2015 Nontrad Applicants' Progress Thread

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
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Overanxious said:
Another one bites the dust...UWashington. Totally "rolling" in rejections now 🤣. Thanking god the good came before the bad though. Also, another unfriendly rejection.

The Admissions Committee for the University of Washington School of Medicine has completed its preliminary review of your application. As an out-of-region candidate, you did not meet the criteria for further consideration to the regular MD only program. We thank you for your interest in our School of Medicine.

I'd really like to refer them to Boston's rejection letter (someone was kind enough to post). Let them take some notes on appropriate wording and recognition of an applicants accomplishments.
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I got another yesterday as well. VCU dumped me. Not surprising. Waiting for some others to roll in at this point.
 
asyouwish said:
We are mindful of the potential adverse effects these decisions may have on the lives of those to whom they are rendered. In conveying this decision to you, we hope that your disappointment will be short-lived and will serve as additional impetus to success in your future endeavors. I regret that we cannot provide a detailed written analysis of the reason(s) for your unsuccessful application.
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Hahaha! Wow. So many big words.
 
HandsomeRob said:
I got another yesterday as well. VCU dumped me. Not surprising. Waiting for some others to roll in at this point.
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Yuck, but it looks like you're still 50/50 so keep it up! And good luck at those interviews.
Also, as each of us go on interviews could be helpful to post the most difficult question you were asked. Just a thought.
 
Overanxious said:
Well...to be honest, almost all the II's i've had so far are from schools i didn't think i'd have a chance at. All the schools that i (my stats) "fit" into have either rejected me or i've had dead silence at. No joke...i've got 9 II's...only one i thought i had a realistic chance at.

Edit: wish i had applied to more "reach" schools early on...
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Hey @Overanxious, 9 IIs is INCREDIBLE! You must be pumped 🙂 Do you mind if I ask if you're shooting for MD or DO? I'm just waiting in silence over here...
 
9iron said:
Hey @Overanxious, 9 IIs is INCREDIBLE! You must be pumped 🙂 Do you mind if I ask if you're shooting for MD or DO? I'm just waiting in silence over here...
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Thank you; however, i suspect this success is attributable to great EC's and alphabet soup. I am shooting for MD this cycle. As I have zero experience with DO's thus far i feel it would be incredibly unwise for me to attempt such an application/career last minute. I have however, been working with a NP lately who has made some suggestions for potential DO's to shadow. So I hope to gain their perspective soon. Try to stay positive, it's still so early and there are so many great candidates that have yet to receive II's so you're not alone. When were you complete at your schools? I've got a trend going with mine...i have yet to hear from just about all schools i was complete at in august.
 
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Ahhh guys I just got rejected from my only state school and I feel like it's really early. Ouch just ouch.... This one stings!
 
ConsultantMD said:
Ahhh guys I just got rejected from my only state school and I feel like it's really early. Ouch just ouch.... This one stings!
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Ugh...I'm sorry to hear that! That sucks! Maybe you're just such a great candidate they think you'll go somewhere else? I don't have a state school claiming me but the state i grew up in hasn't offered me an II (silent rejection?) so maybe don't read into it too much I'm sure that happens a lot.
 
ConsultantMD said:
Ahhh guys I just got rejected from my only state school and I feel like it's really early. Ouch just ouch.... This one stings!
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The one thing that might make you feel better is that non-trads are looked at more favorably out of state than traditional students (usually?) so don't fret too much!
 
Glycereine said:
The one thing that might make you feel better is that non-trads are looked at more favorably out of state than traditional students (usually?) so don't fret too much!
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I know I know I need to shake it off. I've got two IIs at two state schools already so I guess fate has it that I will need to be moving if I get in! Crazy process this is...
 
