Questions to Ask a Medical Student
Questions for a premed or applicant who has a current medical student in front of them: on the student panel at an interview, at a revisit day, during a shadowing shift, or across a table from a cousin's roommate who is in second year. The first five work with any student in any year. After that the groups run from getting in, through the classroom years and board exams, to rotations and choosing a specialty, then money and daily life and what they would do differently, so go to the part their year lets them answer from experience.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Start here
Which year are you in, and what are you in the middle of right now?
Why ask it
Their year decides which of your other questions they can answer from experience. A first-year can only repeat what they have heard about rotations, and a student on the wards may be hazy on how admissions works now. On a panel, jot down each person's year so you know where to aim what you ask later.
What made you choose this school?
Why ask it
The reasons students give are usually plainer than the brochure's: cost, a partner's job, being near family, a gut feeling on interview day. If this was their only acceptance they will often say so, and then the better follow-up is what they have come to value since arriving.
What does an ordinary day look like for you right now?
Why ask it
Yesterday, hour by hour, beats a description of a typical day, so start there. From a student in the classroom years you want to hear when the required sessions end and the studying begins. From one on rotations you want the alarm time and the hour they got home.
What has been the best part of medical school so far, and what has been the hardest?
Why ask it
Notice which half they answer first and which takes longer. Best parts tend to be people, a patient or a classmate, and hard parts tend to be the sheer volume. When the hard part is about the school itself, such as scheduling or advising, that is the thread to follow.
What do you wish you had known before you started?
Why ask it
This one is about the gap between the picture and the life: how much there is to learn, how the days are spent, what it does to weekends. It works on a whole panel, where each answer tends to come from a different stage of training. If the reply is 'nothing, really', try 'what did you believe in the first month that turned out to be wrong?'
Getting in
What made you want to be a doctor, and has that reason survived medical school?
Why ask it
The second half is the useful one. Some students find the original reason gets stronger once they meet patients, and others quietly replace it with a new one. Either answer helps you test whether your own reason is the kind that lasts.
Did you come straight from college, or take time in between?
Why ask it
What they did with the time, and whether they would take it again, matters more than the yes or no. If you are weighing a gap year yourself, the student can also say how common it is among their classmates, which is the kind of thing someone inside the class knows better than a published profile shows.
Looking at your own application, what do you think got you in?
Why ask it
They are guessing, since few students ever see how their file was scored, but the guess shows what the school seemed to respond to. Do not treat it as a formula. Put the question to two or three students and see whether the same thing comes up.
Of everything you did before applying, what has turned out to be useful now that you are here?
Why ask it
Shadowing, a clinical job, research, tutoring and volunteering all go on an application, and a student can tell you which of them they still lean on, whether that is being at ease talking to a patient or knowing how to read a paper. That is a better guide to where your hours should go than a list of what looks good. What a school requires is a separate matter, and it differs by school and country.
How did you study for the admissions test, and what would you change about it?
Why ask it
In the US and Canada this means the MCAT; elsewhere, name the test your country uses. How many months they gave it and what the last few weeks looked like are the parts you can borrow. Leave the score out of it, because one person's result says little about yours.
What were your interviews here like, and is there anything you wish you had said?
Why ask it
Most useful if your own interview is still ahead, though formats change between cycles, so confirm the current one with the admissions office. The wish-I-had-said half often shows what the school cares about more clearly than a list of the questions they were asked.
What turned out to be different from what you were shown on interview day?
Why ask it
Every school presents its best afternoon. A student who can name one thing that did not match, such as how often the simulation center is really open to them or how far the main hospital is, is giving you a fair picture. If nothing differed, try a gentle 'not even something small?'
What do premeds worry about too much, and what should they worry about more?
Why ask it
A plain 'any advice?' gets plain advice, and this version makes the student rank things. Say where you are first, whether a sophomore, in a gap year or reapplying, so the answer fits you. It is still one person's view of a process they went through once, so collect a few before you change your plans.
Classes and boards
How do you study now, and how is that different from what worked in college?
Why ask it
The story of the switch is worth more than the finished system. Many students change methods in the first term, so find out when they realized the old way was failing and what the warning sign was.
What do you use to study besides the school's own lectures, and could you get by without it?
Why ask it
Many students lean on question banks, flashcard decks and video series alongside the lectures, or in place of them. If most of the class has stopped using the school's material, it is fair to wonder aloud what the classroom years of tuition are buying. Product names date quickly, so check what is current the summer before you start.
Do people go to lectures in person, or watch the recordings later?
