so there was an ethics question during my interview and I accidentally mentioned that one of my family members received an abortion....does this totally ruin my chances of acceptance?
Last edited:
-
CycleTrack and SDN are teaming up to make medical school admissions more transparent and accessible! Read the announcement to learn how we’re supporting the future of CycleTrack’s free application-tracking tools .
Accidentally got too personal during interview
Started by whirlpool159
Get help with your application
Use all the free resources available to you from SDN: articles, guides, expert advising, forums discussions, and school research.
Received one what?
An abortion
No. Even if you really did bomb on that one station (it's unlikely to have been perceived nearly as bad as you think) schools may throw out your lowest score or at least consider that sometimes an applicant has an off station or two. I wouldn't sweat it.
Edit: assumed this was an MMI. Even if not the advice still generally holds that you are fine.
It wasn't an MMI. More of a conversational interview. What worries me is that I was more specific about which family member (didn't use any name though). Hopefully you are right. I couldn't really gauge what the interviewers thought of me. And I felt like I was rambling too much at some moments.
I didn't commit the same error but there were loads of things I felt were stupid when I left. Also felt like I rambled and if anything that the interview went poorly.
Only thing we can do is learn from this experience! That's not to say you did poorly though; most people are poor judges of their interviews so I'm told.
Well, let's say this is a hypothetical conversation:
Interviewer: So, what do you think about abortion?
You: I see strong arguments both ways. I personally have a sister who had an abortion and understand that, for her, it was the right decision due to X and Y reasons. This experience helped me to see one side of the argument. On the other hand, I can see that people may object for X, Y, Z reasons. Etc. Etc. Etc.
Describing a personal experience often makes an argument stronger as opposed to weaker. As long as you had a balanced, rational justification you should be just fine. I appreciate when interviewees explore both sides of a question and personal anecdotes often stick with me and make the interview more memorable. Applicants will, understandably, have their own stance on polarizing topics and it is often obvious. So they don't expect you to be completely middle-of-the-road.
As far as rambling, yeah, people can do that at times. It's better than being silent. 😉
Interviewer: So, what do you think about abortion?
You: I see strong arguments both ways. I personally have a sister who had an abortion and understand that, for her, it was the right decision due to X and Y reasons. This experience helped me to see one side of the argument. On the other hand, I can see that people may object for X, Y, Z reasons. Etc. Etc. Etc.
Describing a personal experience often makes an argument stronger as opposed to weaker. As long as you had a balanced, rational justification you should be just fine. I appreciate when interviewees explore both sides of a question and personal anecdotes often stick with me and make the interview more memorable. Applicants will, understandably, have their own stance on polarizing topics and it is often obvious. So they don't expect you to be completely middle-of-the-road.
As far as rambling, yeah, people can do that at times. It's better than being silent. 😉
Last edited:
Only at Loma Linda or LUCOM.
