9. Was I able to slip in information that I
wanted the interviewer to know about me?
10. What would I have done
differently?
With honest answers, you can then go on and
prepare more effectively for the next
interview. The results should be better. The
first interview is usually the toughest. Try to
schedule it with a school that is not your first
choice, if this is at all possible.
THE SELECTION PROCESS
_________________________________________
Every medical school has an Office of
Admissions. This office processes the voluminous
paperwork associated with the admissions
process and usually carries out the initial
screening as discussed below. When student
files are complete they are referred to the
school's admissions committee. Medical school
admissions committees have a compli-
cated and difficult task. Selecting future
medical students requires assessing diverse infor-
mation about each applicant in order to make
decisions that affect the lives and careers of
applicants, the attainment of their schools'
educational goals, and those of society as a
whole. This information about every applicant
includes family, ethnic, and geographic
background, activities that may reflect
motivation and career aspirations, letters of recom-
mendation, personal statements, academic
records, interviews, and MCAT scores.
The selection task is further complicated by
the fact that medical schools vary with
respect to their educational goals. Some are
dedicated to educating primary care physi-
cians and/or physicians for specific sites or
regions; many are committed to care for
underserved populations. Some seek to educate
academic physicians, while others edu-
cate missionaries. Various educational missions
motivate schools to select students with
different characteristics deemed by individual
schools to be vital for their specific mis-
sions. These attributes may be academic
background, geographic origin, ethnic back-
ground, career motivations, and value
systems.
As an autonomous institution, each medical
school has its own selection process
and admissions criteria (see profiles, Chapter
7). There is considerable procedural vari-
ability among schools and one scheme cannot be
applicable for all. Even the makeup
of admissions committees is not fixed, although
15 seem to be the average number of
members, with representatives coming from the
schools' basic and clinical science
departments, each serving for terms of one to
three years. Some schools have
appointed students (usually seniors) to their
admissions committee as voting or non-
voting members.
The basic selection process takes three steps.
At each step some of the variable
approaches are noted.
Preliminary Screening
The first step is designed to narrow down the
large pool of applications that a school
receives to those who merit further serious
consideration.
Screening Personnel
After your application and supplementary
supporting data (in whole or in part) have
been received, your folder will be screened
either by two admissions officers indepen-
dently or by a subcommittee of the school's
admissions committee.
Screening Criteria
This is subject to variation and may
include:
· Total GPA and MCAT percentile (with
average GPA levels usually varying
between 3.2 and 3.7 and MCAT levels between the
60th and the 80th percentiles).
· Total GPA, science GPA, nonscience
GPA, and total MCAT scores.
· Quantitative data as well as letters
of recommendation.
· Total application packet including
letters of recommendation and application essay.
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