Why ask it
This tells you how much of the day is yours to arrange, and whether the lecture hall is somewhere you would meet anyone. Attendance rules differ by school and sometimes by course, so get the student to name the sessions that are compulsory.
How are the preclinical courses graded, and does that change how classmates treat each other?
Why ask it
The admissions office can tell you the scheme, and only a student can tell you what it feels like. Whether people pass around notes and old study guides freely is the sign to look for. Where there is a ranking of any kind, find out when students learn where they stand.
Which block has been the roughest so far, and was it the material or the way it was taught?
Why ask it
The split in the question matters. Hard material is hard everywhere, and the student can tell you how they got through it. A badly organized block belongs to this school, and the thing to learn is whether anything changed after students complained.
How well did the school prepare you for the first board exam, and how much was left to you?
Why ask it
Put this to someone who has sat the exam or is close to it. In the US that is Step 1 or COMLEX Level 1, and other countries have their own licensing exams, so use the local name. You are listening for whether the curriculum lined up with the exam or students were studying for two things at once, and for how many weeks the school cleared for study beforehand.
If someone in your class fails an exam or falls behind, what really happens to them?
Why ask it
The official policy is in the handbook. The student knows how it plays out: whether people come back from a bad block quietly or whether it follows them. Do not press for names or details about a classmate.
What was it like the first time you saw a real patient?
Why ask it
You get a story, and inside it are the facts you want: how early it came, how closely they were supervised, and whether they did anything or stood at the back. How nervous they were going in says a lot about how well the school had readied them.
Are you doing any research, and how did you find the project?
Why ask it
Some students do research out of interest and some because they believe residency programs expect it, and it is fair to ask which it is for them. The route in is the practical part: a cold email, a summer program, a list the school keeps. A student with no research can tell you whether that feels like a normal choice in their class.
Which professor or older student has helped you most, and how did you meet them?
Why ask it
A school can assign every student an adviser, and this asks who turned out to matter. A quick name suggests help is easy to come by. If the person was found by luck, in a hallway or through a club, you would have to go looking too.
Clinical years
How different is a day on rotations from a day in the classroom years?
Why ask it
Students who have crossed over tend to describe a different job: fixed hours, a team, less say over the day. Have them pick one rotation and walk you through a day of it, since the hours can differ a good deal from one rotation to the next.
Which rotation did you enjoy most, and which one surprised you?
Why ask it
Watch for the moment a student lights up, since that is what the clinical years feel like at their best. The surprise half often shows a specialty they had ruled out pulling them in, or the reverse. People often love a rotation for who was on the team, so find out who that was.
On the wards, how much do you get to do yourself and how much is watching?
Why ask it
What a student may do varies by hospital, by team and by local rules, so go for examples from the last rotation: taking histories, presenting patients, writing notes, helping with procedures. If they mostly shadowed, check whether that was one site or the whole school.
Where have your rotations been, and how were the sites decided?
Why ask it
Travel is the hidden cost of the clinical years. Find out whether they needed a car, whether any rotation meant living away from home, and who paid for that. A lottery, a ranking and a first-come list each feel different to live under.
Who does most of the teaching on rotations: attendings, residents or whoever is free?
Why ask it
In many teaching hospitals residents do much of the day-to-day teaching, so their workload shapes what students learn. A good test is whether the student can recall a recent time someone stopped to explain something properly. If nothing from the last month comes to mind, weigh that.
How are you evaluated on rotations, and do the grades feel fair to you?
Why ask it
Clinical grades often rest partly on written evaluations from people who worked with the student for only a short time, and students have strong views about that. The detail that matters is whether feedback ever arrived early enough to act on. Then read the school's current grading policy yourself, since these get revised.
Have you seen a student treated badly on a rotation, and what did the school do about it?
Why ask it
Keep this for a private conversation and give your reason: you want to know what happens when something goes wrong. A student who says it happened and the school acted is describing a better place than one who says it never comes up. Accept a short answer if they would rather not go into it.
What did you have to learn the hard way in your first week on the wards?
Why ask it
You will hear small practical things: where to stand, what to carry, whom to ask. Write them down, because the people who learn them soon forget they ever had to. The answer also shows whether the school ran any real preparation before sending students into the hospital.
Which specialty are you leaning toward, and what have you ruled out?
Why ask it
The ruled-out specialties come with the better stories, usually one rotation or one conversation that settled it. Expect students in the early years to hold their answer loosely. If you have a field in mind, find out whether anyone in their class is heading there.
How do students here try out a specialty before they have to commit?
Why ask it
Shadowing, interest groups, electives and a mentor in the field are the usual routes, and what matters is how easy each is to reach at this school. Try it with a field the school has no department or residency program in. Students aiming there can tell you how much they had to arrange alone.
