The Jacobs School interview format

The Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo uses two one-on-one interviews. The AAMC's MSAR interview procedures report for the 2027 entering class lists "two one-on-one interviews," held "continuously from August 1st to March 31st," in person or virtually: "The Jacobs School has no preference as to whether an applicant chooses to interview in person or virtually." In-person interviews run from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesdays, and virtual interviews "have been held at the convenience of interviewers and applicants." There are no regional interviews.

The details of how interviews are run come from the school's own Admissions Policies, which are unusually specific.

Item	What Jacobs and the AAMC say
Number of interviews	Two, each with a different member of the Admissions Interview Subcommittee. A third interview is granted at the Admissions Committee's discretion
Interviewers	Full-time and volunteer faculty, local physicians, professional community members and Jacobs medical students
Blinding	Interviewers are blind to your academic metrics, such as GPA and MCAT, during the interview and when writing the evaluation
Output	A narrative report plus an evaluation form tied to the school's mission and values
Format options	In person (Wednesdays, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.) or virtual, with no preference for either
Scale	About 600 candidates interviewed, August through March

How Jacobs frames its interview

The policy describes selection in three steps. First, a screening review picks who is invited. Second, "interviews are conducted to explore, in detail, the applicant's unique potential to bring quality and diversity to the class and the Jacobs School." Third, the Admissions Selection Subcommittee reviews all interviewed candidates, with each applicant's interviewers, still blinded to metrics, presenting their impressions. The school's reasoning is that "all candidates selected for interview are academically qualified," so "it is the unique potential of individuals in the interview pool" that shapes the class.

In other words, your interview is not a second chance to prove your grades. It's where interviewers decide what you add.

The attributes interviewers are asked to assess

Jacobs lists its selection criteria in two groups. Several explicitly mention the interview:

Dedication to a career in medicine. "Assessed from information provided in the applicant's biographical data and through the interview process," including "knowledge of current medical issues related to ethics, cost-conscious health care and health care delivery, as well as informed views regarding state-of-the-art medical research."
Empathy. The policy says "the applicant's response to vignettes designed to reveal one's sense of empathy may be used during the personal interview," along with "focused questioning" about recognizing suffering and being willing to act.
Communication. The ability to communicate "in a team setting is also considered essential and is evaluated in the interview."

The remaining essential attributes are academic readiness, competency to practice medicine (intellectual curiosity and diagnostic reasoning), strong work ethic, altruism, integrity and collaboration. A second group covers attributes likely to add diversity to the learning environment: likelihood of treating underserved populations, special service in medicine, leadership, life experiences, scientific or social research experience and socioeconomic status.

Jacobs' timeline

From the school's Interview and Selection Process and Admissions Timeline pages:

AMCAS deadline: November 15. Supplemental application and all materials: December 1.
Interviews: August through March.
Regular MD decisions: released starting in December (the timeline page says mid-December, the process page says the end of December), rolling afterward.
If accepted, you have one week to respond and submit a $100 deposit, refundable until May 1.
Early Decision: AMCAS by August 1, supplemental by August 31, decisions October 1.

We didn't find Casper or another situational judgment test requirement on Jacobs' MD admissions pages.

What Jacobs' curriculum tells you

Jacobs' "Well Beyond" curriculum, introduced for the class that entered in July 2024, is the best source of specifics for "Why Jacobs?" According to the school's announcement and curriculum page:

First-year students spend two weeks each semester in an intense clinical immersion at a patient care site.
Students take part in CommunityConnect, a required service-learning experience across their first three semesters with a community organization serving people facing significant social and health inequities.
Learning Communities are small groups of six students plus a faculty coach for all four years, focused on humanism and professional identity.

Each of those is a natural anchor for an honest answer about service, community and collaboration.

How to prepare for Jacobs

Prepare to explain what you add. The policy is built around "unique potential," so be ready to say what experience, perspective or background you'd bring to a class, with evidence.
Don't lean on your numbers. Interviewers don't see them. Make your story stand alone.
Know two or three current health care issues. The policy names ethics, cost-conscious care, health care delivery and research. Form a view and be able to say why, including what a thoughtful opponent would say.
Prepare for empathy vignettes. Practice describing a situation where someone is suffering, what you noticed and what you did, in a few sentences, without making yourself the hero.
Prepare for either format. Choose in person or virtual deliberately, and rehearse in the setting you pick. If virtual, check your lighting and sound.
Do two separate rehearsals. You'll meet two different interviewers who each prepare a report, so don't assume the second one has heard your first answers.

Jacobs practice questions (written by us, not Jacobs)

Jacobs doesn't publish its interview questions. These are ours, built from the attributes the school lists. Practice each aloud for about two minutes.

What would you bring to a medical school class that someone with your same grades might not?
Tell me about an experience that gave you a deeper understanding of a community different from your own.
A patient you're caring for has stopped taking a costly medication without telling anyone. How do you approach the conversation?
What's your view on how health care costs should be weighed in a doctor's decisions at the bedside?
Describe a piece of recent medical research or a health policy that interests you. What are its limits?
Tell me about a time you noticed someone suffering and decided to act. What did you do first?
Describe a time you collaborated with people whose training was very different from yours.
Tell me about a leadership role where you had to earn trust from a skeptical group.
How would you want to contribute to the CommunityConnect experience?
Why Buffalo, and why the Jacobs School rather than another public medical school?

For a wider set, see our medical school interview questions guide.

A drill for two blinded interviews

Write a three-sentence answer to "What would you add to this class?" with one specific example.
Record it, then answer a first follow-up: "Tell me more about that experience."
Pick two health care issues from the list. For each, record a 90-second answer that states your view and then one fair counterargument.
Do an empathy vignette with a partner who describes a situation and asks what you'd say. Listen for whether you named the person's feelings before offering solutions.
Repeat two days later with a different partner.

If you don't have a practice partner, Confetto's AI mock interviews ask follow-up questions based on what you actually said and give rubric-based feedback afterward. The question bank has over 500 questions, and you can start with a 7-day free trial.

Jacobs interview FAQ

Is the Jacobs interview an MMI?

No. It's two one-on-one interviews with members of the Admissions Interview Subcommittee.

Is the Jacobs interview virtual or in person?

Either. The AAMC MSAR entry says Jacobs has no preference.

Do interviewers see my GPA and MCAT?

No. The Jacobs admissions policy says interviewers are blind to academic metrics during the interview and when preparing the evaluation.

Can I be asked to do a third interview?

Yes. The policy says third interviews are granted at the discretion of the Admissions Committee.

When does Jacobs send decisions?

Regular MD decisions go out at the end of December and on a rolling basis afterward, per the school's admissions process page.

Applying to other New York schools too? See our guides to the Stony Brook Renaissance, SUNY Upstate and Albany Medical College interviews, or our medical school interview prep page.

Sources: Jacobs Admissions Policies, Interview and Selection Process, Admissions Timeline, How to Apply, Well Beyond Curriculum, Well Beyond announcement, AAMC MSAR interview procedures (2027).

Confetto isn't affiliated with the University at Buffalo or the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Everything here about the school comes from its public admissions pages and the AAMC MSAR report, checked in October 2026. Formats can change between cycles, so go by your invitation email.