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While a course may seem like great preparation for an interview, we disagree. Instead, we like to focus on one-on-one interview skills. Learning with a group of 20 students is not the same as having the advisor all to yourself. That is why our medical school interview preparation is done in a one-on-one setting with advisors who are MDs and who have interviewed for medical school admissions committees before. They know exactly what questions you will be asked because they are the ones who used to ask them! We will prepare you put your best foot forward when it comes to your medical school interview and get that acceptance you dreamed of.

Most interviews fall under the one on one category. An admissions officer who has read you application sits down and interviews you. However, there are several other types of interviews as explained by Linda Alexander, MD at mommd.com

Panel: Eastern Virginia Medical School

This is where more than one interviewer interviews you at the same time. It can feel like the Spanish Inquisition, but try not to get over intimidated. Make eye contact with the person who has asked you the question, but also try to look and engage the other interviewers as you make your points. Usually panel interviews are made up of people from different disciplines such as basic science/ research, clinical medicine, or surgery. There is often a medical student as part of the panel. So be prepared for a real range of questions…

Blind: George Washington SOM

This is an interview where the interviewer has not seen any part of your file. He or she does not know your grades or scores and has not read your essays. Be prepared for the worst of all possible interview questions: “So, tell me about yourself.” Expect to regurgitate a lot of what you have already written in your various application essays. Your previous prep to answer so why do you want to be a doctor questions will really help here.

Partial Blind: Loyola Stritch SOM

This is where an interviewer only sees part of your applications, such as your essays and secondary application, but not your grades or scores. This saves you from defending your C in second semester Organic Chemistry class, but requires that you look again at what you wrote. I was given a great ethical question at a partial blind interview.

Open:

MCV (up to the interviewer whether they look at your file or not)(MCV has only one interview/interviewer)
In this type of interview it is up to the interviewer whether or not he or she will look at your file ahead of time. Be prepared, therefore, for “blind” type questions as well as questions addressing what you wrote in your essays.

In most cases, applicants view early decision as a great chance to get accepted to their top choice school. They think that much like applying early decision to college, applying early decision to medical school could get them into a school and not have to worry about the rest of their applications. Unfortunately, it does not work this way.

In almost all scenarios, applying early decision to medical school is the wrong idea. The biggest problem is that ED applicants are not allowed to apply to any other school until they are rejected from their early decision school. This usually does not happen until October, at which point your application is really too late for all other schools. Applying late to these schools will be detrimental, as they will have already started to fill their class and interview slots long before you even send in your secondary. Essentially, you really are putting ALL your eggs in one basket and ruining your chances are all the other schools you may apply to.

So our advice is simple: don’t apply early decision to medical school (except in really extenuating circumstances on a case-by-base basis).

With so many applicants to medical school, and so few seats, it is more important than ever to separate your application with a great personal statement, great activities and doing really well on the interview. MedSchoolCoach can help you through any part of your medical school application and help you get in. Check out more of our services to help medical school applicants at www.medschoolcoach.com/our-services/

What are the least competitive medical schools in the country? This is a question we at MedSchoolCoach get all the time. Let’s take it one step at a time. First, there is no really uncompetitive US MD medical school. Getting into any US medical school is a huge accomplishment. Even the “worst” schools have acceptance rates under 20%. So to peg a school as noncompetitive is incorrect. Now, there are some schools that have lower average GPAs and MCAT scores than others obviously, and this is typically what applicants refer to as the least competitive medical schools. Unfortunately, this does not really hold true. There are a lot of schools that applicants apply to with an average GPA and MCAT lower than theirs, but never get interviews at. There are many reasons for this. Remember, these schools are getting thousands of applications. In fact, the schools that are traditionally viewed as the “least competitive” or “safety schools” tend to get way more applications than a Harvard or Stanford. George Washington University for example (a great school anyway you slice it), gets over 10,000 applications. Same with Drexel Medical. The reason these schools get so many applications is that they publish lower MCAT and GPA scores, so applicants get excited and apply both as safety schools (for this with great stats) and as target schools (for those with lower stats). So with these schools getting thousands upon thousands of applications, they end up actually having a lower acceptance rate and are actually quite competitive.

