Improve interview skills in a short time?

[hotfish]

I was fortunate enough to receive >10 interviews. However, I recently heard back from four schools, and I got three deferrals and one post-interview rejection. Two of the four schools are my state schools. My stats are higher than 90th percentile of accepted applicants in all the four schools. I have high stats, strong ECs, lots of research and community service. I realized that I probably did extremely poorly in all my interviews. I am really panicking now. I have several more interviews coming up next month. Is there a way to improve my interview skills within a short time?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[JessebenBenjamin]

Not really. Practice should make you better though... thankfully you'll soon get a lot of that. Panic when you have been rejected at 5+ of those schools.

 

[Satire5Texul]

1.) record yourself
2.) Ask friends if they have anyone who you dont know personally, but would be willing to meet you and give you great criticism for how you are doing.
3.) Your best bet is to just ask as many people as possible. A friend just did a dental school interview. Its not my field of interest but I was able to hamemr him with questions and give him good feedback just based on the nature of the interview itself. Nit-picking all the details. So you dont always need a premed student, look for people willing to give you the time, but that can deliver some good feedback. A dental student could just as easily give you feedback on if you are coming off as passionate.
4.) If still in school, look into your school resources. Sometimes they do mock interviews.

 

[NickNaylor]

Do practice interviews with people that are experienced in interviewing and ideally with medical school interviews specifically. You may be misled by having people (e.g., parents) approach medical school interviews as a job interview, which it most certainly is not. If your university has a pre-health office, they should be more than willing to do a mock interview with you and offer you feedback. Seize that opportunity if you have the chance.

 

[Goro]

Your school should have a career counseling center; hit them up for interviewing skills and ever better, practice!
If you have any family, friends or acquaintances who know of someone who works in HR, hit them up for advice.
Go onto YouTube and look over the med school interview videos. there are a number that are cringe-worthy, and so DON'T do what the kids are doing in those videos!!

It's also possible you may have a red flag of a bad LOR in your app.

I was fortunate enough to receive >10 interviews. However, I recently heard back from four schools, and I got three deferrals and one post-interview rejection. Two of the four schools are my state schools. My stats are higher than 90th percentile of accepted applicants in all the four schools. I have high stats, strong ECs, lots of research and community service. I realized that I probably did extremely poorly in all my interviews. I am really panicking now. I have several more interviews coming up next month. Is there a way to improve my interview skills within a short time?

 

[robin911]

I was fortunate enough to receive >10 interviews. However, I recently heard back from four schools, and I got three deferrals and one post-interview rejection. Two of the four schools are my state schools. My stats are higher than 90th percentile of accepted applicants in all the four schools. I have high stats, strong ECs, lots of research and community service. I realized that I probably did extremely poorly in all my interviews. I am really panicking now. I have several more interviews coming up next month. Is there a way to improve my interview skills within a short time?

There are also a couple websites with "professionals" who can give interview tutorials and speak over skype to do mock interviews. This is of course, the last option b/c it is probably not free.

 

[Glandzburg]

Not really. Practice should make you better though... thankfully you'll soon get a lot of that. Panic when you have been rejected at 5+ of those schools.

I disagree. It really is possible to get better quickly if you can find out what you are doing wrong. Once you know the problem, you can start fixing it immediately (unless you are just socially awkward altogether).

The best way to diagnose the problem is to visit your pre-health office and do a mock interview with the professionals, as others have already suggested.

 

[SOMBound13]

Some things off the top of my head:

1) Eye contact
2) Handshake (not weak, but not too tight) and pleasant greeting words
3) Good grooming (ask someone you trust to give you an honest opinion)
4) Appropriate clothing (again, ask someone you trust to give you an honest opinion)
5) Research the SOM, know its mission and some things about it and its city.
6) have a PLEASANT default expression on your face (not a jerk face or bitch face....no kidding....some people's default expression is off-putting)
7) appear confident, but NOT arrogant!
8) Thank them when leaving, again hand shake.
9) BE PLEASANT to everyone, including secretaries and staff who WILL report if you were impatient with them.
10) have some relevant and intelligent questions to ask.

