How to answer
Tell me about yourself.
Usually the first question in a panel, and the one students prepare least for because it sounds like small talk. It sets how the panel hears everything after it.
What it is really asking
The panel has your application in front of them. They are not asking for it again. They want to hear which parts of your life you think matter, and how you talk about yourself when nobody has given you a scenario.
It is also a warm-up, for them as much as you. A clear, human minute here makes the next forty easier.
Also asked as: “Introduce yourself.” “Who are you, outside your marks?” “Talk us through who you are.”
What interviewers hear too often
- The CV read aloud. School, marks, captaincies, awards, in order. The panel has the document.
- The life story. Born in, moved to, started school at. Three minutes in, nothing has been said about who you are now.
- Why medicine, too early. Turning the answer into the motivation question before anyone has asked it.
What a good answer does
- Picks a few things. Two or three parts of your life that you would want them to remember, with a line on why each matters to you.
- Sounds like you. Something a friend would recognise. A specific detail does more than a list of qualities.
- Ends cleanly. About a minute, then stop. A short answer invites a follow-up, and a follow-up is a conversation.
Two openings
Both invented, and neither is yours to borrow.
The first could be anyone in the corridor. The second gives the panel something to ask about, and tells them something true in one sentence.
The follow-ups to expect
- What would your friends say you are like?
- You mentioned your family’s business. What has that taught you?
- What do you do when you are not studying?
- What is something about you that is not on your application?
Test your own draft
- The swap test. Could another applicant say your answer word for word? If so, it is not about you yet.
- The minute test. Say it out loud with a timer. Over ninety seconds is too long.
- The question test. Is there a detail in it that would make you want to ask a question? If not, add one.
What it is marked on
Related questions
Other guides
- Start here What the interview is testing, and how the cycle runs.
- Timeline planner Put in your interview date and get a week by week plan.
- Pathway planner The whole road from school to consultant, drawn around your choices.
- Practice stations Real MMI stations with a two minute reading phase and a station clock.
- By university The interview at every undergraduate-entry school: format, timing, and what is marked.
- What is marked The six things every station marks, and how to practise each one.
- How to answer The questions every panel asks, what each is testing, and the follow-ups to expect.
- Question themes The subjects questions come from, from rural health to the profession, with prompts.
- Interview dates When each school sends invitations, holds interviews and makes offers this cycle.
- When you hear back Every school’s offer dates, and why the wait after the interview is so long.
- Formats What an MMI and a panel interview each are, and how to prepare for each.
- Interview soon? Days to go? What you can still book at short notice, and the prices.
- For parents Who your child is working with, and what I will not promise.
If you want a session
In a session I teach the structure, then ask the follow-ups until your answer holds. Thirty minutes, $40, online, credited to any package.