Our clients are already getting interview offers from combined medical programs at places like Drexel and even from traditional college programs, like Princeton University! We thought it would be helpful to share a few secrets to ace the interview!
When you're preparing for your interview, come up with a list of questions that they could ask you. While we provide a list of questions on this website and even more in the BS/MD book, there are an abundance of questions interviewers like to throw at you sometimes. The interviewers can choose to spend the entire interview (at least at the undergrad level), talking to you about fruit. Yes, fruit. What's your favorite kind of fruit? Why? How do you associate yourself with that fruit? The list can go on and on. And while it is fun perhaps preparing yourself for these random questions, don't spend too much time on them as the potential to land one of these questions is far too slim while the variation of questions they can ask is far too wide. Imagine spending a half hour perfecting your response to the "fruit" question when they instead ask you about vegetables...
Know who you are and focus on that. Come up with a few specific and unique descriptions of yourself, and find an example in your life that attests to that description. One of the famous questions that throw students for a loop is "Tell me about yourself." This question warrants a brief description of your family life, where and how you were raised, any background information about yourself that you want to give such as what you like to do, and closing off with how you're excited to be there interviewing. Most people try to immediately contort the question and answer the question "Why do you want to be a doctor?" Don't do this. Slow yourself down, take your time answering the "tell me about yourself" question briefly without giving them too much information about things that they will certainly ask you more about, in more detail, later.
Make sure to look at your resume and know it inside and out - not just what the experience is called but what you did and specific examples in a few of them that you may have to talk about. If you were in the Red Cross Club in high school, don't just say you were. Tell them what you did in that club, generally, but have specific examples (i.e. organizing a specific blood drive) that you will be ready to talk about if the opportunity presents itself. They love asking about times you've had a specific problem and how you resolved that problem - so have an answer ready for that one too.
The one thing about practicing your answers is that you should practice them to an optimal level. The more you practice the better you get - certainly. But excessive practicing leads to responses that sound "rehearsed" and unnatural. This is not what you want. You want to sound as though you have thought about the topic before but not that you have a response memorized. While you're preparing yourself for the questions that could be asked, jotting down bullet points of ideas you want to mention is more helpful than writing out sentences for your responses.
Of course, always have your clothes ready the night before the interview. Make sure to know exactly where you are going and be on time. If you're serious about the BS/MD path, punctuality shouldn't be new to you. Always give a firm handshake. Smile a lot. Be genuine. There's nothing wrong with taking several seconds to pause and reflect on a question before answering. Just don't fill that time with "umms" and "uhhs."
At Direct BS/MD, we of course have a panel of experts with their own experiences interviewing at dozens of guaranteed medical programs across the country. Our mock interview and coaching sessions take a little over an hour, but it provides you with so much helpful information that you can use to ace your interview. It is our most widely appreciated service by all of our clients! Let us help you.
When you're preparing for your interview, come up with a list of questions that they could ask you. While we provide a list of questions on this website and even more in the BS/MD book, there are an abundance of questions interviewers like to throw at you sometimes. The interviewers can choose to spend the entire interview (at least at the undergrad level), talking to you about fruit. Yes, fruit. What's your favorite kind of fruit? Why? How do you associate yourself with that fruit? The list can go on and on. And while it is fun perhaps preparing yourself for these random questions, don't spend too much time on them as the potential to land one of these questions is far too slim while the variation of questions they can ask is far too wide. Imagine spending a half hour perfecting your response to the "fruit" question when they instead ask you about vegetables...
Know who you are and focus on that. Come up with a few specific and unique descriptions of yourself, and find an example in your life that attests to that description. One of the famous questions that throw students for a loop is "Tell me about yourself." This question warrants a brief description of your family life, where and how you were raised, any background information about yourself that you want to give such as what you like to do, and closing off with how you're excited to be there interviewing. Most people try to immediately contort the question and answer the question "Why do you want to be a doctor?" Don't do this. Slow yourself down, take your time answering the "tell me about yourself" question briefly without giving them too much information about things that they will certainly ask you more about, in more detail, later.
Make sure to look at your resume and know it inside and out - not just what the experience is called but what you did and specific examples in a few of them that you may have to talk about. If you were in the Red Cross Club in high school, don't just say you were. Tell them what you did in that club, generally, but have specific examples (i.e. organizing a specific blood drive) that you will be ready to talk about if the opportunity presents itself. They love asking about times you've had a specific problem and how you resolved that problem - so have an answer ready for that one too.
The one thing about practicing your answers is that you should practice them to an optimal level. The more you practice the better you get - certainly. But excessive practicing leads to responses that sound "rehearsed" and unnatural. This is not what you want. You want to sound as though you have thought about the topic before but not that you have a response memorized. While you're preparing yourself for the questions that could be asked, jotting down bullet points of ideas you want to mention is more helpful than writing out sentences for your responses.
Of course, always have your clothes ready the night before the interview. Make sure to know exactly where you are going and be on time. If you're serious about the BS/MD path, punctuality shouldn't be new to you. Always give a firm handshake. Smile a lot. Be genuine. There's nothing wrong with taking several seconds to pause and reflect on a question before answering. Just don't fill that time with "umms" and "uhhs."
At Direct BS/MD, we of course have a panel of experts with their own experiences interviewing at dozens of guaranteed medical programs across the country. Our mock interview and coaching sessions take a little over an hour, but it provides you with so much helpful information that you can use to ace your interview. It is our most widely appreciated service by all of our clients! Let us help you.
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