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Medicine Interviews 2017

Hey guys!

I just wanted to make a thread for any advice you have for interviews or just to share your experiences throughout the 2017 application cycle. :smile:

I'll start off with sharing my experiences from last year :tongue:

Barts and the London- Panel interview. 2 doctors, 2 students. Started off with asking about the article they've sent out to read before the interview, then went on to easy questions about myself. Pretty relaxed and friendly, no trick questions (probably because they could see how nervous I was :colondollar:). Students also asked one question each. Lasted about 10-15 mins. Overall they were nice and friendly, I liked this one the most out of the 3.

UCL- Panel interview. 1 doctor 1 admissions tutor I think, also there was another person but they had to leave. Asked mostly about things in my personal statement and the BMAT essay. It felt quite rushed and they interrupted me several times when I was answering but overall nothing bad about it. Also on the day they were running late, mine was one of the last ones and about 30/40 mins later than expected. Lasted about 15 minutes.

Exeter- MMI. We were taken to the hospital for the actual interview. It was a fairly good lay out, they called groups of 7 from the waiting room and there were 7 stations. I can't remember the exact times but there was plenty of time to read question and prepare your answer before going into a room. The questions for every station were pretty straight forward, there was one station involving role play too. Can't remember how long it all lasted in total but it seemed to go pretty fast. There was a calm atmosphere and all the people were generally nice too!


If anyone has any questions about interviews at those medical schools please feel free to ask :smile:
(edited 7 years ago)

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Original post by thatcooldude2.0
Hey guys!

I just wanted to make a thread for any advice you have for interviews or just to share your experiences throughout the 2017 application cycle. :smile:

I'll start off with sharing my experiences from last year :tongue:

Barts and the London- Panel interview. 2 doctors, 2 students. Started off with asking about the article they've sent out to read before the interview, then went on to easy questions about myself. Pretty relaxed and friendly, no trick questions (probably because they could see how nervous I was :colondollar:). Students also asked one question each. Lasted about 10-15 mins. Overall they were nice and friendly, I liked this one the most out of the 3.

UCL- Panel interview. 1 doctor 1 admissions tutor I think, also there was another person but they had to leave. Asked mostly about things in my personal statement and the BMAT essay. It felt quite rushed and they interrupted me several times when I was answering but overall nothing bad about it. Also on the day they were running late, mine was one of the last ones and about 30/40 mins later than expected. Lasted about 15 minutes.

Exeter- MMI. It was a fairly good lay out, they called groups of 7 from the waiting room and there were 7 stations. I can't remember the exact times but there was plenty of time to read question and prepare your answer before going into a room. The questions for every station were pretty straight forward, there was one station involving role play too. Can't remember how long it all lasted in total but it seemed to go pretty fast. There was a calm atmosphere and all the people were generally nice too!


If anyone has any questions about interviews at those medical schools please feel free to ask :smile:


Do u remember the dates of your interviews?? Also where do U go now?
Original post by Mmmm Chocolate
Do u remember the dates of your interviews?? Also where do U go now?


Barts- 28th January
UCL-24th February
Exeter- 14th March
Unfortunately I got rejected post interview from all 3 so reapplying this year to Bristol, Exeter, Lancaster and UEA :smile: Where are you applying?
what was the reason for all 3 rejections?
did you ask for a feedback
Original post by scrapworlder
May I please know your stats?


Sure :smile:
GCSEs: 6A*s, 4As 1C (French)
AS: AAABBC
A2 predicted at the time: A*A*A*AAC
UKCAT (2015): 665 Band 3
BMAT (2015): 3.7, 4.5, 3.5A
I had a pretty strong PS with lots of work experience so I think that helped me get the UCL interview
Original post by starmuneer
what was the reason for all 3 rejections?
did you ask for a feedback


Yep I did, I only had feedback from UCL but my other interviews had pretty similar reasons I guess. They basically just said that I was way too nervous so that impaired my ability to answer questions. I guess I gotta work on that this year :colondollar:
Reply 6
I'm applying to Barts this year, so I'm quite glad that is sounds pretty relaxed :h:
I'm also applying to UEA, so fingers crossed we both get interviews! :biggrin:
Original post by Gogregg
I'm applying to Barts this year, so I'm quite glad that is sounds pretty relaxed :h:
I'm also applying to UEA, so fingers crossed we both get interviews! :biggrin:


