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Questions about the interview, program in general, capstone project, etc.


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Hi everyone! I'm new to this forum and I did check out some of the other posts but I still have some questions!

 

First and foremost, could someone tell me more about the interview process? I've talked to a few people who had interviews at different schools and said that each one was a little bit different. I'm most curious about the group/individual interviews. Can anyone tell me what kinds of questions they ask? Situational (what would you do if this happened, tell me a time when...) or more questions about the applicant personally (what's your best quality, worst, etc..)

 

Second, how does everyone feel about this program? General quality, friendliness of staff, location, etc. If I attend here I would be an approximate 9 hour drive from home so I'm just wondering how attending an intense program like this would be without having my support system right there.

 

Lastly, can anyone tell me about the capstone project and how they felt about it? It seems kind of intense!!

 

Thanks guys! 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi! I just interviewed at South College on Friday. As far as the interview day goes, there will be a meeting/presentation about the program in the morning, followed by a tour, followed by the group interviews. There were four of us interviewed at the same time by 3 interviewers. Be prepared to answer questions about yourself and what you have done. They're pretty friendly and conversational and are just looking to hear about what experiences make you uniquely qualified. None of the questions are going to be like an exam. Just be honest and prepared to talk about yourself, your passions, and what experiences make you unique even if they're not related to healthcare (I had a music minor so I spent a lot of the interview talking about how much of a band nerd I am). While you yourself are not interviewing there will be a short medical terminology quiz. Not too hard. I'd just study a few quizlets the night before. I don't think the interviewers care too much about your score but they will have it in your file before they tell you if you are accepted. They did away with the writing sample because the interviewers don't have enough time to read them. After the interviews/led term quiz, everyone will break for lunch. At 1 o'clock individual interviews will start. They're not so much like interviews as your group ones are. For me, they asked my impression of the program and if I had any questions and then told me I was accepted. At that time, everyone finds out whether they are accepted, waitlisted, and rejected (rare). If you are waitlisted, they will tell you why and what you can do to improve. Most of the time you can submit later on what you've been doing to improve and it will increase your chances of being pulled from the waitlist. Quite a few get pulled from the waitlist every year.

 

As far as my impression of the school, it's extremely family oriented. The faculty like to make fun of each other and everyone seems to love to laugh. It will be an intense program but there is virtually no competition. Your peers will help you and a lot of people shares study materials/quizlets. The facilities are nice and seem pretty new and Knoxville seems like a great city!

 

As far as the capstone, I can't tell you much but I don't think it's anything you need to worry about!

 

Hope this helps and good luck!

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Hi! I just interviewed at South College on Friday. As far as the interview day goes, there will be a meeting/presentation about the program in the morning, followed by a tour, followed by the group interviews. There were four of us interviewed at the same time by 3 interviewers. Be prepared to answer questions about yourself and what you have done. They're pretty friendly and conversational and are just looking to hear about what experiences make you uniquely qualified. None of the questions are going to be like an exam. Just be honest and prepared to talk about yourself, your passions, and what experiences make you unique even if they're not related to healthcare (I had a music minor so I spent a lot of the interview talking about how much of a band nerd I am). While you yourself are not interviewing there will be a short medical terminology quiz. Not too hard. I'd just study a few quizlets the night before. I don't think the interviewers care too much about your score but they will have it in your file before they tell you if you are accepted. They did away with the writing sample because the interviewers don't have enough time to read them. After the interviews/led term quiz, everyone will break for lunch. At 1 o'clock individual interviews will start. They're not so much like interviews as your group ones are. For me, they asked my impression of the program and if I had any questions and then told me I was accepted. At that time, everyone finds out whether they are accepted, waitlisted, and rejected (rare). If you are waitlisted, they will tell you why and what you can do to improve. Most of the time you can submit later on what you've been doing to improve and it will increase your chances of being pulled from the waitlist. Quite a few get pulled from the waitlist every year.

 

As far as my impression of the school, it's extremely family oriented. The faculty like to make fun of each other and everyone seems to love to laugh. It will be an intense program but there is virtually no competition. Your peers will help you and a lot of people shares study materials/quizlets. The facilities are nice and seem pretty new and Knoxville seems like a great city!

 

As far as the capstone, I can't tell you much but I don't think it's anything you need to worry about!

 

Hope this helps and good luck!

 

What do you think the chances are of someone getting in who doesn't have patient care hours?

