How many people interviewed you?
| Response Average | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 2.27 | 60 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| Positively | 46 |
| Negatively | 6 |
| No change | 9 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 3.56 | 59 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 7.98 | 47 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 7.30 | 33 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| In Person | 0 |
| Virtual | 1 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 5 minutes | 0 |
| 10 minutes | 0 |
| 15 minutes | 0 |
| 20 minutes | 0 |
| 25 minutes | 0 |
| 30 minutes | 4 |
| 35 minutes | 0 |
| 40 minutes | 1 |
| 45 minutes | 5 |
| 50 minutes | 7 |
| 55 minutes | 0 |
| 60+ minutes | 44 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| At the school | 40 |
| At a regional location | 10 |
| At another location | 9 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| One-on-one | 59 |
| In a group | 0 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| Open file | 0 |
| Closed file | 58 |
| Response Average | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 2.27 | 60 |
"MMI Format"
"Why Medicine?"
"MMI"
"Why University of Nevada?"
"Why do you want to be a doctor? Are you smart enough to do this?"
"What is your support/motivation in your personal life?"
"Tell me how you came into medicine."
"What are your 3 greatest strengths/weaknesses?"
"What is the most distasteful situation you could imagine encountering as a physician?"
"So why do you want to go to medical school?"
"What are your opinions on abortion"
"It's closed file so: Basic stuff like describe your volunteer experience, work experience, research, etc..."
"All the questions I was asked, I thought, were pretty generic- no curve balls. Give me your 3 greatest strengths and weaknesses. "
"Your strengths/weaknesses? Have you ever come to a crossroad in your life and what you decided to do? Have you ever been misjudged and how did you handle it?"
"What are your thoughts on euthanasia?"
"What exposure to medicine have you had? What do you do for fun?"
"What would your best friend say about you if he/she were here?"
"If you were on a desert island alone, what three drugs would you want with you?"
"Discuss the social and ethical considerations of Euthenasia."
"Tell me about yourself.What are you doing now? Best and worst personality traits?"
"If you could never study medicine, what would you do?"
"Your mom and your best friend. What would they say about you if they were here?"
"What do you do for fun?"
"Have you ever had a traumatic experience?"
"Where do you see yourself in 15 years?"
"The one about abortion."
"Describe a situation where you helped a friend and what did you learn about yourself"
"Tell me about yourself"
"Why do you want to be a doctor?"
"When was the last time you cried "
"What do you think when you see a homeless person on the street?"
"If you were asked to give a lecture about drug abuse to a group of kids, what would you say and why?"
"Quite a few questions, but somewhat standard. The questions lead to more conversation. All the typical questions, like "Why do you want to be a doctor?""
"Why this school?"
"Faculty - Tell me about yourself; Tell me about your research; Why UNR; General ethical issues...etc."
"Who are you voting for...and three reasons why you're voting for them."
"If you didn't make it into medical school what would you do?"
"What experiences have you had that made you realize medicine was the career for you?"
"Can you think of any reason why you might change your mind about being a physician?"
"How would you give a address drug addiction to a group of high school students?"
"Discuss the pros and cons of a current ethical dilemna in medicine."
"The usual: why medicine, why this school, blah, blah."
"Tell me about yourself."
"major blunder in life"
"Describe the social and ethical impacts of abortion?"
"If medicine (being a doctor) wasn't an option, what would you do?"
"What are some issues facing medicine?"
"What would your best friend say are your best qualities?"
"What do you do with your free time? "
"Heavy on Ethical Questions"
"Ethical questions"
"MMI"
"What was the last book you read and what did you learn from it?"
"What do you think about health care reform? Would you still be a doctor if it only paid 70k? 30k?"
"How do you deal with stress?"
"Favorite non-science class(es)?"
"If you could meet anyone, real or fictional, alive or dead, who would it be?"
"Why UNSOM?"
"If you couldn't do anything health care related, what would you do?"
"What do you like to do for fun"
"What do you do in your free time for fun? Something that has nothing to do with school. "
"Why medicine?"
"Tell me about your volunteering experiences and how they have motivated you to want to become a doctor. "
"what do you do for fun?"
"What are you most proud of? Is the glass half empty or half full? If a patient that suffers back pain comes to your office and asks for a prescription drug that is 10 times stronger that what he is currently taking what would you do?"
"Describe a situation in which someone put you down and a situation where you put someone else down."
"What direction do you see medicine heading in this country?"
"What type of support do you have at home? Do you work?"
"Discuss the social and ethical implications of euthanasia."
"How would someone close to you describe you? (positive and negative)"
"If you were dropped in a refugee camp of 10,000 with only 3 nurses/techs, what would you do?"
"Should we offer you admission to this school? Why? (I jokingly asked if anyone ever answers ''no'' - apparently no one ever has ;) "
"You have a 16 yr old girl and her mother sitting in front of you wanting an abortiont. Would you set aside your personal opinions on abortion and give them what they want even if you are a Catholic?"
"college experiences/activities?"
"Is their anything that you would like to explain about your academic record?"
"What do you do outside of medicine?"
"If a patient had given instructions not to be kept on life support should brain activity cease and a family member disagreed with these wishes, what would you do?"
"What is your best quality"
"What will you do if you don't get in this year"
"Pick a current ethical issue and discuss it."
"Describe a crisis situation and how you dealt with it"
"Tell me about yourself (the interview is closed-file so they know nothing about you - I found this to be kind of a hard question!)"
"15 years from now, where do you see your life and what goals do you hope to have accomplished?"
"Tell me about yourself."
"Where do you see yourself after your residency? Future plans (political)?"
"Student - Tell me about yourself; Historical figure to have dinner with; proudest accomplishments; who do you look up to; describe volunteering experience; tell me about a patient you cared for... etc."
"Would you re-code a procedure for insurance purposes if a patient asked you?"
"Why do you want to be a physician?"
"Where do you see yourself in 15 years and describe a day in your life at that point?"
"Why should we pick you? What makes you unique?"
"How would your mom/friends describe you?"
"What kind of psycosocial support do you have?"
"the 14 y/o girl one"
"Strengths? Weaknesses?"
"give me a question to ask you"
"What would your friends or family say about you positively and negatively?"
