Q & A about the med school process, after applications are in.

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>There are a lot of helpful information about secondaries, timings, MCAT, coursework, etc... but there are not as much about the year of waiting before med school begins. Knowing the somewhat random nature of acceptances into med schools, I have a few questions:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Interview attire: Does everyone have to have a suit or skirt/pants and blazers ok? (esp. for women since I think that men will definitely need a suit). Students who attended interviews, what was prevalent? </p></li>
<li><p>I know that VTech only interviews on 6 different Saturdays (MMI) throughout the process, does anyone else have that format? And if you know how long after interviews you hear back from a specific school, please share.</p></li>
<li><p>How do you know after you are "pooled" where you stand in the process? Some schools send out this notification but how do you find out where you are in the line?</p></li>
</ol>

<p>I'm sure that I will have more questions during the process. Thanks</p>

2

<p>krug. Yeah. The waiting sucks. </p>

<p>As to q’s 2 and 3, it is all school dependent. What I did to get the best read was use the school’s own website and the sdn school specific thread from the last app cycle and the current app cycle. I always felt pretty well informed. Or at least as well informed as anybody else.</p>

<p>As to 1, yeah. I got nothing. Mine could have worn a grass skirt for all I remember. Not really. I do know she wasn’t dressed like she was going to a party. Well, not a fun party anyway. :wink: Just business-y. Professional. </p>

<p>edit: Hmmmm. Maybe she did have a suit. See? Like I said. No help at all. ;)</p>

3

<p>Son had a suit. Couple different shirts and ties and 1 pair of comfortable dress shoes for all the walking.</p>

<p>Since he flew to many interviews the suit was a “travel” suit. Meaning he could fold it up in an overnight or wear it on a flight and it wouldn’t show the wrinkles. He purchased at Belk’s on clearance, was in the $350 range but paid under $30 and spent $10 on custom alterations. Had it dry cleaned every other use. Think we got the shoes at Ross.</p>

<p>He said all the guys wore suits mainly black, his was a deep navy thin pinstripe. Looked good with blue patterned shirts and red ties. He’s a big guy (football player lineman) so it was a good suit for what he needed. Different than what most wore.</p>

<p>Didn’t ask about the what the women wore. As far as hearing back it is a HUGE range. Some right away, some months and months. Same as Curm son checked SDN for time.</p>

<p>As far as scheduling interviews son tried to combine them if they were in the same area or in some cases fly from one interview to another and then home. So he booked his Michigan interview on a Friday and his Harvard interview of the very next following Monday flying over the weekend, so NC to Ann Arbor to Boston back to NC. Saved one leg of the journey home, money and time saved.</p>

<p>NYC interviews he combined, flew up and took the bus back, think he did 3 in NYC and 1 in Philly…all in the same week.</p>

<p>Others required other weird travel arrangements…</p>

<p>It was tricky but it worked and saved a ton of time and money.</p>

<p>Kat</p>

4

<p>D1 is going with a suit jacket, over either a skirt or dress. From what I hear suits aren’t necessary for women, but it needs to be business attire. Apparently flats are fine and a good idea with lots of walking on tours.</p>

<p>Stanford has MMIs. Word on SDN is that CU was thinking about it but still has one on ones this year. Don’t know about any other schools.</p>

<p>I believe that Columbia, Penn, Yale, Harvard, Cornell and Duke are non-rolling, results in March, don’t know which others are too.</p>

<p>D1 hasn’t run into pooling yet, so I don’t know how it works.</p>

<p>I have been monitoring SDN this year, it’s actually more convivial than I had thought it would be. It’s very helpful in keeping a read on where specific schools are in the secondary, interview, etc. process.</p>

5

<p>Just broke on SDN: Pitt is now non-rolling.</p>

<p>Probably only affects the 15% that would get early admits, not the 85% waitlisted.</p>

6

<p>I believe every school’s interview format and rolling/non-rolling is mentioned on their respective page in the MSAR.</p>

<p>As an MD/PhD applicant, I’m pretty sure every girl wore a business suit. Some of them had skirts like this: <a href=“http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_HijhRK2BkjA/SrIM7HTRfjI/AAAAAAAAAtU/Gq35ELhdXmw/s400/womens-suits.jpg[/url]”>http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_HijhRK2BkjA/SrIM7HTRfjI/AAAAAAAAAtU/Gq35ELhdXmw/s400/womens-suits.jpg&lt;/a&gt;. I don’t think I saw any men in anything less than a suit.</p>

<p>Once all the apps are in, there’s really nothing more one can do than prep for each interview and wait. Don’t leave an interview day without asking someone when you can expect to hear a decision and then don’t call to ask before that date.</p>

7

<p>Thanks everyone. My D is feeling a bit overwhelmed with classes (missing so many) and trying to schedule interviews. She’s lucky enough to have 6 in Sept. and Oct so that’s a lot of traveling. SDN is great but it’s hard to find timings of acceptances from interviews.</p>

8

<p>1) D1 wore a tailored pants suit with low heels. (I hemmed her suit pants so I’m sure that what she wore…) Everyone, even the med student guides, were dressed formally–suit jackets/blazers over slacks or skirts for girls (one dress and D1 said she stood out like a sore thumb…), suits or blazer with slacks for guys.</p>

