Interview feedbacks

It's been a while since I've updated... but I have so much to update that it'll take a while to finish! First things first, since it's almost D-Day (6more days!),

 I'd like my talk about my interviews at Drexel and Temple!

 Drexel (02.27.12)

 For my Drexel interview, we were supposed to get there at 8:00am, so I woke up at 6:00am to shower and get ready. I got to Drexel's Admission's Office a bit late because we got a bit lost and there was more traffic than we had thought. The GPS said it would take 15mins from the hotel we stayed at (in Chinatown... food was awesome, especially the Lan Zhou La Mian), but it ended up taking around 40mins...

 Anyways, so I went in a bit late/awkwardly, got my schedule for the day, and then, of course, it's a test! More like they gave us a sheet with an ethical dilemma and we had to write what we would do in that scenario. My scenario was something like your final project is a research project and you're not allowed to use web-based resources. The person next to you is obviously using web-based resources. What would you do? After the "quiz", the lady there started giving a brief overview of the history of Drexel, and started talking about the two different curriculums available at Drexel. Before she got to the one I was interested in (PIL), I had to leave to catch the shuttle for my faculty interview. So I take a shuttle that takes about 15-20mins to Hahnemann, the hospital my faculty is at. My appointment is at 10:30 and I get there around 10:00. On the shuttle, I meet another faculty, who saw my holding my map with directions. She was really nice and helped me find where the building was. So I'm there about 30mins early and the arrow signs that points to where my faculty interviewer's room is at is very misleading. It's actually to the right of when you first walk in from the elevators, but the arrow pointed the room to the left, so I literally wandered around the whole floor before I realized where the room was. I go in at around 10:25 and his secretary calls him saying "Your 10:30 is here". She tells me he'll be right here, so I sit around waiting and look around the room. He gets here at around 10:40 and we go inside his room.

 My first impression of his room is "wow he must be a busy person" because there are literally stacks of papers about 2ft high covering his floor and on his desk. He motions me to sit as he walks behind his desk. After I sit and he sits, I can't see him anymore over his foot tall pile of papers... We sit and he confirms that I am who I am and that I'm from MA. Then he asks me why medicine? I start talking and he starts interrupting me as I talk to clarify things. Halfway through a sentence, his phone rings and he picks it up. After he answers, instead of waiting for me to finish, he proceeds to ask me what I see myself doing in 10yrs. I'm like okay I'm not done talking, but whatever, I'll just answer. So I start talking again, he makes no indication that he's listening, but I think I see him writing. Then, he asks me what other interviews I've had, will have, and whether I've heard back from them yet. Afterwards, he asks if I have any questions. I ask him about the curriculum and he tells me to go ask Admissions, then I ask him about research opportunities, and he says maybe a three word answer. He then dismisses me and we leave. I thank him for his time and I meet the second interviewer outside. I look at the clock as I leave: 10:53. Okay, so a 12min-ish interview... I leave, find the shuttle, call my parents and say "Crap I'm going to get rejected." I sit waiting for the shuttle to leave for about 10mins and before the shuttle leaves, I see his next interviewee come in the shuttle with me, so I"m like okay it's not just me. We talk about how our interviews went and she said hers was okay, just very short like mine.

After we get back, I've missed the tour, so I sit in the waiting lounge and wait for my student interviewer. After starving for like an hour, my student interviewer finally comes and gives me a $7 meal ticket. I get a chicken salad sandwich and a bottle of water. My student interviewer was a pretty cool guy and we talked a bit about my background and about Drexel and living in Philly. I think, this went pretty well, too bad my faculty interview went really badly. My student interviewer told me that every student he's interviewed so far has had my faculty interviewer and they are all intimidated by him afterwards, which makes me feel a lot better. After the student interview, there was supposed to be a Q&A session. I wanted to stick around because I'd missed the information session, but after about 30mins of waiting, the secretary comes in and tells us that they don't know what happened to the Q&A person. She apparently never showed up and they couldn't get in contact with her, so we were all dismissed.

