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Anyone else afraid of interviews?
Started by lmnguye4
You'll be fine. I was nervous as hell too, but so is everyone else interviewing. You meet some great people and go to places you'd never think of visiting.
Overall, I really enjoyed the interviewing process. It was fun. I loved traveling to the schools. I still keep in touch with some of the people I met during the interviews. Just don't be antisocial, be cool and friendly.
Don't dread it. It really is a fun experience.
Overall, I really enjoyed the interviewing process. It was fun. I loved traveling to the schools. I still keep in touch with some of the people I met during the interviews. Just don't be antisocial, be cool and friendly.
Don't dread it. It really is a fun experience.
Well, the knowledge that I'm most certainly not going to be the only one who's going to be nervous going to a medical school interview is comforting. I would imagine that most everyone is nervous about the interview, some are just a tad more nervous than others. Just practice your interview skills and that should boost your confidence level.
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Words of advice. Be yourself.
It may seem nerve wrecking prior to showing up on the interview date, but when you get there the school puts you in a very comfortable environment. The staff and the student tour guides are friendly.
Everyone there is nervous is well. On my interviews, I went ahead and broke the ice with the group and asked everyone where they were from, what they like to do, etc. Once you get everyone talking it lessens the tension of the process and you begin to get more comfortable. Think of it as when you met new people in your dorm freshman year. Uneasy at first, but it gets better.
On the interview, be confident and be yourself. You've invested so much time and and effort prepping for that moment. You know yourself in and out and why you want to be a doctor. Let them see that.
-waitwizzle
It may seem nerve wrecking prior to showing up on the interview date, but when you get there the school puts you in a very comfortable environment. The staff and the student tour guides are friendly.
Everyone there is nervous is well. On my interviews, I went ahead and broke the ice with the group and asked everyone where they were from, what they like to do, etc. Once you get everyone talking it lessens the tension of the process and you begin to get more comfortable. Think of it as when you met new people in your dorm freshman year. Uneasy at first, but it gets better.
On the interview, be confident and be yourself. You've invested so much time and and effort prepping for that moment. You know yourself in and out and why you want to be a doctor. Let them see that.
-waitwizzle
Do NOT be nervous! Once you've gotten that interview invite, they've already decided that your numbers are good enough. They just want to see that you're a normal human being, and that you can talk about the experiences you put down in your application.
Read the interview feedbacks for the schools that invite you to interview, its a big help. Hell, read them now to get an idea of what kind of things are asked:
http://more.studentdoctor.net/welcome.php
Read the interview feedbacks for the schools that invite you to interview, its a big help. Hell, read them now to get an idea of what kind of things are asked:
http://more.studentdoctor.net/welcome.php
I agree that being yourself is a great piece of advice. It is normal to be somewhat nervous, but just remember that the interviews will not be as bad as you may anticipate. They are actually sort of fun in most instances! Sure, there may be some horror stories floating around on SDN, but they are few and far in-between
OMG I absolutely DREAD interviews!!!!! I applied to the 2009 cycle and got granted to interviews and before doing in I was sooooo nervous, I felt so sick to my stomach, I wanted to puke! I couldn't eat breakfast before I arrived or even when it was offered because I was in so much pain! I was one of the first to be interviewed w/n my group and as soon as you sit down and start introducing yourself and how comfortable the staff makes you feel it ALL goes away! You start feeling sane because you know that this is it and can't seem like a weirdo. Luckily both times I interviewed I had a lot in common with my interviewers especially the second time (it was actually kind of creepy lol). Make sure you are prepared and know information about the school you are interviewing at and seem very interested even if its not your first choice and just be your natural self and speak sincerely from your heart. 😍
Best of luck!
Best of luck!
I was really nervous at my first interview but you end up realizing that it's all wasted energy. Admissions and faculty will try and relax you so you can really show them who you are.
Be prepared to ask certain questions about yourself....personal statement...whatever you put in your primaries... read interview feedbacks and stay updated on healthcare news. Once you are fully prepared...you've really done all you can.
The following interviews I had were a lot better. Emotionally that is =)
Good luck!
Be prepared to ask certain questions about yourself....personal statement...whatever you put in your primaries... read interview feedbacks and stay updated on healthcare news. Once you are fully prepared...you've really done all you can.
The following interviews I had were a lot better. Emotionally that is =)
Good luck!
Don't be afraid, but DO practice and try to present yourself as the type of candidate that the school would be interested in accepting. Also, I strongly believe the whole "be yourself" advice is disingenuous at best in this context. For example, go find a few good books that discuss how to prepare for interviews in the corporate world and see what they have to say on this subject. For the most part, just "being yourself" is about the worst thing you could do at a corporate interview, and my own personal experience with medical school interviews confirms that line of thinking.
In a nutshell, you need to figure out what characteristics the school wants in its applicants and then clearly demonstrate at the interview that you possess said characteristics.
I have to admit that although traveling to schools was tedious, it was also a lot of fun. The prospect of interviewing will always make you nervous...why? Because you actually care about it and the outcome of it all.
