My daughter got wait listed. We are from Cincinnati Ohio.
Act:33
GPA: 3.9 unweighted. Weighted around 4.75
AP courses as usual.
Different clubs.
What are chances for interview?
What book would you recommend for prepping for the interview?
@dvrvarma123 The scores are alright, but what about the healthcare experiences? That’s also a major factor as out-of-state is very competitive.
I’ll try to give some good resources that will be helpful to you guys this week (I’ve already typed this out a long time ago in advance, during last year’s cycle and saved) to prepare for the new MMI/traditional interview hybrid that UMKC does, as well as other things, i.e. proper dress code (what to wear/not to wear), what you should bring with you, esp. if you’re coming from out-of-state, how to act/behave, etc.
Just not today, because:
a) it seems like there are still some people from the Early Notification batch who are still waiting for an email response from UMKC Med as to the interview, so UMKC doesn’t look to be done just yet giving out interviews
b) you guys need to calm the hyperfiring anxious neurons down a little bit since you all are right now like this: [BA/MD Applicants](catgifs.org), and need to actually enjoy the beginning of the new year a little bit.
Go outside, breath the fresh air, go for a swim, do yoga, exercise, run on a treadmill, spend some nice quality time with your family, help with chores around the house, make a new year’s resolution, etc. (so many possibilities!) The first interview day is about 2 months away. That is MORE than enough time to adequately prepare for this (as is one month for those who find out in late January). Your nerves & neurotransmitters, the lumen of your arteries, and your coronary vasculature, will thank me later.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/13/are-you-a-type-a-or-type-_n_4549312.html
http://www.buzzfeed.com/carolynkylstra/type-c
http://www.buzzfeed.com/dartanionlondon/how-to-annoy-your-type-a-friend-in-86-seconds
http://www.buzzfeed.com/samstryker/type-a-more-like-type-awesome
http://www.buzzfeed.com/spenceralthouse/26-side-effects-of-having-a-type-a-personality
@Roentgen LOL, those articles were so funny. Guess who’s a type A? Hahaha
And your point B cracked me up! Thanks for putting some humor into this!!
@AtticusFinchh, I figured some of those characteristics would resonate with people, lol. I found the cat gif quite fitting in this situation with the cat being you guys and the bowl he/she is circling being interviews.
Is there any mentioning in the letter for interview about a Toledo Chemistry Exam? UMKC has done it in the past, but don’t know if that is still done with this change in interview format. If it’s still there, will discuss that as well.
LOL, sorry, on a much closer look, that isn’t a bowl but a boa constrictor in the gif.
@Roentgen I also enjoyed your Buzzfeed posts about type A personalities! I do have trouble relaxing especially when it comes to college applications.
This is what the UMKC School of Medicine portal says about the Toledo Chemistry Exam:
The Toledo Chemistry Assessment is designed to assess your understanding of chemistry. Because the curriculum of the School of Medicine is chemistry intensive, we measure your chemistry ability during the interview day. There are 60 questions on the assessment: 20 based on high school level chemistry, 20 based on basic algebra and 20 based on more advanced-level chemistry. (The questions are not based on AP, IB, honors-level or college-level chemistry.)
The results of this assessment ARE NOT used in the selection process—the Council on Selection DOES NOT have access to the results of the Toledo Chemistry Assessment and admissions decisions are not made using these results. Once admissions decisions are finalized however, the School of Medicine Office of Admissions staff then reviews the scores of the Toledo Chemistry Assessment. If you achieve the minimum required score and are offered admission, you will be granted full admission to the School of Medicine. If you do not achieve the minimum required score and are offered admission, you will be granted provisional admission to the School of Medicine. The minimum required score is 40 (out of 60).
If offered provisional admission, in order to meet the provision of admission, you will be required to take General Chemistry I (or its equivalent) during the summer prior to enrolling at UMKC and pass both the lecture and lab with a grade of B or better. If you meet the provision, your admission status will be changed from provisional admission to full admission. If you do not meet the provision, your admission to the School of Medicine will be rescinded. AP or IB credit cannot be used to meet the provisional admission requirement.
