Wake Forest Interview

Just a few days before my Johns Hopkins interview, I went up to Winston Salem, NC for an interview at Wake Forest School of Medicine. I think it was the only campus that I could not figure my way around, and I got lost more than once trying to find my way around. Anyways, I eventually ended up in the admissions part of the building and was given a name tag. This was my smallest interview day, as there were only 6 of us. Everyone seemed really cool (although we had one kid who kept trying to be funny and was most definitely not).

To begin the day, we were brought into a conference room and one of the admissions staff gave us a talk about the school and the city of Winston Salem. Wake Forest starts off its school year very early in the summer, and students must also use their student ID cards to scan into lectures for attendance purposes. The school day also seems to be mostly all day (as opposed to UNC Chapel Hill where most days are 8:00 am to 1:00 pm). Winston Salem is a pretty cool town, although it is probably too small for me to want to live there permanently. A financial aid disccusion and then meeting the Dean wrapped up our time in the conference room.

Current students came to pick us up for lunch in the hospital cafeteria. Although it is an older facility, the cafeteria food was great. It was also all you can eat. Everyone just filled their trays with food and we had a mass check out. I got a tray of sushi, salad, two rolls, coffee, and a dessert. Phenomenal. Lunch was spent talking with the med students about their school and life in general. They all seemed normal and were super nice, although I don’t know if they seemed as into their school as other school’s students did.

Finally came the interviews, which were unlike any that I have had. Basically you were given 15 minutes in a room with 3 different physicians who maybe knew your application, or maybe didn’t. This 15 minute time limit was strictly enforced, so sometimes conversations seemed kind of rushed. Each of mine were a bit different. The first one was an EM doc and we bonded and just had a conversation. The second was an older anesthesiologist who preferred to ask pointed questions followed by a discussion about my answer. I felt like I did a really good job in this one as well. Finally, a female neurologist sort of grilled me about my motivations and knowledge of healthcare. This was not my best interview but she wasn’t the most personable interviewer.

Before I left, we got a tour of the medical school (not my favorite set-up) and the hospital (pretty cool, especially the roof-top pediatric “fun zone”). This was the only tour that actually took us into the anatomy lab. Emergency medicine is pretty strong at Wake, and there were some other real positives about the school for me, but in the end it didn’t feel right.