Weight of interview? Insight on interview process

[DentalStudent8991]

Hey everyone,

I just had my very first interview this past week and overall it went well but I wanted to see if anyone has any insight or opinions on how much weight each individual interview carries on that particular day with different faculty or students.

For ex. My interview consisted of 4 different people; a current D3, 2 professors, and the vice dean. I felt very confident on my interview with the student and first professor I interacted with. It felt very conversational and judging from their body language they seemed very interested. However, it was not the same with the vice dean and last professor. Compared to the first two I felt like they weren't as responsive and for that reason I may have been more nervous and stammered through some of my answers.

Long story short: Are you expected to nail every single interview and would the negative opinion of one interviewer be the reason why you dont get in? Do you guys think that interviews are somewhat of a formality and really they have pretty much already decided whether they like you or not and so long as you don't have an overwhelming amount of RED FLAGS your in a good spot for an acceptance.

Interested to know what you all think?

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[Bigjt1420]

The interview does matter for sure, but that being said, it’s really hard to figure out what’s going on in the interviewer’s head and if they like you or not. There are hundreds of posts here on SDN from people who thought they bombed the interview and they got in to the school. Conversely, there are hundreds of posts where people thought they crushed it and they didn’t get in.

I thought I absolutely killed my interviews and I ended up being waitlisted/deferred originally. I ended up getting into both but yeah you don’t really know. In my case I had a low GPA so that was a factor. In other peoples’ cases it may have been a low DAT or poor interview.

In any way, don’t worry about it. What’s done is done and just wait and see what happens now! Good luck!

 

[BeMoConsulting]

Hi there!

Interviews have been around for a long time, but they are not without drawbacks. Unlike the evaluation of hard skills in standardized tests, the evaluation of soft skills is qualitative and subjective. Therefore, regardless of which interview format is used, there will always be a question of how accurately applicants are being assessed. That being said, it’s important to remember that each school uses your interview score in the way they see fit when deciding who is admitted and who is rejected. The best way to find out this information is to consult the official university admissions website or to contact the admissions office. Regardless, your interview performance is likely going to be a significant factor, if not the deciding factor, between you receiving an acceptance letter or a rejection letter. That is why you should always prepare and try your best to enhance your interviewing skills. You say you were nervous when speaking to the vice dean and the last professor, and we totally understand! Just remember that sometimes interviewers choose to be serious and inexpressive, and this causes applicants to get nervous and not perform at their best. This could have happened to other candidates they interviewed that day so the best advice we can give you is not to dwell in the past. Just think positive and hope for the best. Best of luck to you!

 

[deleted994703]

ive also heard that schools already know who they’re going to accept before the interview not sure if that’s true or not

 

[DentalStudent8991]

The interview does matter for sure, but that being said, it’s really hard to figure out what’s going on in the interviewer’s head and if they like you or not. There are hundreds of posts here on SDN from people who thought they bombed the interview and they got in to the school. Conversely, there are hundreds of posts where people thought they crushed it and they didn’t get in.

I thought I absolutely killed my interviews and I ended up being waitlisted/deferred originally. I ended up getting into both but yeah you don’t really know. In my case I had a low GPA so that was a factor. In other peoples’ cases it may have been a low DAT or poor interview.

In any way, don’t worry about it. What’s done is done and just wait and see what happens now! Good luck!

Thank you so much for the reply. I just had my second interview today I think you are absolutely right about the fact that you cannot really ever know what they are thinking of or if they like you or not. Will try my best not to worry about it 😊

 

[deleted1013836]

ive also heard that schools already know who they’re going to accept before the interview not sure if that’s true or not

Not saying you’re right or wrong, but why would they even bother interviewing candidates if that was the case? Wouldn’t that just be a waste of time on their part?

 

[deleted994703]

Not saying you’re right or wrong, but why would they even bother interviewing candidates if that was the case? Wouldn’t that just be a waste of time on their part?

from what i’ve heard is that they just want to make sure they’re not some sort of psychopath.