Where Else Did You Apply? Med School Interview

Where Else Did You Apply? Med School Interview

Answer "where else did you apply" with the kind of schools on your list and why they share a thread, not a roll call, and never with a promise. Answer "is this your top choice" with "yes" only if it is true, and to one school only. Otherwise answer with fit: what this school offers that matches you.

Interview pressure makes applicants think they owe a commitment in the room. They do not. Choosing a school happens later, in the AAMC's Choose Your Medical School Tool, after you hold acceptances. UAB's admissions page says of that tool's first step, before April 30: "Medical schools will not see individual responses - just aggregate data." An answer in an interview binds you to nothing, so there is no reason to say anything untrue. A "you're my top choice" told to three schools is two lies.

Every school and advising page quoted below was checked on November 7, 2026. For the season's other questions, start at the medical school essays and interviews hub. The answer here has to agree with your why this medical school answer from earlier in the same interview.

What is published, what we recommend, and what nobody knows

Our view: treat the question as a consistency check on your own story. If your why-this-school answer praised a rural mission and your list is twenty urban research schools, the interviewer can notice. The countercase: some applicants apply broadly for good reasons, such as a low GPA or a single state school. Say the reason. A broad list with a stated reason is consistent.

Where else did you apply: three honest shapes

"Where else" is not on the inappropriate-question list quoted further down this page, so answer it. You choose how much detail to give.

Do not name schools to impress, and do not rank them out loud. The interviewer works at one of them.

Is this your top choice?

Dartmouth's pre-health office, in its interview guide for the 2026-2027 cycle, says of thank-you notes that "this is not the time to say “You are my top choice" unless it's true. Notes with that type of intent should be separate from a thank you." The same rule works in the room.

1. It is your top choice. Say so once, plainly, with the reason. Say it to no other school. If you still feel that way after interviews end, that is what a letter of intent is for, and it also goes to one school.
2. You are not sure yet. Say that it is a top contender and why, and that you will decide once you have seen the schools that invite you. That is honest.
3. It is not your top choice. You do not have to rank it. Answer with what fits: the line from the school's mission, the program, the patients. Do not say "yes".

Our recommendation: never say "top choice" to a second school, in the room, in a thank-you note or in a letter. The letter of intent, update and letter of interest guide explains why intent is a one-school statement.

What commitment actually looks like

Commitment happens through the AAMC's choose-your-school steps after you have offers, not in an interview. Drexel's page for the 2027 application cycle says that "Plan to Enroll" in the tool "means that you have chosen this medical school as your first choice, but you may hold other applications open according to AAMC protocols." UAB's page says "You will need to withdraw acceptances from all but one medical school by April 30." For the full dates and what each step locks, see the sibling guides to Plan to Enroll vs Commit to Enroll and the AMCAS traffic rules and 2027 dates.

So when an interviewer asks "will you come if we admit you?", the true answer for an applicant still interviewing is that you will decide when you hold your offers. Saying so is not evasive. It is what the process is built for.

Questions you do not have to answer

Dartmouth's guide lists these as "Examples of Inappropriate Questions":

• "What is your race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, political affiliation, marital status, opinion on abortion and/or euthanasia, income, the value of your home, credit score, etc.?"
• "Are you planning on having children during medical school?"
• "Do you have any disabilities?"
• "Will you require special accommodations?"
• "Have you ever been arrested?"
• "Have you ever done drugs?"
• "How old are you?"

It gives two sample responses:

• Q. "What are your plans for expanding your family during medical school?" A. "Can you please clarify your question? I want to make sure that I’m providing information that is most relevant to my candidacy."
• Q. "Have you ever done drugs?" A. "I am uncomfortable discussing my medical history and possible use of prescription medications during this interview."

On what to do afterward, the guide says that if an interviewer "has spent your interview time challenging your identity instead of focusing on your qualifications and candidacy, you have the right to reach out to admissions to request a new interview. Check the reporting policy for the school." It also says: "you don’t owe it to your interviewer to talk about race if you identify as underrepresented or a minority, religion if you identify as a religious person, gender if you identify as nonbinary, etc." and adds that if you raised a topic in your essays, "they may ask legitimate follow-up questions about what you've said."

