I Like You

It's an awkward thing to say in a relationship, and the same goes for expressing interest to medical schools (this is in response to a comment from November 28.) I have several thoughts on this issue.

- It's late enough (now) in the interview season that you are likely starting to have a sense for which medical schools will be your top choices. You see, at the beginning of interview season, when an applicant says, "I like you," I think to myself, "I don't believe you." How could you know?! There are too many fish in the sea. But by now, you've sewn some oats; expressing sincere interest means something. So, one potential thing is to overtly express interest when you send your thank you notes. Something like...

"I have nearly completed my interviews, and I anticipate that ___ with be one of my very top choices. I would be absolutely delighted to become a medical student at ___."

- That said, saying it in a thank you note is not enough. I HIGHLY recommend sending a letter of interest to your top choice. But, be cautious. You should not be sending multiple letters of interest. Your word means something. While the above comment could be sent in thank yous to, say, your top three choices, a letter of interest should be sent to just one. I would send it electronically so that it can easily be forwarded (if necessary) and so that it makes it into your electronic file. Be brief, personal, and sincere. Say why you think the school is a good fit (as opposed to just saying that it is a good fit).

Just yesterday, I was chatting with a current first year at my school who says that this time last year she knew my school was her first choice. She sent an email to one of her interviewers because she had been waitlisted, and he recommended that she write a letter to the admissions committee expressing her sincere interest in attending. Although a waitlist is a slightly different scenario, she was delighted to report she got in shortly thereafter. Admissions committees often look kindly upon these communications. You have nothing to lose, so go for it! If you message me, I will happily review yours.

What Not to Say

A gem from my interview with an applicant this week: It is not ok to use the term "douche-bag" in an interview, particularly when describing another individual.

Sunday Funny

One of my friends, an assistant to the Director of Admissions at a graduate school, recently shared with me this:

"[S]miley faces have their appropriate settings: text messages between friends, on a child's spelling test, and even from the greeter at Wal-mart. An example of an inappropriate setting might be, let's say, on a personal autobiography statement for your grad school application. Especially in lieu of appropriate sentence endings (i.e. a period)."

There are plenty of qualified applicants out there, and the folks who read applications are pretty much searching for a reason not to read further.  Try not to give them one, or at least not one so obvious :)

Don't Blow It

Simple enough advice, but tremendously challenging for many applicants: don't blow the interview.

My school's Admissions Committee met again this week, and I was surprised that applicants' "numbers" (GPA, MCAT score) and overall qualifications came up only twice during a whole evening of discussion.  Instead, what dominated the dialogue was the interview content. 

Highlights:

• One applicant was described as "lacking depth."  He was apparently unable to elaborate upon some of the observations he made in his personal statement about differences between the US healthcare system and healthcare systems elsewhere.  
• Another applicant was marked down because the interviewer was unable to get him "off script."  Often, interviewers are truly trying to get to know you.  For example, when they ask what you do for fun, it's not a trick; they really want to know what you enjoy.  This is not an opportunity to say something about how much you love sports because they have taught you about working in teams and developing as a leader.  It's enough that you love sports.  Save the additional details for when you're asked a more appropriate question.
• One applicant was described as "weird."  There are plenty of extremely normal smart folks out there.  Being a bit unique is nice; being gross is not.
• Finally, an applicant was described as arrogant.  This is a big problem.  Every future doctor is proud of their achievements, but a little humility goes a long way.  It's not too much to ask you to be humble for 30 straight minutes.

Remember:

• Everything in your application is fair game.  If you are unable to expand upon your coursework, activities, or topics you discussed in your application materials, read up.
• Regardless of how much you've rehearsed, try to ad lib a bit.  This will become even more challenging as the interview season continues.  Relax.  Chat.
• Don't be "that guy."  For example, if you lived and bathed in a park during part of undergraduate, you might just keep this to yourself.  Really.
• Be poised and confident.  Don't be cocky.  Often it's not what you say, it's how you say it.

