San Diego, CA
Allopathic Medical Schools | Public Non-Profit
Application Cycle: 2009-10
⭐ Overall Impressions
How did the interview impress you?
Positively 🙂
What was the stress level of the interview?
4 out of 10
0 = Low Stress, 10 = High Stress
How you think you did?
6 out of 10
0 = Bad, 10 = Great
How do you rank this school among ALL other schools?
9 out of 10
0 = Below, 10 = Above
How do you rank this school among other schools to which you've applied?
9 out of 10
0 = Below, 10 = Above
What are your general comments?
UCSD is a beautiful campus. The staff and students were very welcoming. Dean Kelly gave a very informal talk and she kept it short. Then at 9am we all got our individual interview schedules. Interviews are for 1 hour each at 10 and 11, except if the interview's off-campus in which case the interviewee has to leave a bit earlier to make both interviews. Lunch is at 12, followed by a tour. Everything is over at 2pm. One of the shortest interviews I've ever been on. Concise, structured, but by no means any less thorough. I really like the structure of UCSD interview.
💬 Interview Process
What is one of the specific questions they asked you?
General comments about interviews. UCSD interviews are very thorough. The 2 interviewers who met me didn't carry my files in their hands/take notes/anything. Yet they knew my file inside out, upside down, back to front. They brought up every activity of importance I listed on the secondary, and talked in depth about them. You really gotta know your own file to prepare for this!
What was the most interesting question?
A few questions that aimed at getting me to think critically and answer on the spot about future directions of one of my research projects. I never encountered this situation before in my previous interviews.
How did you prepare for the interview?
SDN, school's website, review my files, relaxing
What impressed you positively?
Location of the school, friendliness of staff and faculty.
What impressed you negatively?
The tour was not very extensive. We didn't get to see any of the hospitals.
What did you wish you had known ahead of time?
If you left your Residency Form and Schedule of classes form at home on the interview day like I foolishly did, don't freak. The admisisons office is super friendly and they let you bring/mail/fax those forms at a later time.
🤝 Campus and Facilities
What is your ranking of this school's location?
9 out of 10
0 = Bad, 10 = Great
How is the friendliness of the admissions office?
9 out of 10
0 = Bad, 10 = Great
What is your ranking of this area's cultural life?
8 out of 10
0 = Bad, 10 = Great
How is the responsiveness of the admissions office?
9 out of 10
0 = Bad, 10 = Great
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