Adcom decision before the interview?

[Law2Doc]

ok, so how does one **** up an interview. you gotta be pretty douchebaggish or unknowledgeable

This misses the point. It's not enough not to **** up an interview. You have to interview better than a lot of other people who also are trying to sell themselves. I suggest that if you simply try not to say anything stupid, and come out feeling like it was "ok", then you are on the fast path to waitlist. You have to go in there and own the thing. Do better than not screw up. You have to sell yourself effectively and have the interviewer come out of there thinking positively of you, not just neutral. So no, it doesn't have anything to do with being a jerk or unknowledgable, it has to do with not being able to be enthusiastic, sell yourself, get the interviewer to think "this is someone I wouldn't mind working with". That's hard to do but you'd better believe that some of the folks on interview day are going to accomplish it. And if the program only takes about, say, 1/3 of interviewees, then you have to do this better than two other folks that interviewer sees on that day. That may not be so easy to do if everybody brings their A game. Which is why you really want to be prepared and practice.

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[anxiousteen]

ok, so how does one **** up an interview. you gotta be pretty douchebaggish or unknowledgeable

i don't think anyone ****s up an interview. the interviewer is looking for certain traits that a doctor possesses, and if you have them, they'll recommend you.

 

[Substance P]

Dude, my example speaks for itself - you are simply wrong here - people DO get offered high paying white collar professional jobs on the spot - it has happened to me twice.

Your 3 systems theory originally said the most common of the 3 systems is the "level playing field" scenario - I acknowledged then and now that I am sure some schools do it this way, but in no way do i believe it is the most common system or the way it is done at most schools as you have stated, and the AAMC survey someone else posted above supports my opinion that this is a multifaceted decision making process, not yours.

What were those 2 high paying positions, if you don't mind me asking? I have interviewed and worked in number of high paying positions, including regional sales director, marketing executive, etc. and have yet to get a job offer until I have undergone at least three interviews and met with major players, like the CFO, or at the very least the VP of Sales and Marketing. I think your situation is either that it wasn't quite the white collar job you are thinking or you got very very lucky.

 

[flip26]

This misses the point. It's not enough not to **** up an interview. You have to interview better than a lot of other people who also are trying to sell themselves. I suggest that if you simply try not to say anything stupid, and come out feeling like it was "ok", then you are on the fast path to waitlist. You have to go in there and own the thing. Do better than not screw up. You have to sell yourself effectively and have the interviewer come out of there thinking positively of you, not just neutral. So no, it doesn't have anything to do with being a jerk or unknowledgable, it has to do with not being able to be enthusiastic, sell yourself, get the interviewer to think "this is someone I wouldn't mind working with". That's hard to do but you'd better believe that some of the folks on interview day are going to accomplish it. And if the program only takes about, say, 1/3 of interviewees, then you have to do this better than two other folks that interviewer sees on that day. That may not be so easy to do if everybody brings their A game. Which is why you really want to be prepared and practice.

Now I agree with everything L2D is saying here...the interview is your chance to shine. Anything short of that is bad.

 

[flip26]

What were those 2 high paying positions, if you don't mind me asking? I have interviewed and worked in number of high paying positions, including regional sales director, marketing executive, etc. and have yet to get a job offer until I have undergone at least three interviews and met with major players, like the CFO, or at the very least the VP of Sales and Marketing. I think your situation is either that it wasn't quite the white collar job you are thinking or you got very very lucky.

Pay grade over $100k, regional management level.

Whatever. No need to be a jerk about this.

 

[Substance P]

Pay grade over $100k, regional management level.

Whatever. No need to be a jerk about this.

Then I think you got lucky. I'm not being a jerk, just matter of fact. I think you are on the defensive for some reason, but I definitely didn't want to come across as a jerk. I think we are all arguing different shades of gray, so we're probably all wasting our breath.

 

[flip26]

Then I think you got lucky. I'm not being a jerk, just matter of fact. I think you are on the defensive for some reason, but I definitely didn't want to come across as a jerk. I think we are all arguing different shades of gray, so we're probably all wasting our breath.

No, you are being a jerk, challenging everything I have written here not on the substance of my argument but on the basis of my character.

I have not challenged any claim you have made about your background, by the way. It is irrelevant to the issue we have been discussing if you or I have held high paying white collar jobs as you have similarly claimed.

 

[BlueElmo]

No, you are being a jerk, challenging everything I have written here not on the substance of my argument but on the basis of my character.

I have not challenged any claim you have made about your background, by the way. It is irrelevant to the issue we have been discussing if you or I have held high paying white collar jobs as you have similarly claimed.

I don't think he's being a jerk at all. In fact, you would qualify as being one because you are the one challenging everyone on this thread not on the substance of their arguments, but on the basis of their characters.

 

[flip26]

I don't think he's being a jerk at all. In fact, you would qualify as being one because you are the one challenging everyone on this thread not on the substance of their arguments, but on the basis of their characters.

WTF are you talking about? Where did I challenge somebody's character as both this other poster and L2D have basically done, more or less calling me a liar about the interview experiences I have had?

Jesus, some of you people...believe what you want about the interviews - it could be the most important factor, or the sole factor, or not important at all - whatever you want to believe works for me.

 

[zerial]

Alright.

Honestly, has anyone talked to adcoms from more than 10 schools about the process of choosing who to accept?

I bet this isn't even true for those on this thread who claim to be the most knowledgable.

