GW School of Medicine & Health Sciences MD program · 2026-27 MD applicants (entering fall 2027)

Your GW medical school interview

If GW invites you, you'll have one interview: about 25-30 minutes on Zoom with a GW faculty member who has not seen your application. No MMI, no group session, no second interviewer.

Sources (4)

GW SMHS: Interviews & Decisions · YouTube: GW's associate dean of MD admissions on the All Access podcast (2025) · Student Doctor Network: GW interview feedback, 406 reports · SDN: an admitted applicant's interview recap, research grilled (Jan 2026)

About 4%of applicants are interviewed - about 700 interviews from 17,000+ applications. GW SMHS · YouTube · YouTube

About 185seats in the class those interviews fill. GW SMHS · YouTube

Congratulations again: fewer than 1 in 20 GW applicants get this far. The interview is blind - your interviewer knows your name and nothing else - so from here it is the conversation that counts.

Sources (1)

GW SMHS: Interviews & Decisions

WhoOne GW faculty member, usually a physician; applicants have drawn department chiefs and an admissions dean GW SMHS · YouTube · SDN · SDN

How longGW says about 25 minutes; applicants report 30, strictly timed, and a few that ended after 15-20 GW SMHS · SDN · SDN · SDN

WhereZoom. GW says interviews stay virtual for the foreseeable future GW SMHS · YouTube · SDN

What they knowYour name. It's a blind interview: no grades, MCAT, essays or activities GW SMHS · YouTube · SDN

3 more: when, odds, after

WhenInvitations from mid-August; interviews late August to March; first offers October 15 GW SMHS · GW SMHS · SDN · Reddit

OddsAbout 700 interviews from 17,000+ applications, for about 185 seats GW SMHS · YouTube · YouTube

AfterAdmit, alternate or removed, on a rolling basis; often within 8 weeks GW SMHS · SDN · SDN

How you get an interview

GW sends its secondary to everyone who submits AMCAS, so the first real screen comes after your secondary. Most applicants then see "on hold for re-review at a later date" in the GW portal, with no email. That is normal at GW and is not a soft rejection: the committee reviews files several times and pulls people off hold for interviews from August into the winter. Others go straight to an invitation.

Check the portal, not just your inbox. Invitations come by email with a set date (you can ask for another), and the Zoom link usually arrives a day or two before. While on hold, GW invites you to send real updates and continued interest through the portal; several 2026 applicants were invited after an update letter.

Sources: GW SMHS: Application process · GW SMHS: MD admissions FAQs · GW SMHS: Interviews & Decisions · Student Doctor Network: 2026-27 GW thread · Reddit: GW's pre-interview hold message (2024) · Reddit: GW holds are standard (2025) · Reddit: pre-interview holds (2026) · Reddit: a GW hold is a real hold (2021) · SDN: invited after an update letter (Nov 2026)

What the interviewer knows about you

Nothing but your name. GW's associate dean of admissions says faculty interviewers have no access to your file (no MCAT, GPA or activities) on purpose, so the interview is a conversation rather than a re-read of what the committee can already see. You won't know who your interviewer is until the day.

That changes how you prepare. Every story you want counted has to come from you, in the room. Applicants who did well say they mapped their best experiences to the likely questions in advance, because a 30-minute interview leaves no time to circle back.

Sources: GW SMHS: Interviews & Decisions · YouTube: GW's associate dean of MD admissions on the All Access podcast (2025) · SDN: 32 minutes with an associate dean, 'tell me about a time' and 'why now' (Sep 2022) · SDN: completely blind, mostly a set of questions (Sep 2023) · SDN interview report: two interviews (5-10 years ago)

What the interview is like

It depends on the interviewer more than anything. Applicants describe two kinds:

A list of questions. Tell me about yourself, why medicine, why GW, then "tell me about a time" questions one after another, with few follow-ups, and a hard stop at 30 minutes. Several people who felt it was rapid-fire and couldn't read their interviewer were admitted.
A conversation. It starts with standard questions and then drifts to books, family or the interviewer's career, with time for your questions at the end.

Either way, expect to be pushed on what you list: a 2026 admit says research was "grilled" to check the work was really yours. And one applicant was made an alternate after an interviewer talked for most of the slot; make sure your own stories get told. (One 2022 applicant reported a student interviewer; GW's page now says faculty. Its older interviewee page, from the in-person years, still describes a student and a faculty interview.)

