Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis MD program · 2026-27 MD applicants (entering fall 2027)

Your WashU medical school interview

If WashU invites you, you'll have two live Zoom interviews on one day, each about 25 minutes and each with a member of the Committee on Admissions: one has read your whole application, the other knows only your name. Applicants describe both as relaxed and conversational, though the timing is kept fairly strict.

Sources (5)

WashU Medicine: The Interview Experience - Medical Student Admissions · Reddit: Sharing my results and notes from this cycle! : r/premed (2026) · Student Doctor Network: 2024-2025 Washington University in St. Louis (2024) · Admit.org: Washu Interview Advice (2025) · Admit.org: WashU St. Louis - Medical School Interviews - Admit.org

About 17%of applicants were interviewed for the class entering in 2025: 1,021 of 6,138. WashU Medicine

93MD students entered in 2025, alongside 30 MD/PhD students (123 total). WashU Medicine

Congratulations again: roughly 1 in 6 applicants reached the interview for the class entering in 2025. WashU says the interview exists for candidates and the WashU community to get to know each other, and that the committee judges traits like integrity, authenticity and empathy there. The school doesn't say how much the interview weighs against your file, so treat both conversations as counting.

Sources (2)

WashU Medicine: Who Chooses WashU Medicine? - Medical Student Admissions · WashU Medicine: The Interview Experience - Medical Student Admissions

WhoTwo members of the Committee on Admissions, one per interview; you get their names about two business days ahead WashU Medicine · WashU Medicine

How longWashU says 25 minutes each; a 2026 applicant reports about 30 minutes each, fairly strictly timed WashU Medicine · Reddit

WhereZoom only. No in-person interviews in the 2026-27 cycle WashU Medicine · WashU Medicine

What they knowOne interviewer has your complete application; the other has seen only your name WashU Medicine · Student Doctor Network · YouTube

3 more: when, odds, after

WhenMid-September 2026 to mid-February 2027, weekdays; keep 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. CT free that day WashU Medicine · WashU Medicine · WashU Medicine

Odds1,021 of 6,138 applicants were interviewed for the class entering in 2025 WashU Medicine

AfterDecisions released December 2026 through March 2027 in the portal; everyone hears by April 15, 2027 WashU Medicine · WashU Medicine

How you get an interview

WashU's AMCAS deadline for this cycle was October 15, 2026. Verified applicants who meet basic selection criteria get a supplemental application link about three business days after WashU receives their AMCAS. WashU recommended finishing it within two weeks and no later than October 29, 2026; it costs $100 (waived for AAMC FAP recipients) and can't be edited once submitted. Letters were due November 6, 2026.

What the secondary asks. Associate Dean for Admissions Dr. Valerie Ratts describes two main short answers: a time you were unsuccessful (to gauge grit and resilience) and any other obstacles or experiences you want to share.
The invitation. The Committee on Admissions emails invitations to individual applicants and expects you to schedule promptly. You upload an interview photo and pick your date at mdapply.washu.edu.
Timing. Applicants report (2025) invitations starting mid-to-late August, and applicants report (2024) a reputation for a large wave in December. Older reports (2022) say invitations stop around the end of January.

Sources: WashU Medicine: How to Apply - Medical Student Admissions · WashU Medicine: Important Dates - Medical Student Admissions · WashU Medicine: The Interview Experience - Medical Student Admissions · WashU Medicine: Virtual Interview Experience - Medical Student Admissions · YouTube: Dr. Valerie Ratts, WashU Associate Dean for Admissions, on the secondary and the three-part interview · Student Doctor Network: 2025-2026 Washington University in St. Louis (2025) · Student Doctor Network: 2024-2025 Washington University in St. Louis (2024) · Student Doctor Network: Medical - How To Get Accepted To Washington University School Of Medicine in St. (2022) · Accepted: How To Get Accepted To Washington University School Of Medicine in St. Louis [Ep (2022)

The interview day and week

Both live interviews happen on the same day. About two business days before, you get an email with your interview times and interviewers' names. At the start, each interviewer tells you which type they are doing.

