The virtues of the virtual medical school interview

Figures & data

Table 1. On campus v virtual interviews, offers of acceptance and matriculation, 2020 hybrid year

	Total Interviewees	On Campus Interviewees	Virtual Interviewees
N	554	477	77
Percentage	100%	86%	14%
Offers of Acceptance: N	272	227	45
Matriculants: N	130	99	31
Offers of Acceptance %	49%	48%*	58%*
Matriculants %	23%	21%*	40%*
Matriculant/Acceptance %	40%	44%*	49%*

Comparisons of values between the groups were conducted using Chi Square Tests of significance. An alpha value of ≤ 0.05 was considered significant.

*Significant at p = .001.

Table 2. Virtual interview day questionnaire for hybrid year 2020

1. Overall, which of the following describes your impression of the CUSM Virtual Interview Day experience?	Answer Choices	Percentages	Responses
	Outstanding	45.45%	20
	Excellent	38.64%	17
	Good	18.18%	8
	Needs a lot of work	0.00%	0
2. Overall, based on my experience with the CUSM Virtual Interview Day, I would do it again.	Answer Choices	Percentages	Responses
	Yes	95.45%	42
	No	4.55%	2
3. Overall, the virtual nature of my one-on-one interview was as good as if I had experienced it in person.	Answer Choices	Percentages	Responses
	Strongly agree	25.00%	11
	Agree	50.00%	22
	Ambivalent	15.91%	7
	Disagree	6.82%	3
	Strongly disagree	2.27%	1
4. Overall, the virtual video presentations provided were helpful and informative.	Answer Choices	Percentages	Responses
	Yes	97.73%	43
	No	2.27%	1
5. My virtual lunch with current students was:	Answer Choices	Percentages	Responses
	Very satisfying	25.00%	11
	Satisfying	50.00%	22
	Somewhat satisfying	18.18%	8
	Not satisfying	4.55%	2
6. I completed my pre-interview assignments satisfactorily before participating in the Virtual Interview Day.	Answer Choices	Percentages	Responses
	Yes	97.73%	43
	No	2.27%	1
7. Were you glad to have had the opportunity to participate in the Virtual Interview Day experience.	Answer Choices	Percentages	Responses
	Yes	97.73%	43
	No	2.27%	1

Figure 1. Expanded study. Expanded 4 year admissions data indicates the number of applications, interviewees, acceptances and matriculants. Power calculations (Supplement 3 – Figure 1 related power calculations), enabled detection of significant differences in many comparative studies

Table 3. Demographics of expanded study

		Class of 2022		Class of 2023		Class of 2024		Class of 2025
Demographics		N	%	N	%	N	%	N	%
Sex	Female	147	49%	195	44%	244	49%	259	49%
	Male	153	51%	248	56%	310	51%	270	51%
Ethnicity	Hispanic	54	18%	93	21%	100	18%	153	29%
	Asian	96	32%	182	41%	283	51%	180	34%
	Caucasian	129	43%	133	30%	122	22%	101	19%
	African American	3	1%	9	2%	11	2%	5	1%
	Other	18	6%	26	6%	38	7%	90	17%

Figure 2. Satisfaction surveys of interviewees. Satisfaction of virtual interviewees (a) from application cycle (class year): 2021 (2025) is compared to On-Campus Interviewees (b) from 2019 (2023) and On-Campus interviewees (c) from 2018 (2022). The complete interviewee questionnaire is depicted (Supplement 4 – interviewee questionnaire)

Figure 3. Satisfaction surveys of interviewers. Satisfaction of virtual interviewers (a) from application cycle (class year): 2021 (2025) is compared to On-Campus interviewers (b) from both 2019 (2023) and 2018 (2022). The complete interviewer questionnaire is depicted (Supplement 5 – interviewer questionnaire)

Table 4. Hybrid year and expanded study comparisons

		Total Interviewees	On Campus Interviewees	Virtual Interviewees
2018, 2019	N	743	743	0
	Percentage	100%	100%	0%
	Offers of Acceptance: N	305	305	0
	Matriculants: N	162	162	0
	Offers of Acceptance %	41%	41%	0%
	Matriculants %	22%	22%	0%
	Matriculant/Acceptance %	53%	53%	0%
2020	N	554	477	77
	Percentage	100%	86%	14%
	Offers of Acceptance: N	272	227	45
	Matriculants: N	130	99	31
	Offers of Acceptance %	49%	48%*	58%*
	Matriculants %	23%	21%*	40%*
	Matriculant/Acceptance %	40%	44%*	49%*
2021	N	529	0	529
	Percentage	100%	0%	100%
	Offers of Acceptance: N	243	0	243
	Matriculants: N	130	0	130
	Offers of Acceptance %	46%	0%	46%
	Matriculants %	25%	0%	25%
	Matriculant/Acceptance %	53%	0%	53%
Overall	N	1826	1220	606
	Percentage	100%	67%	33%
	Offers of Acceptance: N	820	532	288
	Matriculants: N	422	261	161
	Offers of Acceptance %	45%	44%**	48%**
	Matriculants %	23%	21%***	27%***
	Matriculant/Acceptance %	51%	49%****	56%****

Comparisons of values between the groups were conducted using Chi Square Tests of significance. An alpha value of ≤ 0.05 was considered significant.

*Significant at p = .001.

**Significant at p = .047.

***Significant at p = .036.

****Approaching Significance at p = .08.

Data availability statement

All raw data, in de-identified format, is available to any interested party upon request. https://cusm.org/school-of-medicine/faculty/profiles/sanford-barsky.php