Overanxious said:
Thank you; however, i suspect this success is attributable to great EC's and alphabet soup. I am shooting for MD this cycle. As I have zero experience with DO's thus far i feel it would be incredibly unwise for me to attempt such an application/career last minute. I have however, been working with a NP lately who has made some suggestions for potential DO's to shadow. So I hope to gain their perspective soon. Try to stay positive, it's still so early and there are so many great candidates that have yet to receive II's so you're not alone. When were you complete at your schools? I've got a trend going with mine...i have yet to hear from just about all schools i was complete at in august.
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Thanks for the response! Whichever way you cut it, 9 IIs is impressive, my friend.

I've only been complete for a short period of time, so I have no reason to be this anxious. I didn't receive my MCAT score until last week, so I'm a little bit late to the party. But either way, I like to think that I have some strong and unique ECs, too. I'm hoping the adcoms share my thoughts🙂
 
I wouldn't worry about it, especially if it's an informal meeting. Show up wearing biz casual or the equivalent. As long as you're not in sweats and a hoodie, you'll be fine.
 
canadianinusa said:
I'm meeting an MS1 student the day before my interview on Monday. What should I wear? Obviously I am wearing a suit to the interview. For the coffee meeting, would slacks/sweater or a blouse be reasonable?
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I agree with @ridethecliche. I think making sure you look presentable is important but don't make them feel bad for showing up in jeans and a polo.

I think you're on the right track with slacks/sweater
 
WaterPog said:
Got my II from OHSU today, got the e-mail this morning but been at work all day. super excited, but need to get the suit shopping into high gear!
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I need to pick my suit up! I just bought a couple of ties for interviews as well. Psyched!

Now if I only had some II's coming up lol.
 
GameOfBones said:
I thought this thread had gone eerily silent, but that was just SDN not posting alerts for me anymore.

Interview #3 today. Tufts!

Every II turns that school immediately into my FAVORITE school ever. Boston would be glorious!

Good gravy. The highs and lows are brutal. If we make it through this cycle without a heart attack or mental breakdown, we can for sure make it through medical school, amiright?!?

I hope to meet a few of you on my travels.
Anybody interviewing at MCG, Tufts, or Pitt?
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SDN was bad to me too! No alerts here until I actively sought this thread out. Congratulations on Tufts, that's awesome! I interviewed at Pitt about a month ago and it was glorious. I absolutely loved it there. The support was so obvious from every aspect of the school, facilities and opportunities were incredible and the city was very appealing yet manageable for this Midwestern kid 😉 Bring flat shoes for the walking tours because it's hilly. And use the alternate security checkpoint for flights at the Pitt airport (before 6 PM though).

ConsultantMD said:
Ahhh guys I just got rejected from my only state school and I feel like it's really early. Ouch just ouch.... This one stings!
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I'm sorry!!! And I can totally relate from my first application cycle 🙁 But focus on your II's and upcoming ones, congratulations and good luck
 
WaterPog said:
Got my II from OHSU today, got the e-mail this morning but been at work all day. super excited, but need to get the suit shopping into high gear!
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"I say, Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes and not rather a new wearer of clothes." Henry David Thoreau. . .but how dressed up does a person have to get to live at Walden Pond? Congratulations and happy suit hunting!
 
Quiet week for me too, but I'm cool with that. Did get 'un-withdrawn' from the school I hit the withdraw button at, so that's good.

BengaliBrat said:
"I say, Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes and not rather a new wearer of clothes." Henry David Thoreau. . .but how dressed up does a person have to get to live at Walden Pond? Congratulations and happy suit hunting!
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Walden is cool. I've been swimming there a few times.

Also, I think he's advocating for having kids with the 'new wearer of clothes' bit, right?

(Jay kay)
 
ridethecliche said:
Quiet week for me too, but I'm cool with that. Did get 'un-withdrawn' from the school I hit the withdraw button at, so that's good.



Walden is cool. I've been swimming there a few times.

Also, I think he's advocating for having kids with the 'new wearer of clothes' bit, right?

