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Anyone interview yet? I have an invite to interview in December! How did you plan your trip, and what advice do you have for preparing for the interview? thanks
San Juan Bautista School of Medicine 2009-2010
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Well I would make reservations at the four points hotel which is only one exit away from SJB, I would also reserve a rental car as taxis are very expensive. I would also arrive the day before as well as to give yourself time to compose yourself and practice your interview answers. Another tip would be if you have a GPS or can borrow one, I would input the location of your hotel and the school so as to make your life easier when making your way from San Juan. It seems like many have gotten questions about hot ethical topics in medicine, like euthanasia, childhood obesity, etc. Also why you'd like to learn medicine in PR, and specifically SJB. Interview is relaxed, can be indiv. or in group depending on scheduling. The interviewers are pleasant and unassuming, so relax and good luck!
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the interview was mostly in English for me. It was a group interview with two other applicants. They asked us if we preferred English or Spanish at the beginning. They did ask us to respond to certain things in spanish to test our language skills. And, by the end, one of the interviewers asked me to speak in spanish because i think she had trouble understanding my English. I would recommend to pronunciate well and speak clearly. I was a little nervous, so I think I was speaking too fast.
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I just got invited for an interview today! I am so excited. They gave me several dates to choose from in the next month. Does anyone have any advice? I have heard that the interview and classes the first year are in English...is this true? I can speak Spanish conversationally, but am in no way fluent. SO EXCITED FOR THIS INTERVIEW!!
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I just got invited for an interview today! I am so excited. They gave me several dates to choose from in the next month. Does anyone have any advice? I have heard that the interview and classes the first year are in English...is this true? I can speak Spanish conversationally, but am in no way fluent. SO EXCITED FOR THIS INTERVIEW!!
I'm headed down there for an interview on February 4th. Is anyone else going?
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How was the interview? I hope it went well for you. I leave tonight to head down there. I think my main concern is that the interview will be solely in spanish. My spanish is rusty and I am not comfortable with it at this point. I know I'll pick it up again quickly, but I need to practice.
Hey Guys! I got an invite to go to both San Juan B and U Central Im really excited! My interviews are the 17th and 18th. But while Im there I would like to look for housing. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Hey Kimbers, Would you post some feedback after your interview?
Hey Kimbers, Would you post some feedback after your interview?
Congratulations to all of you that got an interview! My interview date is on Feb 17 and thank you so much for the advice about the hotel and car. Did anyone not get a car and use another mode of transportation? Any other useful tips when going in for the interview. So VERY excited!!!
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I'm also trying to find out when they will send out acceptances/rejections. Jaymie said first week of Feb last time I emailed her. I do know that you need to put a $300 deposit down to hold your spot if accepted.
also, for all of you going to interview in the future, I heard renting a car is way cheaper than cabs, and you will also be able to explore the island more freely with a car. a taxi from the airport to Caguas was $56 and I think you can rent a car as low as $20-30 bucks a day with enterprise.
Hi!! Well, Caguas is a big town, has lots of malls, industries, hotels and few colleges. The traffic is horrible in the mornings and afternoon, because the highway to go to the metropolotan area is over there, so the people that works in that area have to cross Caguas in some kind of way. Near the school there's lots of urbanizations (dont know how you tell them over there, here an urbanization it's a complex of 30-40 houses), apartments, condos, etc. So i think that housing is not gonna be a problem, of course, all depends in taking time of serching. anyways, in the interview they told me that the people with available apartments near the school give them the info so they can pass it to the students. Transportation... i recomend you to buy an used car over there, you are gonna need it... There's lots of supermarkets but if you dont like to cook, near the school there a lots of food places; wendys, burger king, mcdonalds, the Catalinas mall that has inside a food court with other choices, and "fondas" (that's the way that we call over here food places that sell puertorican food), etc, etc, etc, u name it!!
And well, what people think about caguas.. i dont know, but personally i like the town a lot, because you have the metropolitan area in less than 20 minutes, and is like 50%city/50%green, so you can enjoy the best of those two. Also has lots of places to relax, the movies that are like 5 minutes from the SJB, the "Jardin Botanico y Cultural", "Moisty Skate Park", etc (of course you are gonna need a break from studies in any moment). Caguas has been under the administration of the Mayor Miranda Marin for about 8-10 years and i have to admit that the change from earth to heaven!!
Well... i hope this info is usefull for you and the others users. If you have any other questions, i'll be around.
best wishes!!
Hi!! im very sorry for the delayed response. The interview was very good, everything went pretty well. Mira, the same thing happened to me about the language. My primary one is spanish, i can write and read english, but speaking it... ufff!! some problems over there... Anyways, the thing is that my interview was in spanish, and when one of the doctors was gonna ask me another question, he did it in english and i freaked out a little bit, but well, i spoke it with some limitations but i did it!!
i know lots of students from SJB and UCC that came from the states and speak a horrible spanish.. but hey! there were accepted!!
So, dont be so worried about that.
i was interviewed on January 30 in San Juan Bautista and February 5 in UCC. Apparently im gonna receive both answers the last week of february.
Anyways, I hope your interview went perfect for you!! Take Care!!
Best wishes!!
I can tell you a few things: About the time of response after the interview, it depends on when the admissions committee meets. For some people it's just two weeks, but for me it was 2 months. I got accepted on Feb 5 as well as a some of my friends. But really, do not worry, this school's wait list moves pretty fast and it's really early...
