getting to know you questions.
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Not very good. The interviewer seemed more interested in talking about herself than me. She was more interested in knowing more about my undergraduate experience than my doctorate study. She had at least 4-5 calls she had to respond to during our interview. But, she was friendly and nice.
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The interview was pretty good. I got there, and the interviewer asked me ''Why medicine, and why VCU''...so after I spent 10 minutes answering that, she asked me if I had any questions (as if the interview was already over)...I started up a discussion about everything from Richmond to US healthcare, and we kept talking for another 30 minutes. No ethical questions whatsoever (VCU is not known for this)
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See negative comments above. What a horrible experience.
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Spectacular and fun.
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Great. period. plus i learned that students not only have access to the gym (and grad housing is avilable 2 blocks from the hospital/school) but drop-in classes (i.e yoga and kickboxing which i like) are FREE!!!
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I loved this school. It is now and will forever be one of my top choices. the students and admissions staff are so relaxed, it really seems like a great place. Everyone really friendly and happy. If they were just putting on a facade, they did an amazing job and sold me.
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830am chat with MD/PhD administrative assistant; 9am MD interview one-on-one with associate director of MD/PhD program; 10am PHD interview with MD/PhD director, Professor familiar with avenues of my research as well as my hometown (yay!), G2 student doing spinal cord research; 11am Info session with 9 other students (1 other MD/PhD, 8 MD applicants) regarding financial aid and another questions; 12pm Tour led by M2 students, 1pm lunch with med students and other applicants; 2pm Lab interview with a young PI; 230pm Lab interview with a professor from my PHD interview; 3pm interview with Professor whom I would like to work with. 4pm... head toward the airport!
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It was very laid back and mostly conversation style. My interviewer gave me a lot of information about the school, programs and opportunities at VCU. We started the interview earlier than schedule and she even gave me directions to get back to the airport
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Laid back. Interviewed by a 4th year student who had just matched into opthamology. He said he would very highly recommend me to the admissions committee, but I really feel like I was inarticulate for the most part. My mind just wasn't with me.
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Very disappointing. I feel that I performed well under the circumstances but it was very unprofessional. I don't think that arriving 25 minutes late and answering 3 phone calls during an interview is a way to get to know a potential student or to make them feel valued.
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The interview day was organized and informative. It was helpful having an interview in the afternoon after the tour of the school and plenty of opportunities to ask questions. The student tour guides and the interviewer were eager to answer questions and share their experiences.
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A fabulous first interview.
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It was good-> the interiew was REALLY laid back, which was awesome. My interviewer was a 4th yr student who was like ''We're just gonna talk but there are some standard questions I'm going to ask you throughout''
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VCU #1 choice!!
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Overall a good experience. The tours were helpful. After my first interview, I would suggest taking my interviews in the afternoon. The tours always give an excellent idea of the pros of the school, and this question always comes up at length in the interview. I wouldn't recommend an afternoon interview for the first one however, since I was a little too nervous to pay attention.
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I had my interview in the morning, and that was the first part of the day. Everyone in the admissions office was extremely friendly, and after checking in, I got to meet some fellow interviewees. I was then sent to my interviewer's office within the medical campus. My interview experience was very positive and I felt totally at ease the entire time. After my interview, I headed back to the admissions office for a meeting with the dean. The meeting covered various things such as curriculum and financial aid. Near the end, two M2's came to take us to lunch and on a tour.
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Great! One-on-one. Easy going.
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I started the day with a lab visit and clicked with the researcher rght away over football. Next I had my MD interview (one hour, open file, one-on-one) and that went really well. It was very relaxed, we told a few jokes, and the hour went by really quickly. Then we had a little pep-talk about the program (everyone else interviewing that day was straight MD so it was mainly geared toward them) and financial aid and planning. Next we had lunch and a tour with two tour guides who were amazingly excited, honest, and very knowledgable. The first years were having a big anatomy exam and then didn't even seem too stessed when we walked by some of them studying. Next I had my PhD interview (one hour, group, open-file). Mostly I discussed my research, my future plans, why MD/PhD and not one or the other... the usual stuff. After that I had one more lab visit, and then dinner with two MD/PhD students which was great because I got to ask whatever I wanted since it was just the three of us.
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I was extremely impressed by VCU. The fact that ''the powers that be'' are pouring a great deal of money into the surrounding area and facilities shows (and gives the impression) they are committed to having superb facilities. I felt that this also indicates a significant commitment to improve the learning environment for students. I chose to have my interview at the 9am time slot. Definitely go for the morning time slots (if available). You will be worn down after the whole interview day since the tour involves a fair amount of walking. I had a good time with my interviewer; I felt like I was able to give him a picture of ''me'' and my motivations beyond my numbers and essays.
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Overall it was good. My particular interviewer was a little tough to get to know quickly, but by the end, I think things went well.
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Very laid back, one-on-one with a fourth year med student who seemed interested in getting to know me.
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Extremely positive. Didn't know too much about VCU before this but after my visit it's definitely very very high up on my list. My interviewer was like 70+ years old and extremely nice. He was a very good conversationalist and SOMEHOW managed to insert very standard interview questions in in a VERY subtle and casual manner.
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It was okay. the facilities are not that nice and the location isnt ideal, but the students seem happy and they have a high pass rate for boards which is what really matters anyway.....
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Good experience overall. The interview day began (for me at 9am b/c of my early interview, everything normally starts at 11am) and ended at 2pm. The day was cold and I am veryy glad I brought a heavy coat. The tour was amazing - I could see myself here.
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It was great and very relaxed. The interviewer was definitely very nice and wonderful! The tour guides were enthusiastic about the school and this was just a great experience.
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Interview went really well. Everyone is very friendly and you just have to present yourself to the best of your ability. The school is a solid choice.
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The entire experience was very positive and has really bumped VCU up on my list of schools. I would feel good about taking an acceptance into their school right now. The interviewer was very nice and did not make me feel at all uncomfortable. The students that I interviewed with were very down to earth and friendly. The tour guides and the entire admissions office was amazing and did a great job of making a relaxed atmosphere. The interviewer did ask a lot of questions and really seemed to try to get to know everything about me - from personal issues, to medical issues. At any other school, it may have seemed like a stressful interview, but my interviewer made it real easy for me to answer each question openly and honestly.
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Interview itself was very laid back. Interviewer was friendly. Asked simple, straight forward questions. Everyone who interviewed that day seemed to have a v. positive, stress-free experience.
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I came from my interview feeling very confident that I left an outstanding impression. I was very well prepared and it showed.
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Fantastic experience. Laid back and very open.
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I had a good experience. I got there kind of early so I had to wait a bit to be seen. Once I was told where I would have to meet with my interviewer around 930AM and I would be directed to where I would go. As the time came around, I realized that I had not been told where to go yet. I let the administrative person know and she rushed me to my interviewer's office in the hospital. My interviewer was really nice about the whole thing. We talked for a lot longer than we were supposed too because I was late to the Dean's meeting. It was a bit stressful but the Dean was really nice about me walking in late and told me not to worry about it. Overall, it was a really good experience.
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A fourth year student interviewed me. The interview was not stressful at all and we just had a great conversation.
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Amazing facilities, short classes, and laid back.
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This was a great experience. It was my third interview and I felt really comfortable with the experience. My interviewer was an older man who was a physician overseas in the Vietnam War so he had many stories. The interview was very conversational. I had to find the place to my interviewer by myself but upon leaving, he actually walked back with me and we talked the entire way back to the admissions office. Overall a great experience with not too many controversial questions. Good Luck!
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I was interviewed by an M4 from the same region of state (middle of nowhere). She was able to empathize with some of the academic difficulties I had in undergrad and was very encouraging of all my aspirations and just tried to get to know me during the interview.
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Overall it was a good interview...not stressful at all, although at times I felt like the interviewer was antagonizing me, maybe just to see my reaction. He actually ended up liking me and presented a positive review to the committee which is probably why I got in.
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This interviewer definitely grilled me a little more than any of the others I've met, but he wasn't unreasonable. I appreciated that he was persistent and seemed to really want to know about my thoughts and opinions. Overall, it was really just a good and relaxed conversation.
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Everything was cool. I got grilled in the interview, but thats expected to happen at least once during your application cycle....
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The interview was pleasant, although it makes me wonder how much the interviewer learned about me since none of the questions were particularly challenging or in-depth. The interview is your advocate to the admissions committee, so you want them to like you and give them the information they need to convince the rest of the committee that you would be a good doctor and a good medical student at VCU. Dr. Heldberg, the Dean of Admissions, gives an informative speech about the selection process post-interview. She is a very nice and very smart lady who actually reminded me quite a bit of my mom. But I have a science minded mom, so that's probably just me. 2nd year medical students provided the tour, which included a free lunch in the cafeteria. They are very helpful in answering any questions, especially practical questions like "Where do you live?", etc.
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This was the most enjoyable interview I have had thus far. My interviewer, who was a 4th year, greeted me warmly and told me right off the bat that the interview was intended to be laid back, and that he was looking to be an advocate for me to the admissions committee. He was very encouraging, willing to share a lot about his own experiences, and at the end he told me that he would "be in my corner" when I was presented to the committee for review. The other students interviewing with me all reported similar experiences. It seems that the staff are committed to being friendly and encouraging and genuinely want everyone to be able to go to med school. We were even told that if you are given the decision of "not accepted for this year," they will be able to talk to you and provide pointers on how to improve your application for next year.
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Positive, learning intensive
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It was completely non-stressful. It was more of a conversation than anything else. It was nice and thorough. This was good because it helped me to fully present myself as an applicant. My interviwer was kind and cared that I was interested in MCV.
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Before I started, my interviewer said that she was there to be my advocate which made me feel realyl comfortable for the rest of the interview. I think the VCU interview style is to send people to be your supporters, so it's really low stress.
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Excellent experience but I wish the tour included some actual classrooms and labs.
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I interviewed with a surgeon who is one of the top surgeons to have practiced at MCV. He started the cardiothoracic surgery division at MCV... I thankfully didn't know this until after the interview. It was definitely more of a conversation and verifying parts of my application. Only 1 or 2 ethical questions..
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I was hesitant about having a 4th year medical student interview me, but he was great! I think that I may have been a little too laid back, but the interviewer was really down to earth and put me at ease. The interview was extremely conversational, minus the 2 ethical questions (surgeon general, PAS) and 1 current medical issue (malpractice insurance) question. We even spent time talking about Grey's Anatomy and Harry Potter. Since my interviewer is currently applying for residency programs, we talked about that process for a few minutes as well. I was really excited to see that VCU is home to wonderful doctors. **As a side note, one of the applicants had an interviewer who asked several difficult questions, and followed up with an even more difficult question.
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I think it went well. I interviewed with a 4th year student. He was a great listener and left the interview pretty open to me to talk. Be sure you have a couple questions to ask! He was pretty pushy about that actually.
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Awesome!
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I came into the interview seeing MCV as the option for people from VA that didn't get into UVA. However, after the interview and visit I'm second guessing my choice of UVA. The students at MCV are WAY nicer than at UVA and they are more down to Earth. Students at MCV get to spend all four year there which is nice. The medical center is huge and gets every case type from A to Z. Also, the admissions people there are insanely helpful.
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Just a simple conversation
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Great - extremely laid back! Very chill.
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The interview was conversational style rather than Question, question, question....the tour was good - saw all the important stuff and the two students were very open about their experiences.
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Overall, very laid back. The questions were very fair and gave me an opportunity to talk about what I wanted.
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Interviewer was very laid back and nice, low stress, did not try to grill me
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Like I said, I felt like the interviewer did his best to get to know me as a person. It went over the time allotted, which made me feel like he was interested.
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Very laid back, Richmond is okay, not cultural paradise but decent. Goodluck finding parking near the school! Prepare to walk up a big hill or pay the parking deck.
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The faculty member who interviewed me was extraordinarily friendly. VCU’s interview was my 10th and by far my most pleasant. We chatted about my hobbies, family, education, and interests. He asked many “difficult†subjective questions regarding politics and medical ethics. Normally this would have been frustrating. However, our conversation was more of a philosophical discussion than a battle of wits. Overall a super-cool interviewer, friendly students, and nice facilities made for a good experience.
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See what i put under what positively impressed me.
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Great day! It was a rather long tour, but we had a chance to see where we would have classes, and what the hospital looked like. The people were nice, from the admissions staff to the interviewer to the med student tour guides. It seems like all the children's hospitals in VA are sponsored by Food Lion grocery stores.
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Overall, I enjoyed the day. My interview was casual and interesting. It mostly consisted of open-ended, conversational questions, no medical ethics/healthcare questions at all. I did get a little stressed out with timing, so I do suggest that you make your interview appointment for the morning if you can (get it over with). Be careful in certain parts of downtown Richmond! Stay downtown, not near the airport. Have fun and ask tons of questions. They are there to help you out as well. Oh yah...girls, wear comfortable shoes -- walking tour!
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Overall, I really enjoyed my stay in Richmond and VCU. The city really isn't that bad and the school is beautiful. It has some bad things about it but what school doesn't? My interviewer was great. He was a old school doc. and we had a great conversation. Our student guides were great and very informative and they were able to answer all of my many questions. I hope the news is good in two months, we'll just have to wait and see. Good times.
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It was a very laid-back, conversational interview. The interviewer and I shared many similar interests. She was a family practice doctor and I want to do either primary care or family medicine so the discussion flowed very naturally.
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Totally non-stressful. I interviewed with an MD-PhD student, so he wasn't intimidating at all. Questions were mostly about my file and work I had done, no ethics questions. Dr. Heldberg was amazingly nice and funny during her session.
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I had a morning interview which I would recommend since it gets very hot in the afternoon. My interviewer made me feel very relaxed. It was like have a casual conversation and we talked about interesting subjects. No typical questions like why do you want to be a doctor/ why MCV. Very enjoyable!
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The morning interview is a lot less stressful than the afternoon interview. Everyone in morning interview was enjoying the campus tour without much stress.
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I thought it was a very pleasant interview. I waited almost 15 minutes outside my interviewers door because he was just wrapping up the interview with the person before me. The tour was nice too - wear comfortable shoes cause its quite hilly.
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I stayed with an M1 who walked me to Sanger Hall this morning. I didn't feel as nervous about leaving later because he knew exactly where to go. I arrived 10 minutes before my interview at 9 am. My interviewer picked me up from the admissions office, and we walked to his office in the hospital. The interview lasted an hour and a couple minutes. He had another interviewee at 10 am so we left the hospital at 10. Then I sat in the applicant waiting room for an hour with other interviewees. Ten of us had morning interviews and one had a 2 pm one. Then we met with the associate dean of admissions for 55 minutes before the tourguides, 2 M2s, came. We started the tour and then ate lunch at the hospital. Then the rest of the tour consisted of the computer lab, lecture hall, pediatric ICU, courtyard, etc.
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I was picked up by my interviewer, who I had a lot in common with. He was an ER doc, I was in EMS for 10 years. Very conversational, very easy, very laid-back. More like a conversation with a colleague - very welcoming. The tour was a bit disorganized, but the guides were VERY candid in their answers, so overall the tour was very good. The meeting with the admissions staff was absolutely outstanding. She laid out the process in great detail so there was no question about what was going to happen when. I really love VCU, and hope I get an acceptance soon.
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I arrived early and sat in a waiting room with the other applicants. 10 minutes before my interview, I was given a paper with directions to my interviewer's office. This proved slightly stressful because I had to walk two blocks to a new building and then find my interviewer's office. The interview was very conversational and laid back. After the interview, all the applicants met with the dean, who explained what happens to our applications. We were then given lunch and a tour of the campus by two 2nd year med students.
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I thought the whole day was well put together and organized. Tour guides were engaging, open and frank. Interview was very laid back and so was the meeting with the admissions people.
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It feel I fared well and established rapport with my interviewer. He was receptive to my comments. He liked tennis and literature, which were pluses.
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See above in negative commnets about the visit.
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Causal, very informal really, lots of questions, but nothing stressful- the run of the mill types, why mcv, why a doc, tell me about yourself etc.
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Overall totally relaxed experience, which was a pleasant surprise since it was my first interview. Even the other applicants on the tour were very chill. It is the exact atmosphere I want for med school, it's my first choice.
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I really didn't think I was going to like VCU, but now I'm so glad I applied. As an out-of-state student, I've never been to Richmond and didn't think I would like the city. The interview wasn't all that intimidating at all, and he really seemed to want to make me "sound good" to the admissions committee. The interviewers seem to want to be your supporter when your files brought to the committee, or at least that was the impression that I & the people that interviewed on the same day got. I didn't get asked any ethical questions or the "what are the problems with health care" questions. It was a really relaxed day. The only curveball type thing was that my interviewer asked over & over if I had any questions about the school, and I definitely didn't have 6 questions prepared. Overall, I'm glad that I was invited to interview here & I would definitely go here if accepted...
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I was interviewed by a doctor of family medicine. It felt like a conversation and she immediately put me at ease. Review your application before you go. We talked about books I have recently read, my research experience, volunteering in a cancer hospital.
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I was really impressed by VCU, alot more than I thought I would be. The school is clean and the faculty all seem very interested in the students. THe interview was super laid back and was very conversational. I did not reciece any ethical questions but I know other during the day did.
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My interviewer was really nice. she made me feel comfortable and was impressed with a lot of things i had to say. the whole thing is like a 50 minute conversation with someone you just met.
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My interviewer was a faculty member, but some applicants got an M4 instead. Interview was laid-back and conversational in nature, but the important questions still came out. The presentation by the dean of admissions was very illuminating and I definitely appreciate VCU's efforts to keep people as up-to-date on their status as possible. The tour was led by two semi-enthusiastic students, which colored my perceptions somewhat. Still, I had a positive experience and the school seems to be good.
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I had a morning interview, then an hour and a half to kill. Then the admissions dean talked to us for an hour about how their admissions process works and financial aid. Then I went with two student tour guides to lunch and toured some facilities (classrooms, PICU, library, computer lab). I was done just after 2pm.
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The interview experience was very positive. You arrive in the morning and wait in a room with the other applicants. You interviewer comes to pick you up and in my case took me to his office. The interview itself is not stressful and more like a conversation. After the interview, all the applicants come back together and an information session is held by the dean of admissions. The session was very helpful and they let you know where your application goes next and when you should expect to hear. Finally, you take a tour of the facilities with two second year students.
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The interviewer was not super enthusiastic, so with the time change, I was pretty much falling asleep. Only two other people were interviewing, so waiting for the interview wasn't too fun.
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Went over the hour mark, interrupted several times by phone calls that my interviewer kept getting, i had to wait while he talked to someone on the phone for about 5-10 minutes. my interviewer did not take any notes on me at all. i asked other interviewees, and they all said that their interviewers took down notes and wrote down whatever answer they said during the interview. i was afraid my interviewer forgot the specifics of our conversation, since he didn't write down anything. plus, there was another girl he had to interview right after me, and after her interview, she told me he didn't write anything during her interview either. i don't know how he could possibly remember all the answers i had to his questions if he didn't write down anything at all, and that scared me since he is my advocate to the admissions committee.
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I had a wonderful experience at VCU/MCV. I was impressed by all that I saw. I interviewed at other schools that were ranked higher but did not feel as comfortable as I did at this school. Plus, the food in the cafeteria was wonderful (plus, there was no limit in what you could get..quite different from other schools that I interviewed at). The interview itself was very conversational and my interviewer was very attentive to what I was saying.
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Not too great. They feed you way late in the day and you have to walk a lot, so I was pretty tired before it was all over.
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It was fairly low stress. The interviewer basically asked me about all that I had written on my AMCAS application plus a few ethical questions about euthanasia, stem cell research, healthcare and abortion
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The interviewer was very nice and i felt really comfortable there. Also, the facilities are up to date.
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The interviewer asked me to elaborate on several points on my AMCAS application. He explained that the purpose of the interview was to get a feel for the candidate. It remained very conversational. There were no ethical questions.
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It was low stress, interviewer was retired cardiac surgeon,
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It was a great experience. The academic reputation of the school might not be up there, but the faculty and students make up for that.
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My interviewer was a retired surgeon. He asked me a couple of ethical questions. If you have a red flag on your application, be sure you know what to answer when asked about it.
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The day wasn't bad...I just wasn't impressed. The people were definitely friendly. The student tour guides were cool. My interviewer was sweet (and a little strange). I don't feel they did anything to really "sell" the school. Maybe they did and I didn't see it because I had already formed my opinion. I don't know. I guess different people belong at different schools, and I just don't know if VCU is a perfect fit for me. Of course this will be the one school I get into. Doesn't it always happen that way?
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Students are awesome, and the interview was very easy going and standard. It was simply a conversation.
