tolerance level at interviews

[Chinorean]

Do you think your tolerance level for other people goes down when you're at interviews? It's a stressful time and we know how competitive pre-medders are. Some people hide it well, but at one interview there was a girl who definitely was on the verge of flipping out on us...

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[UCDavisdude]

i wouldnt know, but what i do know is that i am hella craving some kentucky fried chicken like a mofo rite now.

 

[funshine]

Do you think your tolerance level for other people goes down when you're at interviews? It's a stressful time and we know how competitive pre-medders are. Some people hide it well, but at one interview there was a girl who definitely was on the verge of flipping out on us...

That's funny. Most of the applicants I've met seemed really chill and modest...we all seemed to deliberately keep the conversations laid-back and friendly. However, there was one incident where 2 girls had almost the exact same resumes--they had both done a fair bit of travelling and volunteering, for the same organizations in the same countries--and both of them got a bit tense while "comparing" their activities.

I think I'm actually less tolerant of the people in charge of the interview day (tour guides, interviewers, etc.). Weird, huh?

 

[isobel]

if i chat with someone, i'm nice. if i start getting bored, i'll start noticing if any of the girls are wearing ugly suits, ugly shoes, have gross hightlights, too much makeup, stupid little trendy purses....

but that's in general, not just for interviews.

 

[ND2005]

Do you think your tolerance level for other people goes down when you're at interviews? It's a stressful time and we know how competitive pre-medders are. Some people hide it well, but at one interview there was a girl who definitely was on the verge of flipping out on us...

My two interviews have been totally different. At my first, basically no one talked. From what little people did say, I figured out it was just about everyone's first interview, so I think we were all really nervous.

At my second interview, everyone was pretty cool. It was kind of an odd crowd, b/c it was right before finals for most schools, so we were all older (I was the 2nd youngest person there). We all talked a bunch throughout the day...one of the guys even turned out to have gone to my roomate's high school.

So far I haven't seen any crazy pre-med flip-outs or hostility. So that's good.

 

[DrERD]

On the interviews that I've been on, its the hypercompetitive people that get on my nerves. I definitely think it is tough to put anywhere from 5-20 nervous people in the same room without there being some tension, although I've never seen it manifest itself outright with a fight.

 

[isobel]

On the interviews that I've been on, its the hypercompetitive people that get on my nerves. I definitely think it is tough to put anywhere from 5-20 nervous people in the same room without there being some tension, although I've never seen it manifest itself outright with a fight.

i've never seen much tension other than just nerves. everywhere i've gone, people talk about what undergrad they went to but nothing more indepth. nothing about ECs, publications, volunteering, because then you come off like you're trying to compare yourself. it's been pretty civil.

 

[funshine]

My two interviews have been totally different. At my first, basically no one talked. From what little people did say, I figured out it was just about everyone's first interview, so I think we were all really nervous.

At my second interview, everyone was pretty cool. It was kind of an odd crowd, b/c it was right before finals for most schools, so we were all older (I was the 2nd youngest person there). We all talked a bunch throughout the day...one of the guys even turned out to have gone to my roomate's high school.

So far I haven't seen any crazy pre-med flip-outs or hostility. So that's good.

Yeah, it's always weird when no one talks, or when you have to circulate through the dozen-20 or so interviewers finding some common ground to talk about. At most of my interviews, I've basically attached myself to 1-2 people and we get through the interview day together on friendly terms. I do that in all social situations, it's a bad habit

 

[BaylorGuy]

Personally, it doesn't matter to me that much. I actually like going to interviews and meeting new people....its a big change from being stuck in a lab with no windows for 40 hours out of the week. Most of the people i meet are a little stand-offish. It seems like the most down to earth people are the non-trads. I guess they understand the dynamics of interviewing and in general how to be around superiors or those in charge. Beats me

Also, for some of the later interviews, i think some of the people's fears are decreasing as a majority of the applicants have already had one interview and are a little more laid back about the whole situation.

 

[QofQuimica]

Personally, it doesn't matter to me that much. I actually like going to interviews and meeting new people....its a big change from being stuck in a lab with no windows for 40 hours out of the week. Most of the people i meet are a little stand-offish. It seems like the most down to earth people are the non-trads. I guess they understand the dynamics of interviewing and in general how to be around superiors or those in charge. Beats me

Also, for some of the later interviews, i think some of the people's fears are decreasing as a majority of the applicants have already had one interview and are a little more laid back about the whole situation.

Ha ha, I always look for non-trads at interviews also.

 

[LJDHC05]

I dont know about you all, but I feel awkward when people just kind of sit around and stare at whatever's in front of them. I usually try to break the ice a little bit and find out where everyone's from and if there's ANY common ground for me to stand on with anyone. If that fails, I'm usually there early enough to drag one or two of the other kids around in search of a cup of coffee which leads to atleast SOMETHING to talk about.

There was this one MD/PhD girl who I saw at 2 of my interviews last year, so that was pretty cool. She was a wicked overachiever and definitely high on her 19 interviews and 3 publications before getting her bachelors (almost unheard of)...so I didnt like her too much cause she was probably the most immodest interviewee that I had met. She was also a yankees fan, which didnt help her cause.

Other than that, there have been an cool mix of folks that are applying. There are really some incredible people that go through this whole process and it kind of makes me feel incredibly unimpressive as a human being let alone as an applicant. If you're one of those crazy tweak-out people, just remember that it's only med school, not the rest of your life.

 

[45408]

I tried to be as friendly as I could to just about all the other applicants. I liked lots of the people (recognized a few from other interviews or from my Kaplan class or my undergrad), I thought a few were annoying, but you can't think of everyone as the competition - if you get in, you'll be going to school with them for four years. Much of the time, I was so impressed by everyone that I was glad that I don't have to be on an adcom. However, when some dude started rattling off his resume when we were all just going around introducing ourselves, I tried not to roll my eyes.

 

[WhatUpDoc!]

Was only five of us at my interview. A little akward at first (quick exchange of pleasantries, then silence), but then 2 of the interviewees actually knew each other from back in the day. The other 3 of us just clicked up and after the library tour, we were one, big, happy pre-med family I think smaller groups facilitate better communication anyways so we didn't have much of a choice other than to be congenial and open.