 I went back and started actually prepping for my Temple interview, since I had done so badly with Drexel's. My parents drove to Temple to look around, because they didn't want to get lost tomorrow and be late again. We ate dinner at a Pho restaurant that night and I stepped in dog poop :(. Food is so cheap in Philly Chinatown ($6 for a LOT of food) but it's like all cash, so I guess that's partially why it's cheap. I went to bed after watching the newest episode of Running Man (forget which episode) at around 9pm. My Temple interview was at 10:00am, so getting up at 8:00 to shower and dress would be fine.

Temple (02.28.12)

 We left early for Temple's interview and I got there around 9:15 for my 10:00 interview. When I got there, the security desk told me to sign in, so I got a pen and looked around for a sign-in sheet. The security guy was literally like -____- no you sign in at the computer. I'm like OH! It asked for my name, why I'm there, time, and it took a picture! I didn't realize it was going to take a picture, so I look really dazed in my picture. Then it printed out an ID and we had to wear it. Then I walked to the Admissions Office, and there, I got my schedule/information folder. The secretary was really nice and she told me where I was going. I saw that there was one other guy in the waiting room but he only sat around for a few mins before leaving for his 9:30 interview. My faculty interviewer was, once again, at a different building, but I didn't need to take a shuttle. I was about to walk there, but my parents decided to drive me. It was less than a minute drive.

When I went inside the building, I had to sign in again at security. This time, it was a paper sign-in sheet. I got my faculty interviewer's room at around 9:50 and he said I was here early, but we could start. He was definitely more organized than my interviewer at Drexel, and he had a guitar :). He asked me "Why Medicine?", "What do you see yourself doing in 10yrs?", "Why not MD/PhD?", "hobbies/extracurriculars?", "volunteering and research exp?", "Why Temple?", and the most interesting question: "What was the worst job you've ever had?" He was typing the whole time I was talking, but he gave confirmation that he was listening to what I was saying. I asked him about the research and clinical opportunities there and we finished in around 25minutes. I walked back to the Admissions Office where I saw more interviewees. Then we were given a information presentation as well as a financial aid presentation. Then, four first year students came and did an ice breaker before giving us a tour. They actually took us to the anatomy lab and there were dental students dissecting a real human's head, which was pretty interesting and scary at the same time. We had lunch, which consisted of sandwiches/wrap, chips, salad, and soda/water.

After the lunch, we went back to the admissions office to wait for our student interviewer to pick us up. My student interviewer was very nice and he's also interested in pediatrics, so I got to talk with him about the different opportunities at Temple for pediatrics. We talked for about 30/40mins and then he lead me back to the Admissions Office, and then I went back home. I definitely felt better about this interview and I was more calm when answering the questions.


 So of course after reading all of this, you're probably wondering "what happened?".

After about 9weeks of waiting, Drexel decided to waitlist me, which is a surprise because I thought for sure I was going to get rejected after doing pretty badly with the faculty interview. Apparently, though, the student interview plays a big part for Drexel, so I lucked out there.

After about 13days, Temple also decided to waitlist me (or what they call "continuing candidates"). It was great that they gave me a decision so quickly, and for Temple, waitlist was probably the best I could get because from studentdoctor, they had stopped giving outright acceptances since like Jan or Feb.

My thoughts? Temple is definitely my top choice. Its facilities are amazing, and there are so many outreach opportunities. It just acquired Fox Chase Cancer Center, so I can continue doing cancer research in med school, and the students are all extremely close to one another, which is another really nice part of Temple. I sent Temple a Letter of Intent, saying that if I'm granted admissions, I will definitely attend and that is true. Drexel is also a great choice because of the PIL curriculum and its facilities were pretty nice as well. I sent them a Letter of Interest, expressing my sincere interest in Drexel.

So May 15th (D-Day) is coming up soon and it's when the waitlist movement begins. I really do hope I get off one of these waitlists because I really am excited for medical school, even if it means a lot of work! Hopefully, my near future will be in Philadelphia :)! Also since my family is officially moving to California, probably by end of July/early August (we've sold the house already...), it'd be great if I can move to Philly as well :)! Fingers crossed for good news on D-Day. Just 6 more days!