Comment Follow Up - Thinking of Thanking

Last week, I emphasized the importance of thanking interviewers, and I received a Comment today that I feel merits further discussion.  Don't loose sleep over this issue, but here are my thoughts:

Writing thank you notes will not get you into medical school, and choosing not to write them will not keep you out.  Writing thank yous isn't about good karma, or paying it forward, or hoping for more points on your interviewers' evaluations.  It's simply the right thing to do. 

For one thing, you will be a student at one of the schools at which you're interviewing in less than a year (!!).  While you may never see your interviewers from the other schools again, your interviewers from the school you will attend are likely to be lecturers, attendings, and even mentors in your very near future.  Thanking them is the courteous and professional thing to do.  Some of these interviewers may one day be your colleagues.

Additionally, writing thank you notes is also about creating allies who can help you with your decision making process.  Come spring, you may be making some difficult decisions, and it's nice to have established rapport with some of the very people who can help clarify questions for you. 

Finally, it's just nice.  People like nice people, and it's nice to be a nice person.  This season, I have received multiple thank you notes, and on every occasion except one, I had already completed my evaluation of the applicant by the time the thank you arrived.  But, the fact that they wrote notes to thank me for my time was very meaningful and makes me think highly of applicants I had already decided I really liked.

Certainly, if you have been told not to thank your interviewers (maybe Stanford does this?), it would be inappropriate to do so.  (As an aside, learning to properly follow instructions, even silly ones, is an important part of the medical school process.  Earlier this year, I had a Residency Program Director tell me that applicants who did not follow the instructions to list prior education in reverse chronological order were not invited for interview regardless of how qualified they were!)  However, it's hard for me to imagine a school specifically instructing you not to thank someone.  Do you really want to go to that school?  And, if your thank you note borders on coercion, I suggest you tone down the language. 

I love reader Comments.  Keep commenting.

Action

Institutional Action, that is.

I recently reviewed the application of a young man who answered "Yes" to the question regarding "Institutional Action" on his AMCAS application.  Although he could not have known at the time, his application and letters of recommendation actually include no mention of his infraction.  However, I feel he did the right thing by being forthcoming because the consequences would have been significant if a letter or institutional endorsement had mentioned his infraction and he had not.  Moreover, I was impressed by his response because he 1) explained the scenario (he had an unopened alcoholic beverage in hand and falsely reported his name and age), 2) took full responsibility for his actions, and 3) demonstrated personal growth as a result (not only did he perform required community service, but he continued to volunteer at the same place for the remainder of undergrad).

Impressive.

Danke Schoen

I really cannot emphasize enough how much Thank You notes after interviews matter. Previously, I've mentioned Thank Yous here and here. I have actually been quite surprised how few Thank You notes I have received this season. Perhaps this is in part due to the fact that I'm a student conducting interviews, but given that I have equal weight on the committee as my more senior colleagues, I think this is a mistake.

Although I'm editing to ensure anonymity (both for me and the applicant), I received a Thank You note via email this evening very similar to the one below, and it blew me away. I found the applicant to be appropriately gracious while continuing to sell herself as an applicant and also mentioning specific details of things we discussed during the interview. Kudos to this applicant! I thought she was terrific when I interviewed her, and this just confirms what I already knew.

Dear ______,

Thank you so much for the opportunity to interview at *** Medical School on Tuesday. I was really impressed by ***'s top-notch facilities; I was especially amazed that ***. I was also impressed with the innovative PBL curriculum, which seems to be an excellent match with my experience working in small groups as an undergraduate and in my current job. I loved the location and would love to be in *** near my family during medical school.

Thank you again for taking the time out of your busy schedule to meet with me. *** is on the top of my list of medical schools. I really appreciate your consideration for entrance into the Class of 2016. Good luck with your residency interviews!

Sincerely,
_____