· 5 min read
Why This Medical School? How to Answer in Your Interview
How to answer why this medical school in an interview: what it tests, where to find school facts, a three-part outline, real school examples and the DO version.
To answer "Why this medical school?", name one fact that is true of this school and few others, usually from its mission or admissions page. Then give one experience of yours that matches it, and say what you would add. Skip rankings, location alone and anything every school could claim. Keep it to about 60 to 90 seconds.
What the question tests
The AAMC groups it with “Questions about your interest in their specific school”, with examples like “Why are you interested in our school?” and “What are you looking for in a medical school?” It also lists “Why do you want to attend our school?” as a common question, and advises: “Make sure you're ready to explain why that school is a good fit for you and your goals.”
It can come as a general opener too. The AAMC's own example of a general question is “Tell me why you are interested in this program.” Its interview guide puts the goal plainly: “Convey your interest in the medical school by stating why you feel it is a good fit for you and ask questions to further explore fit.”
Underneath, it tests fit and preparation. The AAMC says “Interviewers often seek to assess applicants on the AAMC Core Competencies for Entering Medical Students.” Service orientation is one of them, and it starts with “Shows a commitment to something larger than oneself”. A school with a service mission is listening for that. The interview is also your chance to judge “how compatible each medical school is with your academic and personal goals, values, and expectations”.
Where to find school facts
The AAMC tells applicants to “do your research on each school and their mission”. It also warns against asking anything “easily answered by reading the school's website, their Medical School Admission Requirements profile or in materials already provided to you”, so the same pages are fair game for the interviewer to expect you to know.
The mission statement
Usually on the admissions site or the school's About page. Note the two or three groups or goals it names, such as a state, primary care, research or a kind of community.
The admissions page
Look for what it says it values or seeks in applicants. This is the closest thing to the interviewer's own checklist.
The curriculum and tracks
Rural or urban tracks, early clinical work, research years, service learning or a regional campus. Pick one that connects to something you have actually done.
The MSAR profile
The AAMC's database of school profiles. Use it to compare schools side by side and to confirm basics, then go back to the school's own pages for the details.
Your interview day notes
What students and faculty told you on the day. A detail you heard in person is hard to fake and easy to talk about.
The MSAR is “an online database that enables you to browse, search, sort, and compare information about U.S. and Canadian medical schools and more”. Use it to compare, then quote the school's own pages, which change more often than you think.
A three-part outline
Each part is one or two sentences. At the 141 words a minute applicants speak in our mock interviews, 60 to 90 seconds is 140 to 210 words, enough for one fact and one experience done well.
- A specific fact about the school. One thing that is true of this school and not of most others: a line from its mission, a track, a population it serves, a program you would join. Name it plainly. A strong opening names a fact the interviewer will recognize as theirs.
- Your matching experience. One experience from your file that shows you already care about that thing. Give the moment in a sentence or two, not the whole story. A strong middle proves the fit with something you did, not something you say.
- What you would add. What you would bring to the class or the community the school serves, and what you hope to do with it. End where the interviewer can ask a follow-up. A strong close turns the fit into something the school gets from you.
Keep the why medicine story out of it. That is its own question, so see how to answer why medicine. When you are ready, say yours out loud on the why do you want to attend our school practice page.
Practice it and see model answers in the app
Facts to pull: six real schools
Here is what six schools say on their own admissions pages, and the kind of experience that would match each one. These are facts to build on, not answers. Check the page again before your interview.
| School | Its admissions page says, and what to match it with |
|---|---|
| Brody (East Carolina)MD | “To increase the supply of primary care physicians serving the state” SourceMatch it with: Time in primary care or with patients in North Carolina, and a reason you would stay in the state. |
| UAB HeersinkMD | “Experiences that support applicant's intent to serve communities with unmet healthcare needs in Alabama” SourceMatch it with: Work with an Alabama community, or one of its other named mission areas, such as research, community service or primary care. |
| WSU Elson S. FloydMD | “seeks applicants with ties to Washington who have an interest in serving rural, underserved, historically marginalized, and/or vulnerable populations” SourceMatch it with: Your tie to Washington and one experience with a rural or underserved group. |
| Touro CaliforniaDO | “committed to primary care, complete patient treatment and lifelong community service” SourceMatch it with: A long-running service commitment, and what drew you to primary care. |
| PNWUDO | “commitment to practice health care in rural or medically underserved areas” SourceMatch it with: Rural roots or rural clinical time, and where you picture yourself practicing. |
| ATSU-KCOMDO | “committed to continuing its osteopathic heritage and focus on whole person healthcare” SourceMatch it with: What you saw of whole person care while shadowing a DO, and why training at the founding school of osteopathic medicine matters to you. |
The DO version
At osteopathic schools the question often comes in two parts: why osteopathic medicine, and why us. AACOM writes that “Four tenets provide the foundation for osteopathic medicine's whole person approach”, so know the tenets and where you saw them in practice.
- Answer why osteopathic first, in a sentence or two: what you saw in DO care, usually while shadowing.
- Then answer why this school, with the same three parts: a school fact, your matching experience and what you would add.
- Keep the two parts linked. The school fact should fit the reason you gave for osteopathic medicine.
Practice the first half on the why osteopathic medicine page.
Common mistakes
The AAMC notes that “As you travel the interview trail, the medical schools start to look alike”. Your answer should be the reason they do not. Here are the slips to avoid.
Leading with rankings or reputation
The interviewer knows where the school ranks. It tells them nothing about you and sounds like you would leave for a higher one.
Location as the only reason
Family nearby or liking the city is fine as a closing line. As the main reason, it suggests any school in that city would do.
Saying what is true of every school
Great faculty, early clinical exposure, a supportive community and diverse patients. If the sentence works with another school's name in it, replace it.
Reading the mission back word for word
Quoting the mission shows you found it, not that you fit it. Name the idea in your own words and spend the time on your matching experience.
Talking only about what the school gives you
Fit runs both ways. Say what you would add to the class or the community the school serves, not just what you would get.
Mixing up schools
Naming another school's program is the fastest way to sink this answer. Keep one short note per school and read it the night before.
Why this school is one of several questions you can prepare for. See the other medical school interview questions, and come with your own questions for them in questions to ask at your interview.
Sources: AAMC, Preparing for Medical School Interviews, The Premed Competencies for Entering Medical Students, MSAR for Applicants and its Medical School Applicant Interview Preparation Guide: The Role of the Interview, Preparing for Your Interview(s) and Common Interview Topics. AACOM, About Osteopathic Medicine. School admissions pages as linked in the table. Pace figures from our own mock interview data. All checked October 19, 2026.
Frequently asked questions
How long should my why this school answer be?
About 60 to 90 seconds, which is 140 to 210 words at the 141 words a minute applicants speak in our mock interviews. One fact and one experience fit easily in that time.
What if the school is not my first choice?
You do not need to rank it. Give the real reasons this school fits you. Every school on your list should have at least one fact you can match with your own experience.
Where do I find what a school is looking for?
Start with its admissions page and mission statement, then its curriculum pages. The AAMC also suggests its MSAR profiles to compare schools side by side. Questions to ask at your interview.
How is it different from why medicine?
Why medicine is about the career. Why this school is about the place where you train for it. Keep the two answers separate so neither repeats the other. How to answer why medicine.
Do DO schools ask it differently?
Often they ask why osteopathic medicine first, then why their school. Answer the first in a sentence or two, then use the same three-part outline for the school. Practice why osteopathic medicine.