AKU MBBS Admissions 2021-2022 - Interview Advice

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

 

1^st 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  

 

2^nd 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.