(Jay kay)
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Walden Pond was so much smaller than I thought it would be, given how it seems to bathe so much American literature. But I think you may be thinking of another part, though I'm no Thoreau scholar. This is in the "economy" chapter, and Henry David seems to be arguing that we give too much attention to the superficial and too little to the profundity within. He criticizes politicians, whose coats change as often "as the man within them" and then says: "Perhaps we should never procure a new suit, however ragged or dirty the old, until we have so conducted, so enterprised or sailed in some way, that we feel like new men in the old, and that to retain it would be like keeping new wine in old bottles. Our moulting season, like that of the fowls, must be a crisis in our lives."

I don't care. I still want that white coat. Jamiroquai?
 
BengaliBrat said:
Walden Pond was so much smaller than I thought it would be, given how it seems to bathe so much American literature. But I think you may be thinking of another part, though I'm no Thoreau scholar. This is in the "economy" chapter, and Henry David seems to be arguing that we give too much attention to the superficial and too little to the profundity within. He criticizes politicians, whose coats change as often "as the man within them" and then says: "Perhaps we should never procure a new suit, however ragged or dirty the old, until we have so conducted, so enterprised or sailed in some way, that we feel like new men in the old, and that to retain it would be like keeping new wine in old bottles. Our moulting season, like that of the fowls, must be a crisis in our lives."

I don't care. I still want that white coat. Jamiroquai?
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Haha, yeah. I love walden though.

I was definitely kidding about the making babies thing though because he said 'new wearer of clothes' and my reasoning was that babies are new wearers of clothes having never worn them before. The thing I've read about babies is about eating them. I really hope someone gets that reference!

I wrote my HS AP lang term paper on that chapter. I remember it fondly. Walden is one of my favorite books even though I've seen to outgrow it.

And regarding suits... I look bangin' in em. I love new suit/shirt/tie/whatever day!
 
Oh my gosh. First interview today and just wanted to throw a few things out there. NUMBER 1....even though they may tell you that it's a closed interview and that your interviewer knows nothing about you other than your name read your primary and secondary applications over and then do it again and then again until you can literally quote every word.
 
ridethecliche said:
Haha, yeah. I love walden though.

I was definitely kidding about the making babies thing though because he said 'new wearer of clothes' and my reasoning was that babies are new wearers of clothes having never worn them before. The thing I've read about babies is about eating them. I really hope someone gets that reference!

I wrote my HS AP lang term paper on that chapter. I remember it fondly. Walden is one of my favorite books even though I've seen to outgrow it.

And regarding suits... I look bangin' in em. I love new suit/shirt/tie/whatever day!
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A Modest Proposal is one of my favorite Swift pieces. Cracks me up every time 😉
 
Overanxious said:
Oh my gosh. First interview today and just wanted to throw a few things out there. NUMBER 1....even though they may tell you that it's a closed interview and that your interviewer knows nothing about you other than your name read your primary and secondary applications over and then do it again and then again until you can literally quote every word.
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It must be especially tough for you because you said you densely packed the activities section! Good advice though
 
Overanxious said:
Oh my gosh. First interview today and just wanted to throw a few things out there. NUMBER 1....even though they may tell you that it's a closed interview and that your interviewer knows nothing about you other than your name read your primary and secondary applications over and then do it again and then again until you can literally quote every word.
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Can we get a NUMBER 2 and 3?
 
ridethecliche said:
Haha, yeah. I love walden though.

I was definitely kidding about the making babies thing though because he said 'new wearer of clothes' and my reasoning was that babies are new wearers of clothes having never worn them before. The thing I've read about babies is about eating them. I really hope someone gets that reference!

I wrote my HS AP lang term paper on that chapter. I remember it fondly. Walden is one of my favorite books even though I've seen to outgrow it.