"Where do you see yourself 20 years from now?"
"If I had your friends and family here, what would they say in your favor? what would they say against you?"
"Knowing that our policy is immediate expulsion, what would you do if you saw someone cheating on an exam?"
"What kind of commitment are you willing to make to become a physician?"
"MMI"
"Asked about experiences (research, GPA, MCAT) since it was closed file."
"Explain how hard medical school is."
"Discuss any current ethical issue. What do you think about it and as a physician, what can you do?"
"Ethics questions such as those dealing with abortion and religion."
"What has been your greatest disappointment in life?"
"What made you want to go into medicine?"
"What are your worst three qualities?"
"How would you respond to a patient who was recently diagnosed terminally ill and wants you to help him die?"
"If you had to go before Congress to persuade them to accept and finance your healthcare reform bill, what would your argument be?"
"What do you like to do outside academics and medicine?"
"Tell me about your family. "
"Pick an issue in healthcare (ethical) and argue for one side or the other."
"Discuss both sides of euthanasia, give me a situation in which euthanasia would be acceptable and one in which it wouldn't be. Discuss the views of stem cell research and is it possible to reconcile those views? Is it possible that stem cell legislation will be passed on this country?"
"What obstacles do you believe you will run into while in medical school?"
"What books do you read? Would you be interested in doing research?"
"What do you do for relieving stress?"
"Tell us some of your strengths and weaknesses."
"Describe a situation which displays your problem solving ability."
"What would your parents say about you if they were here right now?"
"Who do you think is the most important figure in United States history?"
"What's the most recent creative thing that you have done?"
"current activities?"
"Why do you want to go to school here?"
"Name three ethical issues and then he selected one and told me to go into detail."
"What has been your biggest blunder in life?"
"What's the biggest problem with healthcare today?"
"Describe a situation where you had to make an ethical decision. What was the outcome?"
"Most of the interview was ethical questions (see other posts on this site)"
"How do you deal with stress?"
"What is the most distasteful situation you can think of facing as a physician, and how would you deal with it."
"Why Reno?"
"Describe a day in your life 15 years from now."
"What do you do for leisure?"
"Ethical stance on medical marijuana"
"What kind of support system do you have?"
"Describe a crisis that you have had in your life and how you dealt with it."
"If you had the responsibility of giving everybody healthcare, what would you do and how would you do it?"
"What are some of your hobbies?"
"Why are you leaving nursing?"
"Tell me about yourself"
"Discuss an ethical issue."
"why medicine"
"Describe three important topics in health care today, pick on and describe it fully."
"What is an issue that has been focused on in the media lately that pertains to medicine? Can you discuss it?"
"Why do you want to go into medicine?"
"Have you ever been out of the country?"
"MMI"
"A pregnant teenage girl comes into you and is scared and doesn't know what to do with the baby. What advice do you give her?"
"What is one thing you regret and why? How would you do it differently?"
"What would you do if you don't get in?"
"Ethics question regarding religion."
"What has been your favorite non-science class? Science class?"
"If you could invite 3 people to dinner, who would they be (living, fictional, dead)?"
"If your sister was dating a HIV patient of yours, what would you do?"
"How would you respond to a patient who googled his medical condition and was insistent about his diagnosis but it is shown that he has a complete different condition?"
"I was asked ''what do you think doctors talk about?'' I responded with some ethical topics and he then asked me to pick one and describe it."
"Name three best and worst qualities, and explain how you could make one of your worst qualities a positive one."
"If you had to choose on celebrity to have lunch with, who would it be? "
"1. What is your biggest fear about a career in healthcare? 2. If you had to speak to high school students about drug use, what would you say?"
"Why are the manholes round?"
"What was your best/worst medical experience, and why?"
"Would you be able to morally separate yourself from a procedure if you didn't personally agree with it?"
"(I was asked a number of pharmaceutical questions because the medical student who conducted the interview was also a PharmD) -If you were stranded on a desert island alone, what three drugs would you like to have?"
"When was the last time you cried?"
"Would you support legislation in that implemented universal healthcare in the US?"
"How much is too much?"
"What would you do if you caught a classmate cheating?"
"The sewage system was created sometime in the 50's. Why were the manholes circular in shape?"
"Do you know the connection between Nevada and North Dakota?"
"Tell me a joke."
"Who do you think is the greatest athlete still alive today?"
"If you were to hurt a loved one how would you deal with it?"
"Are all physicians scientists? Should they be?"
"You are a practicing physician and a patient has expressed that she's pregnant and wants to have an abortion. How do you handle this situation?"
"If you were sued twice as often as your business partner, what would you think and what would you to to change it?"
"What will be your biggest challenge in attending medical school?"
"If you could go back in time and talk to anyone, who would it be and what would you ask them."
"How will your faith impact the practice of medicine for you?"
"If you were to be dropped in a refugee camp with 10,000 people, assuming that you had complete medical training, what would be the first thing you would do?"
"I wouldn't say that the questions were difficult or particularly "interesting" however I really got the feeling that the questions were used to begin conversations that became interesting. The thread of which, depends on the interviewee. "
"Imagine that you are a fully trained MD, and we fly you off to some refugee camp (10k people) out in the middle of nowhere. What would you do when you landed?"
"Please discuss a current ethical issue debated in medicine (and society) and present both the pros and cons of the issue."
"Give me an example of an ethical issue that you are concerned about and discuss it."
"Who was the most influential American in the 20th Century?"
"What would you say to a pregnant 15 year old?"
"Actually nothing really stuck out when thinking about the interview afterwards... they just wanted to get to know me and my experiences."
"If there were two doctors with the same competency level and you noticed a pattern that one of the physicians was being sued twice as many times as the other one, what would you infer or assume?"
"What do you like to do for fun?"
"Tell me something that you have done that you are not proud of."
"What would you like to ask me about medical school? "
"If a 14 year old girl presented in the ER pregnant,bleeding and wanting an abortion, what would you do?"
"Name a time when you found an interesting way to resolve a problem."
"What was the worst thing you've ever done?"
"Dinner with three, who would it be and what would you ask them"
"What question haven't I asked you that you would like the committee to know?"
"Go back 20 years, how would medical school admissions differ from today?"