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Overall I was impressed with the school. It was a top choice for many students/interviewees I talked to
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Arrived in the morning and had an interview first thing. This had both positives and negatives. It was nice because then I didn't have to worry about the interview and could enjoy the rest of the day, but it was bad because I had a lot of lag time after the interview waiting for other people to finish up their interview. They put you in a room off an office with other applicants and if you get too loud (above a whispered conversation) someone comes and tells you to quiet down. They were playing a video of the white coat ceremony from the previous year to entertain us, but it got old very quickly. The tour was great, and the students who led us on the tour/had lunch with us were really helpful and informative. It was nice to actually see the lounge, inside the lecture halls, library, study areas and mundane things like that since those are the places where you'll be spending the majority of your time.
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The interview was very conversational. I was encouraged to ask any questions I had about the school, and any other questions about being a student there. We talked a lot about student life at VCU, considering it was partly an interview so he could get to know me. My interviewer said he was impressed with the level of maturity of the students at VCU.
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Overall, the day went pretty good. The interview was very stress free once I was actually taken back (my interviewer got called to surgery so they had to find a replacement.) We met with the Dean of Admissions who broke down the assessment process, which was informative, but kind of intimidating. The tour was okay, but seemed almost rushed. Overall, I enjoyed the experience.
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There was a PowerPoint presentation at the beginning of the tour, where the interwiewees crowded around a desktop computer. The highlights that seemed to be regarded as selling points by the students seemed to be par for the course at other schools.
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I arrived at 9am in the morning and was greeted by my interviewer who took me to his office. We then talked for an hour about my hobbies and my vision of medicine. I did not get any ethics questions, but I've heard that others will occasionally get questions about abortion, euthanasia, etc... After the interview the Dean met with us to tell us in detail how the admissions process works. Every Monday the committee meets to vote on candidates by scaling them 1-5. Like the Olympics, the highest and lowest scores are thrown out. After several weeks, the Dean ranks everyone by score and accepts the top fifty or so. After this meeting, we met up with two current students who took us on a tour of the children's hospital and the classrooms. The whole day lasted from 9am-2pm.
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Very laid back interview. The questions weren't difficult, but we had a conversation more than anything else. The interviewer did not take notes which I think helped make our interview more like a conversation.
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My interviewer was promt and seemed very interested in the whole process. he was there only to find out about me beyond my file, not to test me in any way. he truly fulfilled the "advocate" role that mcv describes. we talked about subjects from acc basketball to invading the white house with jaques chirac. the interview lasted on hour and 15 mins.
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I think the interview went very well. The doctor I was with was VERY friendly and really wanted to get to know me (that's why my interview lasted for over an hour). I was really impressed with how well organized the school was from Admissions to being a medical student there. It really felt like a place I would want to go, even though I am from Colorado.
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Pretyt good. i went in knowing a lot about the school as well as the interview process so there were no major surprises. My interviewer was super cool and truely a great doc. I was very impressed by the way he conducted the interview.
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I enjoyed my day! Nice facilities and really great people.
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Since I've already been accepted at another school, this interview was very "low key" for me. I didn't expect to like it, seeing as how it's urban-based. I was suprised by the program, to be honest. I loved the block scheduling, and the facilities seemed up to date and very nice. Their hospital is quite large, and being a level 1 trauma center and the 8th largest medical center in the US, they see LOTS of cool things. Richmond is very historic and pretty city, and it felt "smallish" even though it's quite busy and bustling. Parking is heinous, but that's what you get for being in the middle of downtown!! The interview was laid-back and relaxed, and felt more like conversation than anything else. It's a large class (184 students) so they send out a lot of invites. Even though I'm a small-town type of person, I'd go to school here in a heartbeat. Technologically advanced, progressive, and the students seem happy.
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I'll write more later...
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VCU sends out decisions both in the mail and on the internet. I was accepted to the school on 10/16, the earliest possible date after the interview. This is the perfect example of a situation when the interview day went poorly and the interview itself did not go incredibly well, but resulting in a positive outcome. The interview was conducted by a 4th year medical student on the admissions board. Student interviews are to be taken seriously--her place on the admissions panel is equal to that of experienced professors and physicians. The interview was one-on-one and setup like a conversation. The student was really friendly, but she was prone to long, awkward pauses. For example, she would stare at me for what seemed like long periods of time like she forgot she was supposed to lead the interview. The conversation was not as natural as I had hoped it would be and I did not feel we particularly connected in any stand-out sort of way.
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The interview was alot less stressful then i feared, the interviewer was just a regular person, and the people I met there were really nice and friendly.
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Overall, the school seemed pretty good. The facilities are on par with every other school I visited. The clinical experience available is quite varied which is nice. The research is non-existant. A good middle of the pack school.
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I was more impressed with VCU after visiting the school. The school is very diverse, and the admissions committee take a lot of time examining each individual applicant. I think I would be very happy here.
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It was great overal as far as I know, I had one of the "tought" interviewer. All the other interviewers were asking questions about basketball, but thanks God that I didn't have him or else I would have plunk, since I know jack about basketball.
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Interview was great, totally conversational, just wanted to get to know you and what makes you tick etc..i was very impressed with the school, and will be ecstatic if accepted!
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The interview itself was great, had a wonderful interviewer. However, the school just didn't do much for me. Seemed very nice, but the whole day I just felt like I really could not see myself there.
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It was an extremely laid back interview, more like a conversation. Overall a very friendly campus with a good program
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Don't worry about this, it was the easiest part of the day.
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Interview was short. I couldn't finish my answers. The school has a very small hospital and facilites compared to other medical schools. Their gym facilites are way too small, basically they don't have a gym or swimming pool, or anywhere to exercise. I know that student life and living conditions will be big detractions. I did not like the services offered to the students (such as a nice big gym) and the hospitals were small, and I just did not like the environment of the school.
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When I met my interviewer I found out that he is from Winston-Salem, NC, near where I live. I found out that I played soccer with and against his son. For the majority of the interview we talked about soccer and how that has been a big influence in my life. We also talked about evolution and how it has affected the structure and functions of the body. Overall, it was just a regular conversation.
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UNPLEASANT. the interviewer was kind, though the questions were unoriginal and the ambiance of richmond on a rainy day sealed the deal for me.
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I had to answer a lot of ethical questions, my interviewer was Dr. Brooks who is famous for asking these ethical questions (and whether or not you like Harry Potter). By far, he was the best interviewer I have had. I ended up talking to him for 90 minutes. Don't stress about this interview.
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PRETTY RELAXING
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Was not happy with vcu. the school did not impress me and the hospital didnt impress me. the facilities are sub-standard.
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The interview was very laid back and relaxed. I had a medical student. He had not had a chance to read my file yet. We mainly just talked about my decision to be a doctor, my family and my interests. I felt like he was trying to decide if I was a good person and if I had communication skills rather than quizzing me to determine what my knowledge of specific health care issues was.
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The interviewers were great, no complains from any of the other applicants. VCU makes it their policy to let you know what is going to happen to your file right afer your interview. You may also submit any new material that you know they don't have in you file on the day of your interview or shortly afterwards. The admissions committee meets the following monday after your interview and you have two people advocating for you; your interviewer who met you face to face and your file reviewer who has gone through your file with a fine comb. At the meeting they present your qualities and let the admissions board know why you qualify to attend VCU not to mention while they are doing so all your grades are on a big screen for everyone to see; MCAT and your academic transcripts. Now, the board is comprised of 31 people and at any given meeting you have atleast 25 people present. After your advocates have made their presentation, the board may need a clarification on something and they get to ask your advocates questions regarding your grades or ask the financial aid officer to read something in your file (AMCAS ESSAY, VCU ESSAY OR LETTER OF RECOMMENDATIONS) just to clarify something. Here is the odd part (to me) each of the 25 people including your advocates get to grade you on a scale of 1 to 5 which is on a scantron. 5 is the worst and 1 the best and all votes carry equal weight. They may decide that anyone with a grade from 3.2 to 5 there is no need to keep them waiting any longer and they send you a letter of rejection. Everyone else is either granted an admission or placed on the alternate list and you may called in at anytime even as late as August 11. The board never reviews your file again the grade the assigned you (1-5) remains on the computer and that is what they use to determine your eligibility for admission, by the way you will never know what your grade was. If you are from out of state your chances diminish since they can only accept only 40%, but chances increase when other applicants from out of state get accepted in their state school and hence withdraw from VCU. The whole process takes about 3 wks when you hear from VCU, otherwise it is a great school to study medicine.
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First of all, let me explain my particular kind of program. I am a senior in high school, and I found out about a Guaranteed Admissions Program for Medicine at VCU-MCV from my cousin (who is part of the program). Basically, high school seniors with an exceptional academic performance and many hours of volunteering have a chance to be part of this program (only 20 students are chosen from the 150+ that apply). Those students complete their undergraduate at VCU as part of the Honors Program and then go straight into MCV WITHOUT taking the MCATS. If you want, you can still take them, but by being in this program, you don't necessarily have to since you'll already have a spot reserved for you at MCV when you begin medical school. Anyways, I was fortunate to have gotten to the second level (where 50 students are chosen for an interview before the final decision is made). Overall, I REALLY liked my interviewer. Also, the VCU campus and MCV campus are great and place a heavy emphasis on Medicine and Life Sciences.
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It was a great school, in a small southern city, with great students, serious about their studies but not overcompetitive. It was nice.
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Overall, a really great experiance. VCU/MCV is definately somewhere I could see myself going. My interview was at 10:00AM, before the tour and everything else. There were about ten people in all. The school mentioned that they interview 4 days a week. My interviewer was a fourth year medical student. The whole interview went really well, the interviewer was incredibly nice and well informed about the process. The whole thing was about an hour long and really felt more like a casual conversation than a formal interview. I was asked the typical questions: Why Medicine? How did you choose your undergraduate major? How did you choose you undergraduate college? etc. However, alot of the time was spent talking about what I do in my free time and extracurricular activities. I wasn't asked any bioethics questions, although other people I talked to afterwards mentioned that they had been asked such questions. Afterwards, everyone meets with the Dean, who explains the details of the admissions process and financial aid. This woman is incredibly nice and takes all of the mystery out of the admissions process. After this, two second year medical students took us on a tour of the campus (buildings, hospital, library etc). We ate lunch and talked about the social scene in Richmond. In general, everyone seemed happy and interested in answering all of our questions. The tour is casual, but organized and efficient. Overall, don't worry too much about an interview at VCU/MCV. They don't want you to be nervous, and you will really walk away having learned alot about the school.
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My interview experience was great- very non-threatening. I basically had an hour long conversation with a semi-retired physician who has been at MCV for a long time. He had read my file and his questions followed my application. He asked about some questions not related to my application: bioethics questions, what I like to read, what I do for exercise, my thoughts on same-sex education. The only thing about the entire day that I did NOT like was that I never was given the opportunity to explain certain things on my application. My interviewer did not ask me if there was anything we had not covered that I would like the admissions committee to know, and I did not have a chance to explain myself or to talk about some things I really wanted to talk about. I was very impressed overall with MCV and would definitely attend if accepted. Their lecture halls are really nice, and I like the fact that everything- syllabi, lectures, presentations etc- is online. The student body seems to be a diverse group that strives for excellence while maintaining a non-competitive atmosphere. The interview style at this school is wonderful- enjoy yourself. They are very willing to answer all your questions and take the mystery out of their admissions process.
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This interview was a good experience, especially as a first interview. I was nervous, but my interview was at 9am, which got it out of the way and I was able to enjoy the rest of the information sessions. During the "morning session" with the assistant Dean, she explains that you have 2 advocates during the panel discussion about you. They only spend about 5 minutes on you where they place all of your stats (i.e. gpa, mcat scores, home state, etc) on an overhead for the whole committee to see while your interviewer talks about how your interview went, how you answered questions, your style, etc. then your file reviewer (who reviews everyone's file and is responsible for getting you the interview in the first place) talks about what was in your file (i.e. grades, essays, involvements, etc.) then the other board members discuss you and any problems they have with your file. your interviewer can then defend you if you gave any answers to questions about grades or mcats or whatever. then everyone on the board (about 30 people) give you a score from 1-5 (with decimals) 1 being the best and 5 the worst. A computer program averages your score and that is what stays with your name until they either let you in or terminate your file. they don't go back and reconsider people after this point and you can never find out what your score was. the committee meets every monday and they are supposed to get back to you soon after they meet at which point they will either put you on "hold" or decline your file. If you get on hold, you could either get in, be rejected later or put on the alternate list. she said they don't fill the class until everyone has been interviewed and they don't make an alternate list until the class is filled by students that said they would definately go there.
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Conversational interview, despite the "thought process" questions. My interviewer had a bunch of little notes about my application he kept referring to, but he was nice!
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My interview was very laid-back and conversational. The person interviewing you is your advocate on the admissions committee, so try to clearly answer any questions/discrepancies asked about your background. My interviewing basically went through all of the factual information in my AMCAS application, interjecting comments about football, and a few ethical questions here and there. I had my interview first thing in the morning, so I was finished with the day by 2PM.
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Good interview with a really swell old dude. Very kind to me and very accomodating. The students were low key and very friendly. Cool placeto live. Plenty of boating on the James, not too far from the beach, and just a jaunt away from the mountains. A great location with a hospital that sees EVERYTHING.
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The interviewer thoroughly read my file before i got there and covered EVERYTHING in it. very good ethics conversations covering all hte big issues. very laid back and like talking to my grandfather!
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This was the worst interview I have ever been on.
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The school has just put lots of money into several new lecture halls and small group learning rooms. There are new study areas and almost all of the classwork is online. I think this is a really great time to go to MCV. My interviewer was a researcher who for some reason didn't get my file. It really wasn't a big deal, though. As the associate dean for admissions explained, you have two advocates at the admissions committee meetings: your interviewer as well as a file reviewer (who reads every single essay and recommendation letter). Interviewing at MCV is a laid back experience - similar to what it's like going to school there (from what I can tell). It was more like an hour long chat. I did have to save most of my questions for the associate dean and the students, however, since he didn't know a lot about the school (he deals mostly with MD-PhD students and residents).
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I really like how they interview is designed. It is open file, so my interviewer had read everything and instead of asking general open ended questions like "Tell me about yourself" or "Why medicine" he asked "So I see you worked here, what was that like" or "I see you are involved with this, what do you do in that" Very specific to me, which made it easy to discuss and talk about. No bioethical questions, no hypothetical questions. Just wanted to expand on my application and explained that he is my advocate to the admissions committee, so whatever I wanted to have expressed or brought to the admissions committee's attention I should let him know and he would do it. However, after reading a lot of these reviews, it doesnt seem that EVERYONE gets this exact style. So I am not guaranteeing no bioethical or general questions, just that I didnt get any.
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Overall went well. An ideal school for VA residents. Offers tons of diversity in the patients you will get to see as well as the conditions/disease. As usual the students that go there are very happy with the quality of their education and experience.
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My interviewer was extremely nice and started out by going over some of my experiences and complimenting my efforts since graduating undergrad in '99. He told me a little about himself and then asked me questions regarding some of my experiences. Then he asked me some bioethics questions followed by some discussion about his thoughts. It was my first med school interview and I was completely at ease. Dont stress! MCV just wants to get to know you and how you think.
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Great school. I was impressed by a lot of the facilities and by the professionalism of the staff, interviewer, and students. I am from Richmond, and the area around MCV is not nearly so bad as everyone seems to think.
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Seemed like a great school
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Don't let other's impressions of Richmond fool you. Yes, the area around the school and hospital itself is not so great but if you have time, check out the Fan area of Richmond where there are GREAT places to live, highly acclaimed restaurants, local music, etc. All of Richmond is NOT like the area surrounding the hospital.
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Being a minority i don't know what to think really
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My interview was at 10AM. My interviewer was really nice, the first thing we talked about was college sports, which made me feel really comfortable. The interview was pretty much like a conversation. Standard questions about my experiences and school work. Nothing tough, very relaxing and laid-back. Then there was a tour at 11, we ate lunch in the cafeteria at 12, and then the tour continued until about 1:30. The tour guides were nice. The associate dean of admissions was really informative, and told us the whole process of admissions, and financial aid info. She was really honest and straightforward about the school, which was appreciated. Overall a good experience!
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I had an 82-year-old man who was about as friendly as can be. It went pretty well, and I wouldn't be nervous if you are interviewing here.
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My interview was the only afternoon one scheduled for the day so my day started off with an orientation at 11am (which is normally conducted by the associate dean of the med school, but she was out so a 4th year conducted it instead). It was a really great orientation and I had a lot of my questions answered then. They do a phenomenal job of putting everyone at ease and of taking away the mystery of how your application will be reviewed, what criteria they are looking for, etc. Then two second year students came and gave us a tour of the campus. They were both really great and did a really nice job. Then my interview was at 2pm and I had to walk across the street from the admissions office to meet the professor in his office. He was a really great guy and the interview was very conversational. Most of the time I talked about myself and he also told me about his background. Normally the interviews are OPEN, but my interviewer chose to keep the file closed. At first I thought this was a bad idea, but it actually ended up working in my favor so that was nice.
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I was not impressed - I try not to buy into rankings so much, but I see why MCV does not rank in the top 70 or so. My interviewer was a PhD (i have no interest in research) who did not even teach at the school. He was not even an almumnus of MCV, he couldn't answer most of my questions about the school. Also, it was supposed to be open file b/c the interviewer is supposed to be your advocate in front of the admissions committe. I had to give my printed copy of my secondary to my interviewer b/c he didn't even know my name! I asked four people about the exercise facilities, and no one could tell me much. It seems the quality of life is low there - and tuition for out of staters just went up to 35K. I could find a much better school for the price.
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The interview is totally laid back. DO NOT BE NERVOUS! They are very encouraging and it is an honor to even be asked to interview. I would read over this website and pay attention these questions are asked over and over again. You should also not take any questions regarding poor performance personally. Your interviewer has to present you to the committee and is only trying to come up with a defense for poor scores or grades. They are more than likely on your side! Don't be stressed out by the "score talk" it sounds a lot worse than it really is. Oh yeah, have some questions! Good Luck!
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I was interviewed by a clinician who had definitely reviewed my application ahead of time (incl. the handwritten essay). The interview was extremely laid back (almost too laid back) and conversational. I was not asked any questions about items appearing on my application, with the exception of my MCAT scores, and was not asked any basic science or ethical questions. Overall, I was very impressed by the school and the atmosphere in Richmond. Dr. Heldberg and her admissions staff were unbelievably helpful in describing exactly how the application process works and what to expect in the coming months. In comparison to other schools, MCV is really on-the-ball when it comes to keeping applicants informed of their status.
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Arrived at 10 am. They called my name and gave me a building and room to go to in order to meet my interviewer. I had a clinician and the interview was very conversational. He had "skimmed" my file, made some notes, and asked me specific questions. Afterwards, we met with the associate dean who explained every detail of their acceptance procedures and answered additional questions that our group had. At noon 2 2nd year med students came to give us a tour and take us to lunch. Afterwards (around 2) we were allowed to leave. Some people will have tours at 2pm so they will go back to the admissions office for their tour. Overall, very positive experience. I was impressed with the facilities and the staff.
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This was an interview for the Preferred Applicant Track, VCU's Early Admit program with VCU's undergrad. Honors Program, so I was a soph. in college when I interviewed. I know that VCU is my first choice, and this confirmed it. My interviewer was very casual, asking me the normal questions while also keeping the interview conversational and friendly. The tour was excellent...I fell in love all over again :)
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Great experience. Very laid back and comfortable. It is a great school with great classmates.
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Great
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Very relaxed atmosphere...didn't have any surprise questions, the same ones we all expect. She didn't ask any questions not directly pertaining to me (i.e. how do you feel about stem cell research). The vast majority of our conversation was focused on my experience and the reasons I wanted to go to medical school.
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Overall hard to read, the interviewer hadnt prepared at all. Told me my mcats (26) not the worst but not good either. Thought that was a little rude. Also told me hopefully I will have luck at my state school which Im interviewing at next month.
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VCU/MCV is a much better school than I thought it was. The facilities are extremely nice and I think that leads to better patient care and opportunities for students. I was matched with a medical scientist who has similar research to mine so it was obvious that they'd thoroughly considered my application before I showed up.
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People were very friendly and are nice about answering your questions.
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Not bad, not great. Talked a lot about my handwritten essay. Room was too big to feel like we were having a personal conversation. Interviewer was 5-10 mins late (but, to be fair, got tied up in the ER - it happens). Interview was with a 4th year student, wasn't as polished an interviewer as someone who's been doing it for a while, seemed a little awkward.
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A 4th year student interviewed me and he made me very comfortable. I felt like we were having a conversation. He had read my file and knew it very well. He will be my advocate in front of the admissions committee so he wanted to be sure any questions about my application were covered. I rushed to get to the interview right on time, and he could see that I was panting and red-faced. But he offered water and some time to relax before we started. I the interview and the day feeling very positive about the school.
