Congratulations on earning your BU medical school interview. Let's make sure you're ready for it.

Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine MD program · 2026-27 MD applicants (entering fall 2027)

Your BU medical school interview

If BU invites you, you'll have one virtual interview with a single faculty member from the admissions committee, about 45 minutes long, and you'll also attend a required remote information session with the dean of admissions and current students. Your interviewer has read your full application, and the dean describes the interview as semi-structured and highly conversational, with an ethical dilemma built in.

Sources (5)

BU School of Medicine: Requirements · BU School of Medicine: Four-Year Program (MD) » Academics · YouTube: Dr. Kristen Goodell, then BU Associate Dean for Admissions, on who is interviewed and how the intervi · YouTube: Dr. Kristen Goodell, then BU Associate Dean for Admissions, on application review and the 45-minute f · YouTube: Dr. Kristen Goodell, then BU Associate Dean for Admissions, presenting the interview structure, ethic

About 10%of applicants will be interviewed in 2026-27, applicants report the school said; the dean's earlier talks put it at the top 20%. Student Doctor Network · YouTube · YouTube

342applicants accepted for Fall 2025 out of 11,484 MD & MD/PhD applicants (2.95%), for an entering class of 138. BU School of Medicine · BU School of Medicine

Congratulations again: applicants report BU planned to interview only about 10% of its applicants this cycle, so an invitation puts you in a small group. BU calls the personal interview an integral part of its admissions process. Still, the 10% figure comes from applicants rather than a school page, and an interview is not an offer: BU accepted 342 of 11,484 applicants for Fall 2025.

Sources (3)

Student Doctor Network: 2026-2027 Boston University (2026) · BU School of Medicine: Four-Year Program (MD) » Academics · BU School of Medicine: By The Numbers

WhoOne randomly assigned faculty member on the admissions committee, not the person who first reviewed your file BU School of Medicine · YouTube · YouTube · YouTube

How longThe dean says about 45 minutes; applicants report an average of 50 YouTube · YouTube · Student Doctor Network · Student Doctor Network

WhereVirtual, plus a required remote information session with Dr. Hanssen and current students BU School of Medicine · Student Doctor Network

WhenSelect days from mid-September through mid-February BU School of Medicine

4 more: what they know, does it count, odds, after

What they knowEverything: it is open-file, and the interviewer reviews your whole application, metrics included YouTube · Accepted · Student Doctor Network · Student Doctor Network

Does it countYes. BU calls it integral; the interviewer's report is added to your file for selection meetings BU School of Medicine · YouTube · YouTube

OddsApplicants report BU said it will interview about 10% of applicants in 2026-27 Student Doctor Network

AfterApplicants report two decision waves (late December/January and March), often first by phone Student Doctor Network · Reddit · Student Doctor Network · Student Doctor Network

How you get an interview

You apply through AMCAS between June 1 and November 1, then complete BU's secondary. CASPer is required (the Snapshot and Duet sections are not). Early Decision applicants file between June 1 and August 2 and hear by October 1.

The dean of admissions has explained that files are first scored with a structured rubric, and the top 20% are invited to interview. For this cycle, applicants report (2026) the school said it will interview only about 10% of applicants.

Expect a slow start. Applicants report (2026) emails from BU saying it was backlogged with early submissions and slower to send invitations. Their advice: wait patiently.
Watch the portal. When invited, applicants report the portal offered sign-ups for a session with the dean, and you pick a single interview slot.
Secondary questions. Applicants report (2024) the committee will contact you if your coursework entries on the secondary raise questions.

Sources: BU School of Medicine: Requirements · BU School of Medicine: Apply for MD Program · BU School of Medicine: Four-Year Program (MD) » Academics · YouTube: Dr. Kristen Goodell, then BU Associate Dean for Admissions, on application review and the 45-minute f · Student Doctor Network: 2026-2027 Boston University (2026) · Student Doctor Network: 2024-2025 Boston University (2024)

What the interview is like

It is one interview, one-on-one, online. The dean describes it as semi-structured and highly conversational, and she lays out the usual shape:

An ice-breaker. Often something from your application, such as your college or hometown.
Your story and motivation. Clarifying how you got to medicine and why BU.
An ethical dilemma.
Weak spots or open questions in your application.
Your questions for the interviewer.