And regarding suits... I look bangin' in em. I love new suit/shirt/tie/whatever day!
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Sorry. . .I got confused. I can see it, though. . .Thoreau and Swift--like "thorough" and "swift" and those are both virtues and Walden is a pond and Ireland is surrounded by water. . . .absolutely following, now. The little gray cells just needed a jolt! I hope your new clothes make the interviewers fall back in amazement and plead with you to accept a place in the 2015 class! Good luck!
 
threesparrows said:
Can we get a NUMBER 2 and 3?
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NUMBER 2 and 3...repeat NUMBER 1. But in all seriousness, i was informed my interviewer would not know my file so i didn't bother studying it. I did spend a great deal of time looking over school information and researchers and their papers/projects so i would be able to have a solid conversation about my interest in their school and what i could bring to the table (not asked a single question on my research interests). First thing my first interviewer said to me was "i've read your file about hundred times..." I nearly fell out of my seat. Not that i wouldn't be able to discuss anything I did in my file such as activities but i couldn't recall the name of the author i quoted to describe a particular event. I could only mumble that he was a founder of Johns Hopkins. Sure i could quote the quote i just couldn't say anything about the author. I wanted to die. What's worse is he was president of the society for that author and had brought me a book to read on the guy (a very nice gesture). I had two interviewers. 1 MD and 1 student. I couldn't have asked for a better MD interviewer, he was kind and compassionate and gave me every opportunity to "get it right". But i felt like i had majorly let him down. It was actually a behavioral interview mostly focused on what i would do in certain situations and what i thought about myself (i hate questions on what i think about myself). Same style with the student but it seemed she had only read my personal statement and she was very nice. Some of the questions she asked could probably have been answered by reading through my application.
 
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Overanxious said:
NUMBER 2 and 3...repeat NUMBER 1. But in all seriousness, i was informed my interviewer would not know my file so i didn't bother studying it. I did spend a great deal of time looking over school information and researchers and their papers/projects so i would be able to have a solid conversation about my interest in their school and what i could bring to the table (not asked a single question on my research interests). First thing my first interviewer said to me was "i've read your file about hundred times..." I nearly fell out of my seat. Not that i wouldn't be able to discuss anything I did in my file such as activities but i couldn't recall the name of the author i quoted to describe a particular event. I could only mumble that he was a founder of Johns Hopkins. Sure i could quote the quote i just couldn't say anything about the author. I wanted to die. What's worse is he was president of the society for that author and had brought me a book to read on the guy (a very nice gesture). I had two interviewers. 1 MD and 1 student. I couldn't have asked for a better MD interviewer, he was kind and compassionate and gave me every opportunity to "get it right". But i felt like i had majorly let him down. It was actually a behavioral interview mostly focused on what i would do in certain situations and what i thought about myself (i hate questions on what i think about myself). Same style with the student but it seemed she had only read my personal statement and she was very nice. Some of the questions she asked could probably have been answered by reading through my application.
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Wow, what a curveball! It sounds like he was very impressed by your file, so I'm sure he was predisposed to like you and probably didn't judge you harshly for forgetting a name during a pressurized experience like an interview.
I haven't had my first interview yet (it's in 2 weeks!) but I think I hate behavioral type questions, too.
Thanks for sharing your experience so openly, very helpful!
 
I find that in any sort of social situations or interviews, if you can good at letting something bounce off of you then you can keep moving forward.

That is: own up to forgetting the name ("I'm so sorry, I can't think of the name right now. ugh!") and then just move on with it. If you have a hard time getting over having made that 'mistake' then the anxiety that causes can cause a cascade of sorts.

Personally, I think you did well but are just being hard on yourself. Definitely take your own advice (and mine) for next time and you'll come out even better. Congrats on getting the first one over with. It's always a doozy!
 
Overanxious said:
Oh my gosh. First interview today and just wanted to throw a few things out there. NUMBER 1....even though they may tell you that it's a closed interview and that your interviewer knows nothing about you other than your name read your primary and secondary applications over and then do it again and then again until you can literally quote every word.
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Okay I have to vent. I will not use names.

I went to mine expecting every word quoted, and was actually disappointed in how little the first interviewer knew my app. She literally said something like she had just gone over it last night and was trying to keep the apps straight. She was asking me about an experience I didn't have (working at a hospital I have never worked at), and I ended up spending probably spent half the interview explaining to her what we actually did in my unit, and my timeline (she was from an Private Practice and didn't really have almost any familiarity with the hospital). For instance, she asked what happened in PACU because she didn't remember what that unit was (perfectly acceptable for a layman, but for a Physician, not cool).

