Questions to Ask at a Medical School Interview

Questions to Ask at a Medical School Interview

Bring one or two questions per interviewer, and make each one a question only that person can answer. AACOM's interview guidance tells applicants to "Have one or two questions for your interviewer that make a connection between your credentials and the medical school." A question the school's website already answers does neither.

Generic list questions such as "What makes your program unique?" waste your one or two. This page sorts questions by who is across from you, because a faculty interviewer, a second-year student and an MMI rater can answer very different things. Constructed question sets for each are below.

Every school page quoted below was checked on November 7, 2026. Interview formats change between cycles, so check your own invite for who you will meet. For the rest of the day's schedule, see what to expect on medical school interview day.

What schools say about your questions

AACOM sets out three steps: research first, ask about this school, and tie the question to you. Two schools add detail.

• AACOM: "Prepare thorough, intensive research specific to the college you are visiting by reading its catalog, website, and admissions material and, if possible, by talking in advance with current students." Then: "Be prepared to clearly articulate your interest in the college by asking college-specific questions, understanding any unique programs of the college, and discussing the relationship between your background and the college's mission." (AACOM)
• Rowan-Virtua (DO): "We encourage you to prepare questions to ask your interviewer in advance. While they are interested in getting to know you, our interviewer is also happy to share information about themselves and to help you learn more about Rowan-Virtua SOM." Before the day you "will receive an email with biographical information about your interviewer". (Rowan-Virtua)
• Kaiser Permanente Tyson (MD): the interview "provides you a better sense of who we are and allows you an opportunity to ask questions." (KPSOM)

Our view: the best question is one you could not have answered by reading. That rules out curriculum structure, grading, class size and anything on the admissions page. It leaves the interviewer's own experience, how a published program works in practice, and how something you plan to do would fit. AACOM's "connection between your credentials and the medical school" is the test: a good question shows what you want from this school.

The countercase: a question about something on the website is fine when it asks about practice rather than the fact. "The site says students choose a longitudinal clinic in first year. How did you choose yours?" works for a student, because only a student can answer it.

Who you will be talking to

Format decides when you can ask anything. These schools describe who interviews you:

The pattern: at MMI schools, scenario stations are not the place for your questions. Save them for the traditional station or the student session. Our MMI questions and sample answers covers the scenario stations themselves, and open-file vs closed-file interviews explains what each interviewer has read about you.

Questions for a faculty or committee interviewer

Ask about their work and their view of the school. Rowan-Virtua sends you the interviewer's biography for this reason.

Constructed example: questions for a faculty interviewer

Constructed example, written by us, not questions from a real interview. Context (invented): the applicant spent two years as a clinical research coordinator and plans to keep doing research.

1. "Your biography mentions the community health partnership you started. What do first-year students actually do in it?"
2. "I coordinated a trial for two years. Where do students here find a research mentor in the first year, and how did your own students find you?"
3. "What has changed in how students learn clinical skills here since you started teaching?"

Why these work: the first uses the biography the school sent. The second ties a credential to a school feature, AACOM's exact test. The third asks for a view only someone who has watched the school change can give.

Questions for students

Students answer what life at the school is like. KCOM's campus tour is "with students", and OHSU builds in "a chance to meet current students". Keep these honest and specific.

Constructed example: questions for a current student

Constructed example, written by us, not questions from a real interview.

1. "What did you do in your first week of clinical skills?"
2. "When an exam week went badly, who did you go to?"
3. "Where do people live, and how long is the drive to the main teaching hospital?"
4. "What would you change about the school if you could?"

If a later visit is offered, our page on whether a second-look visit is worth it covers that trip. Students may be asked about you too. AACOM says "admissions office staff and current students may be asked to comment on your personal conduct while on campus." Ask real questions, but do not treat the student session as off the record.

DO-specific questions

AACOM asks DO applicants to "Understand and articulate your genuine interest in osteopathic medicine and the osteopathic medical philosophy." Your questions can show that. KCOM's interview day includes "a demonstration of osteopathic manipulation", which gives you something concrete to ask about.

Constructed example: questions for a DO interview panel

Constructed example, written by us, not questions from a real interview.

1. "How do students practice osteopathic manipulative medicine once they are on clinical rotations?"
2. "Where do third-year students rotate, and how are sites assigned?"
3. "I have worked with chronic pain patients as a physical therapy aide. Is there a place in the curriculum to follow that interest?"

The third question is the one AACOM describes: it connects the applicant's background to the college.

Questions that backfire

Drop these. Each one fails the "only this person can answer" test or asks for something no interviewer can give.

• Anything on the website: class size, grading system, curriculum length, tuition. AACOM expects you to have read "its catalog, website, and admissions material".
• "How did I do?" or "Do I have a good chance?" The interviewer cannot answer, and it ends the conversation on your anxiety.
• "What is your Match rate?" or ranking questions, asked as your only question. It reads as shopping.
• Questions that test the interviewer, such as asking a student to criticize a named professor.
• A question you then do not listen to. If the interviewer already answered it, say so and ask your backup.

A five-minute question check

Before each interview, run this on every question you plan to ask.

1. Can I find the answer online? If yes, cut it or turn it into a practice question.
2. Can this person answer it? A student cannot speak for the committee; a basic science faculty member may not know rotation sites.
3. Does it connect to something I have done or plan to do? If not, try adding one clause.
4. Is it one sentence? Long setups eat your time, especially in a 14-minute open station.
5. Do I have a backup? An interviewer may answer a planned question before you ask it.

Questions about questions to ask

How many questions should I ask at a medical school interview?

One or two per interviewer, per AACOM's guidance. Have a backup in case one gets answered during the conversation.

Is it okay to bring written questions?

AACOM's page does not address notes. Rowan-Virtua says to "prepare questions to ask your interviewer in advance". A short list on a notepad, glanced at rather than read, is a reasonable choice.

What if I have no questions at the end?

Ask about the interviewer's own experience. "What has kept you at this school?" is always answerable. Saying you have none ends the conversation there.

Should I ask about the school's mission?

Ask how the mission works in practice, not what it is. "How does the rural track change what a student does in third year?" shows you read the mission. "What is your mission?" shows you did not. The same research feeds your answer to "Why this medical school?".

Review the writing you send next

Good questions give you material for the next letter. Get a free Quick Review of your letter of intent against GradPilot's medical school letter of intent and interest rubric, which checks whether the letter ties a stated feature of the school to your own reason for attending. If something has changed since you applied, the update letter rubric checks that the letter names what changed.

After the day, the note comes first: see our medical school interview thank-you email guide. For DO interviews, our DO school interview questions and answers covers what they will ask you. More guides are on the medical school essays hub.

Sources

Retrieved November 7, 2026, except where noted.

• AACOM, Admissions Interview (no year stated): one or two questions; research the college; college-specific questions; interest in osteopathic medicine; staff and student feedback.
• Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine, Interview Process (2026/2027 DO cycle): prepare questions; interviewer biography; board panel format.
• Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine, Application Process (2026-2027 cycle): opportunity to ask questions; hybrid MMI and faculty interview.
• NYU Grossman School of Medicine, Multiple Mini Interview (no year stated): station count and the 14-minute open station.
• OHSU School of Medicine, M.D. Program Admissions (2027 cycle): MMI plus one-on-one; meeting current students.
• A.T. Still University KCOM, Application Process (no year stated): three individual interviews, student-led tour, manipulation demonstration.