Congratulations to those of you who
cleared their AKU entrance test. You guys have completed your first big step
towards your dream journey and now it’s time to start learning about the
interview process- after the mini celebration of course. This post will
highlight all the helpful stuff that we have painstakingly gathered over the
past few months; feel free to share it with other applicants (or don’t 😉).
A big update to our Blogspot this
year is that we’ll be holding mock interviews. We completely understand the
thought of being interviewed can be nerve-wracking for those who’ve never given
one before. Keeping this in mind, our own students will help you get acquainted
with the dynamics of the interview. This mock interview will be taken on campus
or on a Zoom call, whichever’s more convenient.
You can schedule your mock interview by sending us your acceptance letter (which we assure will be kept confidential under all circumstances) at our email (akuhelp@outlook.com) and we will guide you through the next steps.
If you have any other queries that
have not been addressed in this post, please feel free to
contact us. We’ll be more than happy to assist you.
Looking forward to meeting you all
soon, good luck!
• Link
to Yasrab's detailed guide about admission and interview process: https://bit.ly/3mksox3
• Advice
by my senior batches: https://bit.ly/3Bav5re
Arshia
Jahangir, Class of 2025
1st Interviewer - Dr Sara
Khan
•
She started off by asking some
general questions about my interests, volunteer work, why med, why AKU should
select you, family (what they all do, if I’m a family person, how would my
friends and family describe me etc.)
•
She asked a lot of questions about
Covid and what measures we took to adapt to the new normal especially online
learning
•
She asked some specific questions as
well such as how exactly we restricted ourselves during quarantine, what
expectations I had from people around me regarding following SOPs, how did I
convince my house staff that covid was real
•
She asked about my activities during
the lockdown
•
She also gave me a scenario which I
don’t remember exactly but it was along the lines of convincing a stubborn
friend of mine about something unethical they were about to do and if I’d
report them or not
•
Overall, it was around an hour long.
She was a bit stern, cross questioned a little but fortunately didn’t ask any
weird questions
2nd interviewer Dr Faisal
Ismail:
•
Started off by asking literally the
same questions as my last interviewer except emphasized a lot on family stuff
•
Asked what new skills people should
incorporate to be able to succeed
•
Asked why AKU and what makes it
better than other med unis in my opinion (don’t answer this by bashing other
unis pls)
•
What facilities in AKU do I most
look forward to
•
He was very calm and friendly, and
the interview went very smoothly.
Asad
Fatimi, Class of 2025
•
Questions about COVID and what I did
during the lockdowns during which we had to stay at home
•
I was currently enrolled at a
university in the US at the time my interview was happening, so I was asked
about why I was applying to AKU in spite of that; asked if I would choose AKU
over that university, and if so, why
•
How did COVID change my perspectives
and how should we adapt
•
Asked me about social responsibility
and how I wish to give back to the community
•
Why do I want to do medicine, what
makes me think I will be good at it
•
Why AKU
•
What qualities do you think a good
doctor has
•
Asked about gender-based violence
and my thoughts on it, why does it happen in Pakistan, how it can be addressed
•
Asked about studying habits and how
I will balance medical school studies with other things I hope to pursue (Like
ECA’s and social life)
•
Interviewers were Dr. Laila Akberali
(a little strict, but straightforward and no-nonsense sort of attitude) and Dr.
Asim Baig (very friendly); neither of the interviewers was intimidating as
such. Interview with Dr. Baig was more like a conversation about life and
aspirations and stuff while interview with Dr. Akberali was more like a
traditional formal interview
•
Goes without saying, but it is of
utmost importance to be as respectful as possible
•
Dr Asim Baig also asked a very out
of the ordinary question at the end of the interview: how would you measure the
weight of a mountain
Ayesha
Ali, Class of 2025
Questions from the first
interview:
· Tell me about yourself
·
Family members
·
Role you played in covid
·
Your opinion about
social accountability
·
Volunteer work and ECAs
·
Leadership positions you
have taken previously
·
Did you
take tuitions in your academic life?
·
What is your role in
your house? What is your relationship with your family like?
·
Why AKU
·
Opinion on academic
integrity
·
Your core values
· A detailed conversation about Pakistani
education system, decision making for a career and plans after graduation about
pursuing training abroad or in Pakistan.
This interview started
off with generic questions but whatever I answered she picked on it and her
next question was a follow up to it. So, a general rule of thumb would be to
never lie or bring up something you do not have the knowledge to talk about
because there will be a lot of follow up questions.
Questions from the
second interview:
· Tell me about yourself
·
Family members
·
Routine in covid during
lockdown
·
Why has polio not been
eradicated yet
·
Why should we choose
you?
· What will you do for AKU
·
Why MBBS?
·
Three words that your
parent will use to describe you
·
What do you do for your
parents?
·
Name your friends and
what do they do
·
Will you be able to fit
in the diverse environment of AKU
·
Your preferred studying
method and whether you took tuitions
·
A failure in your life
and how you overcame it
·
Volunteer work and ECAs
· If you became the prime minister what is the
first thing you would fix
An overall tip for the
interviews would be to walk in with a calm mind, look presentable and BE
HUMBLE- say salam, be polite, if they ask a question in urdu preferably answer
in urdu and if at any point you get stuck just politely tell them to give you
some time to think about it or if they can come to this question again.
Shilpa
Golani, Class of 2025
·
Introduce yourself
·
How’s your daily routine? Activities and stuff
·
Why do you want to be a doctor?
·
Social life? Friends? they asked how often I go out
and the approximate number of friends I have and also where do I go with my
friends lmao
·
How’s your relationship with your family?
·
Do you have guy friends? How’s your relationship with
them?
·
They asked if I am dating anyone
·
Who are you closest to? And How would that person
describe you?
·
They questioned my outfit lmao (if you are wearing
western in the picture you submitted to them, please wear western and vice
versa) just expect ANYTHING
·
One of my interviewers picked an organization where I
volunteered and literally asked every detail on it so if you are writing
something in the activities form please know every detail even WHY did you
choose to volunteer
·
How would my friends describe me in three words?
·
I’m a Hindu, so they asked if I have faced any
problems because of my religion and they gave me a case where I was bullied
because of my religion and asked how I would handle that situation- I swear
nothing like this happens at AKU, they just give you weird situations
·
Socio-economic problems in Pakistan
·
Do you have any regrets in your life?
·
How does the education system work at AKU?
·
They asked what inspired me to apply to AKU? I told a
friend did, we both applied together but he couldn’t clear the test. So, they
asked if we had to choose between you and him, what would you suggest?
·
Have you ever worked in a team? If yes, give an
example where you faced a problem and how did you handle the situation?
·
If you don’t get selected, what are your backup plans?
·
Will I come back to Pakistan? and why? Please prepare
well for this one haha
·
Any questions for them?
·
In my point of you try to talk about your life more.
Your interview literally depends on you. You direct it. If you give them a
little break, they’ll start random questions like issues in Pakistan, covid,
and global issues, and that way they won’t get to know you so initiate topics
yourself and they'll cross-question yourself.
·
Lastly, if you get Dr. Laila, I'm sure she'll try to
test your patience. Please try to stay calm, and I kid you not she was
literally screaming at me.
·
Also, if you know any senior/professor at AKU try to
mention them because some professors know them, and they initiate a
conversation. They are kinda impressed that you have a life other than your own
school too and you are actually interested in AKU.
Good luck!! Let me know if you have any specific
questions.
