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Saturday, December 13, 2008

How to prepare for interviews

1. There is this book a friend of mine gave me called "The Medical School Interview: Secrets and a System for Success" by Jeremiah Fleenor. It's small and concise but lists the main things interviewers are looking for; the author calls it "Big 3". It's good b/c you can see through interviewers' questions and respond in the way they want.

2. Read SDN Interview Feedback. Fellow SDNers list interview questions they got.

3. Rehearse or practice in front of a mirror. I didn't practice in front of a mirror b/c i'll end up looking at my own beauty and forget that i'm preparing for an interview. Rehearse your answers. Last cycle, i wrote my answers, which is a big mistake b/c i sounded like i memorized my answers. If you rehearse, it's good.

4. Google common med school interview questions. There are like 100; if you have time, rehearse your answers to those. Speak out loud while practicing. If you just think inside your head (during that time, you'll probably you know it all), you'll stutter in ur interview.

5. Do a mock interview. If you are in school, career center or premed office may have mock interviews. Pray to get a challenging mock interview or tell your interview that you want to take a step further. (That'll really set you up for the real one.)

6. Research the school; check their curriculum, mission statement, and school's websites. You need to show during interview that you are interested. Prepare a set of questions to ask the interviewers. At the end of your interview, interviewer will ask "Do you have any questions?" Make sure you have at least 2 or 3.

Note: 1,3,4, and 5 can be done for your first interview. Then, just do 2 and 6 for next interviews. i usually copied SDN feedback questions and printed them out; then i practiced it on the plane to interview. (I just don't have much time. If you have more time, do it before hand.) Research the school before you go.

Med School Interviews never make or break

I've been going to a lot of interviews lately. I got waitlisted from 2 schools aldy. It hurts to know that at first, but i realized that interviews don't make or break. Schools are greedy like you too; they want the best student, as you want the best school. So if school thinks you are good but still wanna see if there is a great student out there, they'll waitlist you.

It's all a matter of probability. You need to go to a lot of interviews, so apply to a lot of med schools. Don't care so much about money b/c money never stays long in your pocket anyway. I've spent up to 10k aldy in this med school process (2 cycles). If u think primary is costly, wait until secondary. Then, wait until interviews.