Sources: SDN: 'incredibly rapid fire', admitted anyway (Nov 2022) · SDN: question after question, cut off at 30 minutes (Dec 2022) · SDN: traditional, then conversational after 15 minutes (Dec 2022) · SDN: a set list, few follow-ups, time for questions at the end (Dec 2022) · SDN: completely blind, mostly a set of questions (Sep 2023) · SDN: closed file, chill, prepare the basics (Sep 2023) · SDN: 'very chill', practise the traditional questions (Jan 2025) · SDN: an admitted applicant's interview recap, research grilled (Jan 2026) · SDN: alternate after an interviewer did most of the talking (Nov 2022) · SDN: a student interviewer, hard 30-minute limit, why GWU (Oct 2022) · GW SMHS: Interviewee information (older page from the in-person years) · Reddit: DC med schools, one GW interview loved and one disliked (2025) · Reddit: name and fame/shame, interview edition (2023)

What GW looks for

GW's mission is to graduate "physician citizens": doctors committed to public service through patient care, leadership, advocacy and scholarship. Its admissions presentation lists what the committee looks for:

Commitment to learning and success in the sciences medicine needs.
Altruism, integrity, respect, maturity and compassion.
Sustained, effective leadership. The admissions dean stresses skills, not titles: running a project, listening to different views, handling disagreement.
Commitment to advocacy.
Balance, self-awareness and resilience in the face of challenges, including owning mistakes and taking feedback.
Sustained, meaningful service to others, clinical and non-clinical, and experience with diverse populations.
Scholarly curiosity: research or work in health services, public or global health.

On clinical experience, the dean says quality and sustained exposure matter more than hours, and that you must be able to say what it taught you. The interviewers are trained to judge fit with GW. Its PREview test, now required, measures related competencies such as service orientation, teamwork, ethical responsibility and resilience.

Sources: YouTube: GW SMHS admissions presentation for Johns Hopkins pre-health students (2025) · YouTube: GW's associate dean of MD admissions on the All Access podcast (2025) · GW SMHS: MD program · GW SMHS: MD admissions FAQs · GW SMHS: Eligibility, PREview and course recommendations

What happens after

Your file gets a final review and goes to the Committee on Admissions, which may ask for more information. Outcomes are admit, alternate, or removed from consideration, released on a rolling basis and often shown in the portal before any email. GW gives no feedback and takes no appeals. The dean says PREview is used only as a plus at this final stage, never against you, and not to decide who is interviewed.

Alternates are ranked but the rank is never shared; most movement comes in April and May. GW students report that many of their classmates came off the alternate list. Interviewees are invited to an optional visit day in DC (tours, a student panel, deans' talks); GW's invitation says skipping it won't hurt you. Thank-you notes go to the admissions email that scheduled you, which forwards them.

Sources: GW SMHS: Interviews & Decisions · YouTube: GW's associate dean of MD admissions on the All Access podcast (2025) · GW SMHS: Alternate status · SDN: the interviewee visit-day invitation (Feb 2026) · Reddit: GW's visit for interviewees (2025) · SDN: the alternates' visit day (Apr 2025) · SDN: the optional in-person interviewee event (Oct 2022) · SDN: a GW student on the interviewee visit day (Feb 2026) · SDN: just the 30-minute interview, then a visit-day invitation (Sep 2024) · SDN: thank-you notes go through admissions (Nov 2024) · SDN: a GW student on the alternate list (Feb 2026)

What applicants report (2022-2026)

From the GW threads on Student Doctor Network (2022-23 to 2026-27), 26 Reddit threads about GW's MD program and SDN's interview reports:

Timing. In 2026, invitations came from late August and September, often after weeks on hold. The first acceptances arrived October 15, some for people interviewed in early September. Decisions after later interviews took anywhere from a week to two months.
Length. Mostly 30 minutes and strictly timed; a few ended after 15-20 minutes when the interviewer ran out of questions, and a few ran over with time for the applicant's questions.
Feel. SDN's reports rate GW low-stress (about three in four low or moderately low). Reddit is split between "loved it" and a cold or distracted interviewer. One interviewer, and no second chance, is what makes it feel high-stakes.
Outcomes. Applicants were admitted after interviews they thought went badly, and from interviews as late as February.