One important factor to remember is that just because your average GPA and MCAT is right on target for a given medical school, that does not mean you will get in, or even be competitive. If a school publishes their average MCAT as a 29, and average GPA as a 3.7, realize that they are rejecting far more candidates with those numbers than they are accepting. There may be over 4000 candidates with a 29 or above applying to their school, but they are only accepting a tiny fraction of those. So just because your average MCAT and GPA is aligned with a particular medical school you cannot be assured of getting in.

Also, keep in mind that those medical schools with lower GPA and MCAT requirements are often state schools with heavy state preferences for their applicants.

The question remains though, which are the least competitive medical schools? We like to rephrase that question and say which are the medical schools with the lowest average MCAT and GPA. Keep in mind, all these schools are still great, but here is a small list of private medical schools (see the note above about state schools) which applicants with lower GPAs and MCATs should consider applying to:

• Drexel University College of Medical
• Hofstra University
• The Commonwealth Medical College
• Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine
• Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science (RFUMS)
• Loyola University
• George Washington University
• Temple University
• Howard University
• Rush Medical
• Albany Medical College
• New York Medical College

There are more, but this is a basic list. Please keep in mind, each of these schools is exceptional and you will become a great doctor from any of them. Also remember that just because they look at applicants with lower GPAs and MCATs than other medical schools in the country, they are no less competitive.

If a school is interested in learning more about you after reviewing your AMCAS, they will email their secondary application for you to fill out. A secondary application usually consists of your biographical application, additional essays, and of course another application fee ranging between $50-100 per school. The number of essays varies but can range between two and eight. Some of the questions are similar between schools, so you may be able to use an essay for more than one school, but in general do not plan on this. While AMCAS makes it very easy to apply to many schools, the secondary application ensures that you are only applying to schools in which you are truly interested.
After completing the general AMCAS application, medical schools will review your file and decide whether to send you a secondary application or not. The cutoff for this is different at each school, so the selectivity of a secondary is variable. There are stories of some schools sending a secondary and then sending a rejection letter the day after cashing your check.

A Secondary mainly consists of additional essays that have school specific questions. Some questions will be used by multiple schools, such as describe your research experience or describe your career in 10 years, but others will be very specific, such as why THIS school. A general trend that you should be aware of is more selective schools tend to have more secondary essays, making it a weed-out process based on your interest in the program. Once you have received a secondary application, the goal is to explain why you are interested in medicine at that school. Do some research on their website and ask around about interesting aspects of each school, and if you are still stumped have MedSchoolCoach look over your essay when you are finished.

Medical School Letters of Recommendation

The most important thing to know about letters of recommendations is to ask for them early. A lot of focus gets placed on who you should ask for letters, and rightfully so, but if your letters are not in on time it does not matter who wrote them. Your letters can be continuously added into the application system until you submit your application, after that they are locked in and cannot be changed. Most schools require three letters, but check the requirements for each school before submitting your application. You can also assign different letters to each program, which a maximum of 10 letters uploaded. After designating your letter writers in AMCAS, they are e-mailed and given instructions on how to upload your letter into AMCAS electronically. You will be able to see when letters are uploaded as they become available. Give your letter writers at least two weeks to write your letter, but obviously the more time you give them the happier (and therefore likely better) they will be when sitting down to write it.

Who should you ask?

Most advisors would say to have the people who know you the best write your letters. It is obvious when someone has known you for more than a week, and those letters are much more meaningful and provide more insight into your character. If you happen to know someone at a school you are applying, that is an advantage that is hard to ignore, but the quality is still the most important part. Still, do not ignore this advantage, try to get to know these connections in a more in depth way so their letters are meaningful, this will definitely give you an inside track. A famous research name is nice to have if they know you well, but the chances that whoever is reading your letters will recognize those names is pretty remote.

Other options to obtain medical school letters of recommendation

If your school offers a committee letter (a compilation of multiple letters of recommendation, plus a brief excerpt from your premed advisor), you should absolutely make use of this service. To find out, stop by your schools preprofessional office right away. It is important you stop by early because these letters are often written first come first serve so that you may have your letter sent in very late, or not at all, if you are too late.

If your office does not offer a premed committee letter, they may offer at least a service to gather letters (via interfolio or VirtualEvals). You can take advantage of these services to streamline the process.
If your school offers none of these, we recommend you set up an account with Interfolio.com which will allow you to upload all your letters to a central location and use them again if you need to for another purpose.

You should approach your letters writers as early as possible so that they have plenty of time to write them. You should meet with them in person and present them with your resume and a draft of your personal statement as well so that they can write a more cohesive letter.

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