"What is empathy?"
"If President Bush called you up today and made you czar of health care in the United States, what would you do to fix it?"
"Pick an ethical topic and discuss it."
"MMI"
"Who has been the most influential person over the past century?"
"Treating problems caused by obesity could be considered "enabling" the patient. What do you think about this and what would you do about the patient's weight?"
"Health care reform related questions. Asked specific questions about a current bill & my opinion."
"Ethics question regarding abortion."
"Name a time when you showed specific problem solving ability (then asked for a second example)"
"What would your best friend say your greatest strengths and weaknesses are?"
"What are the specific responsibilities of physicians in providing health care access to the uninsured?"
"See above. Most of the questions were basic, however my first interviewer (MSIII) pushed all of the questions very far. For example, I answered the first question in detail, but the answer was not sufficient (as most of my answers). It became a sort of debate."
"The above question."
"As a Catholic, how would you go about dealing with abortion? "
"1. What's your biggest personal accomplishment? 2. What's the best choice you've ever made?"
"What is your biggest failure? What are you going to do if you don't get accepted to medical school for 20 years?"
"Pick an ethical topic and discuss it."
"What direction do you see medicine heading in this country?"
"If you were performing a transplant and the two possible recipients were a drug addict and an elderly person who would you give the organ to?"
"Describe a situation in which someone offended/insulted you, and how you dealt with it. (Then vice versa)"
"Looking at your application from the committee's standpoint, what do you think WE would consider the strengths and weaknesses of you as an applicant?"
"Where do you see yourself in ten years? I said I was interested in surgery and the rest of the interview from there was flat impersonal. I don't see why that would have offended the interviewer. This school seems to be pushing for everyone to become Family/Rural physicians. Nevada is still hick country except for Reno and Vegas."
"How do you feel about affirmative action? How would you feel (as a non-URM) if a URM less qualified than you was admitted instead of you?"
"Is the glass half empty or half full?"
"What are the social and ethical implications of euthanasia?"
"The question I asked myself - what was I thinking?"
"When was the last time you cried?"
"None were all that difficult... but most required me to pause and think a bit."
"Why medicine? It's so broad and I kind of lost track of my answer. My fault entirely."
"What is a mistake you made and what did you learn from it?"
"Describe a situation where you had difficulty communicating. I couldn't think of an example."
"How do you help people who don't want to be helped"
"Argue on behalf of both sides for removal of a feeding tube from a comatose individual who has no hope of ever being conscious again. And what would you do?"
"Why do you think there is such a discrepancy between the health care system in the US and the healthcare systems in other developed countries, and what can we as a country do to fix it?"
"Describe a crisis situation and how you dealt with it. Interviewers (both the student and the physician interviewer had the same list of questions, from which they read. "
"Imagine your 14 year old son is abusing drugs and you find evidence in his room. What would you do?"
"If a patient is on Medicaid and is severely allergic to a generic drug (and needs an expensive brand name drug instead), what would you do?"
"Same.."
"There weren't any, so I'll give another interesting question instead: If you could go back in time, what three people would you want to meet?"
"Because it was closed file, both my interviewers actually focused all of their questions around my experiences unlike some of the other interviews people have written about on SDN... no ethics questions and no real clinical problem-solving."
"If you got to be healthcare czar, what would you change about the American healthcare system?"
"Why should we pick you?"
"What would you do if you couldn't be a Physician"
"If you do get in, describe a day in your life ten years from now."
"see above"
"Your friend is unknowingly dating a girl that you know to be positive for an STD. What do you do? (I felt this was pretty cut and dry because I felt it was an issue of protecting public health, so I answered that I talk to the girl privately about telling my friend about her diagnosis and that if she refused I would have to resort to telling my friend to protect himself. I think the interviewer didn't like the conclusion I came to and for the rest of the interview the interviewer was cold and distant.)"
"Not necessarily difficult questions, but very thought provoking and pertinent questions were asked by both interviewers."
"name a major crisis in your life, how did you deal with it"
"Describe a major life blunder and describe how you handled it and how it affected you?"
"Nothing really difficult, the interview was very conversational and positive."
"If you were an interviewer, how would you determine if a potential med student was one who was going into medicine for the wrong reasons?"
"How many times will you try to get in to medical school before you give up? (Even though this is my first time applying...)"
"Where do you stand on abortion? (The interviewer then proceeded to defend the opposite of my view)"
"Mock interviews"
"Practice MMI questions from YouTube. Answer questions with a friend or parent. Answer questions by yourself OUTLOUD."
"Read books on MMI format and common questions"
"Understand medical ethics- autonomy, beneficence, non- maleficence, etc."
"Looking on SDN"
"Winged it ;)"
"SDN, CNN website, Primary&Secondary application review"
"SDN, bioethics websites, interview books, reviewed primary and secondary applications"
"SDN, bioethics website"
"SDN"
"SDN, ethics book, practice with friend"
"SDN, preprofessional committee at school, read bioethics manual, read a specific book on how to prepare for interviews, and had my roommate ask me question after question."
"Looked over this site, mock interviews, read over amcas and secondary essays, spoke via phone with my first-year contact about program. "
"NYTimes, SDN, school's website"
"I didn't really, listened to some pep talks from business partners, and listened to my favorite songs right before I walked in."
"read over ethical issues, SDN, books about interviews"
"UNSOM Website, SDN, bioethics websites, medical school essay books(interview chapters), answered possible questions before the interview"
"Read personal statement, ethics websites, thought about how I would respond to certain questions."
"read the schools webpage, talked to current students"
"Looked over the UNSOM webpage, SDN, read nytimes, bioethics webpages."
"SDN, students, bioethics info."
"AMCAS app, Secondary App, school's website, SDN, bioethics websites"
"SND, AMCAS, talked with other medical school applicants"
"Read SDN interview feedback, bioethics websites"
"AMCAS, UNR website, cnn.com, nytimes.com for current health issues, google"
"SDN, websites on ethical issues, AMCAS"
"Went to school there. "
"SDN, reviewed my AMCAS, talked with other students, read current events"
"This site. Mock interview with brothers. "
"Reviewed application, school materials, slept well, reviewed medical ethics websites and this website."