Open-file interview. The interviewer has your complete application. Dr. Ratts calls it a conversation about your motivation for medicine, your experiences, why WashU, and your research.
Closed-file interview. The interviewer has seen only your name (applicants say name and pronouns). Dr. Ratts compares it to meeting a patient for the first time in an ER: it shows your presence and how you introduce yourself.
Length in practice. WashU lists 25 minutes for each. Applicants report about 30 minutes each (2026), and applicants report (2024) a 45-minute open-file and 30-minute closed-file.
A recorded video interview. In a video, Dr. Ratts describes an asynchronous standardized video interview before the live ones: three spoken questions and one written, with 90 seconds to prepare and 120 to answer. Applicants report (2024) this as a Kira Talent assessment with Casper-style scenarios. WashU's 2026-27 interview pages don't mention it, so follow what your invitation says.
Optional events that week. A Dean's Greeting (Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 4:30-5 p.m. CT), Meet the Students forums (Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7-8 p.m. CT), Why WashU Wednesday webinars from October, a small group with faculty admissions leaders, and a self-guided virtual tour. Dress is casual for these, and WashU says attending Meet the Students does not affect decisions. One 2026 applicant noted the scheduled day itself was just the two interviews.

If you have technical problems on the day, contact the Office of Admissions (mdadmissions@wustl.edu, 314-362-6858) to reschedule.

Sources: WashU Medicine: The Interview Experience - Medical Student Admissions · WashU Medicine: Virtual Interview Experience - Medical Student Admissions · YouTube: Dr. Valerie Ratts, WashU Associate Dean for Admissions, on the secondary and the three-part interview · YouTube: Dr. Valerie Ratts, WashU Associate Dean for Admissions, explains the Virtual Interview Experience · Reddit: Sharing my results and notes from this cycle! : r/premed (2026) · Student Doctor Network: 2026-2027 Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine (2026) · Student Doctor Network: 2024-2025 Washington University in St. Louis (2024) · Student Doctor Network: 2024-2025 Washington University in St. Louis (2024)

What they're looking for

WashU says the interview's main goal is for you and the WashU community to get to know each other, and Dr. Ratts calls it a two-way street. The Committee on Admissions evaluates:

Integrity, authenticity and empathy.
Communication skills. The closed-file interview in particular tests how you present yourself to a stranger.
Resilience. The secondary already asks about a time you were unsuccessful, so expect to talk about setbacks.
Ethical responsibility.
Motivation for studying medicine.

A WashU interview-advice page adds that interviewers don't want a right answer; they watch how you think and defend your answer in an open, professional way. Dr. Ratts frames research as asking a question and gathering data, much like a doctor explaining complex science to patients, so be ready to explain why your work matters.

Sources: WashU Medicine: The Interview Experience - Medical Student Admissions · WashU Medicine: The Interview · YouTube: Dr. Valerie Ratts, WashU Associate Dean for Admissions, on the secondary and the three-part interview

What applicants report being asked

Applicants describe the open-file interview as question after question and the closed-file one as an extended conversation where you supply more backstory. Common themes:

Openers. Tell me about yourself; why medicine; how did you become interested in medicine.
Why WashU. Why WashU, why St. Louis, what you would bring, and sometimes how you would change the WashU curriculum.
Your file. Specific activities from your AMCAS, clinical experiences, and your research, sometimes in technical detail and why it matters.
Behavioral. A time you failed or were unsuccessful, adversity, leadership transitions.
Health care and ethics. The most important public health issue, challenges facing health care, patient autonomy.
Off-script. Hobbies, recent books, favorite song.

One 2025 applicant reported very political questions. WashU's advice page says interviewers may not ask about religious or political beliefs, sexual orientation or family planning, and you should tell the admissions office right away if they do.

Sources: Student Doctor Network: Washington University-St. Louis School of Medicine Interview Feedback & Student · Reddit: Sharing my results and notes from this cycle! : r/premed (2026) · Student Doctor Network: Medical - How To Get Accepted To Washington University School Of Medicine in St. (2022) · Student Doctor Network: 2024-2025 Washington University in St. Louis (2024) · Admit.org: Washu Interview Advice (2025) · Admit.org: WashU St. Louis - Medical School Interviews - Admit.org · WashU Medicine: The Interview

