Help with interview PLSssssssssssss

athomas91 · Nov 11, 2003

i am not from your area - I however interviewed 1) to get into the program and 2) to get accepted to my clinical site

and I was never once asked a clinical question - most of the reason I believe was due to my references citing very strong clinical skills and insight - they focused more on personal issues/ learning issues/ work issues.

tcrn · Nov 12, 2003

This is just general prep help- by the "pass ccrn" book (book stores have it) and study the cardio and pulmonary areas very well. Look at the questions at the end of each chapter because sometimes the people doing the interviews get idea's for their questions from sources like these.

jdpete · Nov 13, 2003

I was not asked anything like this when I went, but it is different now. I always said that being from a small state like WV, our school is sort of partial for WV people, so some will stay and work there. I always tell people to say things like, "I want to stay and work in WV, I would like to work on things to make the CRNA job market stable in WV and get involved politically". Maybe some of you got CCRN questions, but nobody I went to school with did. They know that all of us are Type A people who love codes, invasive procedures, and think we are very intelligent. If we weren't like this we wouldn't be going back to school. Anyways, I may be way off base, but that is my opinion, good luck

SEAGULL'S PEN · Nov 13, 2003

jdpete,

i applied in CAMC and i was offered a phone interview because i'm from out of town. texas to be exact. i thought, this was a way of telling me that they are not interested but had talked to them after that and they told me all the applicants are in the same level be it phone or personna interview. so my question s are:

1. any of your classmates had phone interview?

2. how long did you have to wait till you were told you got in?

3. what is the deciding factor? GPA?GRE?Clinical Background?

well, i guess thats it. hope to see your response soon.

T.

jdpete · Nov 13, 2003

Hey Seagull,

I started in 2000, so some might have changed. I do not know of any phone interviews, does not mean that they did not happen. They accepted people in two groups then, one group got in around Thanksgiving, and one group around February. I got all of my stuff in around August and interviewed in October, early in the month, so I got lucky and got in at Thanksgiving. I believe that more people apply now so they were doing something like giving people who didn't make it in for the upcoming year, an admissions for the following year. This I know to be true, so I assume they have many applicants. If they have more applicants, the interview process could and might be quite a bit different than it was for me. My interview was five minutes, told me nothing, and left me feeling funny. Here I stressed over this thing for hours on end, and it literally lasted five minutes. However some other students interviewed with different people and had different experiences, but I know of nobody that was grilled on Physiology or stuff like that, but, once again, could be different now. I think the deciding factor could be different now too b/c of increased applicants. I am sure it is tougher now b/c I remember them saying that everyone had good grades, good references, etc, etc. This is why I always tried to encourage somebody to say things differently, like where you wanted to work, things you wanted to accomplish, being politically active is a big plus for most schools. I do know that GRE, GPA, interview all went together along with references. If your grades were low, but GRE was high, and somebody loved your interview, they would not penalize for your grades. That is why there are so many facets they look at. I went to BSN school right out of high school, so my grades were lower b/c of this. My GRE was good and I was from WV which I know was a plus. Something will have to stand out I am sure. Who did you talk to that said the phone interview was alright? The more I think about it the people from out of state interviewed many places and I would think that they did not travel to them, there is no way for them to pay everybody's way. So this is more than likely how they did as well. Good luck, and let me know who you talked to.

SEAGULL'S PEN · Nov 13, 2003

Hi,

Thanks for your input. I was informed that the admission committee is going to meet Nov 17 to make selections. There is also a second admission date which will be in Feb 2004.

Keeping my fingers crossed.

I talked to their administrative assistant. She is so nice.

T.

DPo · Nov 14, 2003

Adam,

I interviewed at Memorial last year. It is actually not a difficult interview. Mark (the director) is very personable and not intimidating. Don't be frantic over what to wear. Of course, you want to look professional, but you will be in that suit for 1 minute. You'll meet him and a student at the OR, you'll then shake hands and the student will bring you to change into scrubs. If I remember correctly, the student will first show you around the OR and give you the inside scoop on the program. This is when you will really be able to ask your questions, so have them ready. After you meet with the student you'll meet with Mark and the others (probably 3, although I only met with 2). They actually ask YOU very little. I was alittle turned off by the fact that they didn't want to know more about me than was written on my application. In that part of the interview they tell you everything about their program. It was a rather relaxed interview. So, now you're going to ask me if I was accepted. I was wait-listed because I needed a biochem or organic chem class. If I had the class I'm sure I would have been accepted. I was accepted at St. Joe's in RI (they let me take the class after the interview). Although I am biased, I reccommend my program over Memorial's.

Good Luck and don't stress!

tcrn · Nov 14, 2003

It really depends on where you are interviewing! I know that the places I interviewed last year (twu and newman) both ask a lot of clinical, pharm, patho, and ethics. I understand that tcu will be similar. Some of the questions i got (and did well on!) were regarding blood flow through the heart, how to lower a high KCL, stuff about vents and peep and ethical dilemma senerios. Be safe and find someone who interviewed there who can give you the skinny. Or ask a current student for heads up on the next set of interview questions. Good luck to you! I know you will do great!

Adam_RN · Nov 15, 2003

Thanks every one for responding. I didn't have any clinical questions, but i was not impressed by their interviews at all. DPo, You were abslotely right when you said, they spend talking a lot about their program. They hardly asked me any questions for they were to busy talking about their programs. I was wondering do you know if every one that applies gets to be interviewd if they meet minimum requirments? or does it mean if you are called for interview, they atleast think you have a chance? I am really confused about that becuase, in the interview i felt they were not intersted in me, but i was not sure why they called me if they had already made their mind. Pls any one share with me your experiance with your interviews, especially with places where you didn't get accpted.

P.S>> DPo can you tell me how your interview at St. joseph was, what type of questions did they ask you, I am planing to send my applications there.

Thanks a lot.

DPo · Nov 17, 2003

Adam,

They wouldn't have wasted their time interviewing you if they didn't consider you a good candidate for the program. My interview at St. Joe's was a little more intense, but I still didn't feel like I was in the hot seat. A good thing about this interview is that a good number of us that were accepted were told in the interview. You interview with 2-3 people they ask you a lot about yourself. They ask a lot of the typical interview questions. They focus a lot on your transcript allowing you to explain things that need to be explained. They like to know that you have journals that come to your house, that you pay for your association dues and if you are certified (or not..). They asked a couple of clinical questions but nothing complicated. They asked all of us how we would handle the situation if a physician asked us to do something that was completely inappropriate in the given situation, blah, blah. It wasn't a difficult interview. I really like the program. It is very organized! I think you need to apply yesterday, because the deadline is either passed or approaching soon!!

DPo