 

[JessebenBenjamin]

I disagree. It really is possible to get better quickly if you can find out what you are doing wrong. Once you know the problem, you can start fixing it immediately (unless you are just socially awkward altogether).

The best way to diagnose the problem is to visit your pre-health office and do a mock interview with the professionals, as others have already suggested.

Now that I think about it, I agree. I just assumed that OP had done all the necessary preparations before his first interview. I did, but the first couple were a mess... only with more "real" practice did my nerves go down and I became more confident. What worked for not doesn't necessarily apply to everyone though. OP how do you think you did?
Are you normally a little awkward? (I am).

 

[hotfish]

Some things off the top of my head:

1) Eye contact
2) Handshake (not weak, but not too tight) and pleasant greeting words
3) Good grooming (ask someone you trust to give you an honest opinion)
4) Appropriate clothing (again, ask someone you trust to give you an honest opinion)
5) Research the SOM, know its mission and some things about it and its city.
6) have a PLEASANT default expression on your face (not a jerk face or bitch face....no kidding....some people's default expression is off-putting)
7) appear confident, but NOT arrogant!
8) Thank them when leaving, again hand shake.
9) BE PLEASANT to everyone, including secretaries and staff who WILL report if you were impatient with them.
10) have some relevant and intelligent questions to ask.

Now that I think about it, I agree. I just assumed that OP had done all the necessary preparations before his first interview. I did, but the first couple were a mess... only with more "real" practice did my nerves go down and I became more confident. What worked for not doesn't necessarily apply to everyone though. OP how do you think you did?
Are you normally a little awkward? (I am).

I'm not socially awkward. At least that's what I thought.
My rejection is probably because I failed to do this one:
5) Research the SOM, know its mission and some things about it and its city.
I have no clue what went wrong in the interviews that led to deferred decisions. I even visited my state schools before the interviews, so I did study the schools.

 

[hotfish]

I called the school that rejected me post-interview. They told me they do offer counseling service to help applicants to strengthen their applications. However, it is only offered after the interview season. Ouch

 

[hotfish]

It's also possible you may have a red flag of a bad LOR in your app.

Is it likely?
I did get interviews from schools that screen application closely like Mayo.

 

[Doug Underhill]

We can't really help you nearly as much as your career center can. They'll probably record you during a mock interview and point out any issues that may exist.

 

[Goro]

Maybe not.

Is it likely?
I did get interviews from schools that screen application closely like Mayo.

 

[Slave to the Game]

It would help if you'd give us an idea of what answers you gave to typical interview questions. The more probable cause is your sociability. I don't think some people know when they're being weird.

My rejection is probably because I failed to do this one:
5) Research the SOM, know its mission and some things about it and its city.
I have no clue what went wrong in the interviews that led to deferred decisions. I even visited my state schools before the interviews, so I did study the schools.

Not really sure what to make of your response here... did you NOT research the school, as you said in the first sentence, or did you do your research, as you said in your last sentence? I hope this is not indicative of your interview skills, although it gives us a little idea of why you were deferred.

 

[Ambiences]

Know thyself.

 

[Ambiences]

EDIT: Double post.

 

[hotfish]

Eh I don't think my answers to why this school is strong enough for any of the schools that waitlisted me or rejected me.

 

[hotfish]

Thanks so much guys!
Will do as many mock interviews as possible.

 

[hotfish]

The interview went so awkward every time when I was asked why this school over another school (much higher ranked and closer to my home) that I interviewed at.

 

[cantankerous]

It helps me to pretend as if I'm an expert and the other person is someone who wants to learn all about the subject, you
I suppose that's exactly what an interview is, but it definitely makes it much easier when you envision the power dynamic that way instead of feeling at the mercy of someone's judgement and decision, if you get what I mean.

 

[HybridEarth]

One thing that *really* strengthened my interview skills was sitting in front of a mirror and simply talking about different topics I think I'd discuss on my interview day. It's helpful seeing your facial expressions / body language in real time, and training yourself to react accordingly if you think you're gonna start rambling. Doing this makes an actual interview seem like cakewalk (in my humble opinion). I'd try it