med school student interviewer

[desilva11]

I was just curious what people thought or knew about student interviewers? I have interviewed at a few school were i have one faculty and one MS2 and for the most part my faculty interviews have gone really good but the student i am not to sure about. I have found that student interviewer tend to be disinterested and kind of a-holes. The few that i have grilled me about whether i was fit/knew what it was like to be a doctor. Do med school admission committees give them as much weight as the faculty because i don't someone who has just completed his first year can judge you? thanks.

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[PreMedOrDead]

All my student interviewers have been excellent.

 

[kickster]

If MS2's are interviewing you then there are also likely several MS2's on the committee that can vote on your acceptance/rejection

 

[Nymphicus]

Student-conducted interviews are normally weighed the same as interviews with faculty.

None of my student interviewers seemed disinterested. It's difficult for me to understand how someone could volunteer their precious time and not be interested.


Edit: I personally enjoyed my student interviews more than the faculty ones. It was easier to relate.

 

[FalconSlice]

the student interviewers know what it's like to interview (obviously) so they are all mostly very nice and the interview is very much like a conversation and laid back. i loved my student interviews. I am generalizing but all in all they are great.

 

[ClemsonFirst]

The student interviewer I interviewed with was actually the toughest interview of the ones I've had. Really challenged me during the interview, but he was rather interested and extremely informative. Aside from them learning about you, they are experiencing the school right now and can give probably the best advice and information you can get about the school since it's from a student's standpoint, so if you get the chance to ask him a question, make sure you have some good ones about the school and student life at the school.

Good luck and treat it like any other interview. Try to get the interviewer interested and stand out in the interview.

 

[Frazier]

My student interviewers have all been very amicable.

I look forward to working in med school admissions when I get there as a student.

 

[theseeker4]

If MS2's are interviewing you then there are also likely several MS2's on the committee that can vote on your acceptance/rejection

It varies school to school. Wayne has students who interview and comment on candidates, but have no vote. Just because the school has a student interview you doesn't mean they necessarily haves vote.

 

[Planes2Doc]

My student interviewer was tough where I was ultimately accepted to. I wonder if they sympathize with you, since they were in your shoes not that long ago. I definitely didn't get any sympathy at the hospital where I volunteered from the doctors, even though they were also in my position at some point of their lives.

 

[red7]

I think some of it too is trying to figure out if you're a nice person and will fit into their school (i.e. would I want this person to be my classmate/colleague?). It gives a different perspective than the faculty members or other adcom members, who might be more focused on "does this person have what it takes to succeed?" - not that those are mutually exclusive

 

[mcloaf]

I was just curious what people thought or knew about student interviewers? I have interviewed at a few school were i have one faculty and one MS2 and for the most part my faculty interviews have gone really good but the student i am not to sure about. I have found that student interviewer tend to be disinterested and kind of a-holes. The few that i have grilled me about whether i was fit/knew what it was like to be a doctor. Do med school admission committees give them as much weight as the faculty because i don't someone who has just completed his first year can judge you? thanks.

I've had interviews with MS2's and MS4's, all have been very nice. They've tended to be a tad more formal than the attendings and other admissions officers, but that's probably just because they're not as experienced as interviewers and because med students and applicants are close enough in age/totem-pole-location that they need to be a little more formal to keep things from just becoming two young people chatting. Student interviewers who were a-holes would make me think twice about attending said school.

 

[Kaputt]

At my school student interviews can really only hurt you. They are basically there to see if you're social inept or not. Being socially apt doesn't really add any stars to your application, though.

 

[FalconSlice]

At my school student interviews can really only hurt you. They are basically there to see if you're social inept or not. Being socially apt doesn't really add any stars to your application, though.

So what you are saying is if you are socially awkward, you are Kaputt?

 

[Geebeejay]

I've only had good interviews with medical students. Students interview you to see if you'd make a good classmate - that they can see you going to class with you and seeing patients with you.

 

[Kaputt]

So what you are saying is if you are socially awkward, you are Kaputt?

Yes, quite

 

[FSU2013]

Yes, quite

Ha, right...there are NO socially awkward people in med school, lol.