That's great! Yeah really hope we both get interviews at UEA :biggrin: Also good luck for Barts!
Reply 8
Original post by thatcooldude2.0
Yep I did, I only had feedback from UCL but my other interviews had pretty similar reasons I guess. They basically just said that I was way too nervous so that impaired my ability to answer questions. I guess I gotta work on that this year :colondollar:


Awwn, hopefully you get in this year! This sounds like something that would happen to me :biggrin:
Original post by Nuba123
Awwn, hopefully you get in this year! This sounds like something that would happen to me :biggrin:


Yep hopefully we'll both get in this year! :h: It is quite common I guess, fortunately I found that I got less nervous with every interview though :smile:
Original post by thatcooldude2.0
Yep hopefully we'll both get in this year! :h: It is quite common I guess, fortunately I found that I got less nervous with every interview though :smile:


That's so good, I really hope my nerves don't get the best of me. :frown: Any tips?
Original post by Nuba123
That's so good, I really hope my nerves don't get the best of me. :frown: Any tips?


Just try to stay calm and take deep breaths (apparently that will calm you down). Also make sure you do all your interview prep a week or 2 before so that you don't panic and cram it all in the last few days before the interview - this'll just make you more stressed, I speak from experience :smile:
Apart from that just be yourself, try to relax and don't talk too fast. Also feel free to take your time, they don't mind if you take some time to think about the question.
Original post by thatcooldude2.0
just try to stay calm and take deep breaths (apparently that will calm you down). Also make sure you do all your interview prep a week or 2 before so that you don't panic and cram it all in the last few days before the interview - this'll just make you more stressed, i speak from experience :smile:
apart from that just be yourself, try to relax and don't talk too fast. Also feel free to take your time, they don't mind if you take some time to think about the question.


thank you :smile:
Reply 13
Hey :smile::smile:

Would you be remembering more details of your Exeter interview? E.g. the style of questions
Reply 14
Hi everyone! :biggrin:

I have applied to Imperial, Birmingham, Exeter and Nottingham as an international student.

(If luck's on my side) What if I get multiple interview calls, but at different times? Is there a way to coordinate so all the interviews are within a week or so... otherwise I'll be having to fly in every time from Thailand (spending A LOT of money and time).
Original post by cheeku
Hey :smile::smile:

Would you be remembering more details of your Exeter interview? E.g. the style of questions


Hey! I'm not allowed tell you the exact questions but the style of questions was pretty straight forward. Most of the questions were just about yourself/ your experiences for example why medicine, when were you stressed and how you dealt with it - just basic questions really. There was also a role play, it was really easy and obvious though. I did some MMI practise questions before the interview (got them online) and they were harder than the actual interview. Also there weren't any maths questions where you had to work stuff out. I think if you read the isc medical school interviews book you should be well prepared :smile:
Just to reiterate guys, DO not underestimate the competition during the interview! I think I got too complacent last year and didn't practice my interview techniques too much or organise mocks. And although I wasn't too bad (in fact I was really close to an offer from all), I got 3 interviews but no offer last year.

Had the order of my interviews been different, maybe I would have been in medical school now but I realise that being in a gap year is actually really exciting.
Original post by swopnil
Just to reiterate guys, DO not underestimate the competition during the interview! I think I got too complacent last year and didn't practice my interview techniques too much or organise mocks. And although I wasn't too bad (in fact I was really close to an offer from all), I got 3 interviews but no offer last year.

Had the order of my interviews been different, maybe I would have been in medical school now but I realise that being in a gap year is actually really exciting.


Hey, great advice! Same happened to me - 3 interviews and no offers. Where were your interviews btw? Hopefully we'll get in this year with all that experience from last year:smile: You're right, a gap year is exciting! :biggrin:
Reply 18
Original post by thatcooldude2.0
Hey! I'm not allowed tell you the exact questions but the style of questions was pretty straight forward. Most of the questions were just about yourself/ your experiences for example why medicine, when were you stressed and how you dealt with it - just basic questions really. There was also a role play, it was really easy and obvious though. I did some MMI practise questions before the interview (got them online) and they were harder than the actual interview. Also there weren't any maths questions where you had to work stuff out. I think if you read the isc medical school interviews book you should be well prepared :smile:


Thanks! :smile: Yeah, I have purchased the ISC book and it is quite good!
Original post by thatcooldude2.0
Hey, great advice! Same happened to me - 3 interviews and no offers. Where were your interviews btw? Hopefully we'll get in this year with all that experience from last year:smile: You're right, a gap year is exciting! :biggrin:


Yeah, hopefully we will both get in this year! I got interviews from Bristol, Manchester and Imperial last year.
(edited 7 years ago)

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