We got to talk to the M1's and one had worked with her the day before and said she was really nice. I mention to her that *nameless student* had said she was nice, she pointed to the wrong student and said 'was that him, I am not very good with names.' She wasn't very good with faces either apparently because she pointed to a long haired blond dude, when the student who had been with her was a buzz cut brown hair guy. If she didn't remember him after working with him for multiple days, how was she supposed to remember me who she saw for 30 minutes, in two weeks when admission committee meets?

The second interview was a 'behavioral' one. I didn't get any scenarios, but I feel as though he was trying to be annoying (PHD research guy, not an MD). Kept asking me the same question about wanting to be a doctor instead of a nurse (which is exactly what my entire app addresses, especially my personal statement). I knew he wouldn't be as good when the M1's saw his name and were like 'eww, hes gonna be tough.' But still, I wasn't thrilled with the line of questioning. But I don't know if that was intentional or not. Either way, it didn't sit well with me afterwards.

I have to say the interviews did not leave me warm and fuzzy, although other students were happy with theirs. I am not sure if that is because they don't know what a good interview is like, or if I was just shafted. I guess we will find out more Oct 15. But it sure felt like the shaft to me.
 
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BengaliBrat said:
"I say, Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes and not rather a new wearer of clothes." Henry David Thoreau. . .but how dressed up does a person have to get to live at Walden Pond? Congratulations and happy suit hunting!
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If ever there was a new wearer of clothes it's me. Before starting down this road 4 years ago my idea of dressing up was jeans and a polo with Dr. Martens. I don't think I've ever owned more than 1 pair of slacks in my life.

I'm definitely not the same person I was then.
 
HandsomeRob said:
I have to say the interviews did not leave me warm and fuzzy, although other students were happy with theirs. I am not sure if that is because they don't know what a good interview is like, or if I was just shafted. I guess we will find out more Oct 15. But it sure felt like the shaft to me.
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Well you are not alone, I did not leave warm and fuzzy. Someone said there are three categories of interviewees. 10% who are phenomenal 80% average and 10% awful. They are looking to weed out the latter. Also, we are our worst critics as ridethecliche eluded to earlier. Here's to hoping we fit into the middle. Another thought, maybe her actions were intentional to see how you would react. And most med students work in pairs with a doc if not 3 or more (at least in my experience). I have never seen a lone wolf so maybe she worked with them both. An interviewer also informed me if he asked me the same question more than once it's bc he didn't like my first answer and was giving me a second chance.
 
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My top choice interview is coming up, and considering my first interview was meh, I'm a little concerned about my performance.

Thank you @Overanxious for reminding us to review our apps. Lawdy knows I have info buried in there that I need to refresh on.
 
kthxbai said:
My top choice interview is coming up, and considering my first interview was meh, I'm a little concerned about my performance.

Thank you @Overanxious for reminding us to review our apps. Lawdy knows I have info buried in there that I need to refresh on.
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x2, thanks for the tip!

My first interview was MMI and I didn't need to review much (I would assume that's the case with most MMIs, not sure though), but I will definitely do some refreshing for more traditional interviews.
 
csj10 said:
x2, thanks for the tip!

My first interview was MMI and I didn't need to review much (I would assume that's the case with most MMIs, not sure though), but I will definitely do some refreshing for more traditional interviews.
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But you CAN prep for an MMI! All you need to do is go over medical ethics cases. And lots of them 🙂

It REALLY helped me form an opinion.
 
Overanxious said:
Well you are not alone, I did not leave warm and fuzzy. Someone said there are three categories of interviewees. 10% who are phenomenal 80% average and 10% awful. They are looking to weed out the latter. Also, we are our worst critics as ridethecliche eluded to earlier. Here's to hoping we fit into the middle. Another thought, maybe her actions were intentional to see how you would react. And most med students work in pairs with a doc if not 3 or more (at least in my experience). I have never seen a lone wolf so maybe she worked with them both. An interviewer also informed me if he asked me the same question more than once it's bc he didn't like my first answer and was giving me a second chance.
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This was not the case, I had talked to the guy she pointed too before the interview, and he told me he didn't really know her as he hadn't worked with her. I doubt my interviews were straight up bad, in fact, I think it was at least decent. But compared to some of the interviews I have had in the past (for jobs I have gotten mind you), the interviews were not as good.

