Interview day...

Time flew by quickly and before I knew it... interview time arrived. I arrived in Portland on Friday morning (one day before the interview).  I thought it was a good idea to arrive with enough time for me to check out the school before the interview. 

Friday Afternoon I actually took the light rail down to the campus and walked in and around the Health Professions Campus. It was really helpful because I got comfortable with how to get the interview, and the layout of the campus. I was able to listen in on a guest lecturer for a few minutes. It got me very excited, and made me much better prepared for the next day's interview. 

I was excited and nervous at the same time. I felt confident in my preparation, but the unknown definitely ate at me. I sat in my hotel room the rest of the day going over questions, answers, and trying to relax. I got to bed early, had everything prepared the night before, and woke up early. I had to be to the Interview at 7:00, and I factored in the hour or so to get there on the light rail. I was out at light rail stop at 5:45AM and I wasn't prepared for how cold it was... one thing I wish I had prepared a little more for. I was just in my suit and freezing... I didn't want to carry around a jacket all day, but it turns out, I probably would have enjoyed it. 

I arrived at the school about 15-20 early, and thankfully the door was open and I could wait inside. A few of the interviewees were already there talking amongst each other. Everyone was nervous, even through they tried to show they were calm and collected. I spoke with a guy to my left and we talked about the weather, where we came from, and how many interviews we already had. He was actually a pretty good guy, and we hung out for a while until everyone was split up into groups. 

After waiting for 10 min or so, It was up to the 5th floor for everything to get started. We were split up into color-coded groups (each group was to be interviewed in the same time frame). Each group had a student who was responsible for helping and directing the candidates throughout the day. I was part of the green group, and we were to be interviewed around 11:00AM. I was happy with my time, because it gave me some time to relax, and have questions answered about the program before I was interviewed.


We had the day explained to us by the admissions director first. We were then given an hour or so to write the impromptu essay. The admissions director emphasized that it was not a big deal, and that they just wanted to make sure we could logically come up with a thought. The sample questions they gave us was: 


"If you could have the gift of invisibility or flight, which would you choose and why?" 


The questions asked was a very simple question. I wrote my thoughts, It took me maybe 15 - 20 min to write and then I was surprised to find I was the first one done. I wrote just over a page. I didn't want to stress out too much over this, because I knew that the actual interview was the big deciding factor. 


We were all rotated to different lecture halls to hear about the program details, and financial aid. We also had a student panel come and we could ask them questions regarding their experience with the program, and what they would do differently if they started over, ect. I learned a lot from all of the info sessions. 

Interview Time...

 I was surprised at how fast the interview came. We went into a small conference room where we waited for our names to be called. I had 2 of the faculty interviewing me, a man and a woman, who looked very intimidating. When I came in I was sure to smile and shake their hands firmly while maintaining eye contact. I tried to maintain my composure and remember all I had practiced. The woman let me know that it was a relaxed environment, and if I loose my train of thought, I could stop and start over (thankfully I didn't need to do that). 


These are some general questions that could possibly be asked in an interview that I quote from book The ultimate guide to getting into Physician Assistant school by Andrew J. Rodican (a great tool to have, I recommend it!):


"So, tell us a little about yourself."


"Why do you want to be a PA?"


"How has your academic work prepared you for the PA profession?"


"What have you done to prepare yourself for this profession?"


"What is your understanding of what PAs do?"


"What do you do outside of work or academic studies?"


More practice questions can be found at this Mock Questions site I found that was very helpful for my interview preparation.


In my shadowing experience I did shadow a PA who was an alumni from Pacific's program, I mentioned his name and they both knew him, he also wrote one of my letters of recommendation! I think this really helped me a lot.


I felt like I honestly could have answered a lot of questions better... but we are always our worst critics. In fact the woman actually cut me off with one of my answers, (perhaps she heard what she wanted to). 


They asked me if I had any questions and I pulled out a small notepad that I had previously wrote questions on. I asked "how available are the staff and faculty for questions and help during the day?" It was something I somewhat already heard the answer to, but I wanted to at least have one question to ask. I also took a moment after they said thanks for your time to put in my last petition to be part of their program. I said something to the effect "I am really thankful for this opportunity to be here, I feel very blessed. Everything that I have seen here at Pacific is inline with my future goals and I feel this program fits me very well. I really feel I would make a great candidate for Pacific's program." and I shook their hands and left, and I was surprised that I was the first one out of the interviews from my group (didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing). 


We were then given lunch, had a tour of the entire campus, and was free to leave whenever. I went straight back to the hotel and relaxed. 

I was done! At least it wasn't worth stressing over anymore because it was no longer in my hands. I was still a little anxious wanting to hear back, but I had to tell myself to relax. I got to enjoy Portland the rest of the day and hang out. My flight was scheduled to leave the next morning. 


Then the waiting game really started...