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The tour was long, but I liked that the interview was first, followed by an information session and tour. This made it so I was not tired once it was time for my interview. The people at the school and patients seem really nice, but the facilities are honestly depressing.
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My interview was great. I had a good conversation with my interviewer that encroached on the next person's time. The tour was fine, the facilities are solid despite the apparent age of the hospital. The only detriment on the school is that it is strapped for funding assistance from the Commonwealth of Virginia.
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I entered the interview with high expectations of the school, especially since I had heard some good things about MCV from years ago as well as now, but I came out of my interview day feeling very disappointed. I had close to no student interaction, only with the two tour guides, and they were very friendly but not really the type of people I could see myself with...Also, the buildings are old except Gateway Building and Richmond is Richmond...small, Confederate, and small...
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It was a great experince. I was a bit nervous but overall it went well.
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It was great, although I felt like the interviewer didn't really get to know me and instead talked more than I did.
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Positive experience. It was laid-back.
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Overall it was very positive. the block schedule ( from 8am-12) of classes is very appealing. if i get in, i will attend.
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Very positive - i went into the day thinking that vcu was just a backup in case i got rejected at uva, but by the end of the day i wasn't so sure
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Overall the day was great from start to finish. The receptionist in the Admissions office definitely takes care of interviewees by offering fresh coffee, tea, hot chocolate and even soup. I don't know how important it is but it showed me that MCV try to cover all its bases when it comes to hospitality. The structure of the day was very nice too. They had planned seminars and a planned tour with lunch included that has not been as organized at other schools I visited. I felt very comfortable asking my interviewer any questions and if there is anything you are slightly the bit worried to ask the tour guides who are second years will answer anything and will NOT have anything to do with whether or not you are accepted. One more thing, my interviewer did NOT look at my file prior to our meeting. Although they had the opportunity to do so, she rather chose to have a very casual conversation. Thus the questions may not be indicative of a normal interview.
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Great school. Students seemed happy to be there. Out of state expect to pay $31,000/year. Lots of restaurants in the area. Easy access to Washington, D.C., North Carolina, Maryland.
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I was pleasantly surprised by MCV. It was very technologically advanced, with virtually every room wired to the web.
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The interview was relaxed and positive. I felt that I gave all the info I could in 1.3 hrs, where I did the talking. :)
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Great time, positive expericence all the way around
💬 Interview Process ▼
Length, number, and type of interviews
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Length:
54 Minutes Average
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Number:
1.5 Interviews Average
👥
Interview Type (Interaction):
99% One-on-One
1% Group Interview
📁
File Type:
91% Open-File
9% Closed-File
💻
Interview Modality:
100% Virtual
0% In-Person
VCU-SOM-COMP interviews are an average of 54 minutes, with an average of 1.5 interviews. 99% of interviews are one-on-one, 0% are in-person, and 9% are closed-file.
What is one of the specific questions they asked you?
The most commonly asked interview questions at medical schools include traditional questions about challenging experiences, motivation for pursuing medicine, handling teamwork challenges, and discussing specific scenarios like MMI scenarios. Respondents also mentioned questions about personal motivations for medicine, healthcare system issues, ethical dilemmas, experiences with cultural differences, and interests in specific medical fields, with some interviews being in an MMI format potentially involving a nondisclosure agreement.
Top 5 Responses: (Click below to see additional responses)
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Why medicine
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Traditional question
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Why medicine?
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Tell us about a challenging time that affected you and others
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Traditional
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Tell me about yourself
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Traditional interview question
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MMI scenarios
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"Did anyone discourage you from pursuing medicine?"
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Tell me about a time you were challenged
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Why do you want to go to school here?
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Tell me about a time that you had difficulty working with someone on a team.
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Tell me about a situation where you had difficulty working with a group and how you handled it?
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Discuss a time when you had to work with someone you disliked.
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How would you react if you were in a group and someone wasn't pulling their weight?
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Talk about a time when you helped someone in a crisis
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Tell me about yourself. (This was asked very conversationally.)
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What type of models do you use to study cancer (I'm a Research Technician at MGH).
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How have you resolved group conflict in the past?
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Tell me about a time when you worked with a teammate that you intensely disliked.
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Tell me about yourself (first question...)
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How will you choose which school you accept admissions to?
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Why VCU?
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What is the biggest problem with US healthcare?
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They asked me to tell them about the pathology of a specific disease that I had seen once in a patient while I was shadowing a doctor, which I mentioned in my personal statement anecdotally. It was stressful, because I hadn't thought too much about the pathology, just the symptoms I had observed.
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What was a big mistake you made?
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How do you deal with a cancer patient who wants to refuse treatment?
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Describe a situation involving interacting with a culture different from your own.
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There are over 100 medical schools in the country. Describe to me how you narrowed down to VCU as one of your choices.
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Tell me about yourself.
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When did you develop and interest in medicine?
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Did you even consult your undergraduate medical advising office to see if you were a reasonable candidate?
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If I hypothetically held a gun to your head, what specialty would you choose?
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What do you think of healthcare reform?
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So you went to (Undergraduate College). Why?
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What's your opinion on what is being done with Health Care now?
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Have you had any teaching experience?
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What changes do you think need to be made in health care? Do you know which states have implemented individual mandates? What are the problems with these mandates?
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So you've told me the problems in healthcare, and what you should do to fix it, but HOW would you go about doing so?
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How do you see yourself in a career as a physician?
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What was your favorite/least favorite class?
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How would you deal with cultural differences between you and your patient?
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How would you define leadership?
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Why medicine? why VCU?
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What do you think about the current healthcare system in America?
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Why do you want to be a doctor?
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Detailed overview of extra-curricular timeline.
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What type of medicine would you like to go into?
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What made you choose medicine as a career?
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Read any good books lately?
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What was the most difficult situation you were put in during a patient interaction?
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What are some of your strengths?
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What area of medicine are you interested in?
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Tell me about x,y,z experience - this was the vast majority of the interview, in relaxed, conversational tone
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Went through my personal statement paragraph by paragraph. Holy moly, that man had it dissected!
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Do you read? What are you reading right now? Have you read Harry Potter (which is weird because he isn't a fan and he hasn't read it himself.
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Why Richmond/MCV?
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What is your opinion on underage drinking at college, have you seen that it affects education?Marijuana usage? How about medical marijuana? Supreme court cases dealing with this? Terri Shavo? Dr. Kevorkian? Uninsured citizens? Illegal aliens using government resources? Politics involved with medicine. Aka every ethical question imaginable
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Tell me about your research experience.
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Tell me about your ___ experience working in hospitals.
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How did you become interested in medicine?
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What was the lastest fiction you read?
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How would you deal with a patient who refuses treatment (refer back up the page for details)?
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Tell me about special patient contact incidents.
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Describe yourself?
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How do you relate with other cultures?
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Tell me about your mcat experiences.
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Describe a stressful situation, how you dealt with it, and what you learned from it.
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Tell me about yourself...
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Why do u want to be a doctor
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What were your volunteer activities?
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How did your childhood influence your decision to go into medicine?
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What type of research do you think you want to do?
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Why VCU/MCV?
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Questions about my background.. Family, why I chose undergrad, why I chose medicine, why
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Everything was about my application....
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Tell me about a challenging situation in your life and how you handled it.
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Read over application activities.
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Why don't you want to stay in NY and attend medical school there?
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Tell me about yourself and why you would like to attend VCU.
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Tell me about yourself. What was your high school like? How did you choose your college? How did you choose your major? Last book read. What do you do for fun?
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Tell me about your research.
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How will you add to diversity at VCU?
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Why is your verbal score low?
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What do you do for fun?
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Describe your volunteer experience
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Describe your family (this was the very first question).
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If you had a patient born at 24 months with hemorraghing, spinal damage, brain damage, etc, how would you approach the parents?
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Tell me about this medical experience.
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What are your strengths and weaknesses?
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I noticed that you got a B- in cell bio, which is inconsistent with the rest of your record. Would you like to explain that?
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Why dont you believe in socialized medicine?
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What are your hobbies?
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So why do you want to be a doctor?
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What are your hobbies? What are your strengths/weaknesses? How would a friend describe you?
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Why your undergraduate inst.
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Tell me about your experiences in Pakistan and Africa.
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Tell me about a book you've read? And before that?
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Tell me about your Family?
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What field of medicine would I pursue? Primary care? (be open to discover other areas of interest in school)
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How do you pronounce your last name? What books would you suggest that I read? Tell me about your current internship. Your MCAT scores improved a lot, how did you do that? Why VCU? What do you do for fun? What is your favorite movie? Any idea of the field of medicine you want to enter? If you were the surgeon general, the top doctor in the US, what medical issue would you want to tackle? What are your thoughts on PAS? If a patient came to you with terminal cancer and was tired of all the trials and drugs, what would you say to the patient? How do you feel about malpractice insurance? We also talked about health policy, but that stemmed from the malpractice insurance question. Do you have any questions for me? (These are the questions that I can remember…Good luck!)
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Thoughts on PAS?
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Tell me about your childhood?
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Why do you want to be a doctor
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What do you think about Dr. Kavorkian and euthanasia?
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Went through the my life: pre-birth to the present.
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Tell me about your family.
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Why VCU
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Tell me a little bit more about X experience.
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End of life issues
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Other than the experience described in your AMCAS essay, what has been the most important volunteer experience in your life?
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Have you ever read Harry Potter?
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What would have made you comply with your doctor's orders better?
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What would you tell a parent of one of your students if you suspected they had an eatind disorder. (I've done a lot of work in eating disorders and I coach gymnastics)
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Describe your family
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Why did you choose your undergraduate school in the east coast? (I'm from the west coast)
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The New Orleans question (above)
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Describe when/how/why you became interested in medicine. This led to other questions related to those experiences. (Describe differences in healthcare in Trinidad and in the US. Describe good attributes of physicians. Describe a negative trait of a physician. Compare the hospitals in Trinidad with those in the US.)
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Tell me about your paramedic experience.
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Do you like reading fiction?
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Tell me about you international experience?
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What do you like to do outside of school and research?
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Something to the effect of how have your work, clinical and volunteer activities effected you or something liek that- I believe this was the first interview question asked
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Tell me about yourself?
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Explain your clinical/research experience.
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What was the last book you have read?
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Have you heard of Dr. Kevorkian?
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What is the greatest ethical challenge facing medicine and how do you propose to overcome it?
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Why mcv/vcu?
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Tell me about your current job, current extra-curricular activities, hobbies etc.
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Talked about prominent health care issues.
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Have you read Harry Potter or the DaVinci Code?
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Heard of Kevorkian?
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What would your friends say are your 3 greatest strengths and your 3 greatest weaknesses?
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What do you think about stem cell research?
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Are you into Harry Potter?
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How do your parents feel about you applying to med school?
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Describe a challenge you encountered.
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How did you end up at XYZ University
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What do you enjoy reading for fun?
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What is your religious background?
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Will your family /have they support you in your pursuit to become a doctor
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Whats your favorite part of the cell? followed by what do you think about mitichondria and their DNA?
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Do you think pro-football players get paid to much?
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What i do to destress?
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Tell us about your research.
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Tell amout [blank] experience.
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What is the physician's responsibility to indigents or illegal immigrants who do not have access to health care?
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What are you currently doing?
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What is your greatest weakness?
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What do you know about stem cells?
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Do you read fiction?
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Tell me about studying in New Zealand
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What is your favorite part of the cell?
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What do you think of Dr. Kevorkian?
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CLONING?
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I was asked about specific experiences, hobbies, work and research that was listed on my primary application.
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Why do you want to be in this program? How did you find out about it?
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Why did you go to UNC when both parents went to UVA and you grew up in Charlottesville?
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Why medicine and what would you do if you couldn't be a doctor?
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Asked about my life, siblings, parents, etc.
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DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME WITH THIS SCHOOL.
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Tell me about yourself (while he read my copy of my AMCAS application I had luckily brought with me...)
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I see that work "here", how is that experience? What do you do there.
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Questions about my application
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Nothing out of the ordinary - why medicine? tell about your clinical experiences. specific questions about file
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What do you see yourself doing 10 years from now
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What do you think about stem cells and cloning?
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Do you like football better than soccer?
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Tell me about your experiences in Ghana
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What were your SATs? GPA? MCATs?
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What are you doing now?
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What do you think of euthanasia/assisted suicide?
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What brought you to Virginia? Why did you apply to MCV?
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Why medicine, when you're a liberal arts major?
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What do you think of stem cell research and cloning?
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What brought you to Virginia?
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Tell me about cell respiration.
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What is your position on the possible war with Iraq?
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What do you do in your lab?
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What type of doctor do you want to be/why?
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Why do you want to go into medicine?
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See example above.
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Describe the path you have taken towards medicine? Was it purposeful?
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What's your opinion on Stem cells?
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What do you do now? Why transition to medicine?
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How does a body obtain energy?
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Would you like to try to explain any of your grades to the admissions committee? (asked in a very friendly way, as if the interviewer was my advocate)
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What do you make of stem cell research?
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How did you decide to become a physician? and why?
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Mostly conversational but asked about my activites and grades
What was the most interesting question?
Students said most interesting question asked at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center School of Medicine discussed MMI scenarios on problem solving, teamwork, ethical dilemmas, and personal experiences. The interview format may have been an MMI, as respondents mentioned scenarios and ethical questions, potentially subject to a nondisclosure agreement.
Top 5 Responses: (Click below to see additional responses)
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MMI scenarios about problem solving, teamwork, etc.
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MMI scenario
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How would you go about picking 4 classmates to work with for a group project? You have 2 class sessions to mingle with each other before deciding on your group members.
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Talk about a time you faced failure
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Mmi ethical questions
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MMI scenarios
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If you wanted to plan a vacation with your friends, how would you plan it? and then proceeded to ask every detail about this hypothetical planned vacation.
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"What activities and honor societies were you involved in during high school?" (Yes, my interviewer asked me about my high school experience- including class rank and GPA- which surprised me. But I suppose he wanted to know more about my educational background)
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Are you financially independent
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How have you changed since you started college?
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Tell me about your hobbies.
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Discuss a time you misjudged someone.
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How did you work with a teammate that wasnt pulling their weight
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Tell me about a time when you were judgmental about someone else.
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Tell me something about you that is not in your application.
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Would a single-payer system fix the healthcare system?
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Tell me about something you have seen in the news recently that was interesting to you and why
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Talk about a person that was particularly hard to deal with and how you learned from it.
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Name 5 things you can do with a pencil other than use it to write/draw with. (not even kidding)
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Talk about a patient you have seen who sticks out in your mind.
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They asked me about how I might incorporate research into my career, since I have a pretty extensive background in research.
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Tell me how you got here.
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Have you ever been discriminated against?
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Who was the most influential person of the 20th century?
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Describe a situation where you experienced negative feedback, how it affected you, etc.
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Question 1
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None.
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More questions: What medical experience impacted you the most? What will you do if you don't get accepted this year? What do you like to do when you have some free time?
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Do you have problems with diversity?
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What are you reading?
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Nothing was very interesting
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Do you know what is going on with the current health care reform? What do you think of it?
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One thing you have learned about medicine from your shadowing experiences
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What is the capital of Brazil? Argentina?
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Tell me about a time you stood up for someone.
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Describe a time when you felt in over your head. How did you deal with that?
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What do you anticipate being the most difficult part of medical school? Of being a doctor?
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What are some of the most interesting things that you have seen during your experience as a scribe?
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How do you take care of you?
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Tell me about your family.
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All very interesting and challenging, but excellent in making me think about medicine!
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What is the most influential patient encounter you have had?
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How would you feel if starting tomorrow morning, government had full control over the healthcare system?
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Why were you in a hedge fund?
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With the upcoming election, what do you think about the candidates' stances on healthcare reform?
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Tell me about the best experience of your life.
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How would you fix the healthcare system.
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Why do you want to practice surgery (since I had an interest)?
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When asked whether they would choose a career in medicine again, 40% of physicians said no. Why do you think that is?
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I was interviewed by a physician in his office. Most interviews are performed by physicians and then they present you to the admissions committee on Monday afternoons. Therefore the whole point of the interview is to get to know you so that they can present you to the board. We had a friendly conversation in which he went over my AMCAS file and activities. No stress.
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How can you gain the knowledge necessary to work with patients from a different cultural/socioeconomic background as you?
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Something healthcare related, I cant remember exactly.
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I said I enjoyed googling strange/interesting facts and she asked me what is the most interesting answer/thing you have found on line. I blanked for a second but talked about looking up stuff on Sicko and the other side of the issue..I wish I had remembered some of the cooler/more interesting stuff I have learned.
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Who won the 2010 FIFA Player of the year award? (After I mentioned I liked soccer)
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She kept asking me about my religion major, and what I studied. However, she became defensive when we discussed my concentration. Plus, she was negative regarding my basic science research background, she preferred a more clinical approach to medicine.
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About my particular experiences
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Not an interesting question, but my interviewer showed me pictures of his family, and it turned out that I had a literature class with his daughter.
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What was your gpa in high school? SAT's? WHat were you ranked in your high school class? (who remembers that stuff?)
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How I could tell that I had gained the trust of the autistic child that I was teaching.
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I was asked about the photo I submitted to the admissions committee.
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Have you read Harry Potter?
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Who's the governor of your state? Who are the senators? (apparently he asked the interviewee after me the same questions)
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What would you contribute to your class?
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Who is your favorite author?
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Would you participate in physician-assisted suicide?
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Nothing really. No ethical questions.
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Nothing really. Was only asked ''Why medicine'' and ''Why VCU'', and the rest of the time we chatted.
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What makes you think you're capable of succeeding in medical school?
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What's your favorite Beethoven symphony?
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What would your best friend describe you as and what would they say you needed to work on?
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Describe your life?
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PHD: You appear to be a great candidate, why are you interviewing so late in the season? Lab: You have been involved with RNAi, is there any advice you can give on problems you have ran into?
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Arn't your opinions on Globalization seem too idealistic? (My essay was on globalization)
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How well do you deal with stress?
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Tell me about your mcat experience
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The interviewer asked what area I would most likely choose to relocate to in order to be closer to school.
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How would you, as a physician, deal with cultural sensitivities?
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What is my favorite book and why?
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All basic questions...why do u want to be a doctor, what is your def of professionalism etc...mainly just talked about my EC activities....my interviewer seemed to know me better than i knew myself haha! very impressed
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To be honest, all of the questions were very generic.
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What do you like to read?
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Does your school have an alcohol problem? I wanted to ask: What school doesn't?
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What non-science class did you like the best?
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Tell me about your family
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All pretty much standard questions, why medicine, tell me about yourself, etc.
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Where do you see yourself in 20 years?
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What would you do if you found out your friends in your Anatomy class have the answers to an upcoming exam?
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Is there an alcohol problem at your undergrad? How bout a drug problem? What would you say is your strongest muscle (my application is all about weight-lifting)?
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Nothing really...the interviewer mostly asked questions about my application. She hadnt read it, so she wanted me to pretty much repeat everything I had written.
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Tell me more about racially-charged atmosphere at your undergraduate univerisity.
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What sacrifices are you willing to make for a career in medicine?
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If a terminally ill patient asked you to NOT tell his family about his condition, would you keep it private?
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How do you deal with an emotionally scarring event in your life?
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Have I ever dealt with the long term care of any critically ill patients?
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What are your thoughts about physician assisted suicide?
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Nothing was very difficult. Basic information on my research, experiences, and interests.
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My interviewer asked me a lot of questions about my high school experience...grades, AP/IB scores, clubs/sports I did...I just thought it was odd.
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What do you like this
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What is the biggest issue in healthcare in the US?
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Have you read any books lately? Can you tell me about it?
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Do you believe in genes? What do you feel about the recent Supreme Court nominations (when Alito was just nominated)
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If you were to die tomorrow, what would your tombstone say?
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Wasn't asked any ethical questions. Mostly conversational, asking me about my experiences.
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Do you think that patients of different ethnic backgrounds also have differences in the quality of medical care that they recieve?
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What do you think about physician assisted suicide?
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How are you prepared to face the future of medicine (rising health care costs, increasing uninsured, etc.)?
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What are your views on Euthanasia. This prompted a disscussion about what a physician's role is as a healthcare provider, and also about the leaglity of the Oregon law (which I was fairly familiar with). Just FYI, it was recently upheld by the supreme court.
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How would a friend describe you?
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Nothing out of the ordinary.
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None really
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Tell me about your Family?
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Have you read Harry Potter? (I think it's a question that only this particular doctor asks b/c he loves the books)
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The ethical questions because I am a person who values both sides of the issue
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Have you read any good books recently?