"Read JAMA, this site, NY Times science section, listened to NPR, read and reread my primary and secondary applications, read articles relevant to the field of medicine I'm interested in pursuing (addiction medicine)."
"SDN, School's website"
"Read SDN, discussed ethical issues with friends"
"kaplan interview questions, read medical journals, interviewed by friends, talked to UNR med students, sd network, UNR website"
"Asked current medical students for advice and SDN."
"Read SDN, re-read UNR website, glanced at ethics information."
"Read this site, talked to friends. Talked to the MS-1 who was assigned to me (which was VERY helpful)."
"Talked to students at UNSOM, talked to the first year who was "assigned" to me to answer questions, talked to alumni of UNSOM, read SDN, stayed current with political events which affect healthcare, read medical ethics websites."
"Read medical journals, looked up regional medical law, read popular news periodicals"
"Read this website and other websites with practice interview questions."
"Ethics website, SDN website, school website"
"UNR's online site"
"Studied up on current issues, especially the tort reform stuff going on in Nevada right now, did a mock interview at my school, and just read over SDN."
"I went over my AMCAS, my secondary application, looked up a lot of ethical topics and thought about them, did a practice interview with a friend."
"Went over AMCAS app, personal statement"
"Read over application, and got a good night's sleep"
"Bought a nice professional suit. I think interviews are to get a glimpse of who you are as a person, so the only way you can prepare is to be yourself. If I practiced at being someone I'm not, and they let me in based one that, it would suck trying to wear a mask for the next four years. "
"SDN,reviewed app,looked at bioethics sites"
"This site, talking to students from the school."
"Reviewed AMCAS application. Self-appraisal, weaknesses/strengths, etc."
"go over ethical topics, health care topics, my application"
"Read over my application and some interview guides"
"Knew my application and my motivation for medicine"
"Read over my AMCAS application, went to a few bioethics websites, practiced a few questions"
"Going over my notes from medical ethics and us health policy classes and rereading my application."
"Read over material from a past medical ethics class, reviewed my personal statement, and got my extra-curricular facts straight."
"Cost"
"The friendliness of everyone there"
"The facilities, the friendliness of the staff, interaction with first year students"
"New facilities being built"
"The students that I ate lunch with gave me a very good impression."
"The facilities and the small class size. Regional medical center hospital. Also the distance to Lake Tahoe. For anyone interested in outdoor sports like skiing, fishing, and hunting in addition to medicine, Reno's tough to beat."
"Small class size and new anatomy lab/buildings that is scheduled to open next year. "
"The sense of community among the students, faculty and administration; the USMLE pass rates; early clinical exposure"
"Both interviewers really seemed to support the school and be strong proponents."
"Student body is very open and relaxed."
"The students I met were really friendly."
"The interviewers and the tour guide. Very very nice. It was also nice to have a medical school student conducting an interview."
"My faculty interviewer (second interview) was very kind. He set the pace at the beginning by stating that I could relax and it ended up as a frienly conversation. He seemed impressed from the beginning, so the interview was short and to the point."
"Small class size, early patient exposure, very friendly and open interviewers, campus locale, skiing possibilities..."
"How happy the students and faculty are "
"facilities are nicer than I thought, physician was very open and established a rapport with me, student interviewer and physician seemed very professional. "
"the interviewers were friendly and wanted to know everything about your personality."
"Enthusiastic students, classrooms and study rooms, nice facilities, anatomy lab"
"The friendliness of staff/students. It is a small school that is there for the students."
"The new facilities planned and the upcoming opportunities for students, research, residency, fellowships."
"Every one at the school was great. The facilities are new, the faculty members were very easy to talk to and willing to help in any way possible. Additionally, I was able to examine the cadavers with a student during by tour. It was quite amazing to see a cadaver who had a complete Aortic bypass, in which the artificial vessel ran outside the chest wall under the chest and abdominal muscles. "
"The campus, students, etc."
"Everyone was extremely friendly! It was a very laid back environment - there wasn't any pressure."
"The campus is brand new and the students seem genuinely happy."
"The facilities are very nice and the staff was incredibly friendly. "
"How young my faculty interviewer was."
"The main facility is fairly new and very technologically advanced. Large classrooms equipped with microphones at each desk and configured for video conferencing. Small class sizes and great professors."
"How much better other medical schools looked."
"The facilities were awesome! The students were so friendly!"
"The interviewers were very friendly and were not trying to trip me up. They just wanted to talk and it was comfortable. "
"Everything is so NEW. The anatomy lab is beautiful, and I had a chance to look into my tour guide's cadaver. The class size is small and everyone I met was very friendly... I felt an instant connection with the students and faculty."
"Both interviewers (the student and the M.D.) were extremely personable and laid back. "
"How small the class size is (52). This promotes quite cohesive atmosphere, and the students all seemed really happy. I also got a chance to sit in on one of the classes, and thought the instructor was amazing! Very dynamic and had the whole class laughing for most of the lecture."
"My student interviewer (M4) was great and provided feedback on the experience at the med school, indicating that he felt adequately prepared for a future in medicine."
"The size of the class, how well the students know their professors and vice versa. I love the rural medicine rotation"
"Both interviewers were very friendly and made the situation very comfortable. "
"Everyone - staff, interviewers, etc - were SO nice.. both interviewers made the interview seem very low-key; they didn't seem to want to trip me up or anything. We really just had great conversations, so great that we lost track of time and the interviews went an hour and a half with the doc and an hour and ten minutes with the student - and I (and I think they) still wanted to keep going!"
"Both of my interviewers were very friendly and seemed genuinely interested in getting to know me. The MS-4 who interviewed me really seemed to like the school and was very open and honest about UNSOMs programs. "
"I visited Reno and UNSOM late last year and really enjoyed it. I would HIGHLY recommend visiting the school before you apply there. Some people have visited there and realized that they would never survive in that setting. (ie, compared to las vegas, the culture is a bit homogenized, and it lacks 3 billion degree temps... boo hoo)"
"Both interviewers were very nice and friendly."
"I was interviewed by a former dean of the school. He was extremely passionate about the program."
"All the students were very happy with the school. Very friendly atmosphere."
