My big interview

Dressed for success...I hope.

The short version of the day is the interview went well. I feel like a strong candidate. I should know before Christmas whether I was accepted or not.

If you want the details of the day, read on. =)

Wow, what a day! I interviewed for the PA program at the University of Washington today. The process lasted from 8am-5pm. The whole day was structured and full. Right now my head is feeling full, and it aches, as do my feet.
The first hour was the introduction and explanation of the day. Then they split us up into two groups, and for 3 sessions we traded places taking tests/being in info sessions and interviewing.
In the first session I was in an exam. We took an 80 question vocabulary test in 15 minutes. I finished by the skin of my teeth. The second test was reading comprehension, (about 7 short stories and 5-6 questions each) which we had 20 minutes to finish. I finished about half of it. Then I went to my first interview. We were in groups of three, being interviewed by two people. The first interview was good. Straight-forward questions and answers. I felt good about this one.
The second session was an essay about how we felt about the healthcare system. An article that came out in the beginning of November said that "one-third of Americans feel the health care system needs to be rebuilt." If we agree, how would we fix it, blah, blah, blah. I felt okay about my answer. Then I went for my second interview. Overall, that was good. I felt like I was being analyzed more in this one. One of our interviewers was a psychologist, and he and the PA were both taking small notes while we spoke. A little intimidating.
Then it was lunch time. There were several first year students who came and took small groups with them to eat lunch. My group went to a Thai restaurant, and unfortunately my lunch wasn't great.
After that, we came back and I went to the info session where they discussed what would happen from here, when we would find out if we were accepted or not and all about financial aid. Most of us will know 'yes' or 'no' before Christmas. That's much earlier than I thought!
Then we went to the third interview. This was was more...interesting. They kept asking us scenario questions. I won't bore you with the details. So we discuss back and forth and give our answer. At the end, Grace (one interviewer) smiles at Mat (the other) and says almost under her breath, "See, I told you we could get away with not paying a shift differential." What? Did we just fail that question? Whatever. The next question was, "Okay, it's 3 months later and Matt and Tammy are happy and Rachel is having problems with coworkers not respecting her role as PA. Rachel, get advice from your friends." Lame. That interview sucked the worst.
Then we came back to the common room and had a "social" for 30 minutes where they served lemonade and cookies and expected us to mingle and introduce ourselves to those interviewers that didn't interview us and make our last "great impression". Whew.
After a bunch of people decided to take advantage of the free wine tasting this hotel has. I joined them and had a great glass of...water, and a sandwich for dinner. We had a great time and an even better time once a few of them got wine in them.
Now my belly is full, my head is fuller and I'm going to go work out (maybe), take a hot bath, and watch a few episodes of "Grey's Anatomy" that I borrowed from a friend before I came up here.
Wow. What a day.