 

[ilikevegetables]

I've found that my student interviews are actually more formal than faculty interviews. Whereas my faculty interviewers have all just started up a conversation with me, and it's been pretty informal, all of my student interviewers have started off saying something like "don't worry, this is going to be an informal conversation" and then asking a laundry list of traditional interview questions.

 

[sazerac]

I was just curious what people thought or knew about student interviewers? I have interviewed at a few school were i have one faculty and one MS2 and for the most part my faculty interviews have gone really good but the student i am not to sure about. I have found that student interviewer tend to be disinterested and kind of a-holes. The few that i have grilled me about whether i was fit/knew what it was like to be a doctor. Do med school admission committees give them as much weight as the faculty because i don't someone who has just completed his first year can judge you? thanks.

I am an MS-1 and a student interviewer. I hope I am not also a disinterested a-hole! At our school, the student interview (over lunch) does count as much as the two faculty interviews (and the candidates are told this several times), however the student interviewers are looking more to see if the applicant is "cool" for lack of a better phrase. Like somebody said, "do I want this person to be my classmate?" My school is laid back and happy (and unranked PF for the first two years), and we try to find interviewees who will perpetuate this theme. We certainly aren't trained to "grill," nor are we actively looking for a reason to reject an interviewee.

At our school there is a definite distinction between the inteviewers and the adcoms. Interviewers submit their evaluations and that's the end of their job.

I'm sure this is all very school specific. When I was interviewing at some other schools, though, I did find some student interviewers (both east and west coast) to be quite adversarial. In fact, at one school I felt like they invited me down just so the faculty and students could yell at me for a couple of hours (REJECTED lol).

 

[aspiring20]

I am an MS-1 and a student interviewer. I hope I am not also a disinterested a-hole! At our school, the student interview (over lunch) does count as much as the two faculty interviews (and the candidates are told this several times), however the student interviewers are looking more to see if the applicant is "cool" for lack of a better phrase. Like somebody said, "do I want this person to be my classmate?" My school is laid back and happy (and unranked PF for the first two years), and we try to find interviewees who will perpetuate this theme. We certainly aren't trained to "grill," nor are we actively looking for a reason to reject an interviewee.

At our school there is a definite distinction between the inteviewers and the adcoms. Interviewers submit their evaluations and that's the end of their job.

I'm sure this is all very school specific. When I was interviewing at some other schools, though, I did find some student interviewers (both east and west coast) to be quite adversarial. In fact, at one school I felt like they invited me down just so the faculty and students could yell at me for a couple of hours (REJECTED lol).

what if you run across an applicant that you know (or have beef with)? are you required to step down from interviewing if you come across someone you know?

i definitely see the value of having student interviewers. but at the same time, i think it is worthwhile noting some of the potential issues that can occur with such a system.

if john and sarah had problems back in college and john is interviewing sarah or vice versa, then the integrity of the process might be compromised.

 

[LizzyM]

what if you run across an applicant that you know (or have beef with)? are you required to step down from interviewing if you come across someone you know?

i definitely see the value of having student interviewers. but at the same time, i think it is worthwhile noting some of the potential issues that can occur with such a system.

if john and sarah had problems back in college and john is interviewing sarah or vice versa, then the integrity of the process might be compromised.

A good interview coordinator will try to match interviewers and applicants such that student interviewers don't interview applicants from their undergrad institution. If an interviewer recognizes someone by name on the interview assignment sheet, that interviewer is supposed to notify the inteview coordinator and arrange a swap with another interviewer.

 

[aspiring20]

A good interview coordinator will try to match interviewers and applicants such that student interviewers don't interview applicants from their undergrad institution. If an interviewer recognizes someone by name on the interview assignment sheet, that interviewer is supposed to notify the inteview coordinator and arrange a swap with another interviewer.

now that's more like it.

could you request another interview if you feel that your student interviewer is showing obvious biases towards you? or if you know the person interviewing YOU, and you know that the interviewer knows you, but the interviewer pretended to not know you and interviewed you anyway? that could be an awkward situation.

and the reason i am asking is because of a similar situation that happened with a high school friend. he had a great personality (evident in his ECs and LORs) along with competitive stats. he interviewed at a school that he loved, and where he fit the school's mission near 100%. in short, he is the poster child applicant that that school wants to have.

