Student Experience: Interviewing at UofSC!

New year, new blog post! We are excited to be back in Columbia after an enjoyable Winter Break. The start of a new year and new semester brings our students much to look forward to!

Our second-year students are entering their final semester of the program, have begun new clinical rotations, and are busy writing their theses. As for the first-year students, we have two major tasks coming up: choosing a thesis topic and hosting prospective-students that will be visiting for interviews soon!

As interview season is quickly approaching, I wanted to write about my own experience so that prospective students know what they might be able to expect! This time last year, I was anxiously awaiting to receive interview invitations after submitting my graduate school applications. UofSC was the first school I heard back from and in late January I was invited to interview here! I remember opening the email sent from our Program Coordinator as I was about to get out of my car and head into Target. I saw the words “Interview Invitation” and cried happy tears as I called my parents and best friends to share the great news!

The interviews at UofSC are held on several Fridays throughout early spring, and each group of interviewees is invited to attend a causal dinner the night before. This dinner allows prospective students and current first-year students an opportunity to meet in a relaxed, no-pressure setting. For me, this dinner was a place to make connections with my fellow interviewees, ask last-minute questions, and observe how the first-year class interacted.

Something unique about my story is that I am an alumna of the University of South Carolina (Go Gamecocks!) and I also worked as a Genetic Counseling Assistant for the USC Genetic Counseling Program. In this role I had the opportunity to form relationships with USCGCP students from the Classes of 2019 and 2020 and knew without a doubt I wanted to be a student in the class of 2021. I was so excited for the opportunity to interview here but was also nervous about interviewing, and I probably asked the current students at least two hundred questions during the entire interview process.

I am very grateful for the support I received from all of the students I reached out to – there is something reassuring about hearing, “everything will be okay” from people who have been in your position before compared to your family who are obligated to tell you that you’re doing a great job no matter what.

On the morning of my interview, I drove to 2 Medical Park Road like I had dozens of times before and found my way to the conference room where the other prospective students gathered. I was welcomed by the familiar faces of first-year students, was given a snack and a water bottle, and found a seat to settle into.

After settling in I received a packet containing information about the program, city of Columbia, and the itinerary for the day. I watched a brief presentation from two then-second year students, and then headed upstairs to the Genetic Counseling suite for the first round of interviews. I interviewed separately with four people, the interview structure was conversational, and I ended feeling good about each conversation I had. After the interviews, the program provided me lunch and I enjoyed a presentation from the Prisma Health Children’s Hospital Champion Child for 2019 about his experience living with sickle cell disease. When the official interview concluded, most of the candidates went on a tour of Columbia, which I opted out of since I lived here.

Just like that, the stress and anxiety attached to attending my first graduate school interview was over and there was nothing left to do but wait for Match Day! I was thrilled to find out that I matched with UofSC and learned that two students who interviewed with me were to be my future classmates! I believe I speak for all of the current first- and second-year students when I say we can’t wait to meet the candidates for the Class of 2022 and we wish you the best of luck during this interview season!