How early does the pressure to build a record for competitive specialties start?
Why ask it
You are asking about the atmosphere. In some classes the talk of research and scores starts in the first weeks, and in others it stays quiet until rotations. Neither is wrong, but you should know which one you would be walking into.
How did last year's graduating class feel about where they matched?
Why ask it
A match list is hard to read from outside, and the mood among the students who lived it is a different kind of information. What happened to the people who did not get what they hoped for, and who helped them, is the part to press on. Outside the US and Canada the placement system has another name and other rules, so use the local term.
Money and life
How are you paying for medical school, and how do you think about the debt?
Why ask it
Only when the setting is private and the student seems open to it, and never ask for a figure. What you want is the reasoning: loans, scholarships, family help or a service commitment, and how they live with the choice. Loan programs and repayment rules depend on the country and change often, so take the specifics to the financial aid office.
Which costs did nobody warn you about?
Why ask it
Exam fees, study subscriptions, equipment, travel to rotation sites and residency applications are common answers, though the list depends on the school and the country. Get a rough idea of when each one lands, so you can plan for the expensive years and not only the tuition bill.
Where do you live, and would you pick the same place again?
Why ask it
You are after three things: roommates or alone, near campus or near the hospital, and what the commute turns into once rotations start. A student who would move is telling you where to look. Rent figures go stale fast, so collect neighborhood names and check prices yourself.
Does anyone in your class hold a job or have kids, and how do they manage?
Why ask it
If you would arrive with a family, a mortgage or a need to earn, this matters more than anything about the curriculum, and an introduction to that classmate is worth requesting. If nobody comes to mind, that says something about who the class is, too.
How many hours a week does medical school really take, and when was your last full day off?
Why ask it
Last week is a better unit than an average. The answer shifts sharply between the classroom years and rotations, so get both from anyone who has done both. The day-off half keeps the reply honest.
What do you still do that has nothing to do with medicine?
Why ask it
A student who names a team, a band, a faith community or a standing Sunday call home has kept a life going and can tell you how. If the answer is a long pause, the follow-up is what they gave up and whether they plan to get it back.
What do you do when the stress builds up, and does the school make that easier or harder?
Why ask it
The first half usually gets something ordinary: a run, a night off, a call to someone outside medicine. The second half is about the school, and whether a wellness day or a counseling service is something people really use. Skip it on a panel if an earlier answer already sounded strained.
How has medical school changed things with your family, partner or old friends?
Why ask it
A personal question, so leave room to pass. People describe missed weddings and friends who stopped calling, and also partners who learned the exam calendar by heart. If you are bringing someone with you, find out what the school and the class do for partners.
If you were struggling, who at the school would you go to first?
Why ask it
A name or an office given without hesitation means the support is known to students. 'I would probably just ask a friend' is common and not damning, but follow with whether they would worry about it reaching the people who grade them. How counseling is kept apart from grading is a question for the school itself.
What are your classmates like, and how long did it take to find your people?
Why ask it
Class size, the spread of ages and how many people already knew the city all shape this. The thing to hear is whether friendships run across the whole class or settled into fixed groups at orientation. Anyone who found their people late can tell you where they turned up.
Looking back
What is the one thing you would change about how you handled first year?
Why ask it
Where the wish-I-had-known question is about information, this one is about their own choices: study methods, sleep, saying yes to too many things. What it cost them is the follow-up. The advice only helps if you write it down and reread it the week you start.
What should I do in the months before starting, and what would be a waste of that time?
Why ask it
Many students say not to study ahead, and their reasons are worth hearing in their own words. Find out how they spent the time themselves: travel, earning, moving early, seeing family. If they name one practical thing to sort out in advance, such as housing or paperwork, do that one.
What kind of student is happy here, and who might be better off somewhere else?
Why ask it
A student can answer this in a way a dean cannot. Specifics about pace, independence, class size and the city are what you want, and then you have to place yourself in the answer honestly. If they say anyone would be happy here, check whether anybody has transferred or taken time away.
If you could change one thing about this school, what would it be?
Why ask it
Students have usually argued this out among themselves, so the answer comes fast. A complaint about parking or the cafeteria suggests the big things work. One about rotation sites, advising or how the administration listens deserves a follow-up on whether it is being fixed.
If you were back in college deciding, would you still go into medicine?
Why ask it
For someone who has not applied yet, this is the question the whole conversation is for. Give it a private setting and a quiet moment, and do not take a tired 'ask me after exams' as a no. The reasons they give, for or against, are more use to you than the verdict.
