Dissection of Medical School Interview

I was once told that receiving an interview invitation means that you are "half-accepted". In many ways, this can be valid pending the interview outcome. In Texas, each medical school receives over 4,000 applications each cycle, and they tend to interview less than 1,000 applicants depending on the tentative class size. I believe the class size for Texas medical school currently ranges from 100 students (Texas Tech El Paso PLF SOM) to 250 students. San Antonio HSC opened their campus in South Texas and is accepting 12 students for entry year 2014. With all that said, being prepared for the interview is crucial and necessary. Applicants with very high stats (GPA & MCAT) should in no way, underestimate the importance of the interview. There are plenty of qualified cookie-cutter medical school applicants that get rejected from medical school due to their lack of preparation, inability to articulate or sense of entitlement. In the sense that an interview invitation means a half-acceptance, it would be extremely foolish to be unprepared. 

The Gap Year for Pre-Meds

The gap year is often used by premeds to bulk up their application: study for the MCAT, retake the MCAT, raise the GPA or finish prerequisites. In addition, it could be used as a time of reflection. Is med school really for me? I feel like a lot of premeds start college with a self-ultimatum of getting accepted into medical school and when they're finally done with undergrad, they realize that they want something different. Maybe the past 4 years of science was enough and they are tired of science, or the motivation to becoming a doctor is no longer there, or they are simply not willing to work that hard and dive into a career that they are not really sure about, but considered it because others are doing it.