during his interview, he came across a student interviewer who happened to be a college peer, and they both knew each other. my friend didn't think much of it, and the interview with the student interviewer proceeded. my friend is an excellent communicator, and he interviewed extremely well with this student interviewer that he knew. in addition, his other interviews with faculty went equally well. however, he was waitlisted.

absolutely shocked, my friend contacted the adcom, who told him that while he is the perfect applicant for that particular school (and the word "perfect" was used), the decision to waitlist him was because of some comments made to the adcom by his student interviewer, that college peer who knew my friend. upon further inquiry, my friend found out that his student interviewer made grotesquely malicious comments about him that were entirely fabricated.

of course, there was some back and forth communication between my friend and the adcom, but at the end, my friend asked for (and received) another interview. he went to the school again (flying across the country), and was ultimately accepted with a full scholarship and a letter of apology from the dean of admissions.

my friend had some differing political viewpoints from his student interviewer (they both went to the same college and were one year within each other), and apparently, the interviewer wanted to "screw him over" on the interview.

i just hope that medical schools are at least aware of this possible situation and have mechanisms in place to prevent/alleviate such occurrences.

 

[Ismet]

now that's more like it.

could you request another interview if you feel that your student interviewer is showing obvious biases towards you? or if you know the person interviewing YOU, and you know that the interviewer knows you, but the interviewer pretended to not know you and interviewed you anyway? that could be an awkward situation.

and the reason i am asking is because of a similar situation that happened with a high school friend. he had a great personality (evident in his ECs and LORs) along with competitive stats. he interviewed at a school that he loved, and where he fit the school's mission near 100%. in short, he is the poster child applicant that that school wants to have.

during his interview, he came across a student interviewer who happened to be a college peer, and they both knew each other. my friend didn't think much of it, and the interview with the student interviewer proceeded. my friend is an excellent communicator, and he interviewed extremely well with this student interviewer that he knew. in addition, his other interviews with faculty went equally well. however, he was waitlisted.

absolutely shocked, my friend contacted the adcom, who told him that while he is the perfect applicant for that particular school (and the word "perfect" was used), the decision to waitlist him was because of some comments made to the adcom by his student interviewer, that college peer who knew my friend. upon further inquiry, my friend found out that his student interviewer made grotesquely malicious comments about him that were entirely fabricated.

of course, there was some back and forth communication between my friend and the adcom, but at the end, my friend asked for (and received) another interview. he went to the school again (flying across the country), and was ultimately accepted with a full scholarship and a letter of apology from the dean of admissions.

my friend had some differing political viewpoints from his student interviewer (they both went to the same college and were one year within each other), and apparently, the interviewer wanted to "screw him over" on the interview.

i just hope that medical schools are at least aware of this possible situation and have mechanisms in place to prevent/alleviate such occurrences.

Yes, schools are aware of the situation that a medical student might know an interviewee, but it's largely left up to the honor of the medical student to switch the interview, since the school doesn't know who we know. If you get to your interview and realize you know your interviewer, excuse yourself, go to the admissions office, and request a change. That is a huge conflict of interest, and if the med student wasn't honorable enough to switch it (or didn't know in the first place who he was interviewing), you should not just go ahead with the interview. I'd imagine most schools would accomodate you, I know mine would.

The way we do interviews at my school is we have a stack of papers, one for each of the applicants that day, and we just pick from that stack before the interview. If we know that person, it's on our honor to switch the paper with someone else.

 

[NickNaylor]

Yes, schools are aware of the situation that a medical student might know an interviewee, but it's largely left up to the honor of the medical student to switch the interview, since the school doesn't know who we know. If you get to your interview and realize you know your interviewer, excuse yourself, go to the admissions office, and request a change. That is a huge conflict of interest, and if the med student wasn't honorable enough to switch it (or didn't know in the first place who he was interviewing), you should not just go ahead with the interview. I'd imagine most schools would accomodate you, I know mine would.

The way we do interviews at my school is we have a stack of papers, one for each of the applicants that day, and we just pick from that stack before the interview. If we know that person, it's on our honor to switch the paper with someone else.