Two points of scope. This list is one advising office's guidance, not a law or a school rule, so read the reporting policy of the school you interviewed at. And a question about something you wrote in your application, including an institutional action you disclosed, is a fair follow-up under the guide's own wording. "Where else did you apply" is not on the list.

If an interview went wrong for this reason or another, the sibling guide to a medical school interview that went badly covers what you can still do. Ethics stations that touch the same topics are covered in MMI ethics scenarios.

Constructed answers

The answers below are constructed examples, written by us, not real applicant answers. The applicant is invented.

Context (invented): Ari Tembo applied to 22 MD schools, mostly public schools in the West with primary care tracks, and is interviewing at one of them.

Constructed example, written by us, not a real applicant statement. "Where else did you apply?" (40 words):

"Mostly public schools in the West with primary care tracks, because that's the work I want to do and where I want to do it. I also applied to two research schools, because I wanted to keep that door open."

Constructed example, written by us, not a real applicant statement. "Is this your top choice?" when it is (35 words):

"Yes. Your longitudinal clinic in the first year is the reason. It's the closest thing I've found to the continuity I had at the free clinic, and I haven't seen it this early anywhere else."

Constructed example, written by us, not a real applicant statement. "Is this your top choice?" when Ari is not sure (44 words):

"You're one of the two or three schools I'm most serious about, because of the primary care track. I want to make that decision after I've seen every school that invites me, and I'd rather tell you that than tell you what sounds good."

Constructed example, written by us, not a real applicant statement. "If we admit you, will you come?" (29 words):

"I'd be very glad to have that choice. I'll make my final decision when I hold my offers, and what I've seen today puts you high on that list."

None of these answers names a school Ari would rank above this one, makes a promise, or says anything he would have to take back.

A five-minute check before each interview

1. Write one sentence that names the thread in your list, or the reason it is broad.
2. Decide whether this school is your top choice today. If yes, check you have not said so to another school.
3. Read your why-this-school answer and your list side by side. Do they agree?
4. Say your "will you come" answer out loud. It should contain no promise.
5. Look up the school's reporting route for interview concerns, so you know it before you need it.

Questions about where else you applied

Do I have to name the schools?

You can answer with categories and give a few names if asked again. Nothing in the pages checked above requires you to list every school.

Is it inappropriate to ask where else I applied?

It is not on the list of inappropriate questions in Dartmouth's guide, quoted above. Answer it honestly and briefly.

What if I already told two schools they were my top choice?

Stop repeating it. Say "top choice" to one school from now on, and send a letter of intent to that school only. You do not need to write to the other school to take it back; just do not repeat it there.

Can an interviewer make me promise to attend?

No interview answer commits you. Choice is registered later through the AAMC's choose-your-school steps, as the Drexel and UAB pages above describe. Give the honest answer: you will decide when you hold your offers.

What if the interviewer asks about my age, religion or family plans?

Use one of the sample responses quoted above, or ask the interviewer to clarify. Afterward, check the school's reporting policy and talk to your pre-health advisor.

Review the writing you send next

If one school is your top choice when interviews end, the letter of intent you send that one school is where you say it in writing. Get a free Quick Review of your letter of intent: it checks whether the letter connects a stated feature of the school to your reason for attending and states your interest at its true strength. For schools that are not your first choice, an update letter with real news says what has changed without a promise.

More medical school interview guides:

• Why this medical school: one mission line, one experience, one plan.
• Greatest weakness in a medical school interview: a real weakness, the fix and the evidence.
• Medical school interview thank-you email: what to send after the day, without an accidental promise. At a DO school the follow-up is often why DO if you also applied MD.

Reapplying? The 'what changed' question is covered in reapplicant interview answers.

Sources

Retrieved November 7, 2026, except where noted.

• Dartmouth Health Professions Program, HPP Interview Prep Guide, 2026-2027 Med/Vet/Dental Application Cycle (2026-2027 cycle): top-choice line, inappropriate-question examples, sample responses, right to request a new interview, follow-up questions about your essays.
• UAB Heersink School of Medicine, Application Process (page states no cycle year): Choose Your Medical School Tool, aggregate-data line, April 30 withdrawal line.
• Drexel University College of Medicine, Application Process (2027 application cycle): meaning of Plan to Enroll.
• AAMC's applicant interview pages returned HTTP 403 to our checks on November 7, 2026, so this page does not quote them.