Knowing what you know now, would you choose this school again?
Why ask it
Leave this near the end, when they have warmed up. Watch how quickly the yes comes and what is attached to it. 'Yes, but' is the most informative answer you can get, so let them finish the sentence.
What should I be asking you that applicants never think to ask?
Why ask it
It hands the student a chance to say the thing they have been waiting to say. Whatever comes back, carry it to the next school you visit and ask it there.
Could I write to you later if I end up choosing between this school and another?
Why ask it
A short, specific message months later is far easier to answer than a general one, so save it for a real decision. On a formal visit, check whether the school prefers contact to go through its admissions office.
How to get straight answers from a medical student
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before you sit down
Know which decision you are making
A premed over coffee is deciding whether to do this at all, and an admitted applicant at a revisit day is deciding between schools. The first should spend the time on Start here, Getting in and whether the student would still go into medicine. The second can skip how the student got in and go to the classroom years, the clinical years and what they would change about the school.
Know how the student came to be there
A student on an interview-day panel or leading a tour was usually picked, or volunteered, to represent the school, and tends to like it. A friend of a friend at a coffee shop owes the school nothing. Both are worth hearing, and the questions under Money and life and Looking back get fuller answers from the second kind.
Match the questions to their year
Students in the classroom years can speak to Getting in and Classes and boards from fresh memory. Clinical years, and anything about residency applications, needs someone who has reached the wards. If you only have access to first-years, ask one of them to introduce you to a student further along.
Read the website before you spend a question on it
Tuition, the curriculum map and the list of hospitals are published. Use the student for what is not: how the schedule feels, which rules are enforced, what people grumble about. 'I saw the first exam block comes in October. What were those weeks like?' gets a better answer than asking when exams are.
Bring fewer questions than you think you need
A panel gives each applicant one or two turns, and a coffee gives you perhaps half an hour. Mark five or six across the groups, put the one that could change your decision first, and let the conversation supply the rest.
During the conversation
Ask about them, not about 'students here'
'Do students get enough support?' invites the official line. 'Who did you go to when the first exam went badly?' gets a person and a story. Nearly every question on this page works better aimed at the student's own last week, last block or last rotation.
On a panel, ask what several people can answer
Questions about an ordinary day, study methods or why they chose the school let three students answer in three ways, and the differences are the information. Keep debt, stress and mistreatment for a private conversation, where the student is not answering in front of a dean or their classmates.
Do not ask them to rate your chances
A student who hears your numbers and says you will be fine is being kind, not accurate. Some schools seat students on the admissions committee and many do not, and either way the person in front of you cannot speak for it. Ask what they did, and take questions about your own file to the admissions office.
Assume the lunch counts
Some schools ask student hosts what they thought of the applicants and others never do, and you will seldom be told which. Being curious and polite costs nothing. Running down other schools, or asking which classes can be skipped, is a risk with no upside.
Offer a way out of the personal ones
Before a question about money, family or a bad stretch, say they are free to skip it. A student who knows they can pass has less reason to be guarded, and you avoid souring a conversation that was going well.
Making sense of what you hear
One student is one experience
A single bad rotation or a single wonderful mentor can color everything a person tells you. Try to speak to at least two students in different years before forming a view, and give extra weight to anything both of them raise unprompted.
Separate this school from medical school anywhere
The volume of material, the long days on the wards and the cost are complaints you would hear at nearly any school. Rotation sites that keep falling through, advisers who do not reply and an administration that ignores feedback belong to one place. Sort what you heard into those two piles before you compare schools.
Confirm anything that rests on a rule
Grading schemes, exam timing, attendance policies and aid terms change between classes, and all of them differ by country. A third-year may be describing a curriculum that has since been replaced. Treat the student's account as how it felt, and ask the school how it works now.
Notice what made them hesitate
A pause before 'would you choose it again', or a careful answer about support, tells you where to question a second student. It does not tell you the school is bad. Tired people in a hard program hesitate about plenty of things.
Afterwards
Write it down the same day
After three or four visits the schools blur together. Note the student's year, the two or three things they said that you could not have read anywhere, and how you felt walking out. Those notes earn their keep in the spring, if you end up with more than one offer.
Put the same few questions to every school
Pick three, such as the ordinary day, the one thing they would change and whether they would choose the school again, and ask them everywhere. Answers to the same question are the only ones you can fairly set side by side.
Say thank you, briefly
Students give this time for nothing, often between an exam and a shift. Two lines of thanks that mention something specific they told you is plenty. If they offered to answer more later, wait until you have a real decision in front of you and send one clear question.