Agree on the second part in general. TY for words of encouragement. It was just disappointing to know that I really needed a awesome interview to get an acceptance, and I just did 'all right.' Alternate list is probably my future, and the uncertainty continues.
 
Since we're on the subject of meh interviews, my first one went pretty south (it was MMI format, so who knows how one station figured into my rank).

One question I had touched on big business practices. When it comes to finances I'm quite politically conservative, and it was obvious the interviewer didn't share my opinion. I was by no means inflammatory, but I knew there was no way to salvage that answer... sigh.
 
Overanxious said:
NUMBER 2 and 3...repeat NUMBER 1. But in all seriousness, i was informed my interviewer would not know my file so i didn't bother studying it. I did spend a great deal of time looking over school information and researchers and their papers/projects so i would be able to have a solid conversation about my interest in their school and what i could bring to the table (not asked a single question on my research interests). First thing my first interviewer said to me was "i've read your file about hundred times..." I nearly fell out of my seat. Not that i wouldn't be able to discuss anything I did in my file such as activities but i couldn't recall the name of the author i quoted to describe a particular event. I could only mumble that he was a founder of Johns Hopkins. Sure i could quote the quote i just couldn't say anything about the author. I wanted to die. What's worse is he was president of the society for that author and had brought me a book to read on the guy (a very nice gesture). I had two interviewers. 1 MD and 1 student. I couldn't have asked for a better MD interviewer, he was kind and compassionate and gave me every opportunity to "get it right". But i felt like i had majorly let him down. It was actually a behavioral interview mostly focused on what i would do in certain situations and what i thought about myself (i hate questions on what i think about myself). Same style with the student but it seemed she had only read my personal statement and she was very nice. Some of the questions she asked could probably have been answered by reading through my application.
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Under stress, we forget. I'm not sure that, asked for my middle name, I could, in an interview, come up with an accurate answer. "What do you think about yourself"? Oddly philosophical.
 
kthxbai said:
But you CAN prep for an MMI! All you need to do is go over medical ethics cases. And lots of them 🙂

It REALLY helped me form an opinion.
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Oh for sure! Sorry, didn't mean to make it sound like I didn't prep for the MMI. I just meant I didn't spend a lot of time reviewing my app as I figured there wouldn't be time for them to ask questions about anything there.

I found this site very helpful for wrapping my head around different ethical situations: https://depts.washington.edu/bioethx/topics/
 
Thank you. It was nice of you to share that.
 
HandsomeRob said:
Okay I have to vent. I will not use names.

I went to mine expecting every word quoted, and was actually disappointed in how little the first interviewer knew my app. She literally said something like she had just gone over it last night and was trying to keep the apps straight. She was asking me about an experience I didn't have (working at a hospital I have never worked at), and I ended up spending probably spent half the interview explaining to her what we actually did in my unit, and my timeline (she was from an Private Practice and didn't really have almost any familiarity with the hospital). For instance, she asked what happened in PACU because she didn't remember what that unit was (perfectly acceptable for a layman, but for a Physician, not cool).

We got to talk to the M1's and one had worked with her the day before and said she was really nice. I mention to her that *nameless student* had said she was nice, she pointed to the wrong student and said 'was that him, I am not very good with names.' She wasn't very good with faces either apparently because she pointed to a long haired blond dude, when the student who had been with her was a buzz cut brown hair guy. If she didn't remember him after working with him for multiple days, how was she supposed to remember me who she saw for 30 minutes, in two weeks when admission committee meets?