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Tell me about your childhood? (I have never been asked such a personal question)
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Nothing too "interesting" per se.
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Describe your value/belief system to me.
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Have you read any of the Harry Potter books?
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What was the most interesting book you've read?
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How do you feel about the Supreme Court nominations?
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How do you like your Governor? (I’m from CA)
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How are you going to get to know a patient, or get an accurate patient history if only given 10 minutes?
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Do you read Harry Potter? I didn't but I've been muscled by friends, family, and now a renowned cardiothoracic surgeon to read the series, and so now I will likely read it.
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What was it like to transition in between volunteer work in underserved areas and high-end retail shops?
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Have you read the Harry Potter books?
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What would have made you cared more about your illness when you were 14. (I was diagnosed with IBD at 14 and didn't comply with doctors orders. I discussed this in my AMCAS essay.)
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What are your values?
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Have you ever read the Harry Potter books?
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What was the last fiction you have read?
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With what happen in New Orleans I'm sure you wouldnt want to be in the midst of such devastation(Not the exact words but thats what it came down to) I took it as some sort of trap question.
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What is a negative characteristic of a physician that you have observed? (This was after being asked what are good traits of doctors you've observed, either in a foreign country or as a patient.)
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What do you think about the legalization of marijuana?
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How do you plan to incorporate family life into the career of a surgeon? It was all nice and conversational.
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What kind of writing do you do?
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If you were the surgeon general, what health issue would you pursue first and why?
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The questions were specific to my file with one open-ended question about the the state of medicine. I interviewed with a 4th year who was very enthusiastic about the school and about the things I had done. We had a lot in common so the whole inteview was basically a great conversation with occasional questions thrown in.
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What do you do for fun?
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Asked me about a book I had recently read. Talked about my background, living in another country during a Civil War. What inspired me to become a doctor.
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What are your values, what makes you tick
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Everything was pretty basic...a lot of personal stuff.
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Have you read Harry Potter? (No, I'm not joking)
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What is the greatest challenge facing ER departments? (I've spent a lot of time in the ER and also worked as an EMT).
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What made your experience in Fraternity and Sorority Life so different than the sterotypical experience?
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What do you like to read?-I guess
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About my grades and if i feel i could succeed at VCU/MCV
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What would you consider as the most important part of a cell? We talked about my answer for a brief time afterward.
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Do you agree with Dr. Kevorkian's practices?
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What is the last book you read?
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What books have you read recently?
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Do you think there was a drinking problem at your high school, college?
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How do you think the government can encourage doctors to practice in rural states?
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Do you think same gender education should be adopted?
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Are you into Harry Potter?
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Nothing was too interesting. All of the questions were really basic.
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All standard questions
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Describe your best friend and why you're friends with them
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All pretty run of the mill, talked about my education and experiences living in a variety of different places, nothing particularily interesting though
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How would you describe your value system?
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None
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If your best were here, what would he or she say about you?
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Where does MCV rank on your top 5 list of medical schools.
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Many physicians feel that government and insurance policies limit their ability to practice. why is it that you want to enter this field in the midst of such difficulties? what will you do to overcome them?
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Do you feel that profootball players get paid too much? (This was part of a LONG conversation about my college playing career)
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My spirituality?? caught me off guard.
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What do you know about the recent Nobel Prize winners?
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None. All were pretty basic "get to know you" questions.
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How do you deal with failure and set-backs?
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What is your favorite foreign film? (part of a larger conversation)
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What is your favorite are period?
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Why medicine?
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Nothing unusual. Tell me about X experience type of questions.
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By the way this interview is for the "Prefer Applicants", a sort of Guaranteed Admission to their medical school when you are a sophomore. From what I heard, this is pretty much their real interview tactic also. How was your childhood? (That was the most interesting question ever)
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What's your favorite football team?
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Do you like Harry Potter?
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What was the most interesting class you've taken outside of medical/bio courses
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Why can't you be some other profession and help peeps out
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Why do you want to leave california and come here?
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Capitol of the south, history
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What is your favorite part of the cell?
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Mainly generic, unfocused ethical questions like: "what do you think about stem cell research?"
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HOW U FEEL ABOUT CLONING
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Interview was standard
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What has your family taught you about giving back to society, and as a physician how do you plan to be involved in your community?
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What do you do at your place of work?
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In your religion (Hinduism), is there anything that might propose or oppose issues like cloning or stem cell research?
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Why are you sitting here in front of me? (In other words, what brought you to apply to Medical School?)
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Do you think that your high school or college had more of a drug problem?
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What is the best type of wine that washington state makes? (this was in reference to a wine class that i had taken)
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Did you notice anything new about the security at the airport?
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What do you think about Kevorkian?
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What do you think will motivate the first scientist to produce a human clone?
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What do you know about kevorkian and what do think about his philosophies?
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What would you do if a patient came in without insurance and couldn't pay for prescriptions?
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Do you think a socialized medicine system would work in this country? (in response to a discussion of my volunteer work in England)
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Is there anything at all on your application that you want me (the interviewer) to make sure is expressed to the admissions committee?
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What do you think will happen if the government started paying people to donate organs?
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What do you think of the current financial market? Its was understandable b/c i was in working in banking/investment for a number of years b/f i decided to re-pursue medicine again.
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Basic questions...why medicine?
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What is the one thing the U.S. has done to turn the Middle East against us?
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What do u feel about cloning humans
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Do you think students at your undergrad have a binge drinking problem?
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Describe the bull fights in Madrid.
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How has working in hospitals abroad changed your outlook on the American medical system?
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What are your SAT scores? If my interviewer had my file like he was supposed to, he would already know.
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How do you parents feel about you entering medicine?
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None out of the ordinary
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What was the most recent book you read?
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Conversational, asked me about my file
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The questions were all pretty straightforward, and standard.
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Tell me about yourself.
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What kind of job can a blind person have?
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You were a bio major, tell me about cellular respiration and ATP generation.
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Why don't you like the Red Sox?
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What do you think about the situation in the world today? Should we go to war with Iraq?
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Did you read Harry Potter?
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Talk about an experience in your life in which you failed.
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If your best friend was sitting next to you, what would she say about you?
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What do you think of (insert current medical topic here)?
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Describe yourself and then tell me about your application?
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What are you the most worried about for med school?
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My interview was very conversational, no questions out of the ordinary.
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I was asked a scientific question about mitochondrial DNA.
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If you were stranded on a desert island, what (other than survival items) would you want to bring with you?
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Tell me how you got there today.
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Nothing really. How would you fix the current healthcare dilemma?
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What do you make of stem-cell research?
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In regards to your religion, how would you pray with a patient in the ER who is of another religion and does not believe in your God and may even be against it?
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Tell me about your artistic endevors
How did you prepare for the interview?
Applicants commonly prepared for the interview by reviewing their AMCAS and secondary applications, practicing with mock interviews, reading interview feedback on SDN, researching the school's website, and studying medical ethics and healthcare issues. Many also engaged in practicing out loud and seeking advice from current students or medical professionals.
Top 5 Responses: (Click below to see additional responses)
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Prepping “why medicine” and basic MMI questions/practice
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Online MMI practice
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SDN, consumed informative resources pertaining to MMIs, studied medical ethics, made flashcards. Practice expressing out loud.
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MMI practice, SDN questions
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I researched the school, but this was not necessary as they did not ask "why us"
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Interview prep book, mock interview, sdn
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Mmi prep book
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Rehearsed my elevator pitch on who I am, fun facts, why medicine, and why VCU
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MMI practice book, Youtube
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Youtube MMI advice and reading up on MMI (information from the makers of the MMI)
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Youtube!
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This site, the vcu site, my secondary application
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Read over some ethics cases on the AMA Journal of Ethics, read over my primary and secondary applications briefly as a refresher, but other than that nothing too intensive.
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This site
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Reviewed my AMCAS/ secondary, Looked over the website, etc.
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Mock interviews, having bullet points for my work and volunteer activities
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SDN interview feedback and private interview coach
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Classic interview prep.
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SDN Interview Feedback
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Sdn questions were the best. read over amcas
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Read questions on SDN, researched the school.
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SDN, school website, review application
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Looked over healthcare policy, reviewed information about VCU SOM and Richmond, reread my application and essays.
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Read my AMCAS
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SDN, AMCAS
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AMCAS review, answered SDN interview prep questions, and practiced with a friend.
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Studentdoctor.net, flash cards, prepared answers, researched faculty and school
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SDN, lots of practice questions with friends, reviewed primary and secondary applications, VCU website
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Read past questions, practice interviews
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Read over my application and my secondary, mock interviews, read online bios of my interviewers.
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SDN feedback
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SDN, school website, read AMCAS and secondary
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Read SDN, VCU website
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School website, SDN interview feedback, MSAR
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Researched school's website, re-read AMCAS, spoke with students at the school prior to arriving
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Reviewed AMCAS/supplemental apps. Read Jeremiah Fleenor's book, The Medical School Interview: Secrets and a System for Success (and I highly recommend it). Read recent articles about healthcare. Reviewed biomedical ethics notes from undergrad.
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Reviewed primary and secondary, looked at school's website
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Read this, read over PS and secondary essay.
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Read VCU website, AMCAS material, spoke to friends about the school
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Reread AMCAS, personal statement, secondary essay, interview feedback
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SDN, school website, virtual tour, practiced in front of a mirror
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MSAR, School website, SDN, health care reading
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SND, practiced questions
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Read SDN interview feedback, thought about why I wanted to go to med school. Other than that, not too much.
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VCU website, reviewed primary
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VCU website, interview feedback, re-read application. VCU supposedly asks a lot of healthcare questions. I didn't get any, but I definately read up ahead of time on some issues.
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Read up on current events/healthcare, read application, website, took notes on potential questions
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SDN, interview feedback, VCU website, sites about healthcare and ethical issues, primary and secondary apps, PRACTICING OUT LOUD DURING THE CAR RIDE TO VCU
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SDN, VCU website, primary and secondary
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Read the feedback on SDN, previous interviews
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Read about school online, read SDF.
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Read SDN, read up on medical issues
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Sdn
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Sdn interview reviews, vcu website
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Read SDN, looked over my application.
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Read interview feedback, looked at my apps.
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SDN, Secondary, AMCAS, the school's website, student hosts.
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Read through website and looked over specific outreach programs that were of interest to me.
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SDN, talked to people attending the school and others that had interviewed there.
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SDN interview feedback, pre-med committee interview, reviewed school website, reviewed AMCAS and secondary
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Not much
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Reviewed file, looked at website, talked to M1's, read SDN's interview feedback, looked over current public health and medical ethics issues, went over answers in my head, asked friends/family what they thought were my best qualities =D
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VCU website, read AMCAS application, read VCU application
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Practice interview, VCU website.
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SDN, UWSOM ethics website, other interviews, a lot of health care reading
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I didn't
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SDN, school's website
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Read over my application and looked up a few ethical issues on the web.
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SDN, Health Care Meltdown (by Robert H. Lebow, MD) I highly recommend this book
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Prayed, read MSAR, read AMCAS and secondary
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Website, application, SDN
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SDN feedback, looked at their website.
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History on the school, SDN, interview feedback
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Read medical ethics book, application, VCU history, program, etc.
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Read this website and other websites with practice interview questions.
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SDN feedback, school website.
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Read the SDN interview feedback, U of Wash ethics website, wikipedia for healthcare stuff
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Read over the SDN interview feedback, brushed up on health policy, medical ethics, and re-read my VCU essays.
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Looked at the website, sdn stuff, thought of answers to expected questions, reviewed my application & secondaries, read books about health care and doctoring
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Reread my AMCAS, my secondary, and health-care issue websites...
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This website, going over my application especially my research, reviewing VCU/MCV's MD/PhD website
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SDN, VCU website, AMCAS info
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Sdn, review of application
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Reviewed AMCAS and secondary application and interview feedback on SDN.
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Pulled questions from SDN, mock interviews, reviewed my application, U of W ethical website
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SDN, AMCAS, my secondary, I read up a lot on healthcare problems but that wasn't even mentioned
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SDN forum, talked to current vcu students about life and aspects that are truly unique to vcu
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Reread my application and used wikipedia to brush up on current medical/ethical topics.
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Health care book, U of W ethics, SDN
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SDN, read over primary and secondary app, MCV website.
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SDN, mock interviews
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Read over my research, school website, I have a friend who is there as a first year so I asked her some questions
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Re-read my secondary application, feedback on SDN, explored VCU's website
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Reviewed AMCAS and Secondary; read SDN.
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SDN, school's website, previous interview experience, U of Washington ethics site because I heard they sometimes ask about physician-assisted suicide (though I didn't end up getting asked about this).
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Other interviews prepared me well for this -- especially EVMS.
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I read up on the school, re-read my amcas and secondary apps, read up on current healthcare issues....u. of washington site was very helpful
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Read over application, U of Washington ethics website, researched online, mock interviews with friends and family
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Read over feedback.
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Re-read my essay and VCU website.
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Browsed website, school's annual report, reviewed research, work and volunteer activities.
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U of W bioethics, health care topics online. AMCAS and 2ndary.
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1. Research the school on line 2. Review both AMCAS and secondary app 3. Research current issues related to health care
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SDN, and mock interviews
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Mock interview, bioethics website, medical ethics book, checked health news often, read over applications
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Looked over my AMCAS application, read through SDN, talked to some applicants who interviewed before, read over my secondary.
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Looked over my essays, SDN, the school's website.
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SDN Interview Feedback, VCU Med School Website
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Previous interviews, SDN, school's website
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Reviewed my secondary, a paper I had helped write, read the school's website, mock interview with my sister.
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Read over AMCAS, essays, SDN.
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Read over my application and essays, went to school's website, had a few "mock" interviews with people
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Website, mostly didn't prepare and just relied on being myself
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Website
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Read my essays, student doctor.net
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SDN interview feedbacks (very helpful, the questions were on all here I think), the school's website, the MSAR, SDN forum threads about VCU.
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Read SDN, my own primary and secondary. I had planned on being more prepared for this interview but ended up having a biochemistry final the day before, so wasn't as ready as I had been for other interviews. As it turned out, it didn't matter because the questions were so open-ended and the interview was so laid back.
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SDN, personal application
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SDN, school website, AMCAS essays, secondary essay, MCV grads.
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Read about the school, SDN, practiced with friends
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School Website, Studentdoctor.net, Talked to other people who interviewed there.
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SDN, went over my application, essays, normal interview questions I might be asked.
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Read the website, talked to students and staff at VCU, SDN, mock interviews, relaxed!
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Read over my secondary app
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VCU Website
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MCV website, Student Doctors, my application, ethics textbook, reviewed research
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I was so rushed the night before that I literally barely prepared and just hoped I wouldn't get asked ethical questions. It worked...I was lucky and didn't get asked anything outside of my file.
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Looked over research, AMCAS, secondary
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Read the school's website, did a practice interview with my girlfriend, ready over my essays
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Read over amcas and secondary, this site, school's website
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Reviewed potential questions, my Secondary app, looked on SDN
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Reading school lit/ reading this website
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Other interviews
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Sdn, school website
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Website, SDN, few articles on stem-cell research
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SDN, school's website (curriculum, history, facts, etc), a lot of thinking, mock interview (long time ago)
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SDN, website, students, other materials.
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Reviewed my AMCAS, secondary and SDN Web site. Did mock interviews with friends.
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SDN, VCU website, looked over my app
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SDN, MCV website, other books
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Studentdoctor.net, VCU website. I got a lot of the same interview questions from studentdoctor.net. practice with these questions on sd.net
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SDN/webpages on healthcare/learning from prior interviews
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SDN, read my AMCAS and secondary applications, talked to two current students (one M1 and one M2), read the school's website, looked up various ethical/ current healthcare issues (prepared more than necessary)
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Read my file, interview feedback
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Read this website, the school's website.
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VCU website and SDN
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SDN mainly
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Spoke to a lot of students about as many things as possible.
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Website, sdn, msar, guide for the perplexed
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This website, MCV website, and a few med school books about interviews, and brushed up on some ethical issues like growing uninsured population, stem cell research, euthanasia, ect. I did not need to prepare as much as I did.
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SDN & the school's website.
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SDN Website, NIH website, VCU homepage.
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SDN, schools website, MSAR, alot of thinking :)
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Website, sdn
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SDN feedback, school website, AMCAS, secondary app
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Read this website, visited the MCV website, etc.
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SDN, Looked over school website, Talked to current students
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SDN and application
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Sdn, vcu/mcv website, read about medical ethical topics
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Read my AMCAS application and VCU/MCV application. Looked at previous SDN posts and information on the web about the school.
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Reread personal statement
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School website, SDN, reviewed my application
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Read this website and reviewed AMCAS application
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Reviewed school website, AMCAS, SD.net.
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Looked on this site, read up on some healthcare issues
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Read over my AMCAS and secondary application, read reviews on this site, and read several articles on various topics in medicine (ei. stem cell research, drug testing safety, AIDS figures, Medicare, ect...)
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This website, application, questions from other places
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Looked over my applications, looked over the school's website
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I read over the school website, read a book concerning the health care crisis, reviewed the UW medical ethics website, and looked at the feedback from the student doctor website.
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This site, web, read over app
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Sdn, app
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SDN, talked to someone familiar with medical ethics issues, read over my application
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Read SDN, other interviews
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Read AMCAS and supplementary applications again. Thought about the tough questions before going in.
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This site, reviewed current events.
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Studentdoctor.net, VCU website, read over my amcas and secondary application thoroughly
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Read sdn feedback, personal statement
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Looked over my application, read some papers by PIs I would be visiting with, knew my research.
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The school website.
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Read over my AMCAS, read interview feedback, perused school's website
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Studied this website, studied their website inside and out, seriously studied my AMCAS and secondary application (very important!), and studied myself (thought about difficult questions and my personal stances on medical issues).
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Read AMCAS, my secondaries, a few interview website and this site
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SDN, VCU website, MSAR
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Read own statement, secondary, SDN, VCU website
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Read online forums and mock interview with friends
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Sdn interview feedback, bioethics, read amcas + secondary essay
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Interview Feedback, read up on ethics
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Interview feedback
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Read over app..and this website
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Plenty of sleep and a good breakfast
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Read amcas, this site
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Application, this website, some bioethics websites
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Kept abreast of current medical issues
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Read SDN, Interview feedback, reviewed AMCAS and secondary.
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SDN, ARTICLES, BOOKS, PREPARED POSSIBLE RESPONSES
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Read vcu website, amcas
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Re-read my AMCAS and secondary application, read about current events and health care issues.
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This web site, sought the counsel of one of the doctors I work with, reviewed my AMCAS application.
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Talked to people who are part of this program, went to the MCV website, read interview feedbacks from SDN site (MAJOR help!), research bioethic topics, read over application, practiced with "Most Common Interview Questions" (you can easily find this online by typing that in under SEARCH)
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Read the school's website - read this website.
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I reviewed the interview feedback on this site. Also, I went over my AMCAS and also read articles on www.bioethics.com that related to the questions posted on SDN.
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I read articles on current bioethics topics, reread my application, made sure I knew all about my research, talked to an M1 student, SDN and MCV's website.
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VCU website, this website, talking with other students who had gone on interviews, bioethics.com, reviewed my transcripts and current research
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AMCAS, SDN, etc
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I reviewed my AMCAS and secondary application.
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Had a good breakfast nearly wet myself trying to find a parking spot in tme to make the interview...
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Read my amcas and secondary apps, apps from last year, this site, reviewed my thesis
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Nothing
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Read application, this site, school's site and about Richmond
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Read AMCAS and secondary apps, read interview feedback, looked at school's web site
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Just read over my personal statement, practice interview with premed advisor, read this website.
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VCU-MCV's website, SDN
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Read over my essays, CV, SDN, and interview feedback (really helpful).
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SDN, school web site
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Read AAMCAS application, supplemental application, this website.
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Website friends
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SDN Interview feedback, went on the VCU website
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Read the website/AMCAS/etc.
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I read over my primary and secondary application essays, went over MCV's website pretty thoroughly, and also read interview feedback from this website.
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Read this website, read MCV website, talked to students.
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I read this website, read bioethics.com, studied their website, and looked over both my applications.
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Read studentdoctor.net, looked at VCU/MCV website
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Reread my AMCAS app and secondary materials sent to MCV, reviewed current ethical issues, read this site
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Read this site, my ist and 2nd apps, prayed
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Studentdoctor.net, Interview feedback, mock interview with friends, read up on bioethics and medical current issues
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This web site, the school web site and friends
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This web site, my application and school's website
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Read this website, read about bio-ethical issues
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Read website, interview feedbk
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Read the MCV site, talked to students, re-read application
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Read this website, read the school's website, and looked over my application
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This website and my AMCAS application
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Read up on school, talked to an M1 that I'm friends with, reread my essays (yes, they do look at the hand written one, it's not just a handwriting sample!)