Sources: Student Doctor Network: 2026-27 GW thread · Student Doctor Network: 2025-26 GW thread · SDN: first 2026-27 acceptances, Oct 15, after holds (Oct 2026) · SDN: an interview cut off at 15 minutes (Sep 2024) · SDN: an interview that ran past 30 minutes with time for questions (Sep 2024) · SDN: one 25-minute interview plus a recorded student panel (Dec 2023) · SDN: one interviewer makes it high stakes (Jan 2025) · Reddit: DC med schools, one GW interview loved and one disliked (2025) · Reddit: interviewed Jan 24, alternate Jan 30 (2025) · Reddit: admitted to GW after a February interview (2026) · Student Doctor Network: GW interview feedback, 406 reports

New for 2026-27

No Early Decision this cycle. PREview is required for entry in 2027 (the committee can still decide without it). The secondary asks you to choose a campus for clinical years (all students spend the first 18 months in DC; the Regional Medical Campus, up to 30 students, does all clerkships at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore) and to attest that no part of your application was written with AI; if AI comes up in the interview, your answer should match that.

Sources: GW SMHS: MD admissions FAQs · GW SMHS: Eligibility, PREview and course recommendations · SDN: GW's 2026-27 secondary prompts and AI attestation (Jul 2026) · Reddit: GW students on choosing a campus (2025) · GW Regional Medical Campus at LifeBridge Health (Baltimore) · YouTube: GW SMHS admissions presentation for Johns Hopkins pre-health students (2025) · SDN: the Regional Medical Campus class size (Jul 2024)

How to get ready

Have the big three ready, short. Tell me about yourself, why medicine, why GW: about a minute each. In a 30-minute slot, long answers cost you questions.
Build a story bank. Six or seven real moments you can tell in 60-90 seconds: an ethical dilemma, a time you were criticized, a conflict on a team, a failure, a stressful stretch, leading without a title, working with people unlike you. GW asks these "tell me about a time" questions back to back.
Know everything you listed. Research question, your part, what went wrong. The interviewer hasn't read your file, but the committee reads their report next to it.
Make "why GW" specific. Name two things you'd actually use (Clinical Public Health, a scholarly concentration, the HEALing Clinic, DC's policy world) and tie each to something you've done.
Don't over-script. The dean warns that reading from a second screen shows on Zoom, and rehearsed answers sound fake. Practise out loud, then talk.
On the day: test Zoom, plain background, professional dress and manner. Have two questions for the interviewer, and send a short thank-you through the admissions email.

Sources: YouTube: GW's associate dean of MD admissions on the All Access podcast (2025) · SDN: an admitted applicant's interview recap, research grilled (Jan 2026) · SDN: completely blind, mostly a set of questions (Sep 2023) · SDN interview report: virtual, 25 minutes, rapid-fire (past 2 years) · SDN interview report: virtual, 30 minutes (2-5 years ago) · Reddit: preparing for a first interview at GW (2024) · YouTube: GW SMHS admissions presentation for Johns Hopkins pre-health students (2025)

What they won't ask

Because the interview is blind, your interviewer doesn't have your GPA, MCAT or activities, and you don't need to bring up numbers. If an interviewer gets a fact about you wrong (it happens when they know nothing about you), correct it lightly and move on.

Sources: GW SMHS: Interviews & Decisions · YouTube: GW's associate dean of MD admissions on the All Access podcast (2025) · Reddit: name and fame/shame, interview edition (2023)

Your interviewer

Thomas Varga, MD (fictional sample interviewer) 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

Pulmonologist and ICU doctor at GW who runs a lung clinic, teaches second- and third-years, and has interviewed MD applicants since 2019

Dr. Varga is an Associate Professor of Medicine in GW's pulmonary and critical care division (since July 2020). He splits his time between the medical ICU (intensive care unit) and a weekly asthma and COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a long-term lung disease often linked to smoking) clinic. He says many of his clinic patients have a housing, work or insurance problem that matters as much as their inhaler. He co-directs the second-year respiratory course and has volunteered at a Saturday clinic for uninsured adults since 2016. He has interviewed for GW for about seven years, so he has heard every stock answer. He says plainly what he wants: 'what people actually did, not what they were in charge of.' Expect him to ask follow-up questions about your specific role. He did not read your file, so every story he counts has to come from you, told concretely.