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I didn't have a lot (280 hours) but I was able to talk about those hours. I think it's important to at least have some experience where you interacted with patients that you can talk about, even if it's just volunteer. If you don't have any experience I think it would be super important to have a good GPA and GRE score. Any healthcare experience you can come up with before an interview would be beneficial though, particularly in a low-income clinic.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi! I just interviewed at South College on Friday. As far as the interview day goes, there will be a meeting/presentation about the program in the morning, followed by a tour, followed by the group interviews. There were four of us interviewed at the same time by 3 interviewers. Be prepared to answer questions about yourself and what you have done. They're pretty friendly and conversational and are just looking to hear about what experiences make you uniquely qualified. None of the questions are going to be like an exam. Just be honest and prepared to talk about yourself, your passions, and what experiences make you unique even if they're not related to healthcare (I had a music minor so I spent a lot of the interview talking about how much of a band nerd I am). While you yourself are not interviewing there will be a short medical terminology quiz. Not too hard. I'd just study a few quizlets the night before. I don't think the interviewers care too much about your score but they will have it in your file before they tell you if you are accepted. They did away with the writing sample because the interviewers don't have enough time to read them. After the interviews/led term quiz, everyone will break for lunch. At 1 o'clock individual interviews will start. They're not so much like interviews as your group ones are. For me, they asked my impression of the program and if I had any questions and then told me I was accepted. At that time, everyone finds out whether they are accepted, waitlisted, and rejected (rare). If you are waitlisted, they will tell you why and what you can do to improve. Most of the time you can submit later on what you've been doing to improve and it will increase your chances of being pulled from the waitlist. Quite a few get pulled from the waitlist every year.

 

As far as my impression of the school, it's extremely family oriented. The faculty like to make fun of each other and everyone seems to love to laugh. It will be an intense program but there is virtually no competition. Your peers will help you and a lot of people shares study materials/quizlets. The facilities are nice and seem pretty new and Knoxville seems like a great city!

 

As far as the capstone, I can't tell you much but I don't think it's anything you need to worry about!

 

Hope this helps and good luck!

 

Wow, thank you so much for all of your insight! Congratulations on being accepted :)

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Hi! I just interviewed at South College on Friday. As far as the interview day goes, there will be a meeting/presentation about the program in the morning, followed by a tour, followed by the group interviews. There were four of us interviewed at the same time by 3 interviewers. Be prepared to answer questions about yourself and what you have done. They're pretty friendly and conversational and are just looking to hear about what experiences make you uniquely qualified. None of the questions are going to be like an exam. Just be honest and prepared to talk about yourself, your passions, and what experiences make you unique even if they're not related to healthcare (I had a music minor so I spent a lot of the interview talking about how much of a band nerd I am). While you yourself are not interviewing there will be a short medical terminology quiz. Not too hard. I'd just study a few quizlets the night before. I don't think the interviewers care too much about your score but they will have it in your file before they tell you if you are accepted. They did away with the writing sample because the interviewers don't have enough time to read them. After the interviews/led term quiz, everyone will break for lunch. At 1 o'clock individual interviews will start. They're not so much like interviews as your group ones are. For me, they asked my impression of the program and if I had any questions and then told me I was accepted. At that time, everyone finds out whether they are accepted, waitlisted, and rejected (rare). If you are waitlisted, they will tell you why and what you can do to improve. Most of the time you can submit later on what you've been doing to improve and it will increase your chances of being pulled from the waitlist. Quite a few get pulled from the waitlist every year.

 

As far as my impression of the school, it's extremely family oriented. The faculty like to make fun of each other and everyone seems to love to laugh. It will be an intense program but there is virtually no competition. Your peers will help you and a lot of people shares study materials/quizlets. The facilities are nice and seem pretty new and Knoxville seems like a great city!

 

As far as the capstone, I can't tell you much but I don't think it's anything you need to worry about!

 

Hope this helps and good luck!

Hi, I have my interview on Friday. How long is the group interview? I've heard it ranges from 20min-1 hour. What was your experience like? Thanks!

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Uhhh I want to say it was about 35-45 minutes. Which really isn't very long since everyone has to take turns answering questions. We were maybe asked 6 or 7 questions in total. Good luck!

Great, thanks! Were they situational questions, personal questions, etc? Are they primarily focused around your experience?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi,

 

I have a general question. What time did the interview day end? As in what time were you able to leave.

They begin informing students of their selection around roughly 1pm. If you're called back early, it could be no later than 1:30/2:00. If you're one of the last few to be called back then it will be more like 3pm. I was the 3rd to last name to be called and I left the campus at 3:15

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  • 3 months later...

Current clinical year student here, so I can weigh in on capstone (my group just submitted our final draft last night!).

 

Capstone is basically just a long group paper (30+ pages) written on a research topic of your choice. The whole point is to get you to evaluate all the available data on a question currently being debated and come to a clinically applicable conclusion. It's fun, it's hard, it's annoying, but most of all it's something you don't need to worry about in the pre-PA period. :)

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  • 1 year later...
Guest Kittycat

Hi everyone!

I have been trying to research more about South College PA program. I am curious if anyone can provide me with your own experience with the program. Do they have clinical rotations at a medically underserved location? What is your favorite experience about South College PA program? Thank you!

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