#11: Faculty interviews

Interviews are a way for medical schools to separate the normal people from the weirdos. Of course, they have a quota for weirdos that they need to accept, but overall they try to keep this number to a reasonable minimum. The reason they do this is that if anyone asks, they want to be able to talk a lot about diversity and then point to a few key statistics. This is what they like to do with minority applicants as well.

Med school interviews are different at different places. Traditionally, they are conducted by faculty members, although some schools are moving to interviews by medical students as well. If you interview at a school that has both faculty interviews and student interviews, remember that the faculty interviews carry about forty times more weight. Med students are only allowed to interview you so they can say they contributed to the school and feel good about themselves.

Before conducting the interview, faculty members will have read over your application very superficially for things that stand out at them. They will then ask you about these things in the interview. Don't mind that if they had just read the application more carefully, they would already have all the answers to their questions. They are just trying to classify you as either normal or weird based on the way you answer the questions.

Faculty members will also ask you if you have any questions for them, and it is important to prepare with a few:

• What kind of student would do well at this school?
• What has been your best experience here?
• What are the biggest hurdles that most students face?
• What are some mistakes you've seen students make?
• What are some recent changes the school has undergone?

The answers to these questions probably don't matter to you. The goal is to make yourself look good so that the school will accept you.

Remember that it never hurts to be a sycophant. Ask them about all the degrees they have cluttering their walls or about the important and cutting-edge work they do. While these topics have nothing to do with you as an applicant, it will make the faculty members feel good about themselves and report positively about you.