Don’t feel like you have to connect everything to medicine. Do find a host to decrease expenses. Don’t dress flashy. Do send a “thank you” email. Don’t be afraid to gather your thoughts. Do smile! This is a continuation of my previous Q&A with Mayo med students. (If you haven’t checked out that post yet, go give it a read here at Med School Interview Tips from Medical Students at the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine.) This is a quick post covering the Dos and Don’ts for a Medical School Interview.
You may notice that some of the advice from these students is opposite of what another has said. It’s important to remember to interview in a way that you are comfortable with. Learn from these current medical students then apply what works for you!
Keep scrolling to read a bit about each of these Mayo med students.
If you have any dos and don’ts for a medical school interview, comment below and share your experience!
For more quick dos and don’ts for a medical school interview, check out the AAMC has to say here.
DO
DON’T
Lauren
Research the school to the point where your remaining questions for the interviewer in the “what questions do you have” portion of the interview are not items that can be found on the website.
Spend time reviewing your application critically so that you can prepare yourself to talk about and explain areas that may appear “weak” to admissions.
Review your specific supplemental application essays and personal statement so that you don’t mix up information from different school’s applications.
Send a “thank you” email to your interviewer with some specific notes and details from the interview within at least a few days of the interview to help make yourself memorable and highlight what you thought to be strong points of the conversation.
Lauren
Shy away from specifics or anecdotes when it comes to the “why medicine”.
Assume your interviewer has read your whole file (or at least remembers your whole file).
Take coffee, drinks, or food into the interview (or anything else to distract yourself or your interviewer from the conversation).
Donnie
Be yourself, RELAX, take advantage of the free food.
Thank the admission staff repeatedly and thank the med students who provide tours and Q/A sessions.
Find a host to decrease expenses if possible.
Research the school while on the plane.
Google the interviewer (or even better: PubMed) if given a name prior to the scheduled time.
Donnie
Schmooze the interviewer TOO much with the information you found on him/her prior (a.k.a.- read the room..).
Wear something crazy.
Treat your fellow interviewee’s as competitors (internally or externally).
Lie about how highly ranked the school is on your list if it isn’t.
Ben
Get a good night of sleep!
Smile!
Ben
Be anxious. Nerves are common but be excited that you’ve reached this point, it speaks volumes about your successes to be interviewing at any medical school.
Valeria
Be yourself, but the most polite version of yourself! No matter who you are interacting with. You are being assessed the moment you arrive, in the way you interact with student hostees, other interviewers, tour guides, and everyone else who is a part of the interview experience.
Always write a thank you note/card/email. Yes, sometimes email is preferred!
Valeria
Be afraid to ask for a moment to gather your thoughts before answering a question, if you feel you need it. Make sure you have questions ready for your interviewer.
Blade
Be true to yourself. You’ve already impressed them on your application so be who you are because they liked who you are on paper. So, I tried to answer the question how Blade would answer the question. Don’t waste energy asking how should I answer this? Rather, how would I answer this?
Talk about things outside of medicine. They want to see that you’re still a person who has hobbies and dreams outside the O.R. But don’t go overboard. It’s all about balance.
Blade
Dress flashy. This is not the time to wear a crazy color shirt, unique shoes, gold wrist watches etc trying to stand out via dress. If that is what you wear often, go for it! But don’t do it just because.
Be a jerk. I interacted with a lot of interviewees at each school. Some tried to exalt themselves and what they did. Be humble.
Tyler
Bring a water bottle or glass of water into the interview with you. This keeps your throat from getting dry and gives you something to do rather than making continuous (awkward) eye contact with your interviewer.
Have prepared examples for common situation-based questions (e.g. “Tell me about a time when you addressed conflict in a team”). You can make up answers on the fly for a lot of questions, but it’s really difficult to answer situation-based questions on the spur of the moment.
Tyler
Feel like you have to connect everything in your interview to medicine. If you and your interviewer both happen to like stamp collecting or both grew up in the same small town in Minnesota, feel free to chat about that. In my opinion, the personal and interpersonal qualities you display in an interview are much more important than the specific content of your answers, so talk about whatever helps you connect with your interviewer.
Meet the Mayo Med Students
Lauren is from Washington. She finished her undergrad at Davidson College and post-bac undergrad basic science courses at University of Washington. Lauren is addicted to any type of fruit and before starting medical school, she drove across the country passing through over 25 states on the road trip.
Donald is from Maryland and graduated from Brigham Young University. He enjoys composing piano music to relieve stress and worked as an overhead lineman for a power company.
Ben grew up in an American military community in Germany. He finished his undergrad at University of North Dakota. Ben has an identical twin and has skied in the Swiss Alps.
Valeria is from Illinois and attended Augustana College, a small liberal arts school. Valeria ran track in college, competing in the 400 and 800 meters. She is also a plant connoisseur.
Blade is from Arkansas and finished his undergrad at Brigham Young University. He loves to work on his Jeep, lift weights, and play baseball. He is also a Type 1 diabetic.
Tyler was born and raised in Minnesota and graduated from St. Olaf College. He majored in political science and loves listening to podcasts about the Supreme Court.
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