You should bring a calculator, however it does not have to be a scientific one. A standard calculator is sufficient. The calculator MAY NOT BE programmable and graphing calculators ARE NOT allowed.
@mscrystal, ah, ok yes. So then they are still doing that exam which is used for Chemistry course placement (and yes, you still have to take the exam even if you already have taken the AP Chemistry exam in high school). I’ll put up some resources for that too sometime this week. Definitely do-able as it is supposed to test at the sophomore (10th grade) chemistry level. It is all multiple choice. It is NOT used for admissions (would be nice if they did!) as it has always been used AFTER acceptance.
If any one of you guys could PM me the entire interview letter or documentation you got (email or whatever), just so I have an idea what is still being done and how they describe it, esp. in terms of what they say about the MMI. I don’t remember if it’s an MMI only or MMI + traditional interview hybrid type, I’m going by the latter just based on past posts in the thread. If it is the latter hybrid type, then I’ll give help for both types.
Sorry, for people PMing me about what I meant by “MMI + traditional interview hybrid”, I mean a combination of the MMI (Multiple Mini-Interview) and what we all know is a traditional interview (one on one with like a faculty person who you just talk about whatever he/she asks you about). I could be mistakened based on reading this thread from years prior, but I believe although they have incorporated the MMI, that some stations are more similar to a one-on-one traditional interview.
Oh and about part of the letter that says, “Candidates will be given more information about the MMI process the morning of their interview.” Yeah, uh, no. You should not be finding out what the MMI is the morning of the interview. No worries, it will all be discussed here in this thread with plenty of time to spare, so stay tuned. I’ll also discuss parts of the interview invitation letter and explain things that I think might be helpful for applicants.
I can’t believe they still do that chemistry exam.
Total waste of time for someone who is doing AP Chem because the test is a high school freshman level difficulty. Anyways, they don’t ask me for my opinions so I guess everyone is stuck taking it.
I agree with @Roentgen. The MMI format is very weird and not something you should be familiarized with that morning. I had a traditional one on one interview with two faculty members when I applied.
I’m sure @Roentgen will give you guys more extensive information but I will try to find some stuff as well from younger students who have been thru that interview process and ask them what would be helpful for current applicants.
Again don’t worry about it right now. You don’t need more than a few days before the interview to just sit down and think about your answers and polish up on your CV and stuff. Enjoy the blissful time that is senior year. Unless you’re taking 6 AP courses that have exams in May, than your life sucks. I can say that because that was me.
New Email Just Received in Response to selecting a date on the portal (about 1.5 weeks after selecting):
Subject: UMKC B.A./M.D. Program: UMKC Interview Day Confirmation Feb/March , 2016
Dear ****,
Thank you for responding to our offer to interview! Your interview has been scheduled for day, __, 2016 beginning at 8:00 a.m. Please pay close attention to the following information. You will need to be aware of all of the following information and respond to the necessary items in order to have a well-planned interview day. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us!
INTERVIEW DAY SCHEDULE: The schedule for interview day will be the same for each interview day. Please see the following information so that you can make plans accordingly.
You will need to arrive at the UMKC Student Union (5100 Cherry Street, Kansas City, MO, 64110) no earlier than 7:15 a.m., but no later than 7:45 a.m. We will begin the day at 8:00 a.m.
The interview day will conclude at approximately 3:15 p.m. (4:00 p.m. if you choose to take the optional tour of the Volker Campus, 5:00 p.m. if you choose to take the optional tour of the School of Medicine). Please do not schedule flights or other travel arrangements with the intention of leaving prior to 3:15 p.m. We cannot accomodate travel schedules.
