Let's cover the 6 medical school interview tips that will lead to your acceptance.
Before getting started I have to set the record straight.
Medical schools receive way more applications from more students than they can possibly admit.
It's not unheard of for a medical school to receive over 10K apps but only invite 1,000 premeds to interview for a incoming medical school class size of roughly 150 students.
Congrats, you're "savage AF" if you've received a medical school interview.
It means you beat out a ton of other premed students where adcoms saw something special in you and are willing to give you a shot at becoming a doctor.
You saw the numbers so it's no small feat to get an invite.
I constantly tell students, "If you receive a medical school interview invitation it means you have the credentials to be accepted, otherwise they wouldn't waste their time. Your job is to show them in person you are trust worthy and deserve to be apart of the medical community."
Here's how you should think of your interview invite:
You're already accepted to the medical school and they're just looking for any glaring personal character flaws to rule you out.
If you pass the test you're in and life changes forever because no one can ever take away the fact you will be a doctor.
Knowing that the acceptance is yours to lose at this point I have some medical school interview advice to guarantee you come out on the winning side of the admissions decision.
You never walk into an interview cold.
You absolutely must prep.
There are basic aspects you will want to review and take a look over which includes:
You do this so that you recall everything you submitted to the medical school to avoid any surprises on interview day.
Plus, you want to come off as well informed and know yourself better than the interviewer.
It's not a good look if your interviewer asks you a question about a comment you wrote in your secondary application and you're totally clueless as to what they're referring to.
Pretty simple advice which can be overlooked but it's not going to happen to you because you've now been informed.
You need an elevator pitch.
Even if you're not at the interview stage as a premed student you need to have a great answer to the question: Why do you want to become a doctor?
You're going to get asked this question all the time so get it down now.
The elevator pitch boils down to this:
Imagine you're in an elevator and the Dean of Admissions gets on. You have until the elevator reaches the 5th floor to make the strongest case of why you should be admitted.
If you're too slow, cat catches your tongue or whatever you can kiss goodbye your chances of getting into medical school.
Keep it conservative and no need to make a fashion statement while on the interview trail.
Colors should be kept to:
Men: wear a suit and tie. Your time should be either plain or patterned no words or images. Basically you want to dress like a politician.
Women: wear dress, skirt, or roll Hillary Clinton style with the pantsuit. Don't show too much leg or cleavage.
At the end of the day you want to be know by what you said and not by what you wore. Tattoos and piercings either cover up or remove. And for goodness sakes take it easy on the cologne or perfume.
I cannot tell you how often medical school interviewees screw up while on campus.
Don't for an instant believe your interview starts when you're in the interview room.
As soon as you step foot on the medical school campus anything is fair game. What you say or don't say will be noted.
I've seen students who talked bad about the medical school amongst other interviewees or presenting themselves in a manner that is suspect. If you do this you can rest assured someone is going to report back to the admissions committee on your behavior and suggest they pass on your application.
Use commonsense throughout your time on campus.
And treat everyone with respect including the janitors.
What's the best medical school interview tips?
Practice and more practice.
But in the words of my little league baseball coach, "You don't just practice, you make perfect practice."
There are some very standard interview questions you know you'll be asked.
Knowing this start practicing and rehearsing how you're going to respond to:
Don't be a deer caught in the headlights. These questions are coming so start thinking of how you will respond to them.
You never have to come up with some groundbreaking amazing answer but you do need to be sincere, honest and truthful. Plus, it's okay to say you don't know too.
Consider yourself one of the lucky ones because many premeds never even make it to a medical school interview. And you're here because you need the best medical school interview tips to boost your chances of rocking your interview.
Medical school interviews aren't to trick you, make you feel bad about yourself or be an anxiety inducing experience.
Instead.
Your medical school interview is a way for the school to get to know you as a person and determine if you have qualities, mannerisms, and character to interact with patients and become a member of the medical community.
If you prepare and do your homework you will be fine.
Go ahead relax and don't put too much pressure on yourself when it comes to preparing for your medical school interview.
Yes, there's a lot riding on the line but don't let your nerves get the best of you. Your interviewer is human and they already know the artificial pressure you've either placed on yourself or that's coming down from a family member.
Chill out and relax.
Your goal is not to stay premed.
You want a yes and an acceptance to medical school.
At this stage in the game this is only possible by acing your medical school interview. I've given you a general overview of what you'll need to do to be successful but there's more.
In this day and age you can Google medical school interview tips, log into online forums and watch YouTube videos of how to prepare for your medical school interview.
This is fine and dandy and I'm not knocking this approach at all.
But wouldn't it be great to learn more about my approach to preparing for the medical school interview the final hurdle between you and finally walking across the stage to receive your white coat and be introduced to the world as a Student Doctor!
Get mock medical school interview prep today! Seriously, one hour with me can make all the deference between getting in or not. You owe it to yourself to leave nothing to chance at this point.