Throughout the past few weeks, the admissions committee in the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine has continued the long-standing tradition of interviewing prospective students for the incoming freshman DVM class, but with a twist. Normally conducted in-person, the interviews were completed virtually this year to follow the Protect Purdue requirements and ensure participants’ health and safety. Everything went smoothly thanks in part to a software program known as Kira Talent.
The Kira platform enabled the college to more closely replicate the personal nature of the interviews even though the process was conducted virtually. To help interviewees feel more comfortable, eight members of PVM’s faculty participated via pre-recorded videos accessed by the prospective students through Kira. In the videos, the faculty gave the questions that normally would be asked in-person. Lori Stout, director of admissions and recruitment for the college, said, “Although we were all disappointed not to welcome these prospective students in person, Kira Talent allowed us to still connect with the interviewees and try to give them an informative and memorable interview experience.”
With the capabilities of Kira, each interviewee started the virtual interview process by viewing a welcome video narrated by Dean Willie Reed. The video included a few practice questions to help the interviewees make sure their equipment, including microphone and camera, was working properly. After the introduction, pre-recorded questions were randomly selected from a pool of questions, and the interviewee had a few minutes to answer each one. The total interview process lasted 20 to 25 minutes per prospective student, which is the same as the timeframe for the traditional in-person interviews.
Additionally, a new website was created to provide prospective students access to a virtual tour of the college and videos from current students and staff about college programs and student life – topics that typically have been addressed during in-person panel discussions when the interviews were conducted on campus. Click here to view the web page with links to the videos. The college also is hosting ongoing live Zoom sessions as a six-night event, offering applicants the opportunity to ask current students questions about their life in veterinary school, with each year of the DVM program featured on different nights.
The College of Veterinary Medicine received approximately 1,600 applications for the 84 available seats in the DVM Class of 2025. From those applicants, 336 were invited to interview. About 320 interviews were successfully completed with minimal to no technical difficulties. The admissions committee is currently reviewing the recorded interviews and expects admission offers to go out in mid-February. The recipients of those offers will have until mid-April to accept.
