As a post-bacc, I volunteered with the admissions office to assess prospective candidates. After the program director had interviewed a candidate, post-baccs in the program would have lunch with them. Although it was just a friendly lunch, rest assured that the program director asked for our impressions of and insights into the interviewees. In that sense, the lunch was not just a lunch. It was also a continuation of the interview because the post-baccs gained valuable information about what sort of classmate the interviewee would be. At one particular lunch interview, I watched a travesty unfold: an ivy league candidate so cocky and unimpressed with us that we kindly shot down his application. Let his missteps be a guide for you, as this was the worst way to conduct oneself during an interview.

Why do medical schools and post-bacc programs interview you?

Before I get into the horror show, let’s go over why medical schools and post-bacc programs take the enormous amount of time and effort to interview candidates. They have already read your essays and seen your standardized test scores and GPA. The only thing left is to confirm that you are a decent (or at least convincingly decent) human being. One who is emotionally intelligent enough to navigate the myriad of social interactions with patients, nurses, techs, and physicians in the future.

During this particular lunch interview, the candidate demonstrated a total lack of emotional intelligence. While I won’t disclose which Ivy League school he went to (Brown University) nor what his major was (Theater), suffice it to say his pretension was palpable. The other post-bacc and I endured a long solipsistic meta-analysis of the ways in which interviewees attempt to impress interviewers and how this constituted a socially constructed narrative. Uh, duh! In addition to this uncharacteristically inane conversation topic at a lunch that was essentially an interview, he messed up royally by not even pretending to be interested in the program. He didn’t ask any questions. He didn’t seemed excited to be there at all and even mentioned casually that he had recently interviewed at the other most prominent post-bacc program. He had his phone in hand during our lunch and at one point he even left the cafeteria to take a phone call. Even more brazen than that was his texting right in front of us.  I may be old-fashioned—but then again so are your interviewers—having your phone in hand and using it during any portion of the interview day is beyond rude. To top it all off, he cursed non-stop. Don’t get me wrong, I drop the f-bomb not infrequently. But I have the good sense — the socially constructed good sense — not to do so when I’m at an interview. The other post-bacc with me was actually offended by how much he was cursing. 

Here are the basic steps to acing your post-bacc interview:

1. Be genuinely excited to be there.

If you have difficulty with expressing genuine excitement, read Dale Carnegie’s book on How to Win Friends or Influence People. Always remember during an interview that your interviewers (unless they are admissions officers), don’t have to be there. They are taking time out of their busy schedules because they like the program they’re involved with and want to help select good candidates. Be happy to be there. You can even listen to a bit of music with a positive vibe before going into an interview if you have difficulty with this. I like to talk to everyone, including other applicants, to make them feel comfortable (and yes, that means being nice to the janitor too). It’s important to exchange pleasantries and to be kind to everyone. I’ve heard anecdotally about an admissions dean at Brown Medical school who was carrying some bulky items and trying to open a door to the admissions office. A number of medical student applicants assumed she was unimportant as she was casually dressed and so they didn’t offer to help. One post-bacc gave her a cheery hello and offered to help carry items in. Guess who got admitted to the Medical School? 

2. Ask questions.

You need to do a lot of research prior to an interview. Read the website of the school. Find friends of friends who go to the school to learn what students and deans think is special about the program. Know what special populations they serve or what sorts of opportunities they have before interview day. Mention what you’ve learned in your question stem, but phrase your questions as open-ended. For instance, “I’ve heard the post-bacc program requires a service component. What are the most popular places students volunteer?” or “What was your experience like volunteering?” Ask about your interviewers’ experiences. And remember people love it when you ask them for advice. 

3. Be prepared to answer questions about your resume and your application.

Especially important are the following questions:

Why medicine?

A lot of people struggle with answering this question. Keep in mind: you do not need to prove that medicine is your life’s calling. What you need is a concise explanation of what you were doing prior to your interest in medicine, and why you want to become a physician now. Most people’s reasons boil down to an interest in science/learning and a desire to help people. Those reasons sound cliché, which is why the optimal approach to this question is to talk about your personal experiences. How a particular volunteer experience or a particular shadowing experience moved you or made you want to become a physician. I find that using specific anecdotes about your experiences can be very powerful.

What’s a book you’ve read recently?

If you don’t read often, pick out a book and start reading it because you don’t want to say you don’t read. If you’re interested in a non-traditional career changing post-bacc or a top-tier medical school (UChicago, UPenn, UCLA, etc), it should be something non-medical. 

What are your hobbies/ interests outside of medicine?

This is crucial to convey you are a normal human being who enjoys normal human being activities. Please select what you say with some discretion. While your hobbies may include going to clubs and playing video games late at night, it may be preferable to talk about some of your other hobbies as these may give the impression that you would be a poor student. As non-traditional students, your interests outside of medicine are a large component of what you offer to medical schools—a unique set of interests and hobbies. Be honest but thoughtful about answering this question. 

4. Put your cell phone away.

Turn it off or on silent and don’t take it out, especially not to text.

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