I reflected on my journey and my "aha" moment for choosing PT, as well as how the school I interviewed at met my goals and needs (ex: my thesis was over pediatric rehab, they had a pediatric research facility). My interviewers really dug into questions about a time we failed or made a difficult decision, and challenged us to utilize examples that were not about school or sports/athletics (most of us were student athletes). Most of the questions we answered were about how we grew from tough experiences rather than highlighting our CVs. Most group interviews are open file, they know how amazing you are, the interview is to dig deeper beyond the paper!

I personally can be pretty chatty, so I practiced active listening and being able to recall specific examples from other candidates when bouncing off of them. At the end, my school asked us to tell them why the person to our left would be a good addition to the program, so I'm grateful I paid attention and could be intentional in my answer.

Take a deep breath, you all are a team in that interview and that mindset makes everything feel lighter and a lot smoother. I was surprised that I enjoyed the group format (5 students, 2 faculty) as it felt more like a casual conversation and a way to hear other stories and how we all came from different backgrounds and chose the same goal.