How to prepare

Know your whole file. The open-file interviewer has read it; applicants say interviewers know it very well.
Build a strong "tell me about yourself." In the closed-file interview it sets up everything else. Applicants report (2022) aiming for about 60 seconds.
Make "why WashU" specific. Watch the Welcome and Gateway Curriculum videos WashU asks you to view, and connect your experiences to the Gateway Curriculum, EXPLORE and St. Louis.
Set up your room. WashU's advice page asks for professional dress, a clean background without blurred or virtual backgrounds, and no pets in the room. Test your camera, light, microphone and internet.
Prepare questions. Have two or three real ones; avoid asking for statistics already on the website.
Practice, but don't script. Mock interviews help; applicants warn that over-rehearsed answers can sound flat. Taking a moment to think or asking for clarification is fine.
Leave old mistakes alone. An applicant advised (2023) not to raise a secondary error unless asked, but to have a calm answer ready.

Sources: Student Doctor Network: Washington University-St. Louis School of Medicine Interview Feedback & Student · Student Doctor Network: 2026-2027 Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine (2026) · Student Doctor Network: Medical - How To Get Accepted To Washington University School Of Medicine in St. (2022) · Accepted: How To Get Accepted To Washington University School Of Medicine in St. Louis [Ep (2022) · WashU Medicine: Virtual Interview Experience - Medical Student Admissions · WashU Medicine: The Interview · Student Doctor Network: Washington University-St. Louis School of Medicine Interview Prep Briefing · Reddit: Sharing my results and notes from this cycle! : r/premed (2026) · Reddit: in disbelief but how do I apologize (2023)

After the interview

WashU runs rolling admissions. Decisions go out from December 2026 through March 2027 through the admissions portal; last cycle's release dates were December 22, January 26, February 23 and March 16. Every applicant gets "accepted", "not accepted" or "waitlist" by April 15, 2027, and admitted students must narrow to one school by April 30, 2027.

Calls before release. Applicants report (2025) the committee meeting on Thursdays and the dean phoning some admits just before the Monday release dates.
No early rejections. Applicants report (2024) no post-interview rejections until the final March wave, so silence is normal.
Scholarships. Applicants report (2025) a separate merit committee around mid-February.
Thank-you notes. WashU's advice page says a note or email is fine and recommended.
Visits. Admitted students are invited to optional in-person visit days in spring 2027.

Sources: WashU Medicine: How to Apply - Medical Student Admissions · WashU Medicine: Important Dates - Medical Student Admissions · Student Doctor Network: 2024-2025 Washington University in St. Louis (2025) · Student Doctor Network: 2024-2025 Washington University in St. Louis (2024) · WashU Medicine: The Interview · WashU Medicine: The Interview Experience - Medical Student Admissions

Your interviewer

Evelyn Strandberg, MD (she/her) 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

Geriatrician and palliative-care-minded primary care doctor at WashU; admissions committee member since 2020 who says she cares 'less about titles than about what you noticed and what you did next.'

Dr. Strandberg is an Associate Professor of Medicine in WashU's Division of Geriatrics and Nutritional Science (since 2018). She sees older adults, most over 80 and on many medications, in a primary care clinic and on home visits. She has interviewed for the Committee on Admissions since 2020 and says she has done both open-file and closed-file interviews and enjoys both, so you won't know which she's doing until she tells you at the start. Before WashU she ran a senior care clinic in Springfield, IL (2011-2018), where she started a pharmacist-led deprescribing clinic, meaning a clinic that safely stops medications patients no longer need. Before that she was a part-time hospice physician (2009-2011). She worked two years as a nursing assistant before medical school, volunteers monthly at a free community clinic in St. Louis, and sits on the board of a volunteer driver network for older adults. Her stated values, plus a career built on small practical fixes (fewer pills, rides to appointments), suggest she'll likely listen for concrete observation and follow-through rather than impressive roles.