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This web site, school web site, MSAR, my AMCAS app and secondary essays, reading up on managed care and ethical issues (although no health care questions were asked)
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Talked to someone who went there a long time ago, reread my application and brushed up on details of my research experience in college.
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Read website, this site, my application.
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Their webstie, Studentdoctor.net
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Read website, materials, guidebooks, read over health issues and stuff....
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Read interview feedback, looked at VCU/MCV website, went over my file
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I read over information i had on managed care, the school, my applications and ethical information.
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Looked over my application
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I just read their website and looked through my application. I had heard they were very interested in Bioethical issues so I read from articles in the Journal of Bioethics at www.bioethics. I didn't have any but for those who are interested it is interesting reading.
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Read up on health care issues
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I went over my application, read med. school history, their mission statement, and kept up with the news.
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Interview feedback, thier website, my file and my student host
What was the most difficult question?
Students said most difficult question asked at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center School of Medicine discussed a variety of topics, with a mix of ethical dilemmas, personal reflections, and healthcare system inquiries. The interview format included Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) scenarios, suggesting a structured approach to assessing candidates, potentially under a nondisclosure agreement.
Top 5 Responses: (Click below to see additional responses)
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What is one thing you'd want to change about yourself and how have you worked on doing that
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Difficulty was balanced between questions. In other words, there weren't specific questions that stood out to be more difficult or easier than the others.
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MMI scenario
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What responsibility do you have to the homeless population as a physician?
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Laid back
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MMI scenarios
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Name the last time you had to apologize (i just hadn't planned for this one)
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"Who is the most influential person in history and why?" I'm not a huge history buff but I answered the question and was able to defend my (cliched) answer!
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"We often receive reviews during rotations. What would your reviewer say about you?"
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What is something that your future attending physician or resident would rate you negatively on?
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Nothing difficulty. Explain this GPA. What will you do if you are not accept?
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None- all questions were pretty basic behavioral questions.
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(same as #1) talk about a time when you helped someone in a crisis
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Tell me about a challenge you faced, how you overcame it, what you learned from it, and how you applied that lesson in a subsequent situation. Despite the 'difficulty' of this question, my interviewer was very friendly about it and we "conversed" through my response.
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Tell me about a conflict you had.
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Tell me about your "Aha!" moment for fairness and justice. (I'm still not even entirely sure what he meant by this)
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Tell me about a time when you misjudged someone
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Tell me about an experience you have had where you had an "ahh ha" moment reaffirming that medicine is the right path for you.
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Talk about a person that was particularly hard to deal with and how you learned from it.
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Name your most memorable patient (from my advocacy experience as an HIV prevention counselor); a lot of in depth questions about that and hypothetical situations stemming from the one test I talked about.
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Name an example of when you were in an ethical dilemma. How did you handle it?
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What would your advice be to Congress on Obamacare? How should physicians have presented their side during the debate?
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They asked me the proverbial "Why medicine?" question multiple times, and it was almost as if they were debating my answers each time.
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What do you think of Obamacare? How would you fix the healthcare system?
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Any mistakes?
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Who was the most influential person of the 20th century?
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What would you like me to tell the adcoms
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There were no difficult questions, but don't come off as a pigeon-holed pre-med person. Be aware of issues in healthcare, show that you care about your community and that your scope is wider than being a premed.
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None.
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What would you say to a co-worker who is a close friend if you noticed a lot of recent heavy drinking? What would you say to a patient who presented with a hx of chronic alcohol abuse?
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????......there weren't any questions that were not adversarial
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What was one patient from your clinical experience that stood out in mind?
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Name your top SEVEN strengths?
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What has been your most influential medical experience?
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None
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Tell me a time where you were over yourself, meaning you were in a situation you could not control.
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I didn't think they were too difficult
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What is your greatest weakness? and another? and another? and another? and another?......
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None stand out
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How did you feel when you didn't get into medical school the first time around?
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If your best friend were sitting here, what three things would they say about you?
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What other schools have you interviewed at? (difficult because i think this is information that might influence an interviewer's perception of a student in an unnecessary way)
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So you've told me the problems in healthcare, and what you should do to fix it, but HOW would you go about doing so?
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There weren't any.
-
See above.
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What would you tell a patient who is dying? (I brought up the subject of patient death myself).
-
Not difficult, but some awkward ones: "Have you cheated before? Would you tell me if you did?" "Do you pre-judge people?"
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What do you think about the current situation of health care?
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How would you fix the health care system
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None, to be honest. It was very relaxed.
-
What does the term "cultural diversity" mean to you?
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How would you describe the art of healing?
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Why VCU?
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Explaining any weaknesses in your application.
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What are some more of your strengths?
-
What are your thoughts on medical malpractice? (when I asked her to clarify, she just repeated the question.)
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Nothing too difficult
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Tell me about a stressful situation and how you dealt with it.
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What are you willing to give up to go to medical school?
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What would I do if I could not be a doctor.
-
What do you think is the biggest weakness in the US Healthcare system?
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What unique quality do you think you have that no other applicant has?
-
Would you participate in a patient suicide? What is your opinion on embryonic stem cells?
-
Same as most interesting. He also asked something about why I think I'd make a good doctor.
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Why do you want to come to the U.S. to study?
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What is your greatest weakness?
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Explain your verbal MCAT score (or other weak points in application).
-
See above. There were a barrage of ethical questions, stem cells, medical marijuana, undergraduate alcohol abuse...
-
Nothing really.
-
See above
-
Role-play how you would deal with a patient who refuses the best treatment and insists on an unnecessary alternative.
-
Sooooo...your gpa went a little down this past semester...what happened?
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Describe your life?
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MD: The person who reviewed your file indicated a problem in your secondary. They wondered why you raised some family issues, how does this apply to medicine? PHD: Tell me how working as an undergraduate differs from working as a lab technician, walk me through the steps you would go through to design an experiment.
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None really
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What are your weaknesses?
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Nothing really...pretty run-of-the-mill questions
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Specific questions about my grades and MCAT score
-
No tough questions
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Again, nothing was particularly difficult so I'll say ''Why did you pick MCV specifically?'' (EVERY school asks this question)
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Some specifics about my research that I did in my Freshman year.. 6 years ago...
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None really... pretty laid back the whole time.
-
How are you prepared to deal with cultural differences? (not too difficult)
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Some very specific questions about my research, since one of the interviewers works in a very similar field
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What is a weakness you have? And another? And another?
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Describe a stressful situation you've experienced and how you dealt with it.
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Do you know anything about stem cell research?
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Tell me about yourself.
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The one stated above.
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What is a weakness that you possess? Are there any medically sensitive issues that you would like to talk about and why?
-
What are your thoughts on stem cell research?
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Nothing was difficult.
-
Why is your verbal score so low?
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Nothing particularly difficult, it was more of a conversation.
-
Where have you demonstrated leadership?
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Questions regarding my feelings on the lack of health insurance and the controversy over physician assisted suicide.
-
Argue for euthanasia..
-
He asked me about my weaknesses, and when he didn't like one of my responses he told me to think of another one.
-
How do you think that anthropology fits into medicine?
-
Do you understand what I am trying to ask you?
-
How would you increase the chances of young people staying in rural areas instead of moving away to find better opportunity?
-
None were especially difficult. I think they were intended more to encourage conversation than to intimidate or forcefully extract information.
-
What would you do if your peers/colleagues disagree with your political views (regarding abortion)?
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Nothing too difficult.
-
Are you ready to make the switch from NYC to Richmond, Virginia? Yes, I know you're supposed to make it seem like they're your 1st choice. But still. It's hard to lie.
-
Your MCAT score is high, why then does your GPA not seem to correspond to it?
-
What is your opinion of euthanasia? (It is legal in Oregon)
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Favorite movie
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None; all very standard questions
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Above (I hadn't)
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A question about the ethics of genetic engineering of humans.
-
No difficult questions.
-
Describe your value/belief system to me.
-
Your standardized test scores are very high...so what's up with the grades?
-
Why isn't your GPA higher considering you did well on the SAT and MCAT?
-
Why the change to Medicine?
-
How do you feel about the Supreme Court nominations?
-
How would you fix the healthcare system?
-
Nothing difficult
-
Nothing difficult. Very relaxed conversation.
-
None really, but I always hate this one "Tell me about yourself..."
-
Stem-cell research, medicinal marijuana, assisted suicide etc. Lots of this stuff.
-
I wasn't asked any overly difficult questions. I'm a non-traditional applicant (graduated college in 1994) so we really discussed my professional career and why the change to medicine now.
-
Nothing really, it was mostly just stuff about my file and extracurriculars.
-
Do you think your undergraduate institution had an alcohol problem?
-
Have you read Harry Potter? (I didn't read any of it so I couldn't discuss in depth with my interviewer. My interviewer was nice enough to discuss his opinions about it)
-
Explain your verbal score in the MCAT
-
Explain your verbal reasoning score compared to the sciences.
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How do you see your weakness fitting in with a medical career?
-
What is your view on stem cell research?
-
What do you think of euthanasia?
-
Explain your weak undergrad grades.
-
Why should MCV take you over all other out of state applicants, some of whom may have worked with doctors without borders or other activities, what unique trait separates you from them all?
-
About my GPA freshman year- I had a bad semester.
-
Explain this grade.
-
None were difficult, no ethical questions (I was expecting those). Asked how we can get doctors to practice in rural areas in need of physicians. Another person being interviewed was asked to make a decision regarding a heart transplant between a convicted felon or a 42 year old mother. After she gave her response the interviewer changed the question and asked if the answer would still be the same if you knew the mother was abusing her children.
-
What are your values, what makes you tick
-
Nothing
-
What do you think about the legalization of marijuana?
-
Nothing really, the interview was very laid back and conversational.
-
No real difficult questions.
-
None too difficult really-run of the mill
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Specific questions about my work
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There were no difficult questions. We talked about hobbies, activities, and jobs listed in the AMCAS application, the reason for why I am pursuing medicine, and life in Virginia (especially the traffic).
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What is your opinion on stem-cell research?
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N/A
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What do you do for fun? (not difficult)
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None were really diffifult
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Irani government is involved in selling organs. Do you think U.S. should adopt this policy?
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Again, nothing was too difficult.
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What is the greatest problem in healthcare (This question came up for me because I currently bill health insurance)
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The "whys" after every question. The interviewer pretty much disagreed with everything I had to say and shot down every answer
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I didn't find any of the questions particularily challenging or difficult, my interview was pretty laid back and conversational although some other interviewers did get slammed with ethical questions so definitely be prepared.
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Based on the genomics project you did (in high school), how do you think that advancements such as these will affect the future of medicine.
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Could you help a person to commit physician-assisted suicide?
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Tell me about your religious background.
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I had read this site, and none of his questions were beyond those listed among others' experiences, so i wasnt unprepared for any of them/found none of the ?s difficult.
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What's the receptor mechanism of your research system?
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Tell me about when you were a "team player".
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Didn't really ask anything terribly difficult, he mainly just asked me to elaborate on my file.
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What do you feel is the physician's responsibility to indigents or illegal immigrants who do not have access to health care? (I answered that it the physician had the right to care for all, especially in emergency situations, and that medical care is a fundamental right, not a privilege. For this interviewer, that was the correct answer.)
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They were all ok
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Explain your first semester Ochem grade
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Why would you go here over xxx
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Explain my verbal score on the CATs
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An ethics problem
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TELL ME ABOUT EUTHANASIA/ KEVORKIAN
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Question about Glycolysis.
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[Luckily I researched this question beforehand; however, if I didn't, it would have been the hardest.] What are your feelings on cloning and stem cell research?
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What is the "red flag" that you would mark on your application?
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I didn't have any particularly difficult questions. i had purposely researched several bioethical topics in preparation for this interview, but i didn't get asked any questions on controversial topics, it was just generally about me. It was just hard to direct the conversation in the direction of topics i wanted to make sure that he knew about.
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Do you think the government should be involved in selling organs?
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Should the US adopt a policy to compensate or subsidize organ donors?
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Are you any good at squash?
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What is the f-stop on your camera? (Accusing me of lying about liking photography.)
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Same as above
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Bioethics questions. Not really hard but definetly know your stance on these topics.
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None, interviewer was my advocate to the board and just wanted to get to know me in order to accurately defend or push in the board.
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Does the Koran teach militant aggression?
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What would u do if u couldn't be doctor
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Do you think the U.S. should clone organs, and sell them to people who can afford them?
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How is the drug problem at your college vs. your high school?
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Do you think society is ready for the human applications of cloning? If not, what conditions would need to be present for society to be ready.
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Is there anything in your file that you would like to explain? Kind of open ended.
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Why do you want to be a doctor?
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If you had a patient who refused to take your advice to change his/her lifestyle and was suffering because of it, what would you say to him/her?
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No difficult questions
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Why did your grades fall off in your senior year?
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Can you explain your verbal score?
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What do you know about mitochondrial DNA
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What's the goal for your research?
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What do you know about mitochondrial DNA?
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What do you think about euthanasia and human cloning? (He asked almost all of the recent bioethics question.)
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What's your favorite book/what book have you read most recently (1-I blanked and couldn't remember any of the 20 books piled next to my bed that I use to read myself to sleep, and 2-Thought Harry Potter would sound really, really bad)
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Explain your low writing sample score.
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What are your three best qualities? What is your weakness?
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If you think cloning should be banned, should stem cells be potentially used to grow replacement organs, if possible?
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What do you think of Dr. Kavorkian?
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Same
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The question on how to know for sure that MTDNA comes from the mother.
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Did you interview at uva? what did you think?
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Nothing really. I was also asked about my freshman year of undergrad because my grades during my first year SUCKED!!!!!!
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In regards to your religion, how would you pray with a patient in the ER who is of another religion and does not believe in your God and may even be against it?
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Explain your orgo grades (asked in a nice way ;-)
What impressed you positively?
Applicants were positively impressed by the friendly demeanor of the interviewers and admissions staff, the relaxed environment, the kindness and helpfulness of the med students, the transparency of the admissions committee, the quality of the curriculum and facilities, the happiness of the students, the urban setting, and the emphasis on student well-being and success. Suggestions included enhancing communication about the admissions process and continuing to foster a supportive and friendly atmosphere.
Top 5 Responses: (Click below to see additional responses)
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Very conversational, low stress
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The mindfulness session before starting the interview and the friendly demeanor of the interviewers and admissions staff.
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Relaxed environment
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The interviewers were very kind, mostly M4s, that gave a lot of positive feedback and answered any additional questions if we had extra time.
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Everyone was nice and they gave a great presentation and tour of the school
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Medical school building was connected to the major affiliated hospitals!
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The hospital and clinics are huge and state of the art
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I liked how forthcoming/helpful the med students were throughout the day. I also liked the thorough breakdown of the curriculum during the info session.
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The admissions committee was so kind.
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Great curriculum, amazing facility, and very transparent admissions committee.
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The area, the technology of the school, the facility itself, the interactions with the students, the organization of the curriculum
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I found interview day as a whole quite efficient. An appropriate amount of time was allotted for each activity which included the interview, financial aid presentation, lunch with med students, and tour.
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Curriculum
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The new facilities/ building!
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You could tell that the students are genuinely happy.
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The school's stats - match rate and Step 1 scores are consistently above national average
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Everyone was very nice and the new medical school building is awesome.
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Staff are very friendly and they try to be transparent with the application process. Students are friendly and genuinely seem happy at the school.
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Everyone was so laid-back and friendly!
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Everything! i loved loved loved the school. they seem like they are really going through a positive transition with the new condensed pre-clinical curriculum and all new facilities
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Happiness of students. The tour was very thorough and left me with a really great impression of the school! They even pulled a 4th year med student for us to talk to (which is somewhat unusual based on my previous interview experiences)! VCU is very "well rounded" in the sense that it is a well-known research institution and is a great place to prepare for a career as a specialist, but it is also a great place to do something like rural primary care. Also the location is great (right in downtown Richmond), with abundant affordable housing in 'hip' neighborhoods very close by!
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Research opportunities, new medical building and, most importantly, the school treats interviewees as assets. They make you feel welcome. This is opposed to other schools that make everyone feel like they are incredibly lucky to be there.
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Basically everything, I was very impressed by the school
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The friendliness of all of the staff and students
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The students, faculty, and staff seemed extremely happy there and went out of their way to inform me about the school.
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The current students were incredibly helpful, the faculty was very friendly, the school was very organized!
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Friendliness of students. Everyone seemed to be very positive and happy.
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Simulation center, hospital
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The school and the facilities are beautiful. The students seem very happy. The professors and staff were all very friendly.
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Awesome facilities, students were very nice
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This school has great administration, website, communication, helpful information, secondary app that makes sense, etc.
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The interview format was relaxed and provided a good platform to discuss my application. The tour was informative. Everyone was relxed and friendly. The facilities are great.
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Everything. Students were well taken care of, the faculty really goes out of their way for the students. Richmond, while it is a small city, has enough to keep a med student busy. The facilities were pretty nice/new, the hospital was huge and clerkships are definitely this school's strongpoint.
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Great interviewer, urban setting, diversity of patients and student body, affordable standard of living
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VCU's step 1 prep is as good as it gets (google Dr. Costanzo). Clinical rotations are great, especially since there is an option of rotating at Inova Fairfax during the last 2 years, which is close to where I live. Students really liked the school.
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The atmosphere was very comfortable and relaxed. The interview had a natural, conversational flow. Staff/students were very friendly and helpful.
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Great school, I love the program, great town
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The diversity and size of the medical complex.
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A lot... Dr. WHC is amazing and welcoming. The office staff were accommodating and friendly. Great Step 1 prep, nice facilities and great urban location.
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The school and students are really nice and seems like a cooperative atmosphere
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School really caters to the needs of the students
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Everything
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I loved my student hosts. I came into the apartment and there were a whole group of M2 students just enjoying dinner. They were very welcoming and gave me lots of advice. We had ice cream and watched movies. Very relaxing before an interview.
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Interview was very low-stress and conversational! Great simulation labs! Very friendly admissions office.
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Campus
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How relaxed and conversational the interview really was. Most schools say that and it ends up being at least slightly stressful, but this one not at all. I really enjoyed talking to my interviewer who at times was just telling me about his/her career and things about the profession. It was great.
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Students seemed very happy, faculty and staff very friendly and approachable, urban location, lots of facilities, SIM lab was nice, short days (4 hours lecture/day), personalized study plans for Step I, good match rates
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Everything. Great hospital, friendly admissions staff, students seemed happy.
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Location, friendliness of students, curriculum, usmle prep
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Everyone is really nice.
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The preceptorship program, only 4 hours of class/day, overall happiness of the students.
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The USMLE prep: their USMLE coordinator CUSTOMIZES a study schedule and guide for you. The students score well above average on step 1, and this is why.
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Friendliness of staff, faculty, and students. Huge hospitals with a ton of different clinical opportunities. Also, inexpensive food!
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Friendliness of... everyone! (and their enthusiasm!) Also, they don't have textbooks! :-) The block schedule is very nice and it seems like clinical experience is beyond adequate and great board performance.
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Supportive environment, wide range of clinical cases
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Friendly students and super nice interviewer!
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The medical school was very nice! The partnership with Inova Fairfax really makes for a clinical experience with high exposure.
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The friendliness of students, staff, etc.
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The campus is fantastic, lunch was above average, the student tour guides and admissions office employees were super friendly and welcoming...
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The resources available for USMLE preparation (one of the physiology teachers at the school is the leading expert in this field), the cohesion of the class, and the buildings are centrally located.
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The staff in the admissions office were so accommodating. They went out of their way to make sure we weren't stressed.
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The size of the hospital they are with (4th largest academic hospital in the nation), they are way above the average in board exam scores, they were very friendly and personable.
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The school is great - awesome hospital, newly renovated anatomy lab, and a great curriculum. Their board prep is top notch. Also, they've started to implement more technology in the classroom (most lectures are now digitally captured so you can play them back with audio and notes that the professor made on the screen).
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I liked the area, big hospital and academic center. Nice ppl
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The friendliness of the administration and admissions office. The emphasis on being your "home away from home" while you are a medical student.
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The people, the location, the facilities.
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The staff were friendly, and excited about the future of the school. The architecture was fascinating. Who knew you could go to school on the front lawn of the ''White House of the South.''
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The day was very well put together and everyone worked to put the applicant at ease, I liked having the interview first.
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VCU's in a nicer part of Richmond. The hospital's big and facilities seems pretty good.
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There are actually cool parts of Richmond. I heard a number of bad things, but after having a few days to explore, I liked it more than I thought I would. The students that I spoke to really love their school.