The second interview was a 'behavioral' one. I didn't get any scenarios, but I feel as though he was trying to be annoying (PHD research guy, not an MD). Kept asking me the same question about wanting to be a doctor instead of a nurse (which is exactly what my entire app addresses, especially my personal statement). I knew he wouldn't be as good when the M1's saw his name and were like 'eww, hes gonna be tough.' But still, I wasn't thrilled with the line of questioning. But I don't know if that was intentional or not. Either way, it didn't sit well with me afterwards.

I have to say the interviews did not leave me warm and fuzzy, although other students were happy with theirs. I am not sure if that is because they don't know what a good interview is like, or if I was just shafted. I guess we will find out more Oct 15. But it sure felt like the shaft to me.
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You should report the interviewer. @Goro has said many times that interviewers like that hurt the process on both sides and the admissions committee should be notified.
 
ridethecliche said:
You should report the interviewer. @Goro has said many times that interviewers like that hurt the process on both sides and the admissions committee should be notified.
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I have read about interviewees who let those in charge know about the problems with their interviews and had another interview scheduled immediately (with a different interviewer!) Maybe worth a try?
 
Sometimes crap like this happens. The stars are aligned against you, like Robert E Lee was at Gettysburg.

Your 1st interviewer may have been a substitute for someone who was sick or had an unplanned absence...kids do get sick, like my eldest is today.

And the truth is that we don't always remember you. That's the way it is.

Not all interviews go well. Some interviewers are hard-asses. The 2nd interviewer might have seen something about your doctor vs nurse commentary and wasn't satisfied; I sense he might have tried going for an explanation from several different angles, or simply wasn't satisfied with your answers, so he kept coming around.

I don't think that this rises to the level of complaining to the Admissions dean, alas. On to the next interview, and don't look back!

HandsomeRob said:
Okay I have to vent. I will not use names.

I went to mine expecting every word quoted, and was actually disappointed in how little the first interviewer knew my app. She literally said something like she had just gone over it last night and was trying to keep the apps straight. She was asking me about an experience I didn't have (working at a hospital I have never worked at), and I ended up spending probably spent half the interview explaining to her what we actually did in my unit, and my timeline (she was from an Private Practice and didn't really have almost any familiarity with the hospital). For instance, she asked what happened in PACU because she didn't remember what that unit was (perfectly acceptable for a layman, but for a Physician, not cool).

We got to talk to the M1's and one had worked with her the day before and said she was really nice. I mention to her that *nameless student* had said she was nice, she pointed to the wrong student and said 'was that him, I am not very good with names.' She wasn't very good with faces either apparently because she pointed to a long haired blond dude, when the student who had been with her was a buzz cut brown hair guy. If she didn't remember him after working with him for multiple days, how was she supposed to remember me who she saw for 30 minutes, in two weeks when admission committee meets?

The second interview was a 'behavioral' one. I didn't get any scenarios, but I feel as though he was trying to be annoying (PHD research guy, not an MD). Kept asking me the same question about wanting to be a doctor instead of a nurse (which is exactly what my entire app addresses, especially my personal statement). I knew he wouldn't be as good when the M1's saw his name and were like 'eww, hes gonna be tough.' But still, I wasn't thrilled with the line of questioning. But I don't know if that was intentional or not. Either way, it didn't sit well with me afterwards.

I have to say the interviews did not leave me warm and fuzzy, although other students were happy with theirs. I am not sure if that is because they don't know what a good interview is like, or if I was just shafted. I guess we will find out more Oct 15. But it sure felt like the shaft to me.
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Goro said:
Sometimes crap like this happens. The stars are aligned against you, like Robert E Lee was at Gettysburg.

Your 1st interviewer may have been a substitute for someone who was sick or had an unplanned absence...kids do get sick, like my eldest is today.

And the truth is that we don't always remember you. That's the way it is.

Not all interviews go well. Some interviewers are hard-asses. The 2nd interviewer might have seen something about your doctor vs nurse commentary and wasn't satisfied; I sense he might have tried going for an explanation from several different angles, or simply wasn't satisfied with your answers, so he kept coming around.

I don't think that this rises to the level of complaining to the Admissions dean, alas. On to the next interview, and don't look back!
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Appreciate the response!
 
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