Should interviews be optional?

[geldrop]

I know it will come down to people that are statistically favorable and not the best interviewers will say get rid of them, and the people that are not statistically favorable and great at interviews will say keep them. What about making them optional, where they only interview at a certain cut off?

I have spent way to much money on interviews including flying, driving, train riding, eating, sleeping at hotels. Especially when its about 1/5 chance of acceptance, chances are you wasted your money regardless of if you like the place or not.

Any of you turn your trips into vacations? Every interview I have been on I have flown there the night before and left that day. Didn't give me much time to enjoy the trip.

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[Allygator89]

I turned one of mine into a weeklong vacation. I flew to Pennsylvania for an interview and ended up visiting all my relatives in PA and NJ that I hadn't seen in about a year. I also did that with friends when I stayed in Miami.

 

[CRAZYTERP]

When I was at SLU the Dean mentioned that a school had once gotten rid of interviews (i think it was either Iowa or Missouri). Anyhow, he said it totally backfired and they quickly reinstated the interview proscess. You have to remember that these school are not only trying to choose future doctors but they want students who will get along and excel side by side. Without the interviews you could just accept a bunch of gunners who try to kill each other... who would want a school like that?

 

[crazyA]

The longest any interview goes is an hour. How much can anyone really learn about a person in just one hour?

Of course, people with absolutely non-existent social skills or who are overbearingly arrogant will get weeded out in such a process, but I think a lot of other gunner-types are able to erect a facade over their personality, and instead present a disposition they feel the interviewer will like.

Of course, I think we all do this to some extent in an interview.

 

[lola]

i don't think we should get rid of interviews even though i've spent thousands of dollars on them so far
however, i do think interviews should be standardized somehow. there is so much randomness in this process, and when you get to the interview stage i think an effort should be made to make it less random. some schools do a really good job of ascertaining a set of information from you, while others seem to ask or talk about whatever they feel like. some people might be grilled on ethics or the health care system while others just kick back and talk about what they like to do for fun. this doesn't seem very fair to me. either everyone should be grilled or everyone's interview should be laid-back. i understand that people getting interviewed are different and therefore interviews will all be different, but i think schools should try to stick to an agenda of what they want to find out about each student. i also think schools should have us interview with more than 1 person. just because you didn't connect all that well with one interviewer does not mean you will be a bad doctor or are not a good match for the school.

 

[Ginza]

Interviews are stressful and expensive....but it's not just about the school checking you out, you're also checking out the school. How else would we know what a place has to offer unless we travel there and interact with people first-hand? Personally, I can say that after interviewing at two schools in particular, my opinions on them changed 180 degrees (one for the better, one for the worse.) In fact, one of them was a place I really hoped to attend. After my day there, I withdrew my application before it got sent to the committee. I couldn't imagine spending four years there!