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Application and Interview Experiences for Pathologists' Assistant School
By Yorkster
First off, I procrastinated with my program applications. This was a bad
idea, especially for programs that have rolling admissions, versus programs
that wait until a certain date to review applications. I know that
Quinnipiac, Drexel, and Rosalind Franklin's programs have rolling admissions
, but Duke, IUPUI, and I believe UMB wait until a certain point before the
deadline to start reviewing applications. In total, I applied to 6 programs
and interviewed at 5. Most of the applications I got in by mid-January. I
got all my interview invitations within about a week of each other, so I
pretty much took a week and just made one giant trip up the coast to all the
schools I could. I started with an interview at Duke, then took a train up
to Baltimore to interview at UMB, then took a train to Philadelphia to see
Drexel. I also interviewed at RFU and IUPUI, but I'm from Indy, so not much
traveling there. I'll just go down the line and give a brief summary of what
each application/ interview was like:
Quinnipiac
I applied about a week before the deadline in December 2010 for the 2011
class. I heard back from them in March, and not surprisingly, they did not
grant me an interview, but told me I could be considered for the following
year's class. Probably should have saved my money on that one.
Drexel
Drexel contacted me at the beginning of February for an interview even
though I didn't have all my supporting documents in. They gave me the choice
of a telephone or in person interview, and I chose phone and did a tour of
the facilities with Tina Rader, one of the program directors, while in
Philadelphia (they couldn't schedule an onsite interview while I was there).
The actual interview was in early February and was with Jim Moore, the
other program director, and it was pretty informal. Mainly it was him
finding out my background, what I knew about the profession, and explaining
Drexel's program to me. I got the impression that they were just as focused
on making sure their program was as good a fit for me as I was for them.
Both program directors were really nice and seemed really dedicated to the
program. I did not hear back about their final decision because I chose a
different school by the end of March, and had them remove my application. I
have heard that they sometimes don't make the decision on the final few
slots until a month or two before classes begin.
Duke
I applied to Duke in early to mid-January and heard back for an interview
the first week in February. I would agree that how That Girl described the
interview on her blog was pretty accurate for mine too. Especially what she
said about the interviewers knowing your application inside and out. More
than one interviewer quoted me on my essays, mentioned things from my
reference letter, and remarked on specific grades. I will say that Duke was
my first on-site interview, and was probably one of the more intense and
formal interviews I went through. Either that or I just got more used to
them as I went along.
University of Maryland
I got a phone call from Carmen White, the program coordinator, with an
invitation to interview at the beginning of February. Dr. Castellani is the
program director and he is very nice and was very helpful in accommodating
my schedule. He actually met me the night before my interview when I arrived
in Baltimore because was he not going to be there the day of my actual
interview. He also gave me contacts of current students so I could get their
take on the program. The actual interview lasted from about 10am-2pm, and
consisted of a campus tour, lunch with current students, and interviews with
the chief resident, several of the PA's, and the medical director. Overall
it wasn't intimidating at all, and felt more informational and relaxed than
some of the other interviews. Everyone was incredibly nice and helpful. They
did ask some interview questions, but nothing too intense or difficult,
mostly about why I wanted to become a PA and what I knew about the field.
Basic questions that you would expect any of the schools to ask. They accept
10-12 students and usually make same day decisions about applicants, which
is nice because you don't have that agonizing waiting period. They were also
very patient awaiting my decision and didn't require a deposit to secure a
spot immediately, which was nice since I was still waiting to interview at a
couple other schools.
Rosalind Franklin
Once again, I didn't have my application completed until a couple weeks
before the deadline,mostly because I was waiting on recommendation letters
and supporting materials. I received an offer for an interview almost
immediately after they received everything. They only offered one interview
date, but I believe that they have several at various times throughout the
year. The interview at RFU was very different from any of the other schools.
RFU has the largest class with over 30 students, and I believe they
interview more applicants than other programs. My interview was done with
about 20-25 other applicants, and lasted about 3-4 hours. They split us into
two groups, and one group listened to a presentation by the assistant
program director about the program and profession and then had a group
interview with everyone, while the other group toured the facilities. The
group interview consisted of the assistant program director and director of
clinical education tossing questions out to a group of 10-12 applicants.
Sometimes they went down the line and asked a question, other times they
just threw a question out there and it was up to the applicant to speak up.
Personally, I didn't like this interview style and felt like the
interviewers didn't get to know me as well as if they had interviewed me one
on one. Also, it is somewhat unnerving when the person on your right, who
has the same background as you, says exactly what you were planning to say
in response to a question. Anyways, I heard back about 3-4 weeks later with
their decision in an email, however the dates were all messed up in it; it
said I was wait-listed for the 2013 class but if I didn't get in then I
would be offered admission for the June 2012...I applied for the 2011 class,
so I was pretty confused. Also, I got a letter in the mail with their final
decision, addressed to me on the envelope, but the actual letter was
addressed to a different applicant in Pennsylvania. So...things seemed a
little disorganized with their application process.
IUPUI
My last interview was with IU's program in Indy, where I currently live.
They contacted me at the end of January for an interview and gave me several
dates to choose from. As with Duke, the faster you respond the more likely
you will get what dates you want. I ended up not interviewing until March,
which put me in a difficult situation with a couple of the other schools
that offered me spots. The interview itself lasted all day. The morning is
spent touring parts of the IU Medical Campus, which is huge, much like Duke'
s. Luckily, they have a monorail that transports you from the various
hospitals. My tour was given by Randy Stine, the program director, and you
get to spend some time in the grossing lab with the PAs. I also met with Dr.
Leland (the graduate program advisor for the program) to cover the program
in detail, and answer any questions I had about the program itself. Then I
had lunch with both Dr. Leland and Mr. Stine and afterwards more touring and
then the actual interview portion with the admissions committee (which
consisted of Dr. Leland, Mr. Stine, and one of the PAs). I think that they
normally do things in a different schedule but they had to switch some
things around for some reason the day I interviewed. To be honest, I can't
remember specifically the kind of stuff they asked, but it was typical
interview questions. I do remember them asking me several questions about
what a PA does and the three main areas they work in (grossing surgicals,
frozen sections, and autopsies). They definitely seemed to want to make sure
I knew what I was getting into. After that, I had a writing portion. I can'
t remember what the topic was specifically, but I believe it was something
along the lines of why I wanted to be a PA. I know I felt like I just
regurgitated my admissions essay. They got back to me about a week later,
but their process is a little different than the other schools. The
admissions committee gives a recommendation, which then goes to the dean of
the IU School of Medicine Graduate Division, who has to approve it. You then
get a letter in the mail granting admission.
Now, I spent A LOT of time, energy and money on this process. And I realize
that a lot people are limited to where they can apply to by location and
money and other factors. But I will say that more than one school commented
on the fact that I applied to so many places in a positive way in that it
showed I really, really wanted to do this. Nobody said anything negative
about it. I ended up accepting an offer from IUPUI, which kind of makes this
whole process look pointless since I'm staying where I was at, but I am so
glad that I applied and interviewed at other schools because it leaves me
without a doubt in my mind that I picked the best fit for me. Hopefully this
info is helpful to some poor applicant out there! |
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