Applicants mostly rate the stress as low or moderately low, and many describe a real conversation. Expect follow-ups such as "what do you mean by that?" and "Give me an example." Not everyone has an easy time: applicants report (2024) a few interviewers who were confrontational or eccentric, including sharp skepticism about an applicant's commitment to social justice.

You will also attend a required remote information session with Dr. Hanssen and current students. MD-PhD applicants also meet MD-PhD students and faculty.

Sources: YouTube: Dr. Kristen Goodell, then BU Associate Dean for Admissions, presenting the interview structure, ethic · Student Doctor Network: Boston University School of Medicine Interview Feedback & Student Reports · Accepted: All You Need to Know about BU's Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine [Episod (2023) · Reddit: Name and Shame: BU (2024) · BU School of Medicine: Requirements

What they're looking for

The dean's presentation lists what the interview is for:

Communication skills.
Motivation and fit with BU.
Critical thinking, tested with an ethical dilemma.
Answers to open questions or weaknesses in your file.
Recruitment. The school is also selling itself to you.

On ethics, she says they are not testing your personal morals. They want to see you consider several perspectives, show empathy, propose a first step, and ask for more information when a case is complex.

BU's curriculum is built around integrating science, clinical medicine and health equity. Applicants report (2024) that the committee strongly values commitment to social justice, equity and serving marginalized communities, and that you should be ready to defend that commitment with specifics rather than safe, generic answers.

Interviewers are barred from asking about age, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, political affiliation, marital status, income, disability, gender or dependents.

Sources: YouTube: Dr. Kristen Goodell, then BU Associate Dean for Admissions, presenting the interview structure, ethic · BU School of Medicine: Chobanian & Avedisian SOM Curriculum » Academics · BU School of Medicine: Curriculum Overview · Student Doctor Network: 2024-2025 Boston University (2024) · Reddit: Name and Shame: BU (2024)

Questions applicants report

Most reported questions are standard, with ethics showing up again and again:

Openers. Tell me about yourself; why medicine; why BU; why your undergraduate school; what do you do for fun.
Your file. Talk about your research; tell me about a specific activity; how are these three activities connected; a bad semester; your MCAT and whether you'd retake it.
Character. Greatest failure; proudest moment; how you showed resilience; five words that describe you; what drives you.
Ethics. An ethical dilemma you faced; parents refusing to vaccinate a child; a family deciding on life support; operating on a patient with HIV; a patient's right to know.
Health care. The biggest problem in health care today; what policy you would change; risks of private practice versus collaborative settings.
Closing. Is there anything we didn't talk about; do you have questions for me.

The dean's own favorites include "What is the most interesting thing you have learned recently?", what would be the hardest part of medical school for you, the best work you have ever done, and "Has anyone ever told you 'no'?"

Sources: Student Doctor Network: Boston University School of Medicine Interview Feedback & Student Reports · Reddit: Name and Shame: BU (2024) · Student Doctor Network: Boston University School of Medicine Individual responses (2010) · Student Doctor Network: Boston University School of Medicine Individual responses (2010) · Accepted: All You Need to Know about BU's Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine [Episod (2023) · YouTube: Dr. Kristen Goodell, then BU Associate Dean for Admissions, presenting the interview structure, ethic

How to prepare

Know your file cold. The interviewer has read all of it. Re-read your application, essays and any publications, and brush up on your research.
Practice ethics out loud. Work through dilemmas showing several viewpoints, empathy, a first step and the information you'd want.
Have a real "why BU." Tie your experiences to health equity, service and BU's clinical setting. Applicants suggest a one-page brief on the mission, curriculum and community.
Talk, don't recite. A 2023 discussion with the dean advises against reading bullet points or looking at another screen. Practice with friends until you sound relaxed, not robotic.
Test your tech. Check camera, lighting, microphone, internet and room, with backup audio and internet ready.
Bring questions. Have 2-3 genuine questions, and a closing answer tying your values to BU.
Dress. Applicants report (2024) business casual or a nice sweater for the student panel, more formal for other sessions.