The interview day will include the following:
Welcome and Overview
Financial Aid Presentation
Student Affairs Presentation
Student Panel
Interviews (Multiple-Mini Interview)
Toledo Chemistry Assessment
Candidate Photos
Tour of the UMKC Volker Campus (optional)
Tour of the UMKC School of Medicine (optional)
A more specific schedule will be provided to you the day of the interview.
CALCULATOR: You will need to bring a calculator for the Toledo Chemistry Assessment. A standard calculator is sufficient. The calculator MAY NOT be programmable and graphing calculators are NOT allowed.
NAME BADGES: Please email medicine@umkc.edu to inform us of the name you prefer to be used on your nametag the day of your interview (i.e. Beth rather than Elizabeth, Tom rather than Thomas, etc.). You only need to send this information if your preferred name is different than the name listed on your application.
GUEST INFORMATION: In preparation for your interview day, please provide the names of your guests by sending an email to medicine@umkc.edu. Please remember that candidates are limited to two guests on interview day.
DIETARY RESTRICTIONS: If you have any dietary restrictions that we need to know about (i.e. vegetarian, vegan, etc.), please email medicine@umkc.edu so that we may order an appropriate meal for you for lunch.
CONTACT INFORMATION: Please email medicine@umkc.edu with a contact number for the day of the interview, in accordance with our inclement weather policy below.
OPTIONAL TOURS OF THE UMKC VOLKER CAMPUS AND THE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE:
Please email medicine@umkc.edu by Friday, February 12, 2016 to inform us if you would like to tour either the UMKC Volker Campus or the UMKC School of Medicine on the Health Sciences Campus. Please tell us which tour you would like to have or if you would like to participate in both; with this information, we will be able to plan for an appropriate number of student ambassadors to give these tours.
These tours will occur near the end of the interview day. The two campuses are about four miles apart, and candidates wishing to tour both campuses should plan on arranging individual transportation.
PARKING PERMIT: You will receive a parking permit in the mail within two weeks of your interview day. Please remember to bring the permit the day of your interview as we do not have extra parking permits available. This parking permit will allow you to park in any non-metered or metered parking spot in the parking garage located at the corner of 50th Street and Oak Street. We recommend that you park on the 5th floor and use the walkway from the 5th floor of the garage to access the UMKC Student Union.
HOTEL ACCOMMODATIONS: If you are joining us for your interview day from out-of-town, and if you would like to reserve a hotel room in close proximity to our university, we recommend the hotels below. Reservations at hotels are made on an individual basis and the expense will be the responsibility of the individual interviewee or family.
Fairfield Inn by Marriott - Union Hill
3001 Main Street
Kansas City, MO 64108
Reservations: 816-931-5700 or 1-888-749-6879
Holiday Inn Country Club Plaza
One East 45th Street
Kansas City, MO 64111
Reservations: 816-753-7400 or 1-800-957-4654
Sheraton Suites Country Club Plaza
770 West 47th Street
Kansas City, MO 64112
Reservations: 816-931-4400 or 1-888-627-7043
INCLEMENT WEATHER POLICY: In the event of severe weather, or other events that may impact the safety and welfare of students, faculty, staff and visitors to the University, the following policy will be implemented with regards to School of Medicine interview days:
Should the UMKC campus close due to inclement weather, the School of Medicine interview day must be cancelled and all candidates rescheduled for another day.
•Candidates must provide a contact number by which they may be reached the morning of the interview.
•School of Medicine staff will contact candidates by 7:00 a.m. the morning of the interview day if the interview day is cancelled.
•Candidates should expect to attend the interview day unless otherwise notified by a School of Medicine Office of Admissions staff member.
Should the UMKC campus initiate a late start, the School of Medicine interview day will proceed as scheduled.
•If any alterations to the interview day schedule are made, candidates will be notified by School of Medicine Office of Admissions staff.
The School of Medicine is not responsible for costs to individual candidates related to the rescheduling of an interview day.