<p>2) Some schools have posted admissions announcement dates. (Our state school does. There are 3 admission announcement dates and everyone has a final answer by March 1.) But it’s school dependent and you have to look either in MSAR or on the admissions webpage to find them. Others seem to dribble in more or less randomly. </p>

<p>3) D1 spent alot of time in limbo–at 3 places until June and 1 (Top 10 school for a dual enrollment program) until July. Since she had one acceptance in hand, she didn’t pursue where she stood. And in fact declined a late interview invitation (mid April) at a school she didn’t particularly love.</p>

<p>RE: Suits some chain stores (Banana Republic, Ann Taylor for sure, probably others) will give students who are looking for an job interview suit a 15% discount on anything in the store. You have to ask for it. It’s not advertised or mentioned unless you ask.</p>

<p>D1 bought suit separates on sale and got the discount on top of the sale price. Nice. Her suit otherwise would have been well over $400. I think it ultimately cost her less then $200. And since I tailor as hobby I did her alterations for free.</p>

9

<ol>
<li>Interview attire: Does everyone have to have a suit or skirt/pants and blazers ok? (esp. for women since I think that men will definitely need a suit). Students who attended interviews, what was prevalent?</li>
</ol>

<p>-I interviewed in 2010. I wore a dark grey pantsuit with black heels (2"?) to each interview. I wore a sleeveless top (plum, navy, or rose) underneath. I have long brown hair and I wore it 1/2 up 1/2 down. I wore some makeup (foundation and mascara) and some jewelry (simple necklace, simple ring, class ring). I brought a small black leather purse to the interview (phone, keys, etc), which I opted to leave in the conference (or similar) room if it was secured. For cold interviews in Chicago and Minneosta I wore a black pea coat over my suit. Suit from Macy’s, shoes from Nordstrom, tops from Ann Taylor (AT=student discount). I think the key was that I felt like my “power suit” (which I affectionately call it…) gave me a nice boost of confidence because I liked the way I looked and felt comfortable in it. </p>

<p>I felt like I “fit in” with everyone there. Some girls wore suits with skirts. Some girls went with white oxfords under suits. Some wore dresses with jackets. I feel like everyone was equally “dressy.” </p>

<ol>
<li>I know that VTech only interviews on 6 different Saturdays (MMI) throughout the process, does anyone else have that format? And if you know how long after interviews you hear back from a specific school, please share.</li>
</ol>

<p>-I didn’t apply to schools with that interview format. Perhaps Northwestern’s is similar (multiple interviewers and some panel interviews, but not technically MMI). </p>

<p>-I interviewed at my state school in November and was accepted in December.
-I interviewed at Northwestern in December and withdrew because it didn’t fit.
-I interviewed at Mayo in December and was waitlisted in January. I withdrew in May or June.
-I interviewed at Duke in January and was waitlisted in March. I withdrew in May or June.</p>

<ol>
<li>How do you know after you are “pooled” where you stand in the process? Some schools send out this notification but how do you find out where you are in the line?</li>
</ol>

<p>-I don’t really know what this means, but I never knew where I was in relation to others. I just waited for updates.
-While I was not waitlisted at the school I currently attend, I know our waitlist policy is to tell applicants who are waitlisted which 1/3rd of the waitlist they’re in. Typically the students in the top 1/3rd are eventually accepted between June and July.</p>

10

<p>Just curious , but are all interviews on the university’s campus? Is it annoying to travel for them or not really because most applicants don’t receive multiple interviews or they are spread out?</p>

11

<p>Yes, you have to travel to the campuses and yes it’s annoying. (And expensive! Moreso for those of us who live in the wide open spaces where you have to fly to get everywhere.)</p>

<p>And interviews can be spread out or bunched up. It depends on the school, when your application was reviewed, how many interview invitations you get, and how often the school holds interview dates.</p>

<p>Some schools assign you a date and you have to be there or forfeit the interview; others will often you a choice of 2-4 dates and you can choose the one that works best for you. Some schools will allow you to re-schedule an inconvenient date; some won’t.</p>

12

<p>Regarding shoes for female applicants, my daughter had a pair of black pumps with probably 2 1/2" or 3" heels, but carried a pair of flats in her purse for the tours. She went with the basic black 3 pieces, skirt, slacks and jacket with 3 different shirts. She tended to wear the two shirts that were not white more than the white one as she said when all the applicants were dressed in black and white, it tended to look like a convention of funeral directors. </p>

<p>I wouldn’t be too worried about her missing classes. My daughter went to 13 interviews of which 12 were all before Christmas break and she actually had a great semester as far as grades went. She had plenty of time on planes, trains and shuttles to get plenty of reading and work done.</p>

13

<p>Just dont wear a see through top with a pink strapped leopard print bra. Not sure if the girl who wore this did it on purpose or not. </p>

<p>@cortana, it depends on how early you get your applications in and how competitive you are. I had at least an interview every week except for 2 weeks from the beginning of August till mid Oct.</p>

14

<p>bigred, You are joking about the applicant described above, right? If not, I’m shocked since I assumed that most premeds have more sense. I thought that going “outside the boundaries” is more like going with skirt and blazers (not a suit, gasp!!)</p>

15

<p>true story. it was at a top 25 school. I was pretty shocked too. med school interview attire needs to be conservative. not sure what was going through her head when she picked that attire out haha</p>

16

<p>Maybe she thought that was her hook?</p>