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Laid back attitude of the students.
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The atmosphere! everyone i met was so nice and helpful. they help each other out with everything, and there's no competition (mcv has online forums that students go to answer each other's questions/problems). mcv would prepare you well for the boards - they are one of the few schools that offer board review sessions, taught by professors. it's interesting to note, that in the past, some of these professors have written questions for the board exams. option of doing 3rd and 4th year rotations at INOVA.
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Great welcoming attitude by the faculty, interviewer was a very warm personality, project HEART is one of the best ways of teaching compassion and empathy that I have ever seen
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The curriculum schedule is very conducive to doing well and being able to enjoy life every so often
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The facilities were actually extremely nice and new.
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The people! The faculty and students were extremely friendly and enthusiastic.
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Staff was organized and friendly, medical campus is full of schools and hospitals but still convenient to navigate
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How professional and friendly students are at MCV; Everything is very high tech and up to date.
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Facilities and people. Completely awesome visit, very laidback atmosphere, lots of places to study, eat, use computers. Thoughtful touches like free photocopying and being allowed to eat in the library. Schedule is 8-12 most days. Our guides were both M-4, so they were basically able to tell us anything and everything we wanted to know.
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The facilities, low cost of living, low instate tuition, potential to grow
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The VCU match list is actually pretty impressive. Also, the students seemed pretty interested (although they had a huge exam the Friday I interviewed)
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Nice weather.
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The interview was amazing. My interviewer and I connected and we talked and joked the entire time.
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The city, the hospital, how active the hospital was, the other med students, the facilities were great, i also really liked that there was a pharm school and a dental school--made it very much so a health environment
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The enthusiasm of the students!! Even the students we just saw on the tour looked so happy and relaxed. The amount of people utilizing the hospital system.
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Every single interviewer I had was so encouraging! I really enjoyed the laid-back style of the interviews, it really allowed me to feel relax and let my true self show. I think that is a smart move for interviewing style.
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Level 1 trauma unit, the egyptian building seemed nice
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Huge campus hospital. Looks like a lot of money has been spent here recently. There was a genuine down-home feel to this school.
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Tour, students
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I was impressed by the camaraderie demonstrated by the students. The faculty seemed genuinely interested in ensuring the success of the students.
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I always hear horror stories about Richmond, but the campus was really nice and all the facilities were awesome
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The process was really easy. Everyone tried to make me as comfortable as possible. I was very impressed by the organization of the day and the technology available at the school.
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Extremely helpful staff, kind...
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Out of all my interviews, MCV had the best waiting room and interview processing. You may think you're relaxed, but being able to send out a quick email, watch T.V. or surf the web does put you at ease.
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The people are awesome. Students are happy, they say its a relaxed learning atmosphere. The facilities are quite nice. I hope I get in! Oh, and stay with a student host, saves money, and they are very helpful.
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The students were obviously very happy with the school and were very personable. I also liked how the staff went out of their way to make the day as stress-free as possible.
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The people were incredibly amiable and kind. The interview felt as though I was conversing with a relative- very comfortable.
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Everyone was enthusiastic, the school is growing and expanding research facilities, my interviewers all had been at VCU/MCV for a long time and still loved it
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Richmond and it's small town feel, VCU campus, expansion of clinical buildings and hospital facilities, and the students.
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THe facilities are great and I like that the curriculum is in blocks.
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The size of the hospital, all the construction/improvements taking place, and the cooperative nature of the students.
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I LOVE THE CAMPUS! The dental school, pharm school, nursing school are ALL there so the campus is very lively. VCU basically runs Richmond.
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The students seemed really happy, and the faculty cares a lot about the well-being of the students. There is a professor who wrote a book that students at other med schools use. That same professor apparently sits down with 2nd year med students and helps them develop good study skills for school and for boards. that's pretty awesome
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Enthusiastic, relaxed students, facilities seemed to be pretty modern, accessible, warm faculty and admissions staff
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Very nice interviewer, admissions office staff, and students.
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It's a nice city with excellent facilities. I also liked the program to go overseas during your summers.
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The school was bigger than I thought, the campus was more active than I expected, the faculty that I met were very welcoming and the students were positive and enthusiastic about attending.
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Facilities, faculty.
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All of the faculty and staff were very welcoming and friendly. Nobody made me feel as though I did not belong at their school. I didn't feel like they were trying to weed me out.
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The interview was stress free. The facilites were very nice and the people were extremely friendly.
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They have some really nice facilities that I was surprised by. Everything seems really up-to-date and renovated.
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Everything. The Dean of Admissions is such a nice lady. The people who work in her office are equally as nice. The students who gave us a tour really seemed to genuninely love the school.
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I really liked the school, the diverity of the patients and class. Everyone was really friendly and happy to be there.
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The facilities were top notch.
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The school is great with new programs and facilities. It seems like a vibrant community.
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I was late for my 8:30 interview because of snow and traffic, but they rescheduled me for 2:00. The secretary and the doctor were sooo nice!
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The size of the facilities (8th largest teaching health sciences center in the country). That next year a lot of additions I didn't even know about will be done next year (such as the new student center). I'm a grad. student here and didn't know about this. The school has about a 95% pass rate on the boards thanks to strong curriculum. The information session with the Dean Admissions after the interview though long as informative as you're briefed about how the selection/waitlist process works and about financial aid, etc... My interviewer talked to me a lot about the diversity of patients you get to see here and the ability to get involved in seeing patients really early on.
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Urban setting of the hospital, seemed very busy and diverse...also, the admissions staff was really nice.
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Facilities seemed nice, the students all seemed very happy, they have a cool Egyptian building for first years
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Great location. I love Richmond.
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The students seemed very happy and satisfied with the school.
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The facilities are very nice, and Richmond wasn't half as scary as I was expecting. The focus on training excellent and well rounded physicians. The faculty seem dedicated to helping the students learn, and not just to pursuing their own research interests.
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When I walked into the admissions office, the most pleasant wonderful administrative assistant ever greeted me warmly, noticed that I looked tired, and then proceeded to procure a cup of coffee and a bagel for me. That really set the tone for the day. The staff, students, and interviewer were all similarly helpful and encouraging. The hospital was much much larger than I had anticipated and seemed bustling with a lot of energy. Students universally seemed very enthusiastic about the program.
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The friendliness of all students, administration
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Medical campus is quite comprehensive. Well known for a variety of specialties and a diverse patient population. Lots of renovation and construction. New 300-bed hospital expansion underway.
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The facilities are great. The immediate area surrounding the school has a nice urban bustle which I liked a lot.
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The curriculum and class structure, the hospitol facilities, and how nice the people were.
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The students who were very friendly and seem to enjoy themselves
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I LOVED the school. The city is quite historic and, for me, it is the perfect place to study medicine. I was extremely impressed by the professionalism of my tour guides and by my interviewer (MS4). I really enjoyed Dr. H's presentation about the application process and found it comforting that the admissions committee truly wants to relieve applicants' anxieties. I was also impressed that the hospital houses a small library for patients to research common diseases.
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Early clinical experience; MCV Hospital is amazing if you want to see a wide variety of cases; non-competitive nature of the students; the campus is very wired (everything's online for easy access)
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EVERYTHING! I loved the campus, the city, the hospitals, students I met, everything.
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Almost everything. The scale of the medical center is impressive. The students were intelligent but down to Earth. The facilities were high-tech. The patient volume is extremely high. There are unlimited clinical specialties at the center. Richmond is not at all as "ghetto" as people say.
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It's a much better school than I thought it would be; the hospital(s) is huge - very busy, large pt. volume. Very positively impressed.
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Student really seem happy, Richmond is a nice city - lots to do.
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Very intimate and friendly place. Richmond seems a nice, medium sized town which would provide a low-stress med school environment.
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Very nice facilities, everyone was nice and students were happy...NoVA fairfax option sounds GREAT
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Facilities - It is a major medical campus in downtown Richmond. Interviewer felt like he really wanted to get to know me. Downtown area (Shockoe) is pretty cool.
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Students are enthusiastic
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Friendly atmosphere, nice facilities and surroundings. Research program seems relatively strong.
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A LOT of things. My interviewer was so laid back and nice, she was a 4th year medical student. She was enthusiastic and so friendly. I really like the dean, who did not beat around the bush and was very personable. My tour guides were really nice and informative. Both had a very high opinion of their school and their classmates. The facilities are great. The student host i stayed with was wonderful. she took me out both nights i was in richmond, introduced me to her friends, and showed me around the area.
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I was impressed by how relaxed the students were, and how relaxed the interview was. My interviewer was a very nice guy and I was happy that he took the time to carefully read my application and address issues that pertained to it. I'm also encouraged by the fact that everybody can do well if they work hard, and that the grading system is fair. Also, MCV/VCU has a prominent head injury ctr, and the largest ER in the state (for all you potential ER docs!) Also, I like the fact that the hospital is right across from the medical school. They're also building a new anatomy lab and a recreational facility. Oh, and rent in Richmond is cheap!
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The interviewer really wanted to get to know me, he seemed to want to be my advocate
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The large amount of clinical experience you get right there on campus. They have tremendous opportunities via the many hospitals located in or around the campus. The faculty/students were really nice and willing to answer any questions. My interviewer was great, he broke the ice with some Harry Potter questions and we went from there. Richmond wasn't that bad, high murder/crime rate but what do you expect from a larger city. The hospitals are beautiful and I would consider myself lucky to attend there. They have a really high USMLE pass rate. Great school all around.
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MCV staff and students were very friendly helpfull people. Tour guides have liked their experience so far. The hospital is quite large and very nice. Seems like a great place for 3rd and 4th year rotations. A new cancer center is being built as well.
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I enjoyed the Richmond area, everyone from the school (students, admissions office staff,) was very friendly. Living in Richmond is very affordable compared to California.
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The students and staff were very friendly and helpful.
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The school facility, they have been working on renovation and adding new buildings recently.
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Richmond was better than I was led to believe. The school is located right in the heart if down town. I liked that the school of nursing, dentistry, pharmacy and applied health are all in the same vicinity. That way you can mingle with other students instead of your classmates - especially if you single like me.
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I was impressed with how laid-back the interview was. He told me at the beginning that he hoped it would be a good, easy-going experience and that it was probably a good first interview to have. I was very impressed with the facilities, especially the hospital. The admissions meeting was very thorough on explaining exactly what is next in the process. She emphasized that the interview is the most important part because it allows the committee know you as a personal personality. This is especially important when there is a tie, interview score, then undergrad gpa, and then mcat score. Also the associate dean of admissions mentioned to feel free to email her with any information you may have forgotten to mention to the interview. Before the rest of the committee, she mentions that information. (It was somewhat difficult to always remember everything to say to the interviewer, especially since it was more of a conversation). The food was good also! You can get whatever you want and it's free! Richmond was very picturesque. I loved it. I hope I get accepted!
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The facilities are beautiful, and there is SO much to do in Richmond!
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My interviewer was very welcoming and seemed genuinely interested in learning more about me.
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The people I met all seemed happy and excited to share VCU with newcomers. The facilities are amazing in terms of size and range.
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Seems like a setting very suitable for the study of medicine - in an urban location with an array of people, and with good facilities. Also the students and interviewer were nice and enthusiastic about the school. Plus the cafeteria food was several standard deviations in quality above an average cafeteria.
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Everyone loves it there. The staff is really supportive and Richmond has things to offer in terms of housing and culture.
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The hospital system is very large, also the area has an exploding surburban region 30 minutes outside the city
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The students were very enthusiastic, happy, friendly, open, and non-competitive with one another. Waiting in the reception area I looked through the Med school yearbook. It seems the students are close and have a great sense of humor. The classes seem to be pretty well bonded too. Also apparently the Fan distric just down Broad Street is a beautiful historical area and a great place for Urban professionals and grad students.
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I really liked Richmond & the Carytown area...so cute. I liked the facilities & the hospital, it's a lot nicer than I expected.
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Friendly students. Facilities are nice. Richmond is not as bad as some of these reviews make it out to be. It is pretty quiet on Weekends. It has some industrial facilities mixed in with old historical architecture. The school is right by the state capital, the Virginia Supreme Court.
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The school is alot bigger and alot nicer than I expect, you really need to go to VCU to appreciate how great a school it is.
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The students get along so well for such a big class (184). everyone seems to like it there
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Facilities are up-to-date. Good funding for research activities.
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The facilities were larger and more modern than I expected. The area surrounding the medical center was not nearly so ghetto as I was led to believe. The cost of living is also really low.
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How much pride the students had in the school and how friendly the staff were. I was also impressed that they let you know exactly how the application process works.
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The area around the school is nice, the people were very nice
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The egyptian building was great; dr. costanza is the person who writes the board exam study books and a lot of vcu/mcv people in her class do very well
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The facilities, the friendliness of the students, the attentiveness and genuiness of my interviewer. At the end of the interview, I was handed a card with my interviewers information and was told to write if I had any questions or concerns (I am assuming this is also true for the other students who interviewed there). I did write and received a response the same day. I was certainly impressed.
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My interviewer...he was very interesting.
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The facilities were all relatively new. They have a library-like room in the hospital where patients can look up info on their condition
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The people and the feeling of a low stress environment
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The 2nd year students that gave the tour were extremely excited about VCU. Also the admissions officers were very truthful and helpful.
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Students are all very upbeat, study facilities are great, studnet lounge is chill.
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The people were very friendly, including my interviewer. I expressed an interest in pediatrics through my essays so they matched me with a pediatric emergency room physician. Also, the medical students who gave me the tour were really helpful and friendly.
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We were able to put our things in the admission office while we were on the tour.
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Nothing really. I won't say that I was negatively impressed by the school...I just wasn't impressed at all. There was nothing that made me say "I HAVE to go here!"
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The students were extremely approachable, honest, and friendly. I had the opportunity to stay with a first-year student and we had a blast. We went to a comedy club the night before the interview with other med students. Many of the students said they came to VCU because of the students. I would do the same.
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Student tour and the anatomy room has a view!
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Lecture halls, hospital are very nice. It serves a large number of people and is in the downtown area. VCU has a reputation of being one of the 'better' schools.
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The block schedule would fit perfectly with my learning style. I also liked that they only have lecture from 8am-12 pm most days so there's plenty of free time.
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The public transportation system. The students have an online bulletin board that they use for all communication, both related to their coursework and to social activities. They seem very close-knit and inclusive. The testing schedule is set up so that blocks end usually before weekends and always before vacations (Thanksgiving, winter break) so there is nothing to study for over the breaks. Also, the tests are in a format that is similar to the usmle step 1, and that seems like a sensible way to help students prepare for the exam. Lecture notes are given to the students before each block.
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A lot of the buildings were very nice, rent in Richmond is cheap, school has opportunity for students to do 3rd & 4th year in Northern VA
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Straightforwardness about the admissions process.
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The admissions committee does not give too much preference to in-state students. All of the exams are made to look like Board questions. The emergency medicine department is one of the largest in the country.
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Excellent interview--felt like a conversation and she took my answers and turned them around to explain parts of the school that would interest me
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I love richmond, the students were very nice and helpful, the atmosphere is great, more laid back than other schools. admissions staff and prof were also pleasant and helpful.
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It was a great campus (I think they said it was the 4th largest medical campus in the US). The area around it, although currently not as nice, is being invested into to make a clearner downtown area.
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99% step one pass rate - every student has a custom designed review for preparing for the boards starting january of second uear (6 month head start), lots of students matching into top residencies, block scheduling, organ based approach, friendly students, level one trauma center with a burn unit, 8th largest teaching hospital (means lots of patients)
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The newer facilities and the new building going on.
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Their high-tech library and the size of the hospital.
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Overall I was pretty impressed with the school.
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The students were really nice, the atmosphere wasn't competetive. The area around Richmond (outside the city) is very nice, if you like nature.
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Richmond (outside of the downtown/Jackson Ward area) wasn't as bad as others painted it to be.
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The facilities are very nice, Richmond has a lot to offer even though it's a smaller city, the administrative staff are extremely welcoming and nice, students seem happy and diverse
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The School is great and everyone at the admission officer are really great people.
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Everything! people were great, hospital facilities solid, and the curriculum is very impressive...
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Very relaxed interview, friendly students
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The friendly atmosphere and the hospital
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VCU/MCV is technologically wired in every aspect. everything is on the web (i.e. course syllabi, course movies, grades, etc.) They have an excellant clinical course that spans the first 2 yrs (you will start seeing patients by the 3rd week). From what I hear this course really prepares you for the clinical half of med school.
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The pyramid and civil war museum.
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The new health sciences building is pretty nice. The curriculum (foundations of clinical medicine) and class schedules seem to be to the student's advantage. The plans for the new hospital facilities seem very impressive.
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Proximity to other cities. richmond is in a good location to leave!
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The Eqyptian building was cool. Also, Dr. Heldberg is really upfront about the process so you know how your app is going to be reviewed.
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EGYPTIAN BUILDING WAS TIGHT
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Not much honestly
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The facilities are nice, and the students seem really happy.
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The interview was not stressful, the state of the art technology, the new NICU facilities and computerized radiology in the ER.
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I REALLY liked my interviewer. He was such a wonderful old man. I was nervous when I walked in, but once we started talking, it seemed like I was talking to a close relative of mine. I also liked the hospital buildings and how they are all nicely connected.
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The facilities are nice. The newborn intensive care unit (NICU) is top of the line, the buildings are all neatly interconnected, the atmosphere is really laid back.
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The students all seem genuinely happy and interested in promoting a positive image of the school.
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The students, admissions office and staff. Everyone was genuinely nice and respectful of their prospective students. The interview was laid-back, and our tour guides were really informative and conducted a great tour.
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How nice all the staff was and how everyone seemed genuinely happy to see you there and happy to help you in any way.
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Classrooms were recently renovated
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The new facilities and the online course materials.
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The campus is really big and there seem to be many opportunities for clinical experience in a broad range of specialties starting year one.
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Interviewer
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There is nothing impressive about the idiotic interview or his school.
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The people...they were all friendly and happy to be there
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The talk with the associate dean for admissions was fantastic. She explained the process very well and how she thinks the school's curriculum will change in the future. The new facilities are beautiful! The Egyptian Building looks great renovated, too. ALL of the students I met seemed happy and excited about MCV. They all like the new block class format where they only have lectures in the morning. I drove out to the Fan area of Richmond since I wanted to see a nicer part of the city than is around the med school. It was very nice - lots of cool historical houses and renovated row houses...
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How the associate dean of admissions explained the exact process of getting accepted after the interview.
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The interview itself and the fact that Dr.Costanza is a part of VCU's faculty. She has written nationally-renknowed books on the USMLE boards. Meets individually with each VCU's med student to plan and devise a strategy that meets their specific style.
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How nice the staff treats the interviewees (professional, kind, and even treated us for lunch!). The improvements made on campus (med library, undergrad library, etc) ever since i finished the certificate program in 2002. The improvements in the surrounding community (new shopping centers and stores).
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Dr. Heldberg explained the entire post-interview process of what happens to your application. Hopefully knowing this will make the waiting process a little easier
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AM classes, most afternoons off to study or whatever - lower cost of living - hospital across the street and fabulous NICU
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The interviewer was very nice and laid back - he just asked some very strange questions. I am not muslim yet somehow we got into a religious discussion regarding islam, the middle east, U.S. foreign policy, support/non-support of Israel, the Palestinian problem, etc etc. We hardly talked about medicine at all.
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People were laid back, nice computer facilities,new gateway building
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The students were really nice. My host was really cool and laid-back. The Egyptian building is pretty cool (a little bit out of place though). FCM sounds like a great class.
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The big hospital associated with VCU.
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I really liked the Foundations of Medicine program that MCV has started and also the Egyptian building is really cool. The other really nice thing about the school is that they present every detail about how the admissions process works and what the next step is after the interview during the orientation so there are no surprises.
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Nice classroom facilities, standardized patient program seemed cool, classes from 8-12.
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The laid back atmosphere and the egyptian building.
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All the construction that has been done in the last few years, how wired the campus is, how diverse both the student and patient populations are
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How "wired" the school is (curriculum, admissions, etc.), extremely diverse patient population seen at the hospital, lack of cutthroat atmosphere, block scheduling
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MCV is very open about their admissions process. Everything is computerized. Med students were professional and helpful.
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Everything! VCU is surprisingly dynamic in its curriculum and its facilities are undergoing an extensive renovation -- most of the campus should look completely different by the time I potentially get there in 2 years...
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Great school with great facilities. I really liked the Egyptian building, the block schedule (from 8-12), the professors and the building. Oh, and they sit you down and explain the whole interview process to you, there is no mystery!
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Everybody was nice
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Everyone I spoke to associated with the school went out of their way to welcome us and answer questions...very friendly!
