taking notes during interview?

Originally posted by surfsup
whats the opinion on this?

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absolutely!!! I did at every last one. bring your little notepad in your portfolio/attache or whatever and feel free to take notes. the interviewers will always ask if you have any questions for them, along with the students you talk to, and this is where you find out the true info about the school, the curriculum, the clinical experience, research opportunities, housing, the gym, financial aid you name it. in the event you get multiple acceptances it will save you a lot of agony to have a written record the pros and cons of schools you've interviewed at. so please, TAKE NOTES!!! and write down email addresses as well. It will be a great help to you in evaluating school decisions, and maybe it will cut down on the "Harvard versus Hopkins" threads here in the spring

good luck

DW, were you applying that year?

I disagree. Unless you are using some mad shorthand for only a few little comments, you will spend a considerable amount of time with your gaze down at your notepad as you scribble away. While you write, you are not making eye contact, and are probably not speaking/answering Q's or paying full 100% attention. Worse thing you could ever do is be asked a Q while you write, and have to say: "Excuse me? Can you repeat the question?" because you weren't paying attention. That's shooting yourself in the foot in my opinion (more like shooting yourself in the descending aorta). Plus what could you possibly have to take notes on DURING the interview? Wait until it's done, then find a quiet spot you can sit in for five minutes and then take a few notes on pros and cons, answers to your Qs, etc.

Bring pre-written Q's to your interview that you would like to ask, and some blank paper in case you actually have to write something down. But try writing as little as possible.
Maintain eye contact and pay attention to the entire interview.

surfsup said:

whats the opinion on this?

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dont take notes. most of my interviews were conversations...it will totaly kill the moment when you are sitting down and writing stuff...

I took notes and whatnot during my tours so that I'd have ready-made questions to ask.

But yeah, anyone who sat there taking notes during the actual interview would be perceived as really weird.

YankeeCanuckMD said:

dont take notes. most of my interviews were conversations...it will totaly kill the moment when you are sitting down and writing stuff...

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Agree with this -- it's bad form to be looking at a pad instead of maintaining eye contact throughout. You will have ample time to jot down notes after the interview. You can take notes during the fin aid presentation though. (And if the interviewer offers his/her email address, then sure, you can write it down, but that's not really taking notes during the actual interview.)

It would make you look like a tool.

What about taking notes at the orientation-type talk (not at the one-on-one interview itself?)
I took notes at the orientation talk thing, because they were telling us dates on which we could expect decisions/how the admissions process progresses from here. Is that still toolish?

Shpamme said:

What about taking notes at the orientation-type talk (not at the one-on-one interview itself?)
I took notes at the orientation talk thing, because they were telling us dates on which we could expect decisions/how the admissions process progresses from here. Is that still toolish?

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That's fine. The OP's question was "during the interview".

It depends on the interview. Some of my interviewers' style would not have allowed this at all. On the other hand, with one interviewer, we got into a discussion about some good books. She even recommended one to me. I'm sure glad I had a paper and pen ready to write that down. Another interviewer, needed to write some stuff down in response to a question I had. In my opinion, you should have it available and take notes when approproate.

Panda Bear said:

I agree. Nothing says "tool" like taking notes during the interview

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Does anyone agree that this should be the same with the interviewer? I had an interviewer that asked me twenty questions that were written on a sheet of paper with room for her to write answers below. She even asked me to slow down and repeat my answers so she could represent me well to the adcom. What a tool.

I don't think so. They often have certain questions/topics to address and if presenting you positively means writing your responses down, then more power to her!

I used to take notes early on in the interview season but realized it was a complete waste of time considering i would NEVER READ THE NOTES AGAIN. I did however have some questions/concerns that I had written prior to the interview and glanced at them throughout the day in preparation for my interview.

sprinkibrio said:

Does anyone agree that this should be the same with the interviewer? I had an interviewer that asked me twenty questions that were written on a sheet of paper with room for her to write answers below. She even asked me to slow down and repeat my answers so she could represent me well to the adcom. What a tool.

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sprinkibrio said:

Does anyone agree that this should be the same with the interviewer? I had an interviewer that asked me twenty questions that were written on a sheet of paper with room for her to write answers below.

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I had a similar experience where the interviewer only asked about 10 questions, never taking he eyes off his pad and only asking follow-ups like "What was the name of the hospital?" or "What agency was that?". Didn't look up at all until about 20 minutes into the interview, when he said, "Any questions for me?" Then it turned into a human:human conversation.

That said, lots of medical schools require interviewers to write up pretty detailed reports of the interview. I can understand a busy interviewer using your time to basically write up the report. Such is life.