Medical School Interview #2 : Newcastle University, Malaysia

So here comes the second part, after a long long while.
I really do hope I still remember the process clearly hahaa.

I would say the application process for NUMed Malaysia is relatively simple compared to the other universities, save from the fact that NUMed requires the most from you; a 47 line personal statement as well as a reference from your mentor. But the process of submitting the documents and application form is the simplest, not to mention it's free whee!

I was really curious as to whether I would be going for a Skype interview or if I had to go down to Johor for the interview in person. Luckily, I didn't have to do either of those (my house wifi sucks ttm) because the interview panel was coincidentally in KL for some education fair one weekend so they arranged it at a hotel in the city centre.

My interviewers were both British (assuming from their accents), one guy and one lady professor. I was the last candidate for the day, so there was no one waiting with me outside except for the admissions lady, AND the door/wall was very thin so it was relatively easy to hear what was going on in the interview room as the candidate before me had his interview. The previous candidate drew a lot of laughter from the interviewers, so that added to my nervousness.

When I went in to the interview room, I didn't realise it at first but my throat had dried up. Like literally cannot speak dried up. Although I drank water before going into the room, I think it was because I wasn't talking to anyone or anything at all for an hour before my interview, so that probably played a role in it. I couldn't answer even a few words when my voice got caught, and the lady professor offered me water and even poured it for me omg i was so embarrassed (I should've poured it myself but i was too blank alr omg).

Anyway, they asked pretty standard medical school interview questions at first. But I felt they were sort of nitpicking my personal statement. Like, as I had wrote about going for a mission trip to the orang asli kampung, they kept asking me questions about the trip like, 'how did you get to go on this trip?' and 'what did you learn from it?' although I did already elaborate those points in my personal statement. Of course I prepared to answer questions about the mission trip, but somehow I was so flustered that I kept mumbling about my answers and didn't sound confident at all. Luckily, I found my footing again after beating about around the bush lol (the lady professor didn't look amused. She looked bored, even, until I sounded confident again) and they seemed pretty happy with my answers.

Some other notable questions (apart from those concerning my personal statement) I remember being asked were;
1. If your friends were to say something about you, what would they say?
2. (follow up from previous question) would they say anything bad about you?
3. If you could change something about the Malaysian healthcare system, what would you change?
4. Any questions? (Don't ever ever not ask anything. Just ask about the student life / campus if you really don't have any other questions. Leaves a good impression!)

The final minutes of the interview wasn't an interview at all, it was basically them casually talking and low-key promoting their uni haha.

All in all it took about 20-25 minutes. It was really a two-way conversation sort of interview, so there was really nothing to be intimidated about. Although I felt that they were really scrutinizing my personal statement in the earlier in the interview, the later part was quite enjoyable and the interviewers were friendly.

P.S. I was apprehensive about getting an offer from them as they didn't respond to me as warmly as they did to the previous candidate (less laughter) but hey I got it like, barely two days after my interview haha! So lesson learnt: sometimes what people show outwardly does not reflect what they think inwardly. Just let time tell.




NUMed efficiency 100%