Once your AMCAS and secondary essays have been submitted, your medical school admission pivots on your interview performance. And because medical school admissions have become so competitive of late – especially in this weaker economy –
the medical school interview has become critical.

There are a few, simple easy mistakes that you can avoid with a little preparation:

1. Don’t speak in general terms. Your goal is to distinguish yourself from all of the other applicants by highlighting your achievements. Answer questions with specific examples of what you have done in order to demonstrate that you are distinctive. Don’t worry about repeating what is in your medical school application. It is expected that you will flesh out your AMCAS and personal statement during the interview.
2. When asked about your weaknesses, don’t use clichés. No one believes that you “care too much.” Instead, be genuine – without damaging yourself by focusing on a core competency.
3. Don’t box yourself in geographically. When I was conducting interviews at Harvard, an applicant made it clear that he was not going to leave his home state of California to move to Boston. Needless to say, our interest in him plummeted.
4. Don’t miss the opportunity to ask explicit, researched questions. Doing so shows your interest in the institution and may expose a problem you had been unaware of.
5. Don’t miss the opportunity to prepare. You would never take the MCAT without practicing first, and yet, countless applicants go to interviews without preparing beforehand. Consider working with a professional: Because applicants can unknowingly undermine their chances of success with poor interview skills, a qualified, personalized medical school admissions consultant provides a great advantage.

Medical school admissions consulting companies come in a variety of forms. Some are bigger businesses that focus on admissions to several types of graduate programs – not just medicine. Others are smaller and provide a medical focus, but have a pool of consultants of varying quality. Finally, elite companies offer both the medical focus and a highly experienced consultant who works one-on-one with clients. These professionals are ex-admissions officers from highly respected medical institutions. They have the inside knowledge of how medical school admissions work, providing individualized guidance to optimize applicants’ personal essays, AMCAS and interview skills.

When choosing a medical school admissions consulting company, a candidate should verify the company’s references and research its consultants. It is best if the company does not assign written materials to outside editors who cannot be evaluated. Elite companies that offer both the medical focus and a highly experienced consultant who works one-on-one with clients offer a large advantage in providing medical school admissions help, especially during these competitive times.