Their path

BA in History, Oberlin College, 2004; then taught high-school biology for a year in Cleveland
MD, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2009
Internal medicine residency, Brookline University Hospital (Boston), 2009-2012
Pulmonary and critical care fellowship, same hospital, 2012-2015
Staff intensivist (ICU doctor), Potomac Valley Medical Center, Arlington VA, 2015-2020; led a project to get sepsis patients out of bed earlier so they spent fewer days on a ventilator
Volunteer physician, Harborview Community Lung Clinic, Baltimore, 2016-present; runs a donated-inhaler program
GW Associate Professor of Medicine, July 2020-present; respiratory block co-director since 2022; admissions interviewer since 2019
Member of the school's working group on AI note-drafting tools in clinics, 2025-present

What it means for your conversation

His own words favor action over titles. When you tell a leadership story, spend your time on what you personally did, what went wrong and what you changed. Do not lead with the title you held.
He sees social factors (housing, jobs, insurance) as part of the illness, and he has done free care for uninsured patients for about ten years. Service stories that show you noticed the non-medical side of someone's problem will likely land well. Generic 'I want to help people' answers likely won't.
He is a teacher. His second-years learn to listen to a chest, and his third-years learn to present a patient in two minutes. He may value clear, short, organized answers, so keep each story to 60-90 seconds.
He took a non-straight path: a history degree and a year of teaching before medical school. A non-science major or a gap year is unlikely to worry him. Still, don't assume it's a bond between you.
He sits on an AI working group. If AI comes up, give an honest, balanced view, and make sure it matches your secondary attestation that you did not use AI to write your application.
His research is on what happens after patients leave the hospital. If you have done research, expect him to ask what your part was and what went wrong.

Questions they may lean toward

Tell me what you specifically did, not what the group did. He states this preference outright, and GW applicants report being pushed on whether their work was really theirs.
A patient or person whose life circumstances got in the way of their health or care. His clinic description centers on housing, work and insurance problems. It also fits GW's Clinical Public Health focus.
Service with uninsured or underserved people: what you learned, and why you kept going. He has volunteered at a free clinic for about ten years and may probe whether your service was sustained and meaningful.
Changing how a team works, or teaching peers. His sepsis mobility project depended on training nurses and respiratory therapists. Leading without authority is close to his own experience.
Views on AI in medicine. He is on GW's AI note-drafting working group. This is an inference; he may not raise it.
Handling stress, uncertainty or a bad outcome. He is an ICU doctor. This is likely, given GW's resilience criterion, but it is not certain.

Honest common ground

If you volunteered at a free clinic or did community health work, that is real overlap. Describe your own experience; don't reference his.
If you taught, tutored or took a gap year before medicine, he followed a similar path. Mention it only if it is truly part of your story.
If you came to medicine from a humanities major, he did too (History). It's fine to own that background naturally.

Questions to ask them

You interview applicants who have no file in front of you. What helps you get a real sense of someone in 30 minutes? This draws on his seven years of interviewing without flattering him or reciting his CV.
What do GW students struggle with most when they start presenting real patients, and what helps them improve? He teaches this directly to third-years, so the question is practical and shows you are thinking about training.
How does the Clinical Public Health curriculum show up later, when students are on the wards? Ask this only if you truly care about it. It ties GW's signature curriculum to his social-factors focus.

Avoid

Don't mention his bike commute, choir, cooking, Hungarian or past jobs as if you had researched him. Let him raise anything personal.
Don't pretend to an interest in pulmonology or critical care.
Don't inflate titles or claim team results as your own; he will likely probe for specifics.
Don't let the conversation become him talking. Bring it back to your stories so they get told.
Don't give an AI answer that conflicts with your secondary attestation.
Don't read from notes on screen.

A sample, to show what the briefing looks like: Thomas Varga, MD (fictional sample interviewer) and their employers are invented.

Based on: The sample interviewer's profile (fictional) · GW SMHS: Interviews & Decisions · YouTube: GW's associate dean of MD admissions on the All Access podcast (2025) · Student Doctor Network: GW interview feedback, 406 reports · SDN: an admitted applicant's interview recap, research grilled (Jan 2026)

All sources · 91 plus 26 applicant threads

Applicant threads are linked under each question.