Sources: Student Doctor Network: Boston University School of Medicine Interview Feedback & Student Reports · Student Doctor Network: Boston University School of Medicine Interview Prep Briefing (2026) · Accepted: All You Need to Know about BU's Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine [Episod (2023) · YouTube: Dr. Kristen Goodell, then BU Associate Dean for Admissions, presenting the interview structure, ethic · Student Doctor Network: 2024-2025 Boston University (2024)

What happens after

Your interviewer writes a report that is added to your application for the selection meetings.

Two waves. Applicants report that September to early November interviewees usually hear in late December or early January, and later interviewees in March. In 2025, some late-November interviewees were told their decision date moved from December to February.
Deferral is not rejection. Applicants report (2024) many December decisions are deferrals, and recommend meaningful update letters in January and February.
Watch your phone. Acceptances often come first as a call from a 617 or 857 number, sometimes from your interviewer, followed by an email.
Rough odds. One 2025 applicant estimated about 40% accepted, 30% waitlisted and 30% rejected after interviews, with few waitlist moves. Treat this as an informal guess.
Thank-you notes. Applicants recommend a short thank-you email after the interview.

Sources: YouTube: Dr. Kristen Goodell, then BU Associate Dean for Admissions, on who is interviewed and how the intervi · YouTube: Dr. Kristen Goodell, then BU Associate Dean for Admissions, on application review and the 45-minute f · Student Doctor Network: 2024-2025 Boston University (2024) · Reddit: Does Anyone Know Why BUSM Has Two Rounds of Interviews? (2020) · Student Doctor Network: 2024-2025 Boston University (2024) · Admit.org: BU decision dates (2025) · Student Doctor Network: 2025-2026 Boston University (2025) · Student Doctor Network: 2024-2025 Boston University (2024) · Student Doctor Network: 2026-2027 Boston University (2026) · Reddit: MMEDIC INTERVIEW TIPS (2026)

Your interviewer

Samuel Adeyinka, MD, MPH Fictional interviewer

Get a briefing on your own interviewer

Know who's interviewing you? Their LinkedIn profile is the best source.

Use a computer if you can. Open their LinkedIn profile in a web browser, click More (or ⋯) under their name, then Save to PDF.
On a phone: the LinkedIn app can't save a profile. Open linkedin.com in your phone's browser instead, switch to the desktop site, and use More → Save to PDF.
Upload the PDF here, or paste what you know about them (a bio, a profile page).

See the sample briefing

General internist (clinic + wards) at BU, co-directs the first-year clinical skills course, admissions interviewer since 2020

Dr. Adeyinka is an Associate Professor of Medicine at BU (since 2019) who splits time between a primary care clinic and the inpatient wards. Many of his patients are recently housed or newly insured. He co-directs the first-year clinical skills course, the part of the curriculum where students learn to take a history and examine patients. He says he teaches students to ask about rent, work and transportation. He has interviewed for admissions for about six years and says he reads every application in full. He states outright what he cares about most: what you learned from something that didn't go as planned. Expect a warm but probing conversation. He will likely push past generic answers about equity toward concrete examples of the practical barriers patients face.