Even 10 schools is less than 10% of the medical schools in this country.

So basically, none of us know anything about what "most schools" do or what is "most common"

I challenge any of you to counter my argument here, which is basically: None of us can say what is MOST COMMON.

That would require you to have knowledge of the admissions process at over 50% of US Allopathic Medical Schools.

Thank you.

 

[JJMrK]

If you read above you will see that I outlined three types of processes common at programs -- those where the interview is the only game in town, that where the interview is the single greatest factor, and those where it is an important factor. In all of these, the interviewer comes back to the group and weighs in, in only the third does the rest of the application have to be reconsidered. Having the interview decide the game doesn't negate committee process -- neither in med school nor in the business world. It's totally consistent. In the first two, if the interviewer tells the group X was great, Y was not, and Z was in between, then the group has to also listen to all the other interviewers, and put together a pile of Xs for admission, Zs for rejection and Ys for waitlisting. If the number of Xs are too great, then there is a system to decide which Xs get the nod and which get waitlisted. Might turn on degrees on great, whether interviewer #1 felt more strongly about his applicant than interviewer #2 and so on. But there will still be a system -- nobody gets an offer on the spot, just like they wouldn't in a white collar interview. I think we've beaten this topic to death.

I agree with that.

 

[BlueElmo]

Alright.

Honestly, has anyone talked to adcoms from more than 10 schools about the process of choosing who to accept?

I bet this isn't even true for those on this thread who claim to be the most knowledgable.

Even 10 schools is less than 10% of the medical schools in this country.

So basically, none of us know anything about what "most schools" do or what is "most common"

I challenge any of you to counter my argument here, which is basically: None of us can say what is MOST COMMON.

That would require you to have knowledge of the admissions process at over 50% of US Allopathic Medical Schools.

Thank you.

.

 

[Spiker]

You dont have to go to over 50% of the school lol.

You can just account for the school you went to and do some statistic analysis and show your confidence interval

 

[Law2Doc]

Alright.

Honestly, has anyone talked to adcoms from more than 10 schools about the process of choosing who to accept?

I bet this isn't even true for those on this thread who claim to be the most knowledgable.

Even 10 schools is less than 10% of the medical schools in this country.

So basically, none of us know anything about what "most schools" do or what is "most common"

I challenge any of you to counter my argument here, which is basically: None of us can say what is MOST COMMON.

That would require you to have knowledge of the admissions process at over 50% of US Allopathic Medical Schools.

Thank you.

To be fair, when you talk to a number of adcoms and former adcoms for advice at the beginning of the process (something nontrads tend to be more apt to do or have access to), and they each talk about how multiple schools they are familiar with do things, the number of schools you hear about from reliable sources adds up fast. You won't get info about all 125 allo med schools, but you certainly can get info about how a broad range of schools in your desired national region or level of competitiveness do things. When you combine that with experiences of others (friends and classmates) who made similar inquiries and also have been through the process, the numbers are no longer so small and we are no longer just talking about a minority of med schools. I encourage you guys to make your own inquiries, particularly if you don't like to hear about this third hand on SDN.

Wish all you guys the best of luck -- and keep in mind that this is just the first of many application/interview processes you will go through -- residency, fellowship, and ultimately job seeking all have their own processes, and often the expectations are higher the further down the line you go. So prepare and practice for interviews, and try to learn something from each because this will not be the last set of interviews you go on.

 

[BBender716]

To be fair, when you talk to a number of adcoms and former adcoms for advice at the beginning of the process (something nontrads tend to be more apt to do or have access to), and they each talk about how multiple schools they are familiar with do things, the number of schools you hear about from reliable sources adds up fast. You won't get info about all 125 allo med schools, but you certainly can get info about how a broad range of schools in your desired national region or level of competitiveness do things. When you combine that with experiences of others who made similar inquiries and also have been through the process, the numbers are no longer so small and we are no longer just talking about a minority of med schools. I encourage you guys to make your own inquiries, particularly if you don't like to hear about this third hand on SDN.

Wish all you guys the best of luck -- and keep in mind that this is just the first of many application/interview processes you will go through -- residency, fellowship, and ultimately job seeking all have their own processes, and often the expectations are higher the further down the line you go. So prepare and practice for interviews, and try to learn something from each because this will not be the last set of interviews you go on.

+1

 

[NoMoreAMCAS]

For what it's worth, the schools I've interviewed at so far consider the interview as a part of the whole, and stressed that they consider the entire application when making the final decision.

It seems like some schools take the "level playing field" approach after the interview, while others look at numbers, LOR, essays, and interview performance to make the final decision.

I've had the same experience. I was told they go over your entire application + interview feed back, then make a decision.

 

[Trexate]

Three pages of arguing over what most of us have no clue about.

Poor LizzyM. She must feel like a baby-sitter in these types of situations...

 

[dingyibvs]

I don't think he's being a jerk at all. In fact, you would qualify as being one because you are the one challenging everyone on this thread not on the substance of their arguments, but on the basis of their characters.

I don't see how he's being a jerk. He's simply challenging L2D's assertions along with a great number of us.

 

[Substance P]

I don't see how he's being a jerk. He's simply challenging L2D's assertions along with a great number of us.

I don't think any of us are being jerks. I just think he gets a little defensive and starts to feel like others are out to get him, when that's not the case at all.

Opinions are like A-holes, everyone has one. We're just all sharing ours.