"Students seem happy...small class size...and tight knit community of faculty and staff"
"People from my religion and school attended there; The fact that the campus is split between Las Vegas and Reno. Also the staf were naturally friendly... no one was superficial. Also, the first interviewer was a non-physician from sociology, chosen to cater to my undergraduate degree... very nice and personable. The second interviewer was a third year med student... a wonderful guy."
"I actually had to interview at the Las Vegas campus, which is where I am from, so I wasn't really surprised with anything. I will hopefully visit the home campus at Reno sometime soon. The doctor and student I interviewed with were both extremely friendly and genuine which helped me to relax."
"New facilities, small school, great student body, very friendly."
"New facilities, front office. Friendly interviwers"
"Both of the interviewers had great attitudes and were interested in getting to know me."
"The interviewer was super nice. Thomas Hunt, director of residency programs for family practice medicine. He gave me a tour of his clinic, which was very impressive."
"Nice facility, library, low # of students"
"New student lecture halls and library."
"Everything. Friendly, personable, staff and students. One on one tour and interviews. Small class size. Cohesiveness and cooperativity of students."
"very nice interviewers, school seems more organized than some others"
"The amount of hands on experience 1-4th year medical students get a UNR."
"The friendly staff and faculty and the cost of tutuion."
"The sincerity and friendliness of my interviewers"
"The friendliness of my student interviewer and my student "peer contact.""
"Nothing. It is a small school with below average professors and curricula that tries to portray themselves with the likes of Harvard and Stanford med."
"Stressful interview."
"Nothing really"
"Interview with 2nd year student was way more stressed than physician interview"
"None"
"Tour guide did not seem enthusiastic about the school (told me that it sucked)."
"The second year interviewer was late and seemed unprepared."
"No need for interviewers to contribute their own political opinions."
"My first interviewer (an MSIII)! He was very cold and did not know how to socialize. He smirked as I answered some questions and seemed to get a rise out of arguing with answers that I gave him. Especially with regards to the ethical topics. Some questions dragged on for 10 minutes! The overall interview was well over an hour which made me late to my next interview! He didn't agree with my weaknesses. (?!) And at the end of the interview he told me know was the time to be honest. After an hour and 15 minutes of questioning!?! However, I was accepted, so I guess it wasn't too much of a negative for the admissions committee."
"Mostly just downtown Reno"
"The interviewer answered a personal phone in the middle of my interview "
"the other students interviewing-- they looked like they were going clubbing. Come on people, its called a full suit."
"They tend to push you to the limit sometimes, especially when it comes to your dedication about becoming a doctor."
"n/a"
"not much at all. "
"Ice on roads."
"If you are a white male with an average MCAT score (27-30) plan on applying twice - at least. They like to test your dedication. It's crap."
"The faculty interviewer was generally unprepared for the interview and seemed to have a personal agenda with many of the questions asked. "
"Well, I interviewed in Vegas so I didn't see the school. I love the people who work for UMC though."
"Downtown Reno"
"The rumored 80% Step1 pass rate in the previous years and the poor residency choices available. Rumored that the they are having trouble maintaining thier medical school accreditation."
"Nothing really."
"Not much."
"The main campus at UNR is nice, but the part where the med schools (all three buildings) is pretty barren. The insides of the buildings were fine. My interview schedule was changed the day before my interview, so I had a lot of downtime between my interviews and tour."
"My faculty interviewer didn't show much interest throughout most of the interview. I felt like we were just going through the motions, and found it hard to let "myself" come across in the questions I was asked. Any chance at conversation was usually cut short by another question."
"The campus is truly tiny. The students are in class way too much."
"My student interviewer had to cancel on me because she was held up at the hospital - BUT she and the UNR staff were SO nice about it, and it was something that couldn't be helped. In my case, it really wasn't that much of a "negative" because I was in town for several days, but if someone were from out of town and only there for the day it could have caused major problems."
"The interviewers did have identical lists of questions to ask me, which was a little off-putting. But we got fairly sidetracked in both interviews talking about my research and clinical experiences anyway."
"Nothing really "Negatively" impressed me, rather I "noticed" that the student interviewer and the physician interviewer had about 95% of the same questions, which came from a list they were given. "
"I didn't get to see the campus (since the interview was in Vegas)"
"I was not too impressed with some of the students we ran into during the tour. Very rowdy and stressed out (one even told us not to come here)."
"Relentless amount of ethics questions"
"I didn't get a chance to tour the campus, because of the location of the interview. "
"I was hoping to interview in Reno so I could tour the facilities and city, so having to do my interview in Las Vegas wasn't the greatest thing."
"Nothing."
"There was a three lapse between my first and second schedule. I was within driving distance, but what about the person that is from out of town and just has to hang out for three hours? The questions were contrived. I was asked nothing new or insightful. The school is really more concerned with your GPA and MCAT than they like to lead on. All the hype you might hear about how important the extracirricular activities are is for the students that don't have outstanding numbers. Having an ethnic last name or some obscure degree (computer science or engineering) will defintely help."
"Nothing"
"The first time I called for directions the nurse or medical assistant or whoever it was was a stone cold bitch who told me she couldn't give directions. It freaked me out, but then this really nice resident got on the phone and gave me really great dirctions, which of course I lost, so I had to call back and get them again. Maybe that's why I got rejected. I probably seemed like a total flake."
"The school had the attitude of "we're the only one in the state, so YOU better show us why we should pick you." Plus, as stated in the previous posts, it IS who you know and what your racial background is."
"For the second year in a row my student interviewer was late (the previous year he didn't even bother to show up and I was interviewed by someone that "had some time"). As mentioned above, my interviewer seemed to take personal offense to my answer and became very distant and uninterested. There was a two hour break between my first and second interview. "
"Nothing. Great school."
"Inability to determine what the priorities are for their admissions."
"The fact that I will have to be away from my family while I do the Las Vegas rotations"
"The School"
"The quality of the anatomy lab is not the best I've seen, and anatomy labs are prosected, so there isn't the aspect of discovering structure yourself--it's already been dissected out and pinned."
"The professor interviewer seemed miffed that I was there. Myabe I was interupting his research. The student interviewer I was scheduled with didn't show up, so I ended up being interviewed by some other student that just happened to have some free time. The tour of the school was severly limited by the pathetically small campus."
