Updated · 8 min read
UT Southwestern Interview: Two Faculty Interviews
Key facts (2026-27)
Every candidate has two back-to-back 25-minute faculty interviews, not an MMI. All 2026-27 interviews are virtual, and the school page says the season ends in early December.
- Format
- Two back-to-back faculty interviews (traditional)
- Where
- Virtual
- Stations
- 2 interviews with faculty
- Length
- 25 min each, back to back
- Also required
- Casper (take by October 27, 2026)
Dates for 2026-27
By email from mid-July
Interview invitations
August to early December (school page). MSAR: to mid-January, on Wednesdays
Interviews
Offers from October 15, 2026, rolling outside the Match
Offers and decisions
Checked October 2026 against UT Southwestern Medical School: Admissions and AAMC MSAR 2027 interview report. Confirm details in your invitation.
UT Southwestern (UTSW) Medical School does not run a Multiple Mini Interview. The school says every invited MD applicant has two back-to-back interviews with UT Southwestern faculty members in a standard interview format, and for the 2026-27 cycle all interviews are virtual.
The AAMC's MSAR lists the same: a traditional format with two 25-minute faculty interviews. This guide covers what UTSW publishes, what it leaves out, and how to prepare for two conversations in a row.
To rehearse two faculty conversations back to back, Confetto, an AI mock interviewer for medical school and other healthcare program interviews (MMI, traditional, panel), runs traditional mock interviews with follow-up questions that probe what you just said.
The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School interview: format and experience
That's from UTSW's Medical School Admissions page and the AAMC's 2027 MSAR entry. Here's what the school publishes about interview season:
| Item | What UTSW says |
|---|---|
| Format | Two back-to-back interviews with UTSW faculty members, standard interview format. MSAR: two 25-minute faculty interviews. |
| Virtual or in person | Virtual for the 2026-27 cycle. MSAR says the format for the 2028 cycle is to be determined. |
| Invitations | By email from the Admissions Office, starting in mid-July. Interviews are by invitation only. |
| Interview season | The admissions page says August through early December. MSAR says August 2026 through mid-January 2027, on Wednesdays. |
| Interview day (MSAR) | A virtual Medical School Overview presentation by an Associate Dean, a student panel and a virtual campus tour video, plus the two interviews |
| What an invite means | Your file has reached an advanced stage of consideration. It doesn't guarantee admission. |
| Casper | Required of all applicants. The deadline to take it is October 27, 2026, with scores distributed by November 1, 2026. If you're invited to interview, your scores must reach UTSW before your interview date. |
Casper
Casper test dates and requirements vary by school.
For the full 2026-27 list of MD and DO schools that use it, with last test dates and deadlines, see which medical schools require Casper. For the format, scoring and practice scenarios, see our Casper test guide.
What UTSW doesn't say
The school does not say whether your interviewers have read your file or what they ask.
If you searched "UT Southwestern hiring process," that's the medical center's job interviews. This page covers MD admissions only.
Insider tip: UTSW isn't an MMI school, but if you also interview somewhere that is, the AAMC explains the format on its What it's like to participate in MMIs page.
Mission & culture fit
The admissions page says the committee looks for personal attributes and characteristics of excellent physicians, typically represented through the AAMC Core Competencies, and checks that your motivation aligns with the school's mission, which "emphasizes the importance of training primary-care physicians, educating doctors who will practice in medically underserved areas of Texas, and preparing physician-scientists who seek careers in academic medicine and research."
That sentence points toward very different careers, and you don't need to claim all of it.
Pick the one your record actually supports. If your time went into a free clinic or rural Texas communities, the underserved thread is yours.
If you spent two years in a lab, talk like someone headed for academic medicine.
What the committee weighs
The page also lists what the committee weighs across your whole file. The items an interview can speak to directly are these:
- Character. Personal qualities such as leadership, self-appraisal, determination, social and family support, and maturity and coping capabilities
- Integrity. Personal integrity and compassion for others
- Motivation. Your motivation for a career in medicine
- Activities and work. Extracurricular activities and any time spent in outside employment
Outside employment is on that list. If you worked through college, that's interview material, not something to apologize for.
Curriculum facts for Why UTSW
Facts from UTSW's curriculum page worth knowing for "Why UTSW?":
- Pre-clerkship. Pre-clerkship runs from the start of Year 1 through January of Year 2. Clerkships begin in February of Year 2.
- Scholarly activity. Every student completes a required 12-week scholarly activity that ends with a product for evaluation.
- Academic Colleges. Academic Colleges meet weekly in pre-clerkship and monthly after that.
- Clinical sites. Clinical training facilities include Parkland Memorial Hospital, William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital and Children's Medical Center Dallas.
Use one of these only if it connects to something you've done. Reciting the list doesn't work.
The TMDSAS timeline around your interview
UTSW takes applications through TMDSAS, the Texas application service, not AMCAS (the M.D./Ph.D. program is the exception and uses AMCAS). These dates come from the TMDSAS deadlines page and UTSW's application timeline, checked in October 2026:
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| May 1 | TMDSAS application opens (submission opens May 15) |
| Mid-July | UTSW starts emailing interview invitations |
| October 1 | TMDSAS submission deadline |
| October 15 | Supporting documents due at TMDSAS, and UTSW offers of admission begin |
| October 27, 2026 | Deadline to take Casper for UTSW |
| November 1 | UTSW secondary application deadline, and Casper score distribution deadline |
| January 29 | TMDSAS deadline to rank school preferences for the match, 5 p.m. CST |
| February 12 | Match results announced and rolling admissions period begins |
| April 30 | Applicants with multiple offers must decide |
UTSW makes offers beginning October 15, so an early interview can turn into an early offer. The school also says state law limits its enrollment of non-Texas residents to 10 percent of the class.
