just received an interview invite. the earliest virtual one i could schedule was for 5/9.
kinda confused because this feels very late.
anyways, how did the interview go for you guys? was it pretty standard?
also, if any of you are choosing Midwestern over another school, can you explain why?
thank you in advance!!
I chose Midwestern over another acceptance. There are a lot of factors I considered, but I will try to leave the relevant ones here:
I had a great experience on my interview day. Everyone was friendly and open. Community is very important to me and this felt like a place where I could find that. Additionally, my interviewers actually asked me questions about and engaged with my personal statement multiple times. The other interviews I had were largely generic questions that, because I'm not a traditional applicant, I didn't feel really gave me the opportunity to highlight why my nontraditional qualities are beneficial. Summary: Good vibes and I felt heard.
A big difference between this school and the other was the testing. The testing schedule at Midwestern is certainly daunting and was the thing that had me hesitating the most. However, during interviews they talked about how they use a lot of standardized test. The school I was comparing to uses tests written by the professors and some of the feedback I found was students felt they needed to do a lot of extra studying of board material that wasn't covered/focused on.
I am also a massive fan of their ultrasound curriculum. Every time I compared them to another school, that was the piece that stood out to me. I've seen how useful a tool US can be and I really feel it's underutilized in practice. So I'm eager to learn those techniques that I might otherwise not get to learn without doing a dedicated radiology study.
There is a podcast (a link was provided for it somewhere earlier in this thread) called The Learned Doctor Podcast. It's 4 current 1st years at Midwestern who are just talking about their experience there week to week. I've been listening to this and it has really helped to get an idea of what actually being a student there is like. Through that and as was mentioned in interviews, I have learned that Midwestern students are thought highly of in the area and do really well in the Match. So what they do, really works.
More broadly, the location is lovely. Both schools were warm weather (which is a massive plus, coming from MN). But Midwestern being right outside of Phoenix makes going back home to visit super easy. Also there are so many things to do in the area.
To address downsides:
The testing schedule is intense. I was told by students during interviews that there are 1-2 tests a week first year and 1-3 per week second year. This has seemed to be pretty accurate, based of the week to week commentary from the podcast I mentioned above. I was a little concerned that this would make it difficult to catch up if I were to fall behind at any point. However, I ultimately decided that having grades that are based on multiple test scores, rather than one large test with a few small point assignments was actually the better option.
And of course, the big one is cost. I believe they're the second most expensive DO school, aside from CCOM (their sister school in Chicago). I did hear a few comments during interviews that they wish the school would spend the money in some different ways, which is disheartening. But someone also said when COVID prevented direct interaction for practicing exams, the school was able to purchase model heads for every to practice ENT exams on. So there's something to be said about having the funds available when they're needed.
Ultimately the factor that made me feel better about the cost of Midwestern was hearing more and more about the reputation they have in the surrounding area. Don't get me wrong, it's still a TON of money that I'm more than a little stressed about. But I'd rather pay more to get a better experience/education and be ultimately more competitive for residencies.
Ok. That's probably more than you wanted! But let me know if I can answer any additional questions on my thought process.