"Be concise with your answers. Don’t ramble but try and talk as much of the 7 minutes as possible per question."
"That my student interview would be so tough, and the physician interview so relaxed. Expected the opposite."
"One of the location was off-campus and it was really hard to find the entrance to the building."
"I wish I would have known that there was not going to be a formal lunch provided."
"That they were going to be friendly interviewers, so I wouldn't have been too nervous."
"Not sure if it's OK to put this here, but here?s a little inside information (not typical recruiting propaganda)I received from someone in their second year at Nevada: Well, if you decide on UNSOM, do so for personal and family reasons. The school itself is really not that good. We have a lot to improve upon. A couple of friends at other med schools (one back East and one on the West Coast) chose much better programs. For example, our school administration really doesn?t care or is on too much of a power trip to do much for our students. If someone struggles academically, they are pretty much on their own. The administration likes to pretend they?re supportive and that they will help students succeed, but what that really means is getting called up to the assitant dean?s office for ?a discussion? (basically a warning to shape up or get out) or if a student really has other problems, they may get to repeat the first or second year (like being held back in grade school). Part of the problem may be that our school is run by some power tripping secretaries (sorry, I mean administrative assistants). Some of them are really nice but some should probably work for the Department of Motor Vehicles. Our dean is really disconnected from the students but is pretty big on career climbing. He recently said that students aren?t a priority but he?d like to see more residencies in Nevada. He probably forgot who is going to fill those residencies. He?s been promoted to vice president of the university. Another problem with the administration is that they are super paranoid about cheating now. A while ago a student was totally copying off of another student (in the class ahead of me) and of course eventually got caught (they did a ?statistical analysis? to see if he was cheating). They tried to expel him but he sued so they put him in our class. We have to sign an ?honor pledge? which means almost nothing because it?s coerced and is just used against us to try to prevent cheating. Seems like they missed their chance on that one. So now we can?t use the bathroom which is like three steps away from the classroom during tests and sometimes we don?t even get to see the tests to know what we missed. Lame. I hear the class after us can?t even review test problems in some classes. That sucks because some of those instructors couldn?t even write a test question. One of them broke down crying when we challenged her exam questions. So the first year class can?t see their tests in that class anymore. Sucks to be them. The curriculum is pretty mediocre. Some of our instructors are good, but a lot of them shouldn?t be teaching med students. It was even worse last year. I?ll have to wait and see what I get in some of my classes this year, like Path which is taught by this little Napoleon guy who has turned out to be pretty good. Other classes just sucked. I went to _________, a pretty good undergrad school, so I wasn?t prepared for the shoddy instruction we?d get in med school. You can?t understand some instructors at all because of English problems, which is stupid because we are supposed to be learning stuff to save lives. A couple of our ?clinically oriented? classes are run by three or four people who are totally unqualified to do so, but they?re way too arrogant to accept criticism or change. Some other course instructors just don?t care or are really just totally oblivious if we understand the material. We do course evaluations but it doesn?t affect anything. Usually, the same bad instructors keep doing the same bad lessons. Since you?re not a ?traditional? pre-med, you may be on your own. The overwhelming # of students are traditional white upper middle class, with some Asian students as well. My class has two black students (thank god! they are both awesome) out of over 50 students but the other classes don?t have any black members. Diversity is not very strong here. Hispanics and native americans are way underrepresented, which is lame because Nevada has strong populatons of both. There?s a couple older students in the first year class and one in the third year class but they don?t seem to be involved much in school. They got in because they had super high admission scores but all they got for financial aid was loans. I think they came here because of family obligations. And you definitely don?t want to be openly gay here. There are a lot of rednecks, even the students who say some pretty ignorant and offensive things about gay and lesbians. Some don?t believe that HIV research and treatment should be funded. We?re pretty backwards here sometimes. The good thing about my school is that we get to be with patients pretty fast. In one course, we pretty much shadow a doctor in their office for two semesters and get to do procedures depending on the doctor. Also, we have a Student Outreach Clinic for people without insurance that is cool. There?s a lot of student politics around it sometimes and you have to wait a lot to get a patient, but our class has really done awesome with it compared to the previous class It?s only a couple times a month though, but it?s still cool. That?s about it. I hope this helps your decision. Keep this to yourself because this could really hurt my school career here if the administration knew I told you this. Good luck in your applications. "
"Nothing. I did not interview at the school."
"Nothing shocking..."
"I interviewed in Las Vegas and would have liked to have been interviewed in Reno to see the campus. "
"I should have brought some tylenol- I had a wicked headache"
"After the interview, they ask you to write a quote for the admission committee to read. "
"How many current students were re-applicants."
"nothing"
"--"
"Lots of clincal opportunity since it's the only medical school in Nevada"
"How bad the step 1 pass rate was!"
"They may be increasing the class size over the next few years."
"That the interview is not as bad as people make it seem. Just go over this website and its questions and youll be fine."
"Nothing."
"Interviewing in Las Vegas can be a disadvantage. I'm not sure how the process is in Reno, but I don't feel that I got the right impression of the school. I wasn't given any information about the school, and very little effort was taken to attract me to the school."
"I really wish that I had been able to go and visit the campus to get a better sense of what the environment for at least the first two years may be like."
"All my friends and contacts at UNSOM told me that it was going to be low-stress, and indeed it was. Was I able to relax about it? Heck no!! I fretted about it until the last minute, then just got into the interview and tried to shine. Whew, I'm glad it's over!!!"
"Nothing - their website is very informative."
"Not much... they are straight forward."
"For some reason I had thought the interview was open-file so when the doctor asked me for a resume/CV to look at, I didn't have one. The rest of my interview was spent explaining things that she could have just read of the CV. Basically, just take a resume with you just in case they want to take a look at it."
"I wish I had known how to answer the healthcare question."
"Much of the anatomy lab is prosected, but there are real cadavers so that's cool."
"Nothing shocking"
"How to get there!"
"The adcom is more "numbers based" than they say they are. It's all about being "diverse" rather than having the most qualified students enter."
"Knowing the right people at this school is a huge part of the getting in, regardless of a pathetically low GPA and MCAT scores."