If an interview day is rescheduled due to inclement weather, the School of Medicine will attempt to reschedule all candidates on an alternate interview day, however no guarantees can be made to accommodate student schedules.
If a candidate is unable to attend his/her scheduled interview day due to inclement weather, flight cancellations or any other reason, the School of Medicine may not be able to reschedule the interview. Interviews are offered on a limited number of days and candidates who cannot attend their scheduled day will not be guaranteed the opportunity to reschedule.
More information regarding the interview day, driving directions, parking instructions, and the MMI process can be found under the Interview tab at https://apply.bamd.umkc.edu:8443/security/login.aspx.
Congratulations again, and we look forward to meeting you on your interview day! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at 816-235-1870 or medicine@umkc.edu.
Sincerely,
UMKC School of Medicine Office of Admissions
@AtticusFinchh, thank you so much for posting this so we all have a better idea of how exactly the interview day goes!!!
“More information regarding the interview day, driving directions, parking instructions, and the MMI process can be found under the Interview tab” — What do they say exactly about the MMI process under the Interview tab? (you can skip driving directions and parking instructions, for me, lol).
"**Multiple-Mini Interview **
Candidates will participate in a Multiple Mini Interview process. The MMI interview process consists of eleven carefully structured interview stations. The focus of the MMI at the UMKC School of Medicine is on the non-cognitive factors that we have identified as important to consider in admissions decisions. Each interview station is designed to assess a specific characteristic, trait or competency. All interviews are conducted blind, as interviewers will not have access to any information provided by the applicant in the application process.
The structure of the MMI process is as follows: Candidates will have two minutes to review a scenario or question, followed by six minutes of questions and discussion regarding the particular scenario or question. The six minute interview will be conducted one-on-one with a School of Medicine or UMKC faculty or staff member, a current student, a healthcare professional or a member of the greater Kansas City community.
School of Medicine staff will keep time for the interviews and signify both the beginning and the end of the interview. Candidates will rotate through 11 stations, with a short break approximately half way through the interview process.
Candidates will be given more information about the MMI process the morning of their interview.
All results of the MMI interview process will remain confidential and will not be shared with candidates. The results of the MMI interview process will be considered when making final admissions decisions."
"
** Toledo Chemistry Assessment **
The Toledo Chemistry Assessment is designed to assess your understanding of chemistry. Because the curriculum of the School of Medicine is chemistry intensive, we measure your chemistry ability during the interview day. There are 60 questions on the assessment: 20 based on high school level chemistry, 20 based on basic algebra and 20 based on more advanced-level chemistry. (The questions are not based on AP, IB, honors-level or college-level chemistry.)
The results of this assessment ARE NOT used in the selection process—the Council on Selection DOES NOT have access to the results of the Toledo Chemistry Assessment and admissions decisions are not made using these results. Once admissions decisions are finalized however, the School of Medicine Office of Admissions staff then reviews the scores of the Toledo Chemistry Assessment. If you achieve the minimum required score and are offered admission, you will be granted full admission to the School of Medicine. If you do not achieve the minimum required score and are offered admission, you will be granted provisional admission to the School of Medicine. The minimum required score is 40 (out of 60).
If offered provisional admission, in order to meet the provision of admission, you will be required to take General Chemistry I (or its equivalent) during the summer prior to enrolling at UMKC and pass both the lecture and lab with a grade of B or better. If you meet the provision, your admission status will be changed from provisional admission to full admission. If you do not meet the provision, your admission to the School of Medicine will be rescinded. AP or IB credit cannot be used to meet the provisional admission requirement.
You should bring a calculator, however it does not have to be a scientific one. A standard calculator is sufficient. The calculator MAY NOT BE programmable and graphing calculators ARE NOT allowed."
So maybe I missed reading it, but the MMI stations are conducted at the School of Medicine and not the Volker campus correct?