About the English/Spanish thing, like iveka said most non residents do not speak Spanish very well (in some cases at all!) and they were accepted. Most classes are in Spanish (books and PP-presentations in English) so it does get frustrating for some, but it's manageable.
Hope this helps! If you have any questions about this school or Ponce feel free to ask.
About the English/Spanish thing, like iveka said most non residents do not speak Spanish very well (in some cases at all!) and they were accepted. Most classes are in Spanish (books and PP-presentations in English) so it does get frustrating for some, but it's manageable.
Hope this helps! If you have any questions about this school or Ponce feel free to ask.
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I just wanted to thank everyone for the information and advice. I interview next week, Thursday February 25th. I appreciate all the help and best of luck to those still waiting to hear back.
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How did you find out when they will be giving you a decision the last week of Feb? Is this just for your personally, or do you know if they will be sending out a bunch of decisions this week? Thanks
Hi!!
in SJB, the admission officer told us that the decision for us were going to be announced by email the last week of Feb or first week of March.
in UCC, the admission officer explained that the committee met every two weeks evaluating all the applicats that they had interviewed in those two weeks.. example, I was interviewed in February 5, so my application was evaluated with the group of students from february 1 - february 12... I received my admission letter in February 19, exactly two weeks since my interview.
i called today to SJB to know when they are going to send the admission/rejection letters, and they told me that the committee will met again tomorrow so they will be sending a bunch of decisions next week.
I had my interview on Feb. 17th. It was a group interview. A lot of the interview was in Spanish. U should become familiar about the health care system in Puerto Rico and know something about the government/politics in Puerto Rico. I rented a car and I ended up getting lost. Even though I rented the car for 2 days (total of like 90 dollars- since im under 25), I ended up getting lost (even with the GPS since it could not find the hotel). I DEFINITELY recommend to just pay the 60 bucks and use a taxi to get to the hotel instead of winding up lost in caguas and save 30 bucks. Good luck for those that are interviewing!
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THank you so much for your input! I feel the same way about Spanish...I can read pretty well and I can write and I can mostly understand if it is spoken slowly, but when I have to speak, I totally freak out! I'm taking some spanish courses now to try to build my confidence. I hope to get accepted and I want to have a leg up.
Does anyone know about how many people are accepted who don't speak spanish at the time of acceptance?
Oh wow, it looks like they take a pretty long time They told me I would know by March 31st... I am just a little eager to find out!
I read that you received a letter of admission from UCC... do you know what school you are planning to go to if both accept you? I interviewed at UCC on March 1st and am waiting for a response.
They told me I would know by March 31st... I am just a little eager to find out!I read that you received a letter of admission from UCC... do you know what school you are planning to go to if both accept you? I interviewed at UCC on March 1st and am waiting for a response.
that's a question that i ask myself every day!!
but well, i dont know yet, i'll decide when i have both acceptance letters in my hands. at least i already reserved my seat in UCC...
but well, i dont know yet, i'll decide when i have both acceptance letters in my hands. at least i already reserved my seat in UCC...
Oh wow, it looks like they take a pretty long time
I read that you received a letter of admission from UCC... do you know what school you are planning to go to if both accept you? I interviewed at UCC on March 1st and am waiting for a response.
Hey guys! I just got interviews to Ponce and SJB, but I have no idea where to begin with interview prep. I've scanned old threads and the gist of what I've seen is that it may be a group/individual interview, it may be in English/Spanish, and it's usually prettly relaxed and conversational. I got very skimpy emails from both schools so I don't really know what else to expect! Any more info on that would be MUCH appreciated!
Since I've seen some people talk about questions on their interview regarding the Puerto Rican health system, politics specific to PR, etc. I've tried to begin researching what's going on in PR. Does anyone have any useful links that they used in prep for their interview? I've been reading El Nuevo Dia but it's not too heavy on health-related stuff. So anything you used would be helpful, I'm sure...
Any general advice on the interviews would be much appreciated! I'm very excited but I have no idea what to expect so it's kind of disconcerting
Since I've seen some people talk about questions on their interview regarding the Puerto Rican health system, politics specific to PR, etc. I've tried to begin researching what's going on in PR. Does anyone have any useful links that they used in prep for their interview? I've been reading El Nuevo Dia but it's not too heavy on health-related stuff. So anything you used would be helpful, I'm sure...
Any general advice on the interviews would be much appreciated! I'm very excited but I have no idea what to expect so it's kind of disconcerting
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Read about the Health Care Reform I don't think there's anything bigger than that right now... A good book on our health system is La salud no tiene precio by Dr. Ibrahim Pérez but that's kind of too much for a interview prep.
Gracias por la info!!! Mis entrevistas son la semana que viene y estoy muy emocionada por la oportunidad!
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Received the email from Jaymi today. I was waitlisted. Does anyone know about their waitlist? How fast does it move? How many people are put on it? When do they start to take people off of it? How many people usually come off of it? I am so happy to still have a shot, but sad that I was not accepted. Now...to wait some more....
i know exactly how u feel. I found out a couple of days ago that i've been waitlisted. from what I understand most schools waitlist more students than the students who are expected to give their seats up to ensure a full class. not sure with San Juan Bautista... but lets try to remain hopeful.
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I have serious concerns about this school and would like any info please read this thread
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=703483
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=703483
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