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Classrooms, everything for class is on the web, clinical experience
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The school is extremely high-tech - everything is online and computerized - which makes it easier on the students and faculty.
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The students were really friendly and there seemed to be a good balance between academics and life outside of the classroom
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Curriculum and people. they were generally very laid back and nice.
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Ammount of clinical experience, intense and organized prep for boards, security.
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The integration of clinical application with theory, the technology (most books are on CD, all lectures are powerpoint presentations that you will have, videos in the lab), the non-competitive environment, the easy-going faculty. Everyone seems to be happy there.
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The doctor who interviewed me conducted a fantastic interview and was very nice. He made sure to ask questions about nearly all of the experiences on my application, as well as questions about my personal characteristics.
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My interviewer
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The time the interviewer was able to spend with me
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The ER and trauma rooms, and their state of the art computerized X-ray room.
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The friendliness of everyone
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The friendliness of students, dean of admissions explaining the details of the application process. The on-line lecture notes and learning resources.
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The enthusiasm of the students.
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Friendliness of students! everyone was sooo helpful - other students would stop the tour group to see if anyone had questions
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Happiness of the students, Remodeled educational facilities for firts and second years, Introduced to Clinical Medicine course during first and second year
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The admissions director took a lot of time to explain the entire admissions process to us...in fact, she went into far too much detail. I almost fell asleep.
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The student tour...it was very comprehensive! I love the Egyptian building where the M1's have lectures!
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I think the interaction between the students and faculty and how much they [faculty] cares. Also, the new lecture room for the coming M1.
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My interviewer and the dean
What impressed you negatively?
Applicants commonly expressed negative impressions about the rudeness of interviewers, the length of the information session, the physical campus facilities, the tour's organization and information, the surrounding neighborhood, the class size, the lack of in-state tuition options, and the city of Richmond. Suggestions include improving interviewer training, shortening information sessions, updating facilities, enhancing the tour experience, addressing safety concerns, and providing more insight into the institution's community and resources.
Top 5 Responses: (Click below to see additional responses)
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One of the interviewers was the rudest I had all season. Not sure if he's purposely combative to check how you respond to aggression, but I basically left the interview knowing the outcome even though I thought all the other stations went well.
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The information session was a bit long, but it was still very informative and I'm glad they included it.
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Virtual interviews meant it was a lot of sitting for prolonged periods
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Lunch could have been better than a wrap with chips
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Some of the study rooms + library are a little run down
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The tour was not the most informative or extensive.
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Nothing, it was a fun day.
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Separation of students based on year.
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Nothing.
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Nothing stood out to me as negative during interview day.
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N/a
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Nothing - this is a fantastic school
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Large class size
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The campus is surrounded by some rough neighborhood so you might run into some trouble with the homeless.
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Interview day was somewhat poorly organized; I had an 8am interview, and there was nothing for me to do between my interview and the next activity (had over an hour of down time).
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Not much... the hills?
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Not much! There is some downtime during the interview day (up to an hour or so), but it's no big deal. Out-of-state students generally can't get in-state tuition.
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Nothing, absolutely loved this school.
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Only a student interviewed me.. I feel that at least 1 faculty-member should definitely interview all students.
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To be honest, the interview was a little confrontational.
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Basically impossible to get instate tuition for OOS students after a year or two
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Nothing - great school!
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Richmond (especially outside downtown) didn't seem to have much to offer for someone in their 20s
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Nothing
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Richmond. Facilities a bit dark.
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One of my interviewers was really stern and made me really nervous, since I had the interview first thing in the morning. But that's just one person...
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Nothing!
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None.
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There were like 22 other people interviewing, so the tour got kinda crowded and sometimes it was hard to hear what the students (2 M2 tour guides) were saying.
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Richmond, if anything, seemed a bit racially divided downtown, but maybe that's an overgeneralization.
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Out of state costs
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Nothing much.
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The tour could have been more organized and informative. There are better food options available than the hospital cafeteria for lunch. The food is not bad, but I am a current science grad student at MCV, so I guess I'm being judgmental.
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The interviewer was rude, attacked everything I said and as far as I can tell, didn't like me before I even opened my mouth
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All the health professions get to use the library (sorry, I'm selfish like that).
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My interviewer was horrible. There is only one bad interviewer at VCU and I got him. He wad deaf and couldn't hear anything I said and he was not able to keep up a normal conversation so I had to talk slowly and continuously repeat myself. He made it extremely stressful.. but everyone else was cool
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My interview was an hour and 40 minutes and my interviewer kept trying to answer questions for me.
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Some of the interviewees I've met at my interview date made some comments that offended me. But nothing bad about the interviewers and the interview process.
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N/A.
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Lunch in the cafeteria at the busiest time of the day.
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Library was loud and closes early, concerned about where to study.
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Parking can be a hassle.
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None
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I can't think of anything. A lot of people will say the city of Richmond impressed them negatively. Those people shouldn't have bothered to apply to MCV. You don't have to visit Richmond to know something about it.
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It was hard to get a sense of the diversity of the patient and student populations.
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Hm, not so sure of Richmond and having to have a car as a requirement.
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Location :( no "centralized" campus. and lack of parking.
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My interviewer - very rude and liked to interrupt!
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Nothing much
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Richmond is somewhat dumpy. It's not scary, though.
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The location of the campus. Not really anything they can do about that.
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Cost
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Cost of Attendance
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The size of the class.
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Everyone kept referring to how great a school it was GOING to be. However, most of the improvements would not be implemented until I graduated. Also, they do not have class capture/audio capability.
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Not much - there was no tour of the hospital
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Nothing negative, but the school didn't really elicit any positive feelings. Very practical, very functional, and I think I'd do well here, but that's about it. Didn't *love* it.
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There are clearly ''two faces'' to Richmond. The city seems very racially divided.
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Facilities are a little dated.
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The class size is a bit large relative to other schools. however, when i asked my interviewer about this, he mentioned that the classes get broken up into smaller groups, so that you can still get individualized attention.
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Illegitamate version of letter grading (Honors, high pass, marginal pass), facilities are okay but not great
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Some of the buildings are starting to fall apart...but there are plans to eventually replace them. -My interviewer said...so you want to go into pediatrics...thats cause you're a woman and women like kids
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I'm just not a fan of the big scary city, and VCU is right in the middle of exactly that.
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The place - Richmond is not so nice.
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Construction and some nearby areas of Richmond were sketchy
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I would say the fact that there's not much activity going on in Richmond at night.
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The area surrounding the hospital is pretty rundown and generally pathetic, though you absolutely get your chance to serve the underserved.
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Kinda dirty city
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Location. Richmond was pretty ghetto.
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My interviewer was a completely pompous jerk. He condescended to me through the entire interview, making numerous snide remarks, and bragged about his multiple degrees. VCU apparently needs to screen/train their interviewers better. I don't think he was just ''having a bad day.'' I could never recommend a school that would allow someone to treat applicants this way.
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Absolutely nothing. It was great.
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Something that caught my attention was the huge difference between the obvious money in the system/hospital and the utter poverty of some of the people walking around. ....
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Some of the building are old looking, but I think the interior are pretty updated.
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Nothing, I have been in love with this program from day 1, and my interview merely reinforced this opinion.
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The one way streets
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Don't really like the down town location of the school. Richmond is more ghetto than I would have imagined.
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The interviewer was 25 minutes late. She had not read my file and seemed not to have known she had an interview that day. She answered 3 phone calls during the interview, cutting off my answers to do so. Very insulting and discourteous considering how much time and money and effort I put into my application, career and journey to get to MCV.
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The parking situation seems to need improvment.
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Nothing. The people were positive about the school and the facilities were awesome.
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We didn't really get to look into halls and stuff because some classes were going on, but not a big deal
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Nothing...it was cold for the tour, but i guess that wasn't their fault :)
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My interviewer asked me questions that essentially required me to recite back my application packet. There were no really thought-provoking or deep questions.
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Parking? Nothing really...
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The tour was almost too superficial and I walked away feeling like I didn't get as good of an impression of the school's atmosphere as I had at others.
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Richmond and the food poisoning I got from my dinner :(
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The lunch was not that great.
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Not too much, people had warned me that the area around the school is sketchy, but I didn't really get that impression.
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Richmond's tallest building might be New York's shortest building. The area is pretty yet somehow it's the hood.
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The campus wasnt very nice and i didnt feel really safe driving into richmond...but it might be because I was comparing it to my undergrad campus, which is so beautiful.
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I wish the transportation systems of Richmond and the campus were more reliable.
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Students were not particularly friendly (except for the tour guides who were great)
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I did not know that it would be so humid in Virginia.
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Nothing really except for Richmond. I'm from a big city and Richmond is defintetly not big city. The conservative nature of the city also
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Nothing really.
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The increase in this year's numbers of applicants. The town of Richmon looks alright. Nothing spectacular.
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Nothing other than the school is not in the safest area (expected in any city).
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Nothing, it was a great tour/interview.
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Nothing, this is my #1.
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To be honest, I didn't leave with any negative impressions.
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There's not much to do immediately around the school. To get to cooler areas of Richmond you need to have access to a car or use public transportation.
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The grilling during the interview.
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Richmond, while certainly not horrible, is a little run down with graffiti and wandering around alone at night is probably not a good idea. The school is in a pretty safe area, however. I didn't care for the Egyptian building; it seems like a strange place to take your first year classes. I mean, what the heck is that thing doing in Richmond, VA? The other negative thing was that Dr. Heldberg basically told us that if you are out-of-state, you should expect to be waitlisted, at best. The waitlist does move quite a bit though, and in the end, 30-40% of the class is OOS. Also, the OOS tuition is very pricey, but that's to be expected. I was also disappointed that we didn't get to see the ER that I've heard so much about (they used to take interviewees throught there, but I guess it was causing too much disruption).
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Not much. I was pretty impressed overall. Students did mention that it is a lot easier to get along if you have a car, but that parking is a huge pain in the area.
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Absolutely nothing. I love this school!
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It's in Richmond...and I'm from NYC. My interviewer even warned me that although the academic area tends to be more open- minded, Richmond in general tends to be very conservative.
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Didn't get to see any classrooms or labs.
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Some of the facilities are older but that shouldn't have a major influence on your visit
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The admissions committee is 4 weeks behind. With the holidays approaching, my interview group may or may not be reviewed before they send out the next batch of acceptances. I was also surprised how many out of state students were interviewed today (~7 of 10), especially since each class is comprised of only 30% out of state students.
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I'm from Richmond, so I'm not thrilled about the fact that it's in Richmond...but that's a personal bias
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Not much. Some facilities were a bit "dated", but just shows its history, I guess.
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The lack of research going on at the school.
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Didn't get to see some of the facilities I wanted to see.
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Some of the facilities are a little dated. My interviewer was actually a current MD/PhD student - I didn't meet any actual faculty other than the info session with the dean.
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I'm not sure they school can provide opportunities for more ambitious med students.
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Richmond...sort of biased against it, but it's my own personal thing...the school seems great though
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The feeling of confederate pride, ie. THE confederate museum is on campus.
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There are EIGHT people per anatomy group. I think four is really the max for learning well, and most schools have four. I don't see how you can learn intricate body parts and all get to participate with EIGHT people. My tourguide told me that it saved the anatomy dept. money and even though they paid ahead tuition they got no refund for the decrease in cadavers, weird and yuck...
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Traffic
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Nothing really, i don't knowhow i feel yet about the richmond area. being from california, it seems kinda small, but a lot of peole here consider it a big city.
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Richmond isn't a bustling metropolis, so it would take some getting used to. Oh, and finding a cab wasn't easy, but this doesn't have anything to do with the school. Regarding the school, I was a little sad that we didn't get to see the anatomy lab.
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The student tour guides - yes, they loved the school and were enthusiastic, however, they were 2nd years and knew NOTHING about rotations, clerkships, etc and did not seem to care about finishing the tour on time for my 2 pm interview (neither wore a watch...)
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The cost for out-of-staters (budget around $60,000). Ouch. But I think it would be worth it in the end. Didn't get to see the anatomy lab, but that is understandable. Parking, could be crazy. It takes them FOREVER to get back to you about their decision and once they make their decision about you and your file (about 1 week after you interview) it (your rating)is set in stone and cannot be changed by sending in updates (grades, progress rep.) etc.
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Nothing in particular. Richmond is a half-way decent city, but I'm from Boston so it would be a change for me.
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High cost of out of state tuition.
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The location of VCU, it's at the crowded Richmond downtown district.
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I hope they finish most of the constructon before July 2006 - Parking seems to be a huge problem there.
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Be prepared to walk a lot during the tour. Also it got hotter after lunchtime. Also, with 11 interviewees in today's group, it was harder to hear what each of the tourguides said because they were usually answering questions at the same time.
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A bit crowded (but they're working on it)
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The tour guides didn't seem to know the tour route well. When asked where the Financial Aid office was, they pointed in opposite directions.
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Size of the class. Richmond is not at the top of my list of cities to live in before I die.
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Well it was pretty darn humid that day.
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The interviewer spoke mainly about himself and didn't ask me very many questions. When he asked me questions, he never asked a follow up and he seemed generally uninterested in me. I also don't think Richmond is for me.
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The cafeteria at the hospital was not very clean looking, smelled like fried fat and was too crowded
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Parking is a pain, there was a lot of construction. I was worried about the area being rough based on previous posted responses, but its definitely not that bad. Its a typical urban hospital area. Also everyone at the hopsital eats out of meat trucks/vendors on the street. The students were pretty psyched about them though.
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Not enough people in the area, but I'm a New Yorker.
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It is low-tech as far as teaching goes, the hospital seems to be state-of-the-art
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Parts of richmond suck. don't walk down broad st at night or at any time of the day for that matter.
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Student tour guides were friendly, but didn't seem overly enthusiastic about the school. (They weren't negative about it, either)
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Interviewer didn't take any notes during my interview.
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The city of Richmond was not as nice as I expected
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Richmond is kinda industrial and probably not where I would like to live
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The students were not as friendly. in fact, a lot of them (with the exception of the two student tour guides) were very snobby. i interviewed at DO schools before. this school was my very first MD interview, and it was so amazing to see the differences in attitude between DO students and MD students. on the whole, i found DO students to be so much nicer and friendlier thant the MD students i met that day.
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The cost! The tuition is sky-high for out-of-staters. Also, they seemed a bit disorganized. They did not tell me who I was interviewing until after my interview was supposed to start, so I was a little late to my interview.
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Richmond is not a very nice city. One student also told me that she had items of hers stolen from the library
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NA
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Nothing, except the cafeteria food.
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My interview was at the end of the day, after the tour, so I was rushed to finish the tour and make it back to the admissions office in time for my interview. It was really negative, just made the experience slightly more stressful at first.
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I read from a lot of places that the interview is quite laid back. I just want to warn that YOU should not be laid back.
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There was one thing that rubbed me the wrong way during my time at VCU...the Director of Student Outreach or Minority Services. I felt that she asked questions that were inappropriate and really, none of her concern. She didn't make me feel comfortable.
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Nothing really - - - except for the tuition, but that's standard out of state. The downtown Richmond area was much nicer than I expected from what I've read on this website. It's not Beverly Hills, but it's really not bad at all.
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Having just one interviewer, student tour guides were not very informative.
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They only send out acceptances four times a year and the committee get's pretty backlogged with reviewing canidates so I will be waiting a long time to hear about the outcome of my application.
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MCV is in a part of Richmond that is practically deserted on weekends. On the positive side, though, you can live away from the MCV campus in an area called "the fan" that seems to be a popular place for students to live (including undergrads from the VCU main campus), and still be able to take public transportation to MCV.
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The cost of tuition (kinda offsets the low rent) for out-of-staters, the lack of underrepresented minorities and the unwillingness of the students to comment on this issue
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Large class size seems to get in the way of personalized advising. My impression was that pursuing electives was something to be done on one's own time during 1st and 2nd year (rather than a specific requirement for a certain number of elective hours). As a city, Richmond was not that appealing.
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There 180 students per class. Downtown Richmond, where the school is located, is hideous. There are high-rises everywhere and very little greenery.
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Facilities are average.
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It was an exhausting day.
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The parking.
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The meeting with the associate dean. She told us everything about the rest of the process and what will happen next with our file. This included how they discuss our files, and score us and rank us. Right after having my interview I did not really want to hear about that. I mean, you know it goes on, and they have to select or not select you somehow, but you do not really want to think about that.
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The tour guides were first-timers and kept talking about all the alcohol and parties that the students have at the school (I am 100% serious). I feel this happened because of the interview setup, which has some interviewing in the morning before the tour and some in the afternoon after the tour. During my interview day, I was the only one interviewing in the afternoon, so everyone had a relaxed, celebratory attitude during the tour. The tour guides set the tone of the tour such that I was uncomfortable to ask serious questions about the school, and when I did I felt that I was looked down upon. This was an unfortunate situation. In addition, I was not positively impressed with the hospital facilities and was surprised by the school's lack of a centralized International Studies office. Also, the admissions officer gave a really long talk in her office and gave statistics (like only 20-25 students are accepted during the first round of acceptances in October) that were intimidating and unsettling rather than encouraging.
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The students didn't seem too enthusiastic.
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Richmond is a bit far from DC
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The Dr was late, but it was understandable. I missed lunch with all the other applicants / the med student, but it was quite alright.
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The tour was way too long. Also, several of the other people interviewing that day seemed rather cut throat, and spent the day trying to one-up eachother.
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Richmond is a little sketchy
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I wish I knew this but Richmond has one of THE most highest crime and homicide rates in the nation (top 25...google for the following keywords: 'richmond crime statistics'). the few blocks near the medical campus is fine, however if you go down just a few blocks it is so ghetto. I took some time surveying the area and I swear some of the homes looked like crack houses and I'm not over exaggerating. The city literally shuts down after 8pm...there's like no one out. comin' from cali I've seen the ghettos in LA like compton, etc., but richmond makes compton look like a walk in the park. friggin' A, I highly suggest that if you come here spend some time going around richmond and you will see. an M2 told me this story of an MCV physician who was killed and thrown into the James River (south of MCV). although I was accepted, I just couldn't ignore everything I saw there. other than richmond's crime rate and junk, VCU/MCV is a great school and has a solid MD program.
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Interviewer did not let me finish answer.
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Construction, but it will be fine when its all over
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The interview was so dull that i was caught looking at a digital clock in the room. also, the city of Richmond is FILTHY. I also believe that the class size is too large for personal attention. the other two virginia schools have smaller class sizes.
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The hospital didn't seem all that nice.
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THE AREA KIND OF SUX
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The school is old and outdated, the hospital is like a miniature hospital, usmle scores are not high for many students, it rains too much, petty crime is high, richmond is a small city with nothing to do, this is everyone's backup school.
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Parking is a big issue.
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Out of state students are not eligible for instate tuition once they move to Richmond.
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My interview was at the West Hospital building and the elevators there were SOOOOO slow. I seriously waited for about 8 minutes before an elevator came. Besides that, the surrounding area isn't paradise, but it's not too bad either. I lived in NYC for a year so my love for the city-life is still in me.
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One of the physicians I talked to said that this was a second-tier medical school.
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Parts of the hospital seem a bit old. The ER is really small. At the same time though, there are parts of the hospital that are brand new. In the end, It didn't bother me too much and really has no impact on my interest in the school. MCV seems like a really great place.
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Parts of the hospital seem old and run-down, and downtown isn't the nicest area. But Richmond is a great place and definitely has nicer areas to live in.
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I was initially worried b/c my interviewer did not have a copy of my file, but then i gave it to him and i later spoke with the dean of students and she explained to me that it was just my particular interviewer's style not to look at the paper work until after he had interviewed me b/c he wanted to have an objective opinion before he found out who i was. So if your interviewer doesn't really know much about you, just talk about whatever you want him to tell the board, you're file reviewer will talk about all your paper work.
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Lack of parking available to students
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The surrounding area outside the hospital and the lack of adequate parking.
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Make sure you have a friend drop you off at the school or take a taxi or something like that. Leave plenty of time (i.e. 7.5 hours) for finding a parking spot if you go in your car.
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Everything. I wanted to slap the interviewer.
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The city of Richmond
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The hospital is showing its age a bit. The new Gateway building that connects all of the medical buildings is gorgeous, however.
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The setup of the campus. If you are used to your closed off, closeknit, college town community, MCV is totally different. The campus is very integrated with construction and hospital staff, community people, businessmen, dental, nursing, physical therapy, pharmacy, and medical school students. Not that it is negative, but it is different than my undergrad.
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Nothing. MCV is my top choice.
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Short notice - I got an email thursday before a monday interview, and I did not check my email until that saturday. felt like I could have been better prepared if I had had more notice. So if you applied to VCU/MCV, CHECK YOUR EMAIL EVERY DAY - also, if you have a junk mail filter on your email, turn it off, because VCU/MCV sends out invitations in bulk, and this triggers a lot of email servers to see the message as trash!
