Interviews & Mock Interviews

This interview type is based in a one-on-one format. An applicant may have several individual interviews throughout the day with a range of stakeholders. You could meet with current students, basic science faculty, clinical faculty/practitioners, and/or admission professionals. Take each one seriously and expect to have questions tailored to each category of possible interviewer.

Within the individual interview, you may find that interviewers may or may not have specific information about your application. The descriptions below are common terminology provided in an interview invitation from a health professions school and will give you an idea of what to expect. Make sure to review your entire application (including supplemental or secondary application) prior to your interview regardless of type.

• Blind: This is a closed application interview. The interviewer has not had access to your application and may not know any information about an applicant beyond their name.
• Partial Blind: In this type of interview, the interviewer may have been provided basic information about an applicant or may have been able to read the personal statement and/or secondary application materials. Typically, the applicant’s GPA or standardized test scores are not available.
• Open: In an open interview, the interviewer has had access to the applicant’s entire application, including letters of recommendation, transcript, and standardized test scores.

This interview is similar to an individual interview, but rather than one-on-one, the applicant interviews with two or more people at a time. The interviewers could be current students, basic science faculty, clinical faculty/practitioners, and/or admission professionals. Expect to have questions tailored to each category of possible interviewer.

With the panel interview you may find that interviewers may or may not have specific information about your application. The descriptions below are common terminology provided in an interview invitation from a health professions school and will give you an idea of what to expect. Make sure to review your entire application (including supplemental or secondary application) prior to your interview regardless of type.

• Blind: This is a closed application interview. The interviewer has not had access to your application and may not know any information about an applicant beyond their name.
• Partial Blind: In this type of interview, the interviewer may have been provided basic information about an applicant or may have been able to read the personal statement and/or secondary application materials. Typically, the applicant’s GPA or standardized test scores are not available.
• Open: In an open interview, the interviewer has had access to the applicant’s entire application, including letters of recommendation, transcript, and standardized test scores.

This type of interview is not commonly used by health professions programs. However, it is the type of interview used by UIC’s College of Nursing.

In a group interview, there are typically one to two interviewers who may be current students, basic science faculty, clinical faculty/practitioners, and/or admission professionals. There may also be as few as two or as many as five applicants being interviewed at the same time.

While each group interview set-up is different, it is common that the interviewers have a set list of questions. Typically, each applicant in the group interview is asked the same question(s). In this type of setting it is important to focus on specific examples that you can use to illustrate your response. It can be easy to get lost listening to the responses of the other applicants, so remain focused on your experiences and strong points. Pre-health advisors offer mock group interviews for UIC students invited to interview with the College of Nursing. Emails are sent out with registration information in the spring semester.

Each health profession program that utilizes Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI) will have their own format to both the interviews and the schedule of the day. In general, however, the multiple mini interview set up typically entails several interview stations. Applicants proceed through the stations and are assessed based upon the questions or scenarios presented at each station.

In most cases, MMI’s focus on situational questions that assess the applicant’s ability to articulate their thought process and judgement. The questions asked are often focused on issues such as communication, ethics, critical thinking, teamwork, or opinions on health care issues. In many cases there is not a “right” or “wrong” answer and applicants are expected to “show their work” (thought process, information they are using to come to a conclusion, etc.) in responding to the question. Typically, direct questions about an applicant are not asked and the MMI feels more like a role-playing experience. However, some schools use an adaptation or hybrid of this style.

Frequently used in the Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) set up, behavior-based questions can be asked in any type of interview setting. In behavior-based interviewing, questions typically revolve around real-world situations that the applicant may or may not be familiar with. As in the MMI, these types of questions are used to assess an applicant’s situational judgement and ability to articulate their thought process and decision making process.

In many cases with behavioral interview questions, the applicant is asked to share a personal experience to answer a question. Some examples are: How do you deal with conflict in a group setting? Tell me about a time you failed and how you addressed the situation.

In these cases, we recommend utilizing the S.T.A.R. technique:

• Situation: Use a specific example and describe a situation that you were in that relates to the question asked.
• Task: Explain the task or responsibility that you had to complete.
• Action: Describe the specific actions you took to complete this task.
• Result: Make sure to end your response with the results of your actions. What was the outcome?