- Joined
- May 3, 2015
- Messages
- 3
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When I was about to head in for the interview I couldn't find a lot of detailed accounts of what happens, so I decided to quickly drop in a few words about my experience. I applied for the 2015-2016 Premedical program, NOT the MD.
Quick run through of my stats:
8 O Levels, not extremely impressive (2A*s, 2As, 2Bs and 2Cs).
Currently finishing three A Levels (Biology, Chemistry and Mathematics) with predicted grades AAB respectively. (Though I'm aiming for A in maths. Haha. WATCH ME SUCCEED, DEAREST MATHS TEACHER.)
Also AS Art & Design with a whopping B.
I did the SAT2's only once because I wasn't sure if I should do them (NOTE!! On the website it says that they are reccommended but not required. DO THEM. Most applicants have their SATs/ACT and it's BEST to have them as well.) I got: Chem, 700 and Bio-M 650. I was sad I didn't do better but I had a very short time to practice.
I also did the ACT test. It was the residual test with WCMC-Q, and I have no idea how I did, but I got to the interview stage so I assume I didn't fail. The test was relatively easy.
My personal essay/statement was 800 words as required, and I got to show off my creative writing skills (I had to tone it down a little, obviously, but apparently it still showed). Wrote about why I wanted to medicine etc. and a short story of something that happened when I interned at a hospital for 2 months.
I also included a bunch of extracurricular stuff like Grade 6 Piano, Grade 5 Music Theory, work experience (been working since I was 13 mostly odd jobs but also freelance graphic design), hospital experience (two months in a hospital, best two months of my life to be honest), and a whole bunch of community service I did with school and with neighbours over the past few years.
THEN. I got an email about being invited to an interview. Mine was on the 21st of April. We were 5 people being interviewed on that day. First, the Director of Admissions (They was lovely and super nice!) talked to us for a while and gave us a quick run-through of what would happen that day and was open to any questions we asked. Then they gave us a quick tour around campus (we didn't get to see the lecture halls because they were full... of students being lectured
) and then lead us to the place where our interviews would be.
Now, idk if everyone is usually aware but there are THREE INTERVIEWS. Mine was two interviews with faculty members and one with a med student (4th year, one week away from their graduation). Everyone usually gets different interviewers. It's a one-on-one thing, very quiet and not scary formal! The Admin Assistant lead us around to the rooms where the interviews are (also very lovely and super duper nice!). The interviews were mostly along the same lines. Important questions were:
-Why medicine?
-Why WC?
-What do you know about WC? (I talked about what I knew of the program and the school and general community. It's good to have spoken to students or professors beforehand).
-What will you do if you do not get into WCMCQ?
-Tell me about your extracurricular activities. How does this certain activity help you become a better practitioner? (I was talking about piano. Mostly went off about committment to it and whatnot. I can give more details on this).
-Tell me about yourself. (I had so much trouble answering this question. I started getting it in the second interview, but best to prepare beforehand. Think about relevant things to say about you.)
-Tell me about a conflict that happened to you and how you dealt with it. (Talked about an extremely embarrassing incident in the hospital where I was pretty sure the entire staff was tricking me because I was the short kid with the big hair and the notebook. Can give more details on this and how I dealt with it.)
-The first interviewer was much more specific with me. If you have heard about Egypt lately, you might know that we have a new capital (Or 'New Cairo' or something) being planned to be made in 8-ish years. He asked what I thought of it, and how I think it would impact the medical world/hospitals etc. A quick (and very brief) runthrough of what I said was that even though I am excited and optimistic about it and its new facilities especially healthcare, I pointed out that there are countless hospitals already suffering and when a lot of the funding goes elsewhere it may overshadow many already poorly supplied facilities. While it may be good on the long-term, I was afraid it would be damaging in the short-term.
-If you get in, what is something you will be frightened/scared/concerned about the most? (I said dealing face-to-face with patients, but it occurred to me that I had a much better and more introspective answer than that. THINK CAREFULLY BEFORE YOU ANSWER. Don't be a dumbo like me.)
I'll add more as I remember.
After the three interviews, we got a tour of Education City (it's where the campus is located. A huge space with lots of unis.) The dorms were amazing. The Admin Assistant did the kindest thing where when they realized I had a foot injury, they tried to get us on the elevators instead of the stairs as often as they could. After that, we had lunch with current students (Pre-med 1) and it was pretty nice. Then we had a brief talk with a representative about Financial Aid and they answered any questions we had.
