Medical School Admissions (2013-2014 Cycle): Why does every pre-med bring a fancy portfolio and legal pad to medical school interviews?

If you have already undergone a medical school interview, you will have noticed that everyone brings a fancy, leather portfolio with a legal pad inside. You probably did too. But did you, or any other pre-med in attendance, actually use the portfolio? What's the point of bringing a portfolio if no one uses it?

I may surprise you by advising you DO bring a professional-looking portfolio with a legal pad. But I also suggest you actually use it to store some important items and take notes. Here's how a porfolio should be used in the medical school interview scenario:

1. Store a copy of your AMCAS application, secondary application for the school you are visiting, and any publications/abstracts in the inside folder. This will allow you to review these items prior to the interview or during breaks in the interview day. It is unlikely any interviewers will ask to see your publications, but it's not unheard of - so best to be prepared.
2. Put a small roll of dental floss into the pocket as well. I can't tell you how many times I've seen pre-meds with food stuck in their teeth when interviews occur after a meal. Having floss might just save you from an embarrassing situation.
3. Take notes! There is no need to take notes during the interview, as that may seem pretentious. But definitely jot down your thoughts after each interview making special note of:

Interview date

Interviewer name and title spelled correctly

Topics discussed

School positives

School negatives

Overall gut reaction

Taking five minutes to log your thoughts will be helpful in keeping the details of each school straight in your mind and remembering specifics to put in thank you notes. As schools start to blur together on the interview trail, these notes will be very helpful.

Good luck and get in!

Suzanne M. Miller, MD, FACEP
Emergency Physician
CEO, MDadmit Medical Admissions
www.MDadmit.com
415.939.5251

Author of:
How to be Pre-Med
The Medical School Admissions Guide
How To Get Into Medical School with a Low GPA

Medical School Admissions (2013-2014 Cycle): It's not too late to receive an interview

I am receiving many anxious e-mails, calls, and tweets from pre-meds who have not yet received a medical school interview invite. Though it is a bit late in the cycle, there is no need to panic yet. Most medical schools still have some interview invites to hand out.

However, there are a few things you can do to determine if there is a problem with your application requiring immediate action:
1.  Review your AMCAS and secondaries with a medical school expert, such as your school's pre-med advisor or a medical school admissions consultant. I just had a client who realized certain classes had been categorized incorrectly on the AMCAS application, making the science GPA inappropriately low. This is the kind of issue that can sink a medical school application and needs to be addressed immediately through the appropriate AMCAS channels, such as submitting an official academic request form.
2. Call each school that you have applied to and returned a secondary application. Ask if your application is complete and if all interview invites have been given. You may find a secondary you submitted was never received. You will also learn if some interview invites remain.
3. Call each school that you have applied to and not received a secondary from and ensure the school has everything it needs prior to sending a secondary application. Also inquire about whether any more secondaries will be sent out (quite unlikely at this stage in the medical school cycle but it doesn’t hurt to ask).

The key here is to look for help and ask questions. Ignoring the situation because you are too busy or afraid of the answers is not the way to go. Get informed and fix any errors. You never know, asking for expert advice and making a few phone calls to medical schools could mean the difference between medical school acceptance and rejection.

As always, let me know if I can help!

Suzanne M. Miller, MD, FACEP
Emergency Physician
CEO, MDadmit Medical Admissions
www.MDadmit.com
415.939.5251

Author of:
How to be Pre-Med
The Medical School Admissions Guide
How To Get Into Medical School with a Low GPA