Question about Interviews

[yolomcat]

I am concerned about my interview that I had recently. I met with an adcom member in an interview who basically fact checked my whole application (ie. Did I do ___? Where did your parents grow up?) and pointed out mistakes in spelling or wrong word choice. I did not feel he was so interested in who I was and was more interested about how much I could repeat what was written on my application. After questioning my application, he went about asking me about what I did not like about certain things (ie. medicine, the school, volunteer activities etc.). He would then ask how I would deal/dealt with it. When giving a response he would laugh and give a sarcastic comment or give hypothetical scenarios where my answer would not be sufficient. I felt devastated even though my other interview went pretty well, especially since this particular school's interviews are supposed to be laid back.

Is this common among interviews? Should I expect this kind of scrutiny and how would I deal with these situations?

Thank you guys

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[Aerus]

I am concerned about my interview that I had recently. I met with an adcom member in an interview who basically fact checked my whole application (ie. Did I do ___? Where did your parents grow up?) and pointed out mistakes in spelling or wrong word choice. I did not feel he was so interested in who I was and was more interested about how much I could repeat what was written on my application. After questioning my application, he went about asking me about what I did not like about certain things (ie. medicine, the school, volunteer activities etc.). He would then ask how I would deal/dealt with it. When giving a response he would laugh and give a sarcastic comment or give hypothetical scenarios where my answer would not be sufficient. I felt devastated even though my other interview went pretty well, especially since this particular school's interviews are supposed to be laid back.

Is this common among interviews? Should I expect this kind of scrutiny and how would I deal with these situations?

Thank you guys

What school was this, if you don't mind sharing?

 

[yolomcat]

What school was this, if you don't mind sharing?

Big state school central United States.

 

[kthxbai]

Oh goodness, I'm so sorry! I haven't had my interviews yet (starting next month), but from what I've heard this is far from typical.

If this isn't your only interview (or one of few), how about contacting the school and complaining. There's nothing like weeding out bad interviewers.

 

[yolomcat]

Oh goodness, I'm so sorry! I haven't had my interviews yet (starting next month), but from what I've heard this is far from typical.

If this isn't your only interview (or one of few), how about contacting the school and complaining. There's nothing like weeding out bad interviewers.

My interviewer is on the adcom.... I don't think complaining will do much.

 

[NickNaylor]

Not common at all. This is (or should be) an anomaly. Just roll with the punches and give the best answers you can. Either this person was intentionally trying to make the interview high-stress to see how you would react or he was just socially clueless.

 

[gyngyn]

My interviewer is on the adcom.... I don't think complaining will do much.

If you felt belittled, I am confident that the admissions dean would like know. It is the responsibility of the interviewer to be a worthy representative of the school. They didn't invite you to make you feel worthless.

If you have the courage, I recommend that you accurately and dispassionately explain what happened. So called "stress interviews" still happen but if this is not the dean's intention (and there is a good chance it isn't), I think that your information would be well received.

 

[Law2Doc]

You will meet a variety of different personalities along the interview trail. Just do your best -- sometimes the guy who comes across as a jerk will still consider you better than the other dozen people he similarly grills.

 

[Goro]

Concur 100% with my learned colleague. The only way we can get rid of incompetent or mean interviewers is to let the dean of Admissions know. You will NOT come across as a whiner. Interviews are a two way street and you're interviewing them just as much as they're interviewing you. Because of your experience, it appears that this school has lost a good candidate.

If you felt belittled, I am confident that the admissions dean would like know. It is the responsibility of the interviewer to be a worthy representative of the school. They didn't invite you to make you feel worthless.

If you have the courage, I recommend that you accurately and dispassionately explain what happened. So called "stress interviews" still happen but if this is not the dean's intention (and there is a good chance it isn't), I think that your information would be well received.

 

[Sportsdude89]

Had a similar experience last cycle and later WL. Was grilled to the max about resume and asked about patient scenarios for medical conditions and very personal questions. It was a bizarre interview. I remember thinking over what happened for days. I reasoned that the person was intentionally giving a stress interview to see if I held my composure and how id react. Instead of getting to talk about my experiences the person not only cut me off when I was talking almost every time but also picked them apart by basically saying why didn't you do more and fact checking time there. I understand the motive but it still made me lose a lot of interest in the program and school.