Their path

BA, Biology and Music, St. Olaf College, 2000
Two years as a nursing assistant before medical school (about 2000-2001, inferred)
MD, University of Minnesota Medical School, 2005
Internal Medicine residency, University of Iowa, 2005-2008
Geriatric Medicine fellowship, University of Michigan, 2008-2009
Part-time hospice physician, Northlight Hospice, Peoria, IL, 2009-2011
Staff geriatrician and medical director, Senior Care Clinic, Prairie Lakes Health System, 2011-2018
Associate Professor of Medicine, WashU, 2018-present (about 8 years); admissions interviewer since 2020 (about 6 years); first-year clinical skills small-group facilitator
Volunteer physician, Gravois Park Community Clinic, 2019-present; board member, Riverside Senior Ride Network, 2021-present
Member, department working group on AI documentation tools in primary care, 2025-present

What it means for your conversation

Her line 'what you noticed and what you did next' is the most useful clue you have. For each experience you discuss, be ready with one specific thing you observed about a person or system and the concrete action you took after.
She is an experienced interviewer (six cycles), so polished, rehearsed answers will likely be easy for her to spot. Speak plainly and specifically.
She worked as a nursing assistant before medical school, so she likely respects hands-on, unglamorous patient care. If you have done that kind of work, don't downplay it; if you haven't, don't pretend.
She teaches first-year clinical skills, so she sees how students talk with patients. In a closed-file interview especially, how clearly and warmly you introduce yourself may matter to her.
Her work centers on practical barriers (too many medications, no ride to the clinic). If you discuss health care problems, grounded examples about access and logistics will likely land better than abstract policy talk.
Her research is clinical and practical, not lab-based. If she asks about your research, explain why it matters in plain words, as WashU's own advice suggests.

Questions they may lean toward

Tell me about a patient or person you noticed something about, and what you did next. This restates her own profile line about what she cares about; it's a likely way she probes empathy and follow-through.
Questions about a time you were unsuccessful and what you changed afterward. WashU's secondary asks about this, and her 'what you did next' framing fits a resilience question naturally.
Questions about caring for older adults, family caregivers, or patients with complex needs, if those appear in your file. It's her daily work; she may follow up on any related experience you mention. She is unlikely to expect you to know geriatrics.
Questions about barriers to care such as transportation, cost or access. Her volunteering and research focus on these; it may come up if you ask about challenges in health care. This is an inference.
Possibly a question about AI or technology in medicine. She joined a working group on AI documentation tools in 2025, so it may be on her mind. Have a balanced, honest view, but don't raise it to seem informed.
A conversational, closed-file style story request: who you are and how you got here. She says she has done closed-file interviews and enjoys them; have a clear roughly 60-second introduction ready.

Honest common ground

If you have done direct patient care (nursing assistant, caregiver, scribe, EMT), she started out doing similar work.
If you have cared for or helped an older relative with appointments or medications, that's a genuine shared experience, but only mention it if it's real and relevant.
If you volunteer at a free clinic or with community health or transportation programs, it overlaps with her volunteer work.
If you play an instrument seriously or studied music alongside science, she did too (Biology and Music BA, cello in a community orchestra). Only mention it if it's truly part of your life.

Questions to ask them

You've seen first-year students in clinical skills small groups. What do the students who grow most in how they talk with patients tend to do differently? It draws on her teaching role, is a real question about WashU's curriculum, and isn't answerable from the website.
How do WashU students get exposure to care outside the hospital, like home visits or community clinics, during the Gateway Curriculum? Connects to her work and to WashU's Community Engagement Hub; useful if you care about community-based care.
What has kept you on the admissions committee for six years? A personal, open question that invites her perspective on WashU without fishing for compliments.

Avoid

Don't recite her resume or mention her beagles, garden or cello unprompted; it reads as researching her rather than talking to her.
Don't feign interest in geriatrics or palliative care. If it's not your interest, saying so honestly is fine.
Don't lead with titles and positions; she says she cares less about them. Lead with what you saw and did.
Don't over-script answers; she has interviewed for years and conversation matters more than polish.
Don't ask about stats or facts already on WashU's website.
Don't treat older patients as a stereotype or burden in examples; that will likely land badly with someone who has spent her career with them.

A sample, to show what the briefing looks like: Evelyn Strandberg, MD (she/her) and their employers are invented.

Based on: The sample interviewer's profile (fictional) · WashU Medicine: The Interview Experience - Medical Student Admissions · Reddit: Sharing my results and notes from this cycle! : r/premed (2026) · Student Doctor Network: 2024-2025 Washington University in St. Louis (2024) · Admit.org: Washu Interview Advice (2025) · Admit.org: WashU St. Louis - Medical School Interviews - Admit.org

All sources · 32 plus 12 applicant threads

Applicant threads are linked under each question.