When it comes to your medical school interview, preparation is the best antidote to anxiety. But there are better ways to prepare than just churning through sample questions. Over the next six days, our new series will walk you through everything you need to know to prepare for the traditional medical school interview. Check back daily as we discuss the six question types you can expect and provide response structures, sample answers, and practice questions.
The First Response: The Three-Minute Elevator Pitch
The first question your interviewer asks will likely be something general that invites the widest-ranging answer. This question comes in many forms. It could be as short and blunt as: Tell me about yourself. It could be: Walk me through your resume. It could be: Can you talk to me about anything you believe will enhance your candidacy for admission? We had a client who told us her first interview question was: “So…?"
These opening questions require a three-minute answer. Think of it as an elevator pitch response. Naturally, you want to reiterate your commitment to studying medicine. It is okay to stay in a linear timeline: I did X and transitioned to Y. What's important is explaining the motivation behind your decisions. You can also share who you are via your three most impactful experiences. Practice some possible responses to ensure you're not going wildly under or over the three-minute mark. Don't try to memorize anything word-for-word as this will lead to fumbling with your words or coming off as wooden. But have an outline in mind—some milestones you know you want to pass.
Some sub-questions you might answer to build your "Tell me about yourself"-answer are:
What was your path to wanting to study medicine?
How did your undergrad experience prepare you for medical school?
Do you know what specialty you'd like to study? Why?
Do you want to take this opportunity to expand on any meaningful clinical or research experiences and how they've impacted you?
What fun fact about you could you close on?
Here's an example of a strong answer:
“I'm 24 years old. I'm from Tiny Town, NY, and I'm one of three children raised by a single mom, a veterinarian. I did not grow up wanting to be a doctor. I started at Public University as a psychology major. After learning about the relationship between eating disorders and the brain, I was fascinated. I switched to the pre-med track. As a junior, I served as a T.A. for Biology 156, my favorite course when I was a sophomore.
I'm currently taking Introduction to Neurobiology, a course at Local College to expand my knowledge of the brain. For the last year, I've worked as a clinical research assistant on a study for a new drug treatment for Parkinson's Disease at SuperCool Hospital. I wrote about this experience in a Most Meaningful response in my Work and Activities. But I'd like to expand on how it's further impacted me since my application. Doing this clinical research has allowed me to connect with patients more than in any of my other clinical experiences. Since applying to medical school, I've only grown closer to our returning patients. One patient, Denise, enrolled in the study after she couldn't hold her newborn grandson due to her tremors. Even simply talking about how the disorder affects her daily life seems to be helping her. Moreover, it's been incredible to see the impact of an emerging treatment that, so far, seems to be improving her and other patients' lives.
As an undergraduate, I was also involved in a research study. This one incorporated lab rats. I so value the lab and critical thinking skills that I learned in this work—but I must say that I do prefer working with people. They're chattier. [Laughs] Eventually, I'd like to pursue neurology and look forward to participating in future clinical research studies in medical school and as a physician.
In addition to being an enthusiastic student in my post-graduate course and a clinical research assistant, I'm also in charge of baking elaborate cupcakes for my family's birthday parties. I decided to learn how to bake after watching too many episodes of The Great British Bakeoff. I'm also very involved in planning my hometown's Centennial celebration. I loved growing up in my community, and I'm looking forward to this event.”
Admissions committees like it when applicants include personality in their answers, especially when answering this question. Revealing something fun about yourself encourages a connection between you and the interviewer.