I have an interview tomorrow at a school my longterm boyfriend has already been accepted at. It is one of his favorite schools, and I am wondering if I should mention it as a reason for wanting to go there, in addition to the many other reasons I have for wanting to attend in and of itself. I don't have any other ties to the region, and most of my reasons for wanting to attend are academically/curriculum focused. What do you think? Will it hurt more than help? If you think I should mention it, should I call him my "significant other" rather than my "boyfriend"? Thanks!
Controversial Interview Answer?
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don't mention it. relationships aren't really considered important until residency time... and even then, not really unless you're at least engaged. if you have solid academic/curriculum reasons, those are much more important to talk about.
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I would mention it, but call him your partner, not boyfriend...never say boyfriend. Say you are hoping to end up in the same place, and when you mention it, put it last in your list of reasons.
I did this in one of my interviews (except my partner had just started a job nearby), and my interviewer said "Oh! I must make a note of that. They'll be very interested to know that."
My two cents.
I did this in one of my interviews (except my partner had just started a job nearby), and my interviewer said "Oh! I must make a note of that. They'll be very interested to know that."
My two cents.
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I agree that there are good and bad ways to spin this.
Boyfriend can sound juvenile. I would use the phrase "long term partner", "my significant other of x years" to convey some semblance of maturity and a stable relationship.
It should not be seen as the primary reason for your interest but I see nothing wrong with stating, "I'm impressed with X, Y and Z which is what led me to apply to your program. After my experience here today, I see that was a wise decision and now that my SO has been accepted here, it is even more attractive to me as the choice for my medical education".
Boyfriend can sound juvenile. I would use the phrase "long term partner", "my significant other of x years" to convey some semblance of maturity and a stable relationship.
It should not be seen as the primary reason for your interest but I see nothing wrong with stating, "I'm impressed with X, Y and Z which is what led me to apply to your program. After my experience here today, I see that was a wise decision and now that my SO has been accepted here, it is even more attractive to me as the choice for my medical education".
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DO NOT mention your "boyfriend" or any other person as part of your reasoning to attend a particular school. You might (you will) break up. And really, once accepted, we own you...
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This is the key. Don't say "boyfriend" as that sounds immature. However, this sort of information can lead the school to believe that your interest in the program is genuine, which can be helpful if you don't have any ties to the area or otherwise didn't make your interest clear in your application or during the interview.
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Also keep in mind who your interviewer is! One school I interviewed at had an option to note if you are applying along with a SO (odd for medical school, I know). We put each other down, and it came up in my interview. The first interviewer was a female who was an M2 and she asked about it, so I spun this in a way that made it sound as mature as possible (long term relationship, we understand the statistics are against us to get into the same school, it's ok if we end up in different places, etc.). She had gone through a similar situation, so it flowed well. My second interviewer was a retired male surgeon who was more interested in other parts of my app. So, just keep in mind who your audience is -- I think this helped me a lot in determining when it was appropriate to talk about!