Their path

BS Biochemistry, University of Maryland, 2005; then two years as a pharmacy technician
MD, University of Rochester, 2010
Internal Medicine residency, Hudson Valley Teaching Hospital (NY), 2010-2013
MPH in Health Policy, Harvard T.H. Chan, 2014
Staff physician, Dorchester Bay Community Health Center, 2014-2019; ran diabetes group visits for Haitian Creole and Cape Verdean Creole speakers with community health workers
Volunteer physician, Harbor Point Recovery Clinic (Quincy), 2017-present; treats opioid use disorder with buprenorphine and manages hepatitis C
BU Associate Professor of Medicine, 2019-present; admissions committee since 2020; clinical skills course co-director since 2022
Co-author of 9 papers on primary care follow-up after hospital discharge and on medical device costs for older adults

What it means for your conversation

He has read your file closely. Vague or inflated descriptions of your activities will likely draw a follow-up such as 'give me an example.'
He told you his favorite topic, so prepare a real setback story. Cover what happened, your own part in it, what you changed afterward, and evidence that the change stuck.
His work centers on social barriers to care: housing, insurance, language, transportation and addiction. Health equity answers should name specific barriers you have actually seen, not slogans.
He took a nontraditional route himself (two working years before medical school, a public health degree mid-career). He will likely be open to gap years or jobs, as long as you can explain what they taught you.
As a teacher of first-year clinical skills, he may care whether you can listen to and talk with patients. How you communicate in the interview itself is evidence.

Questions they may lean toward

Tell me about something that didn't go the way you planned. What did you learn? His profile names this as what he is most interested in.
In your clinical or volunteer work, what got in the way of patients getting care beyond the medical problem itself? He teaches students to ask about rent, work and rides, and his patients face these barriers.
An ethics case involving a patient with addiction, a patient who keeps missing appointments, or a patient who struggles after hospital discharge. These are likely inferences from his clinical and research work. Use the dean's approach: weigh several perspectives, show empathy, ask for more information and propose a first step.
Why BU specifically, and how would you use Boston Medical Center or the community health centers? He has worked inside this network, so a generic answer will show.
A weak spot in your file, such as a grade dip, your MCAT score or a gap year. The interview format includes addressing open questions in your application, and he reads everything.

Honest common ground

If you came through a pipeline program, are first-generation, or worked in a non-glamorous job (pharmacy tech, scribe, CNA), that is real overlap. Mention it only if it is already in your file.
If you have used interpreters or speak a patient's language in clinical settings, that connects naturally to his work.
Interest in BU's Doctoring courses or LEADS (the health equity project course) if it is genuine. He co-directs first-year clinical skills, but don't flatter him about it.

Questions to ask them

What do first-year students most often struggle with when they first try to take a full social history from a patient? This is a genuine question about how students learn here, tied to what he teaches, without reciting his resume.
What distinguishes students who make the most of BMC's patient population in their first two years? It shows forward-looking interest in BU's clinical setting.
How do students balance the LEADS project with their pre-clerkship coursework? It is a concrete curriculum question that shows you read about the program.

Avoid

Don't mention his soccer, cooking, daughter or reading list. It would feel like surveillance.
Don't feign interest in internal medicine, addiction medicine or health policy if it isn't yours.
Don't give a 'failure' that is really a disguised strength, or one where someone else was at fault.
Don't use buzzwords like 'social determinants' or 'underserved' without concrete examples. Applicants report BU interviewers can be skeptical of shallow equity talk.
Don't read notes or glance at another screen during the virtual interview.

A sample, to show what the briefing looks like: Samuel Adeyinka, MD, MPH and their employers are invented.

Based on: The sample interviewer's profile (fictional) · BU School of Medicine: Requirements · BU School of Medicine: Four-Year Program (MD) » Academics · YouTube: Dr. Kristen Goodell, then BU Associate Dean for Admissions, on who is interviewed and how the intervi · YouTube: Dr. Kristen Goodell, then BU Associate Dean for Admissions, on application review and the 45-minute f · YouTube: Dr. Kristen Goodell, then BU Associate Dean for Admissions, presenting the interview structure, ethic

All sources · 30 plus 6 applicant threads

Applicant threads are linked under each question.