Interviews Part II: Forming an Opinion on the School

Going to each school was an experience. Midwestern in AZ has a staff that knows all the students names. The dean has an amazing memory, he sat all the interviewees down, told us our names and one interesting thing about each of us - incredibly impressive. Another school had a pretty new building and impressive facilities but everything looked very empty until you turned a corner and were treated to glass cases containing seemingly hundred of clown statues, having their dead eyes staring back you... If that wasn't enough, down another corner was a hallway of many, many porcelain dolls. Very unnerving. With one school, you could really tell the students and professors did not get along. Yet another school, the professors and the administration had obvious tension. Some places you will notice the website and actual process of how the school works does not match up at all. One school had so many students that there is just no way any student could get enough time on the limited resources. During the tour at another school, one of the interviewees got a little sick and vomited on herself and the floor. The professor giving the tour pretended as though it didn't happen and kept describing the school. There was a long moment where we stared at him to do something as he kept describing how you can have unlimited fake teeth to practice on. I and another interviewee in the group were the only ones that decided to help her out. Not the best impression. Another school, one of the interviewees was smacked in the head by the door as he was exiting the bathroom. He was walking around dazed with a little blood trickling down his forehead. The professors there jumped into action, got him an MRI on campus, patched up his cut and helped him along through the interview process. I think you will definitely get a feel for what the school thinks of the students.
The worst has to be when the dean of one the schools was asked a simple question by one of the interviewees and went on an angry rant  for roughly seven minutes. It was incredibly confusing since the question was pretty benign and one that I myself would have asked. I was absolutely certain that was not the school for me. Before shelling out $100,000 to $400,000 and giving up four years of your life, make sure you are where you want to be.

Personally, based on all the qualities of the schools I visited, Baylor Dallas (great atmosphere and student attention) and Midwestern AZ (the dean really sold it for me) were my top choices.