I still have not received any reply! They are supposed to reply this week (1st week of May) and I'll tell you guys how it works. SORRY FOR WRITING SO MUCH. This was supposed to be like 500 words...
Quick run through of my stats:
8 O Levels, not extremely impressive (2A*s, 2As, 2Bs and 2Cs).
Currently finishing three A Levels (Biology, Chemistry and Mathematics) with predicted grades AAB respectively. (Though I'm aiming for A in maths. Haha. WATCH ME SUCCEED, DEAREST MATHS TEACHER.)
Also AS Art & Design with a whopping B.
I did the SAT2's only once because I wasn't sure if I should do them (NOTE!! On the website it says that they are reccommended but not required. DO THEM. Most applicants have their SATs/ACT and it's BEST to have them as well.) I got: Chem, 700 and Bio-M 650. I was sad I didn't do better but I had a very short time to practice.
I also did the ACT test. It was the residual test with WCMC-Q, and I have no idea how I did, but I got to the interview stage so I assume I didn't fail. The test was relatively easy.
My personal essay/statement was 800 words as required, and I got to show off my creative writing skills (I had to tone it down a little, obviously, but apparently it still showed). Wrote about why I wanted to medicine etc. and a short story of something that happened when I interned at a hospital for 2 months.
I also included a bunch of extracurricular stuff like Grade 6 Piano, Grade 5 Music Theory, work experience (been working since I was 13 mostly odd jobs but also freelance graphic design), hospital experience (two months in a hospital, best two months of my life to be honest), and a whole bunch of community service I did with school and with neighbours over the past few years.
THEN. I got an email about being invited to an interview. Mine was on the 21st of April. We were 5 people being interviewed on that day. First, the Director of Admissions (They was lovely and super nice!) talked to us for a while and gave us a quick run-through of what would happen that day and was open to any questions we asked. Then they gave us a quick tour around campus (we didn't get to see the lecture halls because they were full... of students being lectured
) and then lead us to the place where our interviews would be.Now, idk if everyone is usually aware but there are THREE INTERVIEWS. Mine was two interviews with faculty members and one with a med student (4th year, one week away from their graduation). Everyone usually gets different interviewers. It's a one-on-one thing, very quiet and not scary formal! The Admin Assistant lead us around to the rooms where the interviews are (also very lovely and super duper nice!). The interviews were mostly along the same lines. Important questions were:
-Why medicine?
-Why WC?
-What do you know about WC? (I talked about what I knew of the program and the school and general community. It's good to have spoken to students or professors beforehand).
-What will you do if you do not get into WCMCQ?
-Tell me about your extracurricular activities. How does this certain activity help you become a better practitioner? (I was talking about piano. Mostly went off about committment to it and whatnot. I can give more details on this).
-Tell me about yourself. (I had so much trouble answering this question. I started getting it in the second interview, but best to prepare beforehand. Think about relevant things to say about you.)
-Tell me about a conflict that happened to you and how you dealt with it. (Talked about an extremely embarrassing incident in the hospital where I was pretty sure the entire staff was tricking me because I was the short kid with the big hair and the notebook. Can give more details on this and how I dealt with it.)
-The first interviewer was much more specific with me. If you have heard about Egypt lately, you might know that we have a new capital (Or 'New Cairo' or something) being planned to be made in 8-ish years. He asked what I thought of it, and how I think it would impact the medical world/hospitals etc. A quick (and very brief) runthrough of what I said was that even though I am excited and optimistic about it and its new facilities especially healthcare, I pointed out that there are countless hospitals already suffering and when a lot of the funding goes elsewhere it may overshadow many already poorly supplied facilities. While it may be good on the long-term, I was afraid it would be damaging in the short-term.
-If you get in, what is something you will be frightened/scared/concerned about the most? (I said dealing face-to-face with patients, but it occurred to me that I had a much better and more introspective answer than that. THINK CAREFULLY BEFORE YOU ANSWER. Don't be a dumbo like me.)
I'll add more as I remember.
After the three interviews, we got a tour of Education City (it's where the campus is located. A huge space with lots of unis.) The dorms were amazing. The Admin Assistant did the kindest thing where when they realized I had a foot injury, they tried to get us on the elevators instead of the stairs as often as they could. After that, we had lunch with current students (Pre-med 1) and it was pretty nice. Then we had a brief talk with a representative about Financial Aid and they answered any questions we had.
I still have not received any reply! They are supposed to reply this week (1st week of May) and I'll tell you guys how it works. SORRY FOR WRITING SO MUCH. This was supposed to be like 500 words...
