So far I have been asked:
-Where I've been rejected from so far
-How many interviews invites I've received
-Where I've applied (he asked for a number, and then asked me to name the schools)
-What my MCAT was (it was supposed to be a blind interview)
-Why don't I just become a nurse? (I have been asked this at every interview. Most annoying question. I think it has sexist overtones.)
I am curious to hear others' experiences.
Excellent thread. Congrats for initiating. I'll post 3 stories:
1. My brother was asked how often he had sex, how often he masturbated and what his sexual fantasies were. He was accepted to the medical school in question. He and I had a good laugh after the fact but our parents were not amused.
2. A black lesbian friend cried when she was asked about her experience with HIV/AIDS patients. She was a Pharmacy Tech at a HIV pharmacy. She broke down when she said she was heart broken about the lying that takes place on gay apps (e.g. Grinder) by some stalkers, and bug chasers, and one story of a young kid infected by an older couple (3 way, I think, but I didn't ask for details!) The school rejected her, saying she showed immaturity for crying. She was very upset. I told her they did not deserve her because anyone who is that passionate and moved by HIV / AIDS patients deserves a nod in my book. She had the GPA and test scores. She got in somewhere else and is happy.
3. I was asked by one interviewer, an MD, about being too old. His question was, "you aren't young any more, can you handle this?" I laughed out loud demonstrably. At my age I don't hold back and I don't sweat it when asked up front questions. I didn't have to answer the question because, to my surprise, the other interviewer, a PhD, came to my defense saying the question was inappropriate and out of bounds. I just sat there and looked pretty. Every time that MD interviewer sees me in the hallways on campus he goes out of his way and shakes my hand. No hard feelings.
The medical school selection process is inappropriate. It is off kilter and needs to be revamped something fierce.
I was on an airplane flight back home prior to the holidays, and I sat next to an elegant, romantic, ethnic couple, 3 of us to a row in Economy section. They saw me watching my Kaplan videos on my iPad studying for Step 1, and the male asked me if I were a physician. I laughed and said, "not yet" but that got the conversation going for the rest of our flight. He is a 3rd year IM Resident bucking Chief Resident at one of the black medical school teaching hospitals, his wife is a plastic surgery Physician Assistant, and they both railed about their experiences in the selection process for both medical school and residency. The wife graduated from an Ivy League PA Program and she was really classy, mature and handled herself with impressive maturity at a mere late 20s. She was also smoking hot but I digress. Both are not involved in committees for medical school application processes. The husband spoke at length about his program now offering social gatherings for some MD applicants, where they serve wine/cheese, watch the applicants interact and they take notes. He said it is helping the Dean determine who is fit for medical school and a career by seeing if they have the interpersonal skills necessary. He welcomes their getting away from such a heavy emphasis on MCAT and GPA scores.
Wonderful idea.
Until medical schools show more effort and assessing applicants ability when it comes to interpersonal skills, I think the heavy emphasis on GPA and MCAT scores will just favor the medical schools. They're all about money anyways.
This will be my last post to SDN. I have stopped posting to my blog, will come out of the shadows to create a real website with my real name, and start writing as a future physician. I stated in my initial posts to SDN almost 1.5 years ago that it is my goal to be a published physician author and speaker. I have a few physician groups who are interested in me as a writer/speaker and business consultant after I finish my MD Degree and training, and I am looking ahead.
I want to thank all of the SDN members who showed me the way. As an older student, my first year was incredibly difficult and not because of academics. I expected medical school to be intimate, inspiring, much like my college years, and one of personal mentoring by professors to students. I have been severely disappointed. I reached out to several of you privately for advice and you were generous. Many of you wrote me asking me for my input. and I tried to respond in the best way I knew how. I posted here and there on SDN but principally to the non-traditional forum because I promised myself after getting into medical school, that other older, non-trads need to know it can be done. I tried to avoid flame wars and ignored people who were obnoxious, a product of the WWW, but even they taught me something. I thank you all.
I also wish all of you much success on your Road Less Traveled to MD