“PARKING AT THE UMKC VOLKER CAMPUS/STUDENT UNION: The UMKC Student Union is located at 5100 Cherry Street, Kansas City, MO, 64110. You may park in the Cherry Street Parking Garage located at the corner of 50th Street and Oak Street. A parking permit will be provided to you when you check in at the School of Medicine, and this parking permit should be placed on the mirror in your car. You may park in any of the non-metered parking spots in the parking garage, and take the walkway from the 5th floor of the garage to the Student Union.” ~~Student Portal
“You will need to arrive at the UMKC Student Union (5100 Cherry Street, Kansas City, MO, 64110) no earlier than 7:15 a.m., but no later than 7:45 a.m. We will begin the day at 8:00 a.m.” ~From Interview Info. Email sent today
" Due to the schedule of the interview day and the fact that we will not be able to accommodate late arrivals, we ask that you plan travel arrangements accordingly so that you will not be delayed in arriving to the UMKC Student Union." ~~ From Portal
Idk if the statements conflict, but I take it as the day begins at the Student Union where everything is done. Then if you want, at the end of the day, you can take the tour:
“These tours will occur near the end of the interview day. The two campuses are about four miles apart, and candidates wishing to tour both campuses should plan on arranging individual transportation.”
Also:
“INTERVIEW DAY ATTIRE: The attire for interview day is business or business casual. Remember, you are interviewing for medical school and should dress professionally.” ~Student Portal
Ok, so it looks like based on what they’ve written, the actual MMI station stuff happens all at the Volker campus (the Student Union) and NOT at the medical school. I guess that makes sense, as they’ve renovated a lot with the Student Union being relatively newly built, and maybe they’ve added a lot more rooms for those separate stations: http://www.umkc.edu/union/index.asp.
TOLEDO CHEMISTRY EXAM
So the Toledo Chemistry Exam (which I guess UMKC Med is still using to this day) is for college chemistry placement in Year 1. In the curriculum, we take General Chemistry I + Lab, General Chemistry II + Lab, and Elementary Organic Chemistry (a 1-semester survey course of Organic, as we do not take Organic Chem I & II) + Lab. This exam is NOT used to determine whether you get selected. I repeat, it will NOT be used to determine whether you get an acceptance. It’s used AFTER acceptances have been dispersed, to determine chemistry placement for the fall. But it’s still worth not blowing this off or it will be a huge P.I.A. for you in the summer.
This test doesn’t give you any credit at UMKC. It is written by the American Chemical Society. Even if you have taken the AP Chemistry test after junior year or maybe did a dual high school-college credit thing for actual credit, yes, you still have to take this exam. The chemistry tested on this exam is at the 10th grade Chemistry level.
So let’s say your Chemistry knowledge is determined to be weak by this exam (you get less than the 40 questions out of 60 required or 66%), and you end up being accepted for admission to the BA/MD program —> they’ll require you to take General Chemistry I + Lab over the summer which most people take at their local community college, AND require that you get a “B” or better in both courses (although it doesn’t count for GPA unless you were to take it within the UM-System).
Here you can find out more info about the Toledo Chemistry Placement Exam (TCPE) itself:
http://www5.njit.edu/sites/firstyearstudents/files/lcms/pdf/Toledo_Chemistry_Placement_Exam.pdf
http://www.udmercy.edu/apply/undergrad-students/orientation/placement-testing/chemistry/index.htm
https://www.utoledo.edu/nsm/chemistry/undergrad/placementtest.html
Here are some TCPE Practice Tests:
- http://homepages.utoledo.edu/ajorgen/practicequiz.asp
- http://incept.gsu.edu/files/2013/03/PlacementExamPracticeProblems.pdf
- http://hilo.hawaii.edu/kilohana/documents/CHEMISTRY_PLACEMENT_EXAM_PRACTICE-2.pdf
- http://www.foothill.edu/placement/chem.pdf
- http://www.csn.edu/PDFFiles/Testing%20Center/CHEMPlacementPracticeLink.pdf
- https://www.deanza.edu/admissions/placement/chem.pdf
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