I actually interviewed an applicant that I did a Skype mock interview for that past summer. I let the office know but told them that my decision wouldn't be biased either way. I ended up interviewing him.

Just depends on your approach I suppose.

Sent from my Nexus 7

 

[Ismet]

I actually interviewed an applicant that I did a Skype mock interview for that past summer. I let the office know but told them that my decision wouldn't be biased either way. I ended up interviewing him.

Just depends on your approach I suppose.

Sent from my Nexus 7

But that's different from knowing someone personally/interacting on more than one occasion and interviewing them. And you still did the honorable thing and told the office the situation, but the conflict of interest factor wasn't high in that situation.

 

[SpacemanSpifff]

I was just curious what people thought or knew about student interviewers? I have interviewed at a few school were i have one faculty and one MS2 and for the most part my faculty interviews have gone really good but the student i am not to sure about. I have found that student interviewer tend to be disinterested and kind of a-holes. The few that i have grilled me about whether i was fit/knew what it was like to be a doctor. Do med school admission committees give them as much weight as the faculty because i don't someone who has just completed his first year can judge you? thanks.

I have had mixed feelings about students who interviewed me.

The very first interview of the cycle I had an MS4 as my interviewer. He was very warm and helped settle my nerves (I talked with him for about twenty minutes after the interview about Forrest Gump and Red Bull, by far my favorite interview). It set the mood for the rest of the day and I loved the school.

The MS2 who I met at another school fit the description others have offered: formal but friendly. He asked some of the most difficult questions I had to answer. He was challenging but not abrasive.

I did have a problem with one of my student interviewers being very nervous. He was shaking during the interview, used "ah" and "um" frequently, and was visibly flustered. I wouldn't have had a big problem with this except for the fact that he was the sole interviewer I had at this school. I felt like he was so focused on planning his next question he was not really listening to what I said. Afterwards I did not feel that he would be a strong advocate for me when it came time to meet with the Adcom. Sure enough I was rejected (although many factors played into that decision I'm sure).

 

[NickNaylor]

I have had mixed feelings about students who interviewed me.

The very first interview of the cycle I had an MS4 as my interviewer. He was very warm and helped settle my nerves (I talked with him for about twenty minutes after the interview about Forrest Gump and Red Bull, by far my favorite interview). It set the mood for the rest of the day and I loved the school.

The MS2 who I met at another school fit the description others have offered: formal but friendly. He asked some of the most difficult questions I had to answer. He was challenging but not abrasive.

I did have a problem with one of my student interviewers being very nervous. He was shaking during the interview, used "ah" and "um" frequently, and was visibly flustered. I wouldn't have had a big problem with this except for the fact that he was the sole interviewer I had at this school. I felt like he was so focused on planning his next question he was not really listening to what I said. Afterwards I did not feel that he would be a strong advocate for me when it came time to meet with the Adcom. Sure enough I was rejected (although many factors played into that decision I'm sure).

That last story is hilarious - and unfortunate.

Sent from my Nexus 7

 

[wonderdog]

Do med school admission committees give them as much weight as the faculty because i don't someone who has just completed his first year can judge you?

Of course they can judge you. They're interviewing you.

 

[SpacemanSpifff]

That last story is hilarious - and unfortunate.

Sent from my Nexus 7

Agreed.

 

[NickNaylor]

I was just curious what people thought or knew about student interviewers? I have interviewed at a few school were i have one faculty and one MS2 and for the most part my faculty interviews have gone really good but the student i am not to sure about. I have found that student interviewer tend to be disinterested and kind of a-holes. The few that i have grilled me about whether i was fit/knew what it was like to be a doctor. Do med school admission committees give them as much weight as the faculty because i don't someone who has just completed his first year can judge you? thanks.

To answer the question, this will vary with schools. At my school, student evaluations are valued but largely because they provide a different perspective on an applicant that a faculty member or other person may not be able to. So while I may not be the best at, say, judging academic ability, I'm probably better at judging whether I think a person would be a good classmate or good fit with the school than a faculty member.

So the answer I suppose is yes, though you're right in that it is highly unlikely that a student evaluation would "outrank" a faculty evaluation.

Sent from my Nexus 7

 

[cookiemonsters]

.nvm