 If you have an interview coming up, watch this video. Step by step, interview, crap, let's go. Step one, go over your application and be ready to talk about any part of your application and tell a story about it. The admissions committee made a decision to interview you based on your application. They've reviewed it thoroughly and they might have some questions about some of the things that you wrote in your application. So it would be a very, very, very bad look if you don't know your own application. So download a PDF copy of your application and review it, every part of it, every class you've taken, every experience you've had, even if it was just an hour or two, every line in your personal statement, everything. Know everything backwards and forwards. Pay a special attention to anything that particularly stands out like a bad grade, in my opinion, a B minus or worse is a bad grade or anything that might be unique about you as an applicant. Make sure you especially know what's going on there, what happened there and be ready to talk about it. A perfect example for my own application to a physician assistant school, PA school, was I got a D plus in jazz dance. Yeah, you heard that right. I got a D plus in jazz dance and this actually did come up in my interview. Not as a criticism or a legitimate concern, but it was just kind of something funny at the end that the interviewer decided to ask me about. She's like, oh, by the way, what's up with this D plus in jazz dance? And believe it or not, even towards the end of the interview, even though I knocked the interview out of the park, if I would have like totally collapsed and like not been able to talk about that, it could have not gone as well. And I may not have gotten into the school and I may not have been making this video as a certified physician assistant. I might still be here four years later trying to get into PA school, right? So because I was able to, I was prepared to talk about that D plus in jazz dance in a funny way positively. I think that was a net positive in my interview. So the interviewer did ask me and I told her the truth. I needed the credits to graduate. I didn't have time to actually go to jazz dance or do any of the assignments or whatever because I was working on my senior project, right? So senior project kind of trumps jazz dance in my opinion, but that resulted in me barely passing the class with a D plus, you know? So that's what happened. But the point is a D plus stands out. A D plus in a funny class like jazz dance really stands out. So if something stands out, they'll probably ask you about it, be ready to talk about it, okay? All right, step two, find out what the interview format or formats are that they use in the interview for the school you're applying to and get ready for that particular format or formats. Is it an individual interview? Is it an individual interview conducted by a faculty member? Is it two faculty members? Is it a faculty member or a current student? Is it a group of current students? Is it not an individual interview at all? And is it a group interview? Is it a multiple mini interview in MMI? Is it some combination of these formats? Your strategy for preparing for an MMI will be drastically different from your strategy for preparing for a standard individual interview. And then prepping for a group interview is completely different from both of those formats. So find out the interview format or formats that your school uses and plan and prepare accordingly. All right, step three, and this one's a little bit tricky, so pay attention. Step three is to talk to current students in the program that you're applying to about the interview process. Make sure that the students you choose to talk to like you and respect you and will not tell the faculty that you're quizzing them about the interview process because that may not be perceived very positively if they do so. So make sure you can trust the people that you're asking before you ask them. If you don't know any current students in the program that you're interviewing for, consider Facebook stalking them but again, be careful with this. Consider Facebook stalking them and seeing if they share any insight into the interview process. But be careful with this, especially because you don't know these people. This is kind of like an ethical gray area sort of a tip but it could work out very well for you so I'm gonna help you out with this one. Consider playing the long game with this and consider befriending these people that you Facebook stalked in the program that you wanna apply to over time. Over weeks or months even before the interview, start chatting with them. Don't even ask them about the interview at first, just ask them how they like the program, how it is and if they have any frustrations. More than likely they'll have some frustrations and they'll be more than happy to vent to you. So after allowing them to vent for a few weeks or months, once you casually mention that, hey, by the way, I have an interview, you got an interview coming up in that program, they may just open up and give you some insider tips. But again, be very careful who you trust with this but then again, it could be helpful. All right, you've been warned and also instructed. All right, step four. Once you feel prepared to the best of your ability for the interview, it's time to practice some small actions that are nonetheless very important. If your interview is in person, I know it's kind of the time of COVID, there's not a lot of in-person interviews anymore but there may be sometime in the future or maybe even now, so I'm just gonna say it. If your interview is in person, you should take a few minutes to drive to the school to see how long exactly it takes you to get there from your house or wherever you stay over to the school and where to park, how long it takes to walk from the parking lot to the building where the interview is gonna be held. Find out exactly how long all that takes. If you don't live by the school and you're traveling, get there a day, maybe even two days early to give yourself plenty of time to relax, to settle in, to get used to the driving dynamics in the car that you're renting or whatever or in the city that you're staying and also just like as if you were a local person, you should drive by the school, see how long exactly it takes you to get from your hotel to the school or to park, how long it takes to get from the parking lot to the building, all of that. Doing this will reduce your stress on interview day and also make certain that you're not late. I've actually heard a horror story of students that came five minutes late with their interview and they were actually asked to leave. So they spent all this time and money applying to the school, getting in, getting one of those coveted interview spots and then spending all the money to get to the hotel, to get to the interview location and then they're five minutes late and they're dismissed. Just like that, don't be that guy, all right. Prepare, prepare, prepare. Find out exactly how long it takes you to drive to the school, how long it takes you to walk from the parking lot and get to the interview location and make sure that you are early, not late. Don't be that guy. Tip 4.1, of course, if this is a virtual interview, you know, same thing for tip number four, but in this case, it's not in-person, it's virtual. You don't need to drive to the school. You don't need to find out how long it takes to walk from the parking lot. But you do need to set up your laptop exactly as if you're gonna do the virtual interview and do a dry run, okay. Make sure your laptop, your camera, your microphone, your wifi, everything is functioning, everything is good. Make sure that your background is neat and not distracting. Make sure that your lighting is good. You can see your whole face. You can hear you. You're not mumbling. Practice talking on camera. Make sure you're comfortable speaking on camera. Just practice being on camera, okay. I know it's easy for somebody who's a YouTuber to talk to you about this, but if you happen to not be a YouTuber, this is going to be very important. Do this dry run. Set up your equipment. Practice if you mock questions on camera. Make sure you're comfortable speaking on camera. Make sure that your camera is picking up your face, that you look good, that you look solid, that you sound good, your microphone is working well, your wifi is strong. Doing this ahead of time and making you comfortable with all your equipment and knowing that it's going to work for you will set you apart from people who have not taken the time to do this, okay. Practice makes perfect and this tiny little bit of effort, just practicing a few mock questions, setting up your equipment ahead of time will definitely, definitely give you a lot more confidence and set you apart from those people that have not taken the time to do this, okay. And finally, step five, this is the day before your interview. You should get your clothes ready. If you haven't already set up your laptop, all your equipment, make sure everything is working and after all of that is done, take some time to relax, all right. No more mock questions, no more interview prep at this time. You've done all you can, take some time to relax. Eat a good meal, go for a walk, get a workout, watch your favorite show, do whatever you gotta do, get to bed early, get plenty of sleep. You got this.