How did the interview impress you?

No change

What was the stress level of the interview?

6 out of 10

How you think you did?

5 out of 10

How long was the interview?

60+ minutes

Where did the interview take place?

At the school

How many people interviewed you?

5

What was the style of the interview?

One-on-one

What type of interview was it?

Closed file

What is one of the specific questions they asked you (question 1)?

"Why McGill?" Report Response | I was asked this question too

What is one of the specific questions they asked you (question 2)?

"Why an MD PhD?" Report Response | I was asked this question too

What is one of the specific questions they asked you (question 3)?

"Are you aware of the time commitment required to finish your PhD in 3-4 years?" Report Response | I was asked this question too

What was the most difficult question?

"Why do you think you should do medical research if the research you've done up to now isn't medical in itself?" Report Response | I was asked this question too

How did you prepare for the interview?

"I tried to relax." Report Response

What impressed you positively?

"The MD PhD students were friendly and open. Although the last interview was with the director of the MD PhD program, she asked good, albeit hard, questions." Report Response

What impressed you negatively?

"I wish I had had a little more time in between interviews. I nearly was late to each interview despite the fact that there was a small buffer in between interviews." Report Response

What did you wish you had known ahead of time?

"I wish I had known that most people who were interviewing me hadn't even read my personal statement. I was expecting my letter to serve as a launch pad for discussion." Report Response

What are your general comments?

"I had 4 interviews, each lasted 45-60 minutes, except for the lunch interview, which lasted an hour and a half with the 2 MD PhD students. My first interview was with a fairly informal scientist for the PhD and that had low stress. I really felt at ease talking to him because I knew the type from all the research I had done in the past few years. The second interview was for the MD and this was with one of the professors. He was fairly straightforward, went down my personal statement and just asked me to elaborate on what it is that I said. I then went to eat lunch with 2 MD PhD students and we talked about research and life in general. This was also informal and much more relaxed than the other interviews. They were easier to talk to, although since this was an interview, there was this tension that made things not quite relaxed. It was a good lunch and finally the last interview was with the director of the MD PhD program. That was the really tough interview and I felt a little grilled afterwards because of the difficulty of some of the questions. I also felt like she purposefully asked certain questions to see how I would respond, like with the question about my research not being actual medical research. Overall, everyone had a good poker face. I'm personally used to being able to read people so in general, especially after the last interview, that was a little unsettling. From what I've heard from multiple people that have been interviewed at McGill, they always have an interview that's supposed to make you have doubts in yourself." Report Response

On what date did the interview take place?

09/21/2004