University of South Alabama

How relaxed the interviewers were

Some of the interviewers were late to the Zoom call

Friendliness of interviewers, informality and conversational style of interview

Mock interviews, reviewed AMCAS and secondary applications, researched school's mission and values on website

In some ways, an informal interview is harder to prepare for. We spent less time talking about my file than diverging into wormhole conversations.

The informality of the interview.

Informality of the interviews caused high variation between each other (one interviewer had clearly read my file, another seemed to know nothing about it).

The intentional niceness of faculty/students and conversational interview format.

Asked past interviewees. Reviewed file.

This was my first interview, and it felt really relaxed, which I was not expecting. The interviewers put me at ease quickly and I felt like they were really interested in my experiences, rather than my numbers, which were only about average.

Some students had to travel off-campus for their interview, and the bus tour was a little long.

How relaxed and friendly everyone was. They really wanted to get to know you and let you get to know them. The director of admissions knew everyone's name and face when they walked in the room.

I read up on USA using their website and talked with a few current students.

I genuinely enjoyed my experience at South Alabama

I wish I knew they would expect me to know about how South prides themselves on the friendliness of their staff and students. They expect you to know they do things differently there and if you think you fit in with them.

The library and medical school building seem a bit dated.

I liked the small class size and personal nature of the medical school.

I read through previous interview questions.

That the interviews were lower pressure than I was expecting.

The faculty interviewers did not ask about extracurricular activities - shadowing, volunteering / service, research.