Also, I disagree with dozitgetchahi's advice and repeat that being yourself will be more than enough for interviews; you don't need strategy...you need professionalism. As others have said, they have picked you out of many applicants as a strong candidate at their school. They already like you. 😉
Also, I disagree with dozitgetchahi's advice and repeat that being yourself will be more than enough for interviews; you don't need strategy...you need professionalism. As others have said, they have picked you out of many applicants as a strong candidate at their school. They already like you. 😉
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of course you want to be yourself, but this does not mean simply strutting in unprepared. Do your homework on the school. MAKE SURE YOU ASK GOOD QUESTIONS! This shows you are interested. Don't just stare at the interviewers blankly if they ask you what questions you have.
I disagree with asking questions. By the time you are granted an interview you should have already researched the school thoroughly. If that wasn't enough then certainly the presentation by financial aid peeps and deans/teachers/student reps should have done the trick.
If things are going well then there is no reason to ask a question you already should know the answer to and give yourself one more chance to screw up.
If things are going well then there is no reason to ask a question you already should know the answer to and give yourself one more chance to screw up.
Well not all the school's information will be on the school website. It is important to interview the school and ask questions...essentially, is this the right school for me...are they changing anything in the future...how would the professors themselves describe the school? How would they describe the culture/environment? It's all about getting information that requires more than just research. The interviewers will know that instead of you dying to get in, you are both interviewing each other as potential candidates.
No! Asking questions is one of the most important things you can do in an interview. It means that your actually interested in the school. It doesn't matter that you already know the answer, ask it anyways. For every interview I went to, they always asked at the end if I had questions. It just gives more substance to your interview.
And how can you screw up asking a question? They are the ones answering you... You gotta be more confident in yourself, this is a bad start already if you already think that you can screw up asking a question. How can you screw that up when all you have to do is nod your head when they are answering your question and say great and thank you at the end???
Sorry, but your advice is very bad, and unless you've interviewed to many schools successfully, I wouldn't suggest doing that or advising other future interviewers of doing the same thing.
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When they ask you "Do you have any questions for me/us?" (And they will...), you're not supposed to say no...
Hell, you probably should have a question or two to ask anyway
+1
It is DEFINITELY a good idea to have some questions in mind for an interview. Quite often you can come up with them during the interview day itself. Try to ask something insightful and significant to the education at that school. For example, I would ask about available counseling/support for students that are struggling, and perhaps other policies; it shows that you are seriously considering them for your education (and remember; they need to impress you as well).
My advice is my opinion, like your advice is your opinion. If people agreed with everything everyone said here then we wouldn't have any objectivity and this place would be very boring 🙂 Take a chill pill, brother.
The people interviewing you are just normal people, they aren't necessarily experts at reading/understanding people. That being said, just because you are asking a question doesn't mean it won't come off as arrogant/inconsiderate/presumptuous - this is what I meant by not giving yourself another chance to screw up.
When they ask if you have any questions at the end, it's ok to say "Not at this time, but allow me to explain why I feel I belong at blah blah blah..."
To me, that sounds like you're deflecting. But hey, whatever works for you...
They are normal people. But weeding out the 800 interviewers for the 260 or whatever slots they have. They know what to look for in an applicant.
What were you thinking of asking them? Other people's stats? What kind of applicants they accept? No you ask them about the school, their program, international programs, rotation sites, etc. I thought it was obvious what kind of questions you should be asking them at the interviews. I don't think you can come off as arrogant if you ask a question about them. I mean you gotta be smart about your questions. But I kinda assume that if your interviewing at a medical school, that your smart enough to know what kind of questions to ask...
Sorry that I replied to your post, but it was just plain bad advice for future applicants. You never mentioned "arrogant" questions, you just mentioned questions. I don't need to take a chill pill, heck I'm not doing anything this summer until med school! lol. What I'm doing is providing my past experiences of this difficult process to future applicants, to help them.
My question to you is, what's an arrogant/inconsiderate/presumptuous question?
AND
"When they ask if you have any questions at the end, it's ok to say "Not at this time, but allow me to explain why I feel I belong at blah blah blah...""
-By the way, I think doing this just makes you look desperate. In my opinion, a person is better off asking the interviewers questions about the school. Why? Because you don't need to blatantly explain to them why you belong to the school. The whole interview process of you answering several questions for them achieves this. You don't need to remind them of what was said a few seconds ago.
Of course this is just my advice to future applicants based on my past experiences of interviewing.
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Another good one (especially if the interviewers are PhDs):
"What opportunities are there for first and second years to get involved with research?"
Just a brief overview of what happened at my PCOM interview:
We had breakfast with an OMM faculty member. He talked to us for about 10 minutes. The remaining time, about 20 minutes or so, would have been awkward if we didn't ask questions. He kept asking, "What questions do you have?"
At VCOM:
We had lunch with two MS1/MS2 students. This was a closed door lunch with the director of admissions telling us, "Ask these students whatever you want. What is said in this room, stays in this room."
At LECOM:
I had the pleasure of being one of the last interviewees. Again, the awkwardness factor would have been too great with fellow students and the administration if I would have not asked any questions.
If you get through the interview day without asking questions you'll probably look a bit boring.
If you really want to sum up the interview with why you want to go to X, Y, or Z, ask your interviewer why they chose the school. Then, with one of these answers, start by saying, "I really appreciate/like that [his/her answer] is a feeling/reason you chose X/Y/Z. [Answer] is important to me and I'm happy to know that if accepted here I will find [answer]."
If you have a premed advisory service at your university, I would try staging mock interviews, it helps break the ice a bit. I hate to be politically incorrect but looking great on the interview also helps, if you are well groomed and neat, it will make a positive impression.
