Wake Forest Interview Recap

I was extremely impressed with Wake Forest. The area is absolutely beautiful. The medical school/hospital area is set in a residential area so it does not have a bit city feel at all. The city itself isn't big anyway.

I had to be at the admissions office by 10:00am. We then had "hospitality" until 10:30, where there were cookies out and we just chatted with the other applicants - there were six of us total. We then had a welcome/orientation presentation which gave us an overview of the school itself. Around 11:00, we had a presentation from financial aid - which was extremely informative, but somewhat overwhelming. The costs associated with going to medical school (especially out of state or a private school) are daunting.

At 11:45am, the six of us joined two second-year medical students for lunch where we could ask them anything we wanted. All of the students I talked to throughout the day seemed to really love WF (which is probably why they are chosen to talk to applicants!).

At 1:00pm, the six of us were split in two groups. Three of us went on a tour first, while the other three did interviews first. I was in the first tour group. My tour was led by a 4th year medical student. This was the first time that I had been able to talk to a student that was almost done with the process. She brought a different perspective than the 2nd year students - and we took advantage of being able to ask her lots of questions. The hospital that is part of the complex is big and pretty. There is some interesting architecture, and the buildings are taken care of well. The technology that is used at WF is impressive. Everything is based on computers - so much so that they provide all incoming students with a brand new nice laptop computer.

At 2:00pm, the groups switched and it was time for my interview. The format of WF's interviews were a little interesting. We had three 15min one-on-one interviews. We would go into an interview with a faculty member, and when it had been 15 minutes, there would be a knock on the door signifying that time was up. We would then wrap up the interview and the interviewer would spend a few minutes writing notes, then the three applicants rotated to the next interviewer.

The interviews were also a semi-closed file interview - meaning the interviewers did not know the applicant's scores, GPA, or other credentials. All the interviewers knew about us was what we had written in our essays. This format is designed to remove some bias that is associated with the scoring. Interviewers opinions could be impacted by scores alone, and WF was trying to evaluate us on a personal level without the impact of our scores. When the committee votes on our admission, they will factor in our scores as well as the interviewers' decision. The three interviewers had a vote at the end of the day for each applicant on whether they thought they should be admitted - majority rules.

Because the interviews were so short, there wasn't much time to really get in too much conversation with my interviewers. Unfortunately, I was not really given time to ask them any questions. They did manage to ask me a few really interesting/difficult questions. One interviewer asked me to "name a famous physician from more than 100 years ago that made a significant contribution." When I was able to come up with a good answer he said, "Ok - now name another one." That guy was tough - but I think I did pretty well! I was also asked to name "some things that are easier for you than they are for others" and likewise to name "some things that are harder for you than they are for others." Those were somewhat difficult to come up with a good answer for. Overall, I think I did well in the interviews.

By 3:00pm, the day was done and I wad back in the car for the long drive back. (I figured out that between my last two interviews, I've spent 26 hours of the past six days in the car - and I'll be heading to Penn State next weekend!)

Strengths:
Beautiful, safe area
Small, cooperative class
Case-based learning
Small town feel
Friendly atmosphere
Amazing technology
Low cost of living
Excellent reputation
Weather!

Weaknesses:
Tuition cost
Distance from home

So far, I am extremely impressed with WF. The only big negative I can think of is the cost of attendance. Tuition there is roughly $38,000/year. If I go to a state school tuition is closer to $25,000/year. That difference is hard to justify - but at this point I'm just waiting to see how things come together. It's still too early in the process to know what will happen.

I should hear a decision from WF on or around October 15.