Interviews

Health professional schools that have interest in your application after reviewing all of your application and supporting materials will invite you for an interview. Most health professional schools only interview candidates they have a strong interest in.

Scheduling and travel

Health professional schools can be very limited in the dates they have available for interviews, and you will have to pay for your travel to and from the school. You should take these facts into consideration when you make decisions about when to apply and which (and how many) schools to apply to. The interview season runs roughly from September to early April, and individual schools follow their own timelines for inviting applicants.

Format of interview

This varies from program to program. You may have a formal interview with one questioner. You may be interviewed by a faculty member and/or current students. You may meet with a panel of interviewers by yourself or with other candidates at the same time. And you may be asked to respond to a series of situations and questions in multiple mini interviews (MMI). At some schools interviewers will have read your file, at others you will be starting with a “clean slate.” You may have more than one interview and type of interview during the day. When you schedule your interview you should ask about the format of the interview. Note that interviewers rarely see their role as adversarial, they simply want to get to know you better.

Some rules for your interview

• Dress formally. You are seeking to join a respected profession with great privilege and authority, so you should dress the role.
• Be considerate and curious with everyone you meet during your interview day or weekend.
• If you have the chance to spend the night with a current student, do so. This is a great way to get to know more about the school and its students.
• Ask good, informed questions every chance you get. The best interview result is one where both you and the school come away mutually impressed by a match of interests, opportunities, and abilities.
• Some common interview questions:
  • Tell me about yourself.
  • What do your friends say about you?
  • Tell me about your hometown, family, college, etc.
  • What are you most proud of and why?
  • What mistakes have you made?
  • What challenges do you anticipate in professional school?
  • What is the most difficult decision you have had to make?
  • Why did you apply to this program?
  • Where do you see yourself in ten years?
  • What would you change about your chosen profession?
  • If you could not be a doctor/dentist/veterinarian etc, what career would interest you?
  • What do you do to relax?

Additional Interview Resources

• Schedule an appointment with an advisor at the Greene Center through Handshake to practice interview questions and skills.
• AAMC Medical School Interviews includes information on what to expect in medical school interviews, the different types of interview formats such as MMI, and tips on how to best prepare.
• ASDA Interview Tips includes information on what to expect in dental school interviews and tips on how to best prepare.
• AVMA What to Do in an Interview includes information on what to expect in veterinary school interviews and tips on how to best prepare.
• The Princeton Review includes the 50 most common interview questions you can expect to be asked. 
• US News has a range of resources, tips, and strategies that are useful during your preparation.