"think about what you are most proud of, think about what is your best achivement in life so far..."
"N/A"
"Where the school is located. It isn't the easiest thing to find--I'm glad I went the day before to check it out."
"In state students are given more preference than is led to believe. In addition, this school will reject a perfectly good candidate just to see what he or she will do. I was rejected with a 30 MCAT and a 3.93 cummulative GPA and was accepted to University of Washington Medical School."
"I felt like I had enough time to answer the questions. Positive experience overall"
"Don’t feel bad if you mess up on one MMI question. That’s why there are multiple!"
"Seems like a great school that has just built a brand new building. It also looked like they have a good relationship with the surrounding community. Everyone there seemed really friendly and nice."
"Wonderful school, small class sizes, you get to know pretty much all your classmates"
"Great school. So stoked that I got in. Everything about the school seems awesome, and every student that I talked to seems to love it here."
"Great location and great school"
"Very conversational and they really just want to know you. "
"There really weren't any surprises, just have the usual questions thought out a little."
"Both interviewers were really laid back. Don't be nervous (easier said than done, I know)! There is nothing to be worried about, just be yourself. I think that's what they're looking for the most."
"The interviews went OK. They weren't very deep. A lot of it was spent going over stuff that was on my application because it was a closed file interview."
"Wasn't impressed with it at first but after visiting there and learning more about the school, I was definitely impressed."
"The first interview was long, drawn out, stressful, my spirits were down, and I thought that I did not want to go to a school that produces doctors like that. However, the second interviewer was very kind and he eased my nerves. I just couldn't believe a student could be so rude."
"Very smooth and conversational. No unexpected or difficult questions. Because I showed up early, the staff interviewer showed me around the facilities and our interview was as much about discussing life in Reno as it was about finding out about me. Everything was punctual and easy-going."
"This was my first interview and I was fairly impressed with how casual and kind the student and staff were. My first interview was an orthopedic surgeon who is a graduate of UNSOM; my second interview was a MS4. The interviews seemed more like a conversation rather than a formal interview. I wasn't too happy with the fact that I wasn't given a tour of the school/facility. I wished that I could have interviewed in Reno to see what the campus was like. "
"Very comfortable environment. THe physician met me and took me to a room with a large conference table, we talked for an hour and 15 minutes (really, a 20 minute interview is a BAD thing when you are suppose to have an hour people). Then we finished and I met my student interviewer, and went to the same room. We talked for about an hour. Very relaxed, but challenging ethical questions. It ended with a tour of the fantastic facilities. "
"Overall very stress free, both the interviewers want to REALLY explore your passion and your dedication about becoming a MD."
"It was a great interview experience! It was very small, personal, and comfortable setting. Interviewers really wanted you to feel calm and stress-free. I really liked the fact that the tour was one-on-one and did not make you feel intimidated to ask questions. This experience just made me even more excited to go to this school."
"interviewers were very nice, student interviewer was awesome. Both interviews were more of a conversation. "
"This is a school that is concerned with every aspect of the student @UNSOM. It is a small school, but the education is quality. "
"I had a great experience at the UNSOM. Their small class size, great faculty, and early patient contact are some of its best qualities. "
"Good experience, both interviewers were faculty, was definetly worth the trip, as opposed to doing it here in vegas."
"It was very laid back and conversational. I enjoyed meeting with both of the interviewers a lot. I learned a lot about the school and definitely want to go there!"
"I feel like interviewers should be more neutral, but my student seemed rather put off that I was interested in surgery. My faculty interviewer was cordial and very enthusiastic about me - but so was my one last year and I was rejected in January. I wish I was a female diabetic amputee that worked for the Peace Corps. I would have it made."
"It was a good experience overall, though I did not have a good feeling after my interview with the faculty member. I would have preferred an open-file interview as a lot of time was spent talking about things that were already in the application. "
"I interviwed here before and knew what to expect. It's a tough interview for me, because it's not really conversational. They really grill you and you must know the answers to the questions. Be prepared to constantly have follow-up questions to your answers, especially the ''why medicine?'' question."
"I was not very excited about the location, but my interview experience was so encouraging and positive that it made me give a lot more consideration to this school."
"Low stress, easy questions. "
"I was able to meet with my student contact before my first interview and that really helped calm my nerves. Both interviews were very relaxed...professional but relaxed. They really wanted to know a lot about me and my past experiences. Both interviewers took notes during the interview (don't let this freak you out). I was able to speak with many of the current students during the down time (they were in and out of the lounge in between classes). Overall it was a great experience. The facilities are wonderful and the students are very nice!"
"I had the interview in Las Vegas. Spoke with a professor and then a student. Both were very nice. "
"Very relaxed, conversational. Lots of lag time, however, between interview sections. The tour was very brief as the school is very small, but afforded the ability to meet many students and see everything."
"Overall it went well. Any weirdness was completely my fault. The interviewers were very cool. I feel I did better with the student interview than with the M.D., but both went quite well."
"Overall I was impressed by the school. I was not too sure about Reno, and although I am not terribly enthusiastic about the city, the school, faculty an staff was encouraging and friendly."
"The website isn't very thorough, and there wasn't much information provided about the school at my interview. I would recommend going to the school for the interview if at all possible. I was already a little skeptical of the school, but would like to hope that this experience is not representative of what to expect from them in terms of education."
"Both of my interviewers were incredibly nice. The professor was very honest about how much time students spend in class, and how he felt it was a detriment to their medical education. This guy was a therapist and you almost feel compelled to tell him all of your faults. The student interviewer mostly wrote verbatim what I said in response to questions."
"This was a really great interview experience. I began at the Las Vegas Med. School building for my interview with a 4th year med student. Unfortunately, she was held up at the hospital and ended up not being able to make it. The staff was awesome and hung out with me while I waited, and we rescheduled for the next day. Then I went to the physician's office for that interview. He was very nice, and we had a great conversation. He had a list of questions he asked me and seemed to want to get to each one, but it was quite conversational. I almost wish we'd had more time, but as it was the interview was nearly an hour and a half. The next day I met with the med student, and that was even better that the one with the physician. She was very nice and easy to talk to. I never felt like she was trying to trick me, but rather we discussed very real issues that a physician could encounter. She was also very candid about her positive and negative experiences at Reno, which I appreicated. Honestly, I wasn't sure that Reno would be a place I really wanted to go, but after this interview (and barring anything scary that I might see up at the actual campus) I'd feel very lucky to be accepted here!"
