u/Existing_Ad7163

I had an interview at UMich last week which is my dream school and I feel like it was only okay. I'm super mad at myself because all of my other interviews have felt really good so far and I think I put too much pressure on myself because it is my top school. Like my interviewer asked if I had any patient experiences that stood out or impacted me and I just rambled for a bit. This question was literally something I had answered pretty well previously too 😭. I know rambling on a few questions isn't the end of the world and I feel like I connected pretty well with my interviewers otherwise. I always hear stories about 90% of interviews being average, but my stats are low for Michigan so I really needed to lock in. Am I just being too harsh on myself?

Barring a totally awful interview performance, what med schools give a pretty high chance of securing an acceptance as long as you interview decently well?

I know that interviewing earlier is usually correlated with a higher chance of acceptance. But is there also a correlation between getting in and the time between secondary submission and II. Like for example, say someone submits their application later so they aren't able to receive one of the first interview invites, but they get an II like a week after submitting. Is if safe to say their application was pretty standout and they have a pretty good chance of getting accepted so long as the interview goes pretty well?

I've been using a few of their free scenarios and I think its been pretty convenient so far but the feedback seems a little much. Like a lot of times its said I've been to vague and for one question on AI and the benefits and risks of technological advancements in medicine it was like "your answer wasn't good because you didn't mention informed consent, end-to-end encryption, and rigorous cybersecurity frameworks." Am I supposed to be using buzzwords like this 😭

Have an interview coming up for UMich, which has a pretty high post II acceptance rate (>80%) and I've been practicing a lot for it, but I haven't done a lot of interviews throughout my life and I'm still pretty nervous about messing it up. I'd say I'm a relatively normal person and can hold a conversation well but I know the pressure and stakes are going to make me fumble my words a but. I know it depends on the school but would y'all imagine that for a school with a really high post-II acceptance rate that the interview would hold less weight because they've pretty much decided they really like you from the application alone and now they're just trying to make sure you're normal. I've heard that some schools weight the interview as much as a LOR and others its like 80% of the decision and I'm lowkey tweaking.

Have an interview coming up for a school with a pretty high post II acceptance rate (>80%) and I've been practicing a lot for it, but I haven't done a lot of interviews throughout my life and I'm still pretty nervous about messing it up. I'd say I'm a relatively normal person and can hold a conversation well but I know the pressure and stakes are going to make me fumble my words a but. I know it depends on the school but would y'all imagine that for a school with a really high post-II acceptance rate that the interview would hold less weight because they've pretty much decided they really like you from the application alone and now they're just trying to make sure you're normal. I've heard that some schools weight the interview as much as a LOR and others its like 80% of the decision and I'm lowkey tweaking.

I have an interview on September 10th and I haven’t started preparing yet. Is a little bit each day over like the next two weeks enough or should I have started sooner? How long do people normally prepare for so I know for future ones.

Is it bad if I come across as too excited or eager? I got an II to my top school and I’m genuinely so excited about this place and the things they offer. I don’t want to make it seem like I’m absolutely glazing the place but when talking why that school, is it okay to say things like “I really hope to explore this aspect of the school” or “I’d be really excited to join this group and would love to participate in X.”

I have two updates to include that weren’t in my primary application and was wondering when I should send them. One is a service award I received and the other is a research poster I presented. First, for the schools I have received interviews for, should I send it after the interview? Second, for the schools I haven’t received interviews for, should I send it now or wait until a little bit later?

Was grateful to receive an interview here and was wondering if anyone had tips or advice to prepare. I know people can’t share specifics but how were the vibes, difficulty of MMI (I’m worried about that), etc. I’m kinda nervous because I have lower stats (516 MCAT and 3.6 gpa) compared to UMich’s median and I really wanna make sure my interview is good because it’s my top school. Thanks!

I know UMich has an insanely high post II acceptance rate. Is it one of the few schools where it's truly your spot to lose?

I know there's always the talk about the service heavy schools that really want to see a lot of non clinical volunteering, but are there any schools that really love to see like 1500+ hours of clinical volunteering.

For some schools I chose not to explain poor grades because they didn't have a specific secondary for it and only had an "anything else" secondary which I used to talk about a poster presentation and community service award that I received after submitting my application. I'm now realizing I'm a dumbass and I could've put that stuff in an update letter. Did I mess up by doing what I did? For reference my freshman gpa was 3.10 and I had a C and 2 B minuses. I have a strong upwards trend with a 3.8+ my last two years resulting in a 3.64 overall gpa. This is from a T10 undergrad and I also got a 516 on the MCAT.

I am currently debating between three non clinical activities to pursue during my gap year. They are volunteering at a food bank, volunteering in a homeless shelter, or volunteering as a firefighter. Honestly, I am currently leaning towards firefighting. I have already been an EMT at the same fire station for the past three years and watching the firefighters do all their stuff seems super cool and very rewarding. We're also a pretty busy station for the area and go to about 4/5 fires per month, so it's not just lift assists or nonsense alarms. However, I have talked to a few people and my advisor and they said do the homeless shelter or the food bank because its more related to underserved populations and shows more service/altruism and that firefighting won't have as much of an impact. I have worked with underserved populations through two of my other activities (free clinic and taught health literacy classes to local children in an underserved area). Just wanted to seek out some advice and see what other people thought. Thanks!

I am currently debating between three non clinical activities to pursue during my gap year. They are volunteering at a food bank, volunteering in a homeless shelter, or volunteering as a firefighter. Honestly, I am currently leaning towards firefighting. I have already been an EMT at the same fire station for the past three years and watching the firefighters do all their stuff seems super cool and very rewarding. We're also a pretty busy station for the area and go to about 4/5 fires per month, so it's not just lift assists or nonsense alarms. However, I have talked to a few people and my advisor and they said do the homeless shelter or the food bank because its more related to underserved populations and shows more service/altruism and that firefighting won't have as much of an impact. I have worked with underserved populations through two of my other activities (free clinic and taught health literacy classes to local children in an underserved area). Just wanted to seek out some advice and see what other people thought. Thanks!

I’ve been reading back over my secondaries (I know I shouldn’t) and some of the takeaways and reflections I had were so basic and cliche. Like bruh what the fuck was I even talking about 😭

Seeing interviews being sent out for schools who’s secondaries I submitted early is making me second guess all of my writing. Maybe my secondaries are ass 😭

I’ve been reading examples of secondaries from like Shemmassian, BeMo, and other websites and honestly I feel like some of them are really bad. Are the samples on these websites from people who were actually accepted? Is the average premed writing really that bad? I’m not saying mine are perfect but I feel like mine are better than most I’ve been reading. Maybe I’m overhyping myself.

I haven’t been doing this, but I’ve heard people saying they been mentioning school specific stuff like initiatives or programs in these types of essays. Am I cooked for not doing this? My why us essays are all very school specific but not these ones.

I know it says observed, but can it be a situation where I was the one demonstrating respect and empathy? Wanted to see what others had done for this. Thanks!