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Parking - not much of it and expensive
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See above - I didn't know whether to take this positively or negatively - it was just strange!!!!
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One of the tour guides hinted that this school, isn't where a minority student esp with aging faculty should go i.e. kicked out some bright students for small infractions, history of past problems between faculty n racial issues t is all really freaked me out, so don't know now if I should come here if given an offer
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The campus is pretty small. Richmond seems pretty quiet, a little too boring for me.
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The city itself was undergoing a lot of construction and it seemed a little run-down and old, plus parking is a huge pain so get there early!!
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Richmond is dirty, my interview was pushed back an hour so I had to wait around, a lot of reapplicants and students with lower scores.
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The E.R. was pretty dirty
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Parking (I was denied parking in the lot they told me I was guaranteed parking in and had to pay $12 to park farther away; not very good student hang out/lounge facilities
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Expensive to park for students
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TRAFFIC, YUCK.
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Cafeteria food :(
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The city. It is quite small, and not much to do...that is except study
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The old hospital
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The interviewer hadnt read my file so he was reading it in front of me
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Richmond is only a so-so city. MCV's reputation is strong in the Mid-Atlantic and South, but not as big in other regions of the country.
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The old classrooms
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Facilities and classrooms
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Need for security. Screaming (as in high on drugs or a little nutty screaming) woman strapped to a stretcher in the ER. Feeling like I was in an old middle school with all the beige walls. Interview in a conference room (big, long tables for just interviewer and me).
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Out-of-state students cannot change their residency over the 4 years. Some of the buildings are old and rundown.
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The campus and student facilities are for the most part just not attractive, and in fact are quite rundown. For an out of state student to pay the $31,000 tuition, there are schools with much, much nicer facilities.
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The hospital is old, but that was not a big a deal.
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Many of the buildings were run down. Tons of vehicular and pedestrian traffic. Somewhat chaotic setting.
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No nice place for students to study.
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THe physical structure of the school facilities. some were very nice but in some places ceiling tiles were rotting and fall down, for example.
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The hospital is huge, but is obviously very old (at least most of it)
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The main hospital seemed a lil old :o(
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Parking at VCU, the cafeteria food
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I would have to say, the library.
-
Richmond
What did you wish you had known ahead of time?
Applicants commonly wished they had known about the relaxed and conversational nature of the interview, the need for comfortable shoes due to extensive walking on the tour, and the availability of parking validation. They also mentioned concerns about traffic, the interview format, and the campus layout, while some felt the interview experience was a waste of time and mentioned issues with the surrounding area.
Top 5 Responses: (Click below to see additional responses)
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That it was entirely closed file
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It's pretty chill. The scenarios for the MMIs aren't extremely difficult, ambitious, or challenging.
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Not to be so nervous, practice timing
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That the MMIs were incredibly conversationatl
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Relax, I thought the MMI was going to be horrible, it was interesting.
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Not allowed portfolio.
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Not to worry about standardized patient scenarios.
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Closed file interview.
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When I checked in before my interview, the secretary told me the name of my interviewer. Since I got there early, I had 20 minutes or so to do some quick research on my interviewer so that was fine for me. However, I am sure future interviewees would like to know further in advance who their interviewer will be- I know some schools even type up a biography for you to read. Not completely necessary, but definitely helps get you oriented.
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Interviewer didn't Look at my application
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N/A
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Most people interview in the morning. If you have an afternoon interview, you may have to leave the tour early.
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How wonderful the staff would be.
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Nothing.
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There would be hills on the tour. i guess people were writing about how they ask you the behavioral questions, which i was really worried about. the way my interviewer presented them, though, was very relaxed and didnt ask me about what i had learned from the experiences or how i applied them to future situations or anything.
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Your interviewer is required to ask a set of "behavioral" questions such as "tell me about a time you were challenged" or "discuss a time you made a mistake and what you learned from it."
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That you don't need a car.
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I wish I had known who was going to be my interviewer before the day of, but unfortunately they don't give you that information. Just be prepared for any interview style, no matter what you've heard about the "general" style for that school.
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That traffic was going to be so bad on I95 both to and from the interview... ugh
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The tour is pretty long!
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Most people chose the morning interview slot rather than the afternoon
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Girls need to wear comfier shoes :)
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That the campus was all cobblestone. I would have worn flats, so I didn't have trouble walking during the tour.
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Very, very laid-back interview.
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Nothing
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That I wouldn't be stressed at all for this interview.
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It was pouring and most of the tour involves walking around outside. If you are a female, bring a pair of flats or comfortable shoes.
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Parking isn't free, so bring some cash.
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No surprises.
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That it would be really rainy and gross, and that my interviewer would be late and not have time to read my app - it made it a lot less stressful being a basically blind interview.
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That i would get the worst interviewer
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I knew this...but you can sneakily get your parking validated in the hospital if you act like you're there for some other reason. Otherwise nothing... parking isn't expensive anyway.
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That the Amtrak is much slower than driving a car.
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Nothing, but I am very familiar with this school.
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Long tour, lots of walking!
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Virginia doesn't have snow plows! Also, parking can be rough, so get there early.
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That i would be interviewed by a phd instead of an md
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Healthcare-related questions would dominate 1/3 of the interview.
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None
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You can get your parking validated. The admissions office may not validate it, but after your interview, go to the desk in the building attached to the parking lot.
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Parking takes FOREVER. Almost an hour to find a spot in the garage. Allow yourself a lot of time.
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Having a car is a must...
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The airport is really close to the school (10-15min).
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That the "problems in healthcare" topic would dominate my interview
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That I would be stuck with the rude interviewer!
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Nothing much.
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Not to stress so much!
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How relaxed it was! I was WAY too prepared for it, as odd as that may sound. Just be yourself.
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How spread out the campus was...lots of walking. I would have worn more comfortable shoes or at least brought a more comfortable pair.
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That the hospital will validate your parking pass - don't leave the parking pass in your car.
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The admissions office is one of the friendliest ones that I have come across. There is no need to overly freak out, they are there to help you have a relaxing experience.
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The Crowne Plaza hotel was a mediocre hotel, and if you are from a city, everything is within walking distance.
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Nothing really
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Lots of construction. Getting out of the parking lot to the highway was confusing.
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Richmond is considered the South.
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That the tuition has been raised for out of state students to around $32,000.
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Nothin
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That VCU was in the middle of the city, that there were only 11 interviewees, that VCU's class size was so large.
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The tour is a bit lengthy - make sure you get a good night sleep the night before.
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Bring CASH for parking.
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Bring a book to read.... long waiting time before, after, and/or in between interview and tour
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Richmond is pretty ghetto.
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That this interview would be a waste of time. $500 dollars down the drain.
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I wish I would have known how down-to-earth everyone would be. I would have been a lot less nervous.
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That this school is REALLY awesome and nice!!! 8th largest hospital in the country!!
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Some of the programs.
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Nothing. SDN was very helpful, plus going to dinner with MD/PhD students the night before the interview helped weed out any questions I had.
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Nothing. The interview day/experience was as expected.
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If you can, try to get a morning interview, just b/c it'll be out of the way and your stomach won't be churning the entire time
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Nothing. All my questions were answered or I was referred to someone who could answer my question more thoroughly.
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That all of my interview questions would come by reciting my application info, i.e. volunteer activities, research experience, clinical experience... I would have spent more time reviewing my AAMC application.
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Richmond isn't bad at all, maybe it's just because I'm used to Baltimore.
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Nothing really. Just bring an umbrella. Good luck!
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It was so laid back...no need to stress.
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Mad hoodlums. Even the Radisson is ghetto.
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I wish i wasnt so nervous and that i was more articulate!
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How relaxed the interview was going to be! My faculty interviewer just wanted to get to know. The flow of the interview was very conversational
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Can't say a thing, I felt good about the entire day.
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Between 11 am and 2 pm we had meetings / tours. some students interviewed before 11 others interviewed after 2. Interviewing after 2 meant you had already seen the school, talked to students, etc. I think it was quite helpful.
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Make sure you check in at the airport in enough time to check your bag that carries all of your toilletries. Of course I did not, so I was forced to throw away all of my liquid items: lotion,perfume,lip gloss,liquid eye-liner, nail polish, toothpaste, and facial soap.
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900 students were interviewed this year.
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The size of the hospital. One of the largest hospitals I've ever seen.
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That the interview is REALLY relaxed.
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Make sure you wear comfortable shoes...the tour is pretty long.
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VCU is right by the financial district so there wasn't anything really for me to do within walking range the night before the interview.
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The physician assisted suicide is legal in Oregon.
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It was not worth stressing over.
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That the focus of the school is clinical medicine (which is my goal, but I realize it's not everybody's), and they have a very good reputation in the mid-atlantic area. There is also research for those who are interested, and many students do participate in this during the summer (apparently most faculty members have a study going on).
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I wish I had known how large and impressive the hospital system was.
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Had to walk two blocks from admissions office to get to interview site. Some were in the admissions office, but others were spread throughout the campus. This wasn't too bad.
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The school was great and it was a great day overall. I'm glad I made the trip down to visit the school. I thought it would be a waste of my time, but it wasn't.
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Don't worry at all, the interviews are SO non-stressful and fun. They really just want to help you get in.
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I laughed when Dr. H admitted to checking SDN on occasion. She was surprised to find out that VCU has a reputation of asking ethical questions, since the interviewers never specifically reference the applicant's responses. Instead, the interviewer will say something like "John Smith is a very insightful, well-spoken applicant."
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That I'd like it so much!
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Mmmm... Wish I had stayed another day in Richmond.
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That MCV is a really impressive school.
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Nothing really.
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Construction around the parking garage they told us to park in made driving around a little confusing!!
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Richmond is a nice, histrical area. It seems quite vibrant.
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Cafeteria food is bad, packed my own lunch.
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I wish I had known that it was going to be hot.
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Incredible online network for students and faculty, online syllabus/course notes, great facilities (multiple), new cancer center
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Patch Adams attended VCU. The confederate white house is on the VCU campus. Lots of cool history to learn about.
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I wasn't surprised about anything. Most everything is explained on the MCV Web site or on this Web site.
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It didn't affect me, but be aware that parking around campus can be difficult.
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How expensive the tuition is if you live out-of-state!
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I wish I knew about up and down hills around downtown Richmond.
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Nothing out of the ordinary
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I wish I had known that an October 3rd interview probably isn't early enough to be notified by the mid-October mail out date because they're running behind with presenting the interviewees to the admissions committee. I chose today because the Monday interview would allow me to only miss one day of classes.
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How low-stress it would be
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I was well prepared... nothing.
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Maybe more of the layout of the city- the downtown is being rejuvenated
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The tour guides mentioned that Patch Adams went there, but I'm pretty sure he went to UVA.
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How intimidating the numbers are that the dean gives you (statistics about applicants/interviewed/accepted).
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Nothing, I was prepared.
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Be careful where you get your hotel I stayed north of the school near the braves minor league baseball field, not a great area
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Nothing really... the web site has all the info i needed to know
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Parking was a little tricky due to construction.
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The interview was really low stress, nothing to worry about.
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Nothing, I did a lot of research on the school
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How conservative my interviewer was in terms of what he considered the ideal candidate to medical school (ie. stellar gpa, 35+ MCAT scores, etc.)
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I was a bit concerned about finding the location of my interview, especially after hearing about it this site. However, when I arrived, I asked the person at the admissions office about who my interviewer will be and where the location was. I was provided with the name of my interviewer and was told that I would be picked up at the office. No worries!
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I would have to pay for parking...$7! They do not give you a voucher.
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Other people mentioned it, but if you park in the visitor's lot you have ot pay. Try to park at the "bottom of the hill" where it only costs $1.50
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N/a- no surprises
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NA
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They're doing a lot of renovating of the facilities. They have a new pediatric ICU and several other buildings are being redone. It gave the impression that the school is trying to improve itself.
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Don't pack up those things which you are not going to use during your whole trip.
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I would need to take a Vivarin in order to stay alert.
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You can go to the admissions office thirty minutes or an hour before your interview, but five minutes before the interview, an admissions office person will give you a sheet with directions to the interview location and send you on your way alone. It was kind of stressful - worrying about being late and not knowing exactly where I was going.
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You can walk from one of the hotels to campus
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Downtown Richmond is not fabulous at all and pretty sketchy after dark--the Fan and other areas are nicer so if you're planning on spending some time in Richmond definitely try to stay in the Fan or Shockhoe areas.
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The cost of attending the school. Also, my interviewer had not read my file before the interview.
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That lunch wasn't until almost 1 pm
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Large percentage of class came from wait-list (nothing wrong with that if you're one of those lucky students), but it indicates to some extent that the school is not a top choice for many applicants.
-
Stay at the Commonwealth Park Suites. Mention that you're interviewing with VCU and you'll get a discount. The hotel is great and is highly recommended by others on SDN. Also, the hotel is within walking distance to the university. Patch Adams went to school here. The school only offers acceptances on Oct 15, Dec 15, Feb 1, and March 15. You may have to wait a while to hear back from them.
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Patch Adams went there
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Richmond is small, but has a lot of history associated with it.
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They have a really high boards pass rate.
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Bring an umbrella!!
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That the interview day would be so poorly set up as to have me be the only applicant to interview in the afternoon after the tour. The focus on partying rather than academics was unfortunate, and I feel that I did not learn as much about the school during the interview day as a result.
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You need to commute to the school unless you want to live in the ghetto.
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Never buy new shoes like the day before the interview. I didn't notice it at the time, but by the end of the day, I was bleeding, because of that stupid thing. It cut my ankle like a knife.
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Richmond is a ghost town on sundays
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Wear comfy shoes...long tour. Also, didn't know the med school encompassed multiple buildings.
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How long the tour is, should have worn more comfortable shoes
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See above...and where the hell is all the mexican food? there's nothing here in downtown.
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High drug use in the VCU campus. There is a high attrition rate at the school. Soome students say the faculty is difficult to get to and is not available. Also found out that the class chemistry is not very supportive of each other. Decided not to attend VCU.
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ITS NOT THAT COLD
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That i wasted my time coming here. the school was so umimpressive, the tour was ok, the interview was ok, the medical students were ok, the facilites sucked, the city was bad, and i am going elsewhere.
-
Once your file goes before the admissions committee and you are "scored", nothing can change that score. It doesn't matter if you submit new grades, letter of rec... your score is your score. If I had know this ahead of time, I might have postponed my interview until my fall grades were in. Also, clinical experience is very important here, so it is important during the interview to talk up whatever experience you may have (to make sure that your interviewer relays that to the committee.)
-
The AMTRAK station is within a walking to the hotel and the school, but you have to know your way around not the best thing to do when carrying suitcases.
-
My interviewer had an emergency meeting that was absolutely mandatory, so he had to cut my interview to only 35 minutes. Still, everything went very well and the best news is that I got into the program.
-
Parking can be bad. I had read this on other interview feedbacks so I just took a shuttle from the hotel, no big deal. I showed up about 30 minutes early just to be safe.
-
How technologically advanced MCV is. The students stressed the importance of maintaining a life outside of medical school!!
-
The whole admissions process that was explained after my interview would have been helpful before the interview. The assistant dean thuroughly explains the process, but it made me concerned that i had not discussed the right type of information during my interview.
-
They do validate your parking.
-
Virginia is still enamored with the Civil War...
-
Same as above
-
Biased against me because I was much more qualified than their other students.
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How dead it would be on a Sunday
-
Wear comfortable shoes - the tour involves a lot of walking. Also, make sure you get your parking ticket validated.
-
Do not forget to validate your parking. Be prepared for about 2 hours of a tour!
-
I had read about how bad the parking is, but wanted to reiterate that you should plan to get there at least 45 minutes early in case you have to walk as far as I did from a parking lot.
-
That richmond was dirty and small for a capitol state city
-
That there is really only two blocks of the good area of Richmond, VA.
-
That if accepted you only have 2 weeks to respond, but you can pay $100 deposit to have your spot held till May 15th
-
You have to find your interviewer somewhere on the campus - it took me almost 20 minutes to find mine b/c the building was under construction and I had to enter underground from a different building.
-
That a lot of people I knew in undergrad where attending school at MCV.
-
My interviewer was there to pick me up 15 minutes early, and he was a little upset that he had to wait for me
-
Arrive 45 minutes early.
-
That Dr. Lawrence was so cool :)
-
Don't spend an extra day to do sight seeing. There really isn't anything to see. Oh, and they only had 35 more spots left to fill the class.
-
Mercy killing is legal in oregon
-
The school has a block schedule so you take a test every couple of weeks.
-
The food in the cafeteria sucks - bring an apple in your purse.
-
No bathroom close to the parking structure. I would have worn my suit on the way to the interview rather than changing at the school.
-
The hospital serves 40% of the indigent care cases in the state of Virginia, and as such the students and doctors treat some pretty rare illnesses.
-
An alternate route around D.C. I drove down from Philly
-
That everyone would be so nice and seemingly happy to be at vcu
-
The students enter the clinic during the first year in FCM, and continue into second year. Lots of student run clinics for M-I,II students. Housing is CHEAP! Compared to California at least. Huge medical center...about 700 inpatient beds. They are redoing the libray..will be done by the time we enter in 2003.
-
Parking is bad, very very bad
🤝 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?
Applicants commonly appreciate the efficient and helpful admissions process, suggesting improvements such as addressing recurring IT issues, providing interview schedules in advance, quicker response times, and offering interview packets. Additionally, some applicants value the virtual interview format for its effectiveness and equalizing opportunities.
Top 5 Responses: (Click below to see additional responses)
-
Nothing they did a great job!
-
Keep the virtual interview format- it worked very effectively in my opinion and levels the playing field for interviewees with financial restrictions.
-
N/A
-
None, they are great.
-
None, everyone was very helpful and lovely.
-
I personally had an smooth application experience with VCU SOM, although I know many other applicants had a horrible experience with them. I am thinking part of the reason may be due to some recurring IT issues they have been having. One suggestion I would have for the admissions office is to try and iron out these technical issues before the next cycle so save everyone the headache!
-
I would have love to get an interview package or know who my interviewer ahead of time.
-
None. They did a great job!
-
Nothing really! Would be great if student host list included email addresses.
-
Keep interviews in the morning (it makes the day less stressful).
-
Give an interview day schedule a few days in advance
-
Quicker response times
-
I wish the Dean of Admissions would have given a discussion about her view of the school and the admissions process instead of the entire time just being questions.
-
Nothing. Extremely enjoyable experience.
-
They didn't give an interview packet or nametags or anything. I had nothing but business cards to re
-
None
-
Maybe interview packets?
-
N/A...everything was very organized.
-
Very relaxed, comfortable. Could've used a question or two about ethics/health care issues.
-
None. This is the most transparent application process there is. The interview day was the perfect l
-
None. :)
-
Not much, actually :)
-
An interview packet would be nice.
-
None, they are wonderful
-
The dean of admissions was incredibly friendly...I know that the interview sounds bad...but he was a
📍 Travel and Logistics ▼
Airports Used
✈️
RIC
56% interviewees used RIC (RIC), with 10% using Richmond (Richmond) and 7% using BWI (BWI) and 5% using Richmond International Airport (Richmond International Airport) and 3% using IAD (IAD) and 3% using Richmond International (Richmond International) and 2% using DCA (DCA) and 2% using ric (ric) and 2% using Ricmond International (Ricmond International) and 2% using O'Hare, Richmond (O'Hare, Richmond) and 2% using i walked (i walked) and 2% using US Airways (US Airways) and 2% using RIA (RIA) and 2% using Byrd (Byrd) and 2% using Arlington (Arlington) and 2% using Richmond Airport (Richmond Airport).
What was your primary mode of transportation?
Most interviewees traveled by automobile to the interview.
✈️
43% Airplane
🚗
48% Automobile
🚆
4% Train or Subway
🚲
5% Other
Hotels Recommended by Other Interviewees
Most interviewees stayed at the Marriott (average ranking 9.4/10), with some staying at Commonwealth Park Suites (average rating 8.6/10). (Top 3 displayed)
🏨
Marriott
9.4/10
🏨
Commonwealth Park Suites
8.6/10
🏨
Linden Row Inn
7.6/10
What was the cost and time spent traveling?
Cost: Low Cost to High Cost
What is your in-state status?
Most respondents are out of state students.
Where did you stay?
Most respondents stayed either Hotel or at a hotel.
Who was the tour given by?
Tours were most commonly given by a Student
Faculty member (1%)
Other (1%)
Student (98%)
How did the tour guide seem?
Most tour guides were enthusiastic about the school.
Enthusiastic (95%)
Neutral (5%)
All Responses
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