BS/MD Programs: Interviews vs. Merit-Based

<p>Which Programs weigh heavily on the Interview as a deciding factor?
On the other hand, which programs are known to be more about the academic grades and the "on-paper" student?</p>

<p>i can tell u that UMKC has a two-stage screnning process. the first is your GPA, testscores, extracurriculars, etc that you submit "in paper." everyone that passes that stage is invited for an interview, at which point GPA and testscores do not matter anymore-- at this point, they are looking for maturity and clear desire to be in medicine. i hope this answers your quesiton.</p>

<p>Okay this is important so listen carefully. What happened with me was because of my great stats I was able to get interviews at a number of places and the interviews went great for me. However, I still was not accepted to most of my programs. It is commonly said that stats get you an interview and then after that its just based on how well you do at the interview, but this is not true, at least for the schools I applied to: BU, PSU, Albany progs.<br>
In these three progs I think its basically they interview the top 100 kids and accept about 60, out of which 20 enroll usually. Even though I feel I interviewed great, I was not chosen in the top 60 and I think this is probably because they took a look at my senior year grades, which has slipped quite a bit from before. I had a 75 in AP Chemistry senior year first term, and perhaps this was what kept me from getting into these programs. Just word of advice for these programs: even though stats help you get an interview, they dont stop looking at your stats. You need to keep those grades up. I can't stress that enough, trust me I know.</p>

<p>i think that with most BA/MD programs, it is a two-stage process. first, they look at your stats, ecs, and essays and then the top few are invited for interviews. once you get to the interviews, everyone has great stats, so they im pretty sure they base their final decisions off the interviews.</p>

<p>Can we be interviewed to a less competitive program (not northwestern...) with great GPA, SAT, SATII and APs but with close to no ECs?</p>

<p>i agree with eternity-- from my experience, that's how it seems to work. the only BS/MD i got rejected from was my worst interview.</p>

<p>There is no interview for Brown's PLME program but there is a separate application with maybe 3? essays: Why Brown? Why Medicine and PLME in particular? How do you see the role of a doctor? Something like that- didn't write them but saw them after my son applied. </p>

<p>Brown's app was my son's last application and he was debating whether to complete the PLME app since it's such a competitive program (and he was tired of all the apps, schoolwork, interviews, etc) but he hung in there and completed his PLME app at the last minute... Surprised in April when he was accepted.</p>

<p>So, if interested in a program, go for it. In the fall, he wasn't very interested in combined programs but by spring, he was wishing he had applied to more of them.</p>

<p>Yeah, Brown's essay questions are exactly the same main questions I was asked at Northwestern during each of my HPME interviews (but for Northwestern of course). I was also in the same situation as your son, jerzgrlmom. after spending pretty much my whole christmas break to do my college applications, HPME was my last one and I almost didnt send it in because I thought it was an impossible program to get into, but I'm soooo glad that I sent my application in. So I definately second jerzgrlmom's last piece of advice because you will never definately know the outcome unless you actually apply.</p>

<p>At URochester, my son's interviewer only seemed to care about medical research (not one of his strengths). Other kids reported their interviewers asked lots of questions and didn't focus on any one thing. So I guess it's luck of the draw. Not sure how they evaluate 50 kids fairly with so many different interviewers but that's how they did it. No surprise to him, he didn't get chosen...</p>

<p>My daughter got impression that she was preselected based on her stats. She did not apply to the highly selective programs (tuition is too high + travel expenses!), just to instate ones. She got into 3 bs/md programs, and interviews were just a formality and time to relax. All 3 gave her either full tuition scholarship or close to it (instate makes huge difference).</p>

<p>jerzgrlmom..im really interested in PLME..was your son really good at some sport or music or debate or did he have great gpa/test scores? What do you think got him into PLME? Thanks..</p>

<p>MiamiDAP, which 3 bs/md did your D get & which one she decided to go? Thanks..</p>

<p>All in Ohio: NEOUCOM, University of Toledo, Miami University Dual Admission Program with University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. Miami DAP was a winner.</p>

<p>MiamiDap, congra.</p>

<p>irenehlin88, thanks. By the way NEOUCOM is the only one that officially gives huge preferrence to Ohio kids. The other 2 are wide open to everybody.</p>

<p>deathlyhollows, I pm'd you.</p>

<p>jerzgrlmom
hey can u send me the same info u pm'd deathlyhollows?
i also have my hopes set on PLME
thanks so much</p>

<p>MONEYINDANK05, I pretty much covered the info in the other thread. Yes my son's stats were high. He hates when I post about him so that's why I PM'd. He took SATs once (760CR, 800 M, 740W) - refused to retake when people suggested he could increase his CR. I think his refusal showed he wasn't score crazy. He had 750-800 on all his SATIIs. 9 APs (5s on most - got a 4 in USHist, not sure about most recent ones), top 2% of class. Definitely had toughest curriculum school offered and lots of enrichment type programs of his choosing (mostly science related).</p>