"Overall it was a great experience. The interviewers were very friendly and personable. They made me very comfortable and were never confrontational or rude. My faculty interviewer did ask some ethical questions and defended views opposite to mine, but in an 'i want to challenge you to think' way not an 'i think you're wrong way'. I had a great experience and think that attending UNSOM would be a very positive experience. "
"I really want to go to this school, and I think they figured out that I wasn't BS'ing them on that fact. I think if you aren't positive that you want to go to UNSOM, they're going to pick up on that too. Don't waste their time or yours if you don't want to go there. Overall, it was a good experience, the interviewers seemed to really make an effort to look at me as an individual and specifically how I would fit in to the upcoming class. It wasn't an interview "mill" and if you've gotten this far in the process, you have a pretty good chance of acceptance."
"Tough question bombardment (mostly ethical) by the MD, friendly chat with the fourth year med student"
"Basically for the faculty interviewer you will need to know (at least in my case) how to describe your undergraduate experiences and general ethical issues, and for the student interviewer be sure to study generic med school interview questions (historical figure you would you like to have dinner with, proudest accomplishments...etc). Bring copies of your resume."
"First, you are assigned a Peer advisor that gives you advice on the interview process as well as any information you want on the school. Then you travel to UNLV for the first interview with a non-medical professor... specifically picked among the admissions commitee to cater to your undergraduate degree (Sociologist for Behaviroal sciences students). Then you go to the LV-Medical school, a small bldg where you meet up with your second interviewer, a third year medical student (this student gives you an interview, but has no decision in the final say as does the first interviewer)."
"Overall, I learned more about the school and they way they base their teaching style, which was nice. I am originally from Las Vegas so even though Reno is my state school, it had never been my top choice or anything. Now if I get in, I would definitely think about going there a lot more than before."
"In general, the interview was great. I interviewed with the professor first and then with the medical student. The professor interview was a bit stressful and he really challenged me. He liked to dig deep into every single aspect of any answer I gave. But overall, he was a nice guy and I enjoyed meeting him. The interview with the medical student was fantastic. The med student was extremely nice and asked some great questions that were testing my thinking abilities but were still not too difficult. The interview with the medical student was awesome and I really enjoyed meeting such a wonderful individual."
"The people were friendly. The questions were easy for the most part. If you have an average MCAT (26-28) or and average GPA (3.4-3.7) expect to apply more than once, especially if you're a male."
"One interview with a student, and one with a faculty member."
"I think the interviewer was so warm and friendly that it almost became a therapy session. I let my guard down and admitted some academic weakness. Maybe he saw that and thought I wasn't ready for the rigor of medical school. Well, this is the second year they rejected me. I give up on this school. They are too stringent. For chrissake, it's only a state school, and not exactly a state known for it's academic standards. I am a nontraditional applicant, which they claim to consider, but I doupt it. Maybe I'll do a residency with UNSOM one day, but I won't attend med school there. It's funny, but I work in the hospital as an RN among their residents, and hardly ANY of them went to American medical schools. Most came from the islands. So I don't understand why their med school is so elitist. "
"Interviews went well overall, just the usual questions given get old. I would like future interviewers to get to know their applicants better rather than trying to stump them on useless ethical questions. (Anyone can prepare for that just like the MCAT) This school so desperately wants to be in the ranks with the top dogs, they will have perfectly good applicants reapply (sometimes up to 5 times I've heard) just to see if they REALLY want to be a physician."
"The front office of the medical school is very nice. "
"Excellent, all-around experience. "
"student was extremely laid back, professor had many questions to ask"
"The interviews were VERY low stress and I felt the interviewers wanted to get to know me. There was a large amount of questions so I was always getting cut off because they wanted to finished their questions. Would have rather been able to speak more freely."
"My experience was very positive. This is a smaller institution but that is a really good thing. The class size (54) is great, and there are ample opportunites for clinical experience in rual NV (big plus for me)."
"Although my interviews went well, and the interviewers were great at making me feel at ease, I remain unimpressed with the school."
"Very positive. I felt that I learned a lot about a very good program. The small size of the school is a big selling point for me, as I went to a "name" institution as an undergrad and am sick of anonymity. The University of Nevada seems like it will be a good way to get a good, personal education."
"As far as medical schools go, this is an extremely small fish in a huge pond. The admissons committee has their priorities completely jumbled and it seems like they really don't know what they are looking for. Stay away from this one."
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| Student | 39 |
| Faculty member | 1 |
| Admissions staff | 1 |
| Other | 2 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| Enthusiastic | 20 |
| Neutral | 4 |
| Discouraging | 2 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 7.72 | 32 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| In state | 27 |
| Out of state | 5 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 0-1 hour | 21 |
| 2-3 hours | 3 |
| 4-6 hours | 8 |
| 7+ hours | 1 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| Airplane | 11 |
| Automobile | 22 |
| Train or subway | 0 |
| Other | 0 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| < $100 | 10 |
| $101-$200 | 4 |
| $201-$300 | 3 |
| $301-$400 | 3 |
| $401-$500 | 1 |
| $501+ | 2 |
Reno-Tahoe international airport
las
RNO
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| At school facility | 0 |
| With students at the school | 1 |
| Friends or family | 10 |
| Hotel | 7 |
| Home | 1 |
| Other | 0 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 7.75 | 32 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 7.66 | 32 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 6.28 | 32 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 9.56 | 16 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 9.38 | 16 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 6.94 | 16 |
"Make interview all on one day to make it easier for applicants who live far away."
"Make the website more clear in what you want the students to submit. There is some ambiguous wording on the admissions page"
"I would have liked to have known ahead of time that there would not be a formal lunch provided."
"They were great and really willing to help with anything you need."
"They seem very busy, but were good at getting back to me, especially Mrs. Marshall."
"I think the admissions staff was very friendly. Especially Linda Marshall. I had paperwork lost an"
We help students become doctors. TM
What is one of the specific questions they asked you (question 1)?