UT Southwestern interview questions to practice
UTSW doesn't publish its interview questions. The prompts below are written by us, not UTSW.
Expect your interviewer to follow up on whatever you say.
Motivation and mission
- Why UTSW? Tell me about one thing here that fits something you've already done.Practice this question now
- Why medicine, and why not a related career like nursing or public health?Practice this question now
- Our mission mentions underserved areas of Texas and physician-scientists. Which fits you better, and what in your record shows it?Practice this question now
Interpersonal
- Tell me about a time you had to work closely with someone you didn't get along with.Practice this question now
- Describe a conversation where you had to tell someone something they didn't want to hear.Practice this question now
Intrapersonal
- What's a piece of criticism you got that turned out to be right?Practice this question now
- Tell me about a time you were overloaded. What did you drop, and how did you decide?Practice this question now
Thinking and reasoning
- Walk me through the research or project on your application you know best. What would you do differently?Practice this question now
- A patient tells you they read online that a supplement cures their condition. How would you respond?Practice this question now
Ethics and readiness
- Describe a time you navigated an ethical conflict in a team.Practice this question now
- What did your clinical experience teach you about what doctors actually do all day?Practice this question now
- Every UTSW student completes a 12-week scholarly activity. What would you want yours to produce, and why?Practice this question now
- UTSW students train at Parkland Memorial Hospital. What have you done that prepares you to care for patients in a large public hospital?Practice this question now
For traditional-format prep across schools, see our medical school interview questions guide.
A drill for two back-to-back interviews
The hard part of UTSW's day is the second interview. You've just finished one conversation, and you have to open the next one fresh with someone who hasn't heard your stories.
This drill trains that. The timings are our choices, based on MSAR's 25-minute figure.
- Pick 5 prompts from the list above for round one and 5 different ones for round two.
- Round one: 25 minutes with a partner, on camera, in the room you'll use on interview day. Your partner asks at least one follow-up per answer ("What happened next?", "What would you do differently?").
- Take a 3-minute break. Stand up, drink water, don't review notes.
- Round two: 25 minutes with a different partner if you can find one, so you have to retell a story to a new listener instead of referencing "what I said earlier."
- Afterward, check two things. Did any answer in round two lean on something only the round-one interviewer heard? Did your round-two answers get shorter or flatter? If so, repeat the drill with round two first.
Record both rounds. On playback, note every answer that went past 2 minutes without a concrete example.
Those are the ones to rework.
Preparation checklist
- Mock interviews. Run AI-powered mock interviews in a traditional one-on-one format, two in a row, with follow-up questions that mirror a faculty interviewer.
- Mission answer. Prepare your mission answer: which part of UTSW's mission (primary care, underserved Texas, physician-scientist) your record supports, and the evidence.
- Reasoning aloud. Practice verbalizing your reasoning with analytics that flag clarity, empathy, and structure.
- Casper. Schedule Casper before the October 27, 2026 deadline and make sure scores reach UTSW before your interview date. Our Casper practice page covers the test.
- Recordings. Record and review: use auto-transcripts and behavioral cues to refine tone, pace, and cultural humility.
FAQ
What interview format does UTSW use?
A standard (traditional) format: two back-to-back interviews with UT Southwestern faculty members, virtual for 2026-27. The AAMC's MSAR lists them as two 25-minute interviews. UTSW does not use an MMI.
Is the UT Southwestern interview an MMI?
No. The school describes two interviews with faculty, and MSAR lists a traditional format.
Is Casper required at UTSW?
Yes. All applicants must complete Casper and have scores sent to UTSW. The deadline to take it is October 27, 2026, and scores must be distributed by November 1, 2026.
When are interviews and offers?
Invitations begin in mid-July. The school says interviews run August through early December, and offers begin October 15, 2026, continuing on a rolling basis.
Can out-of-state applicants apply?
Yes, but state law limits UTSW's enrollment of non-Texas residents to 10 percent of the class.
Key takeaways
- Format. Expect two back-to-back virtual faculty interviews, not an MMI. The school does not publish the questions.
- Mission. Align your motivation with UTSW's mission: primary care, underserved Texas, or physician-scientist, whichever your record supports.
- Casper. Casper is required, with a deadline of October 27, 2026 and scores due by November 1.
- Second interview. Practice the second interview as carefully as the first: retell your stories to a new listener.
- Practice. Use Confetto to simulate back-to-back interviews, sharpen your reasoning aloud, and get feedback on your answers.
Call to action
If you don't have two partners, Confetto's medical school mock interviews run traditional one-on-one interviews with follow-up questions and give rubric-based feedback. You can do two back to back to simulate the UTSW day.
You can start with a free trial.
Confetto isn't affiliated with UT Southwestern Medical Center or TMDSAS. Everything here about the school comes from UTSW and TMDSAS public web pages and the AAMC MSAR, checked in October 2026.
Details can change, so go by your invitation email.
Also applying to the Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at TCU? See our interview guide for that school.
Applying to other Texas schools too? See our guide to the University of Texas at Tyler School of Medicine interview.