Anyone have successful interview advice?

[domsport]

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I am looking for anyone who has interviewed and been accepted to let me know how their interview went. How did you handle yourself? were you nervous, confident, outspoken, stiff, give canned answers, more laid back answers?? yourself?? Last admissions cycle I had three interviews, I ended up with two outright rejections and one waitlist that I eventually died on. I have been granted interviews at some of the same schools this year and I want to make sure I do it right this time. The interviews seem to go well so I'm really confused! It's really weird...I have decent numbers, a grad degree, tons of clinical experience, two D.O letters. I feel that I'm good with people, I'm even a successful fashion model in manhattan NY!! (maybe I shouldnt mention that, I think it kills IQ points)... ..I dont know..any advice would be great!! Thanks in advance

 

[dr.z]

I am looking for anyone who has interviewed and been accepted to let me know how their interview went. How did you handle yourself? were you nervous, confident, outspoken, stiff, give canned answers, more laid back answers?? yourself?? Last admissions cycle I had three interviews, I ended up with two outright rejections and one waitlist that I eventually died on. I have been granted interviews at some of the same schools this year and I want to make sure I do it right this time. The interviews seem to go well so I'm really confused! It's really weird...I have decent numbers, a grad degree, tons of clinical experience, two D.O letters. I feel that I'm good with people, I'm even a successful fashion model in manhattan NY!! (maybe I shouldnt mention that, I think it kills IQ points)... ..I dont know..any advice would be great!! Thanks in advance

I have been accepted by 2 schools that I interviewed at (so far 2/2). I was nervous during the first one since I really didn't know what to expect. The interview started with one professor asking me "that's not dread locks is it" since I have naturally really curly hair. I didn't think I did too well at the interview there, but I got accepted none the less.

Second one was more relaxing since I had been accepted to the first one by the time I went there. Also interviewers were nicer there so it was very relaxing in that sense as well.

In both cases I was myself. I tried to be as honest as I could with them. I am very shy person so I don't often do well on interviews, but I tried to be confident as well. Good luck with your interviews!

 

[domsport]

thanks for the reply! and congrats on your acceptances!!

 

[pjc199]

Let's face it...It's a crap shoot. During my first interview, I felt as if I had to consistently fend for myself as each question seemed to be directed at my weaknesses. At one point, I almost became snappy after it became apparent to me that the one interviewer did not truly read my file. I really kicked myself once I got out of the building because I felt as if I put forth a very arrogant, cocky attitude. Go figure, two weeks later I was accepted.

At another school, both interviewers pointed out that something I did during the interview was the exact quality they were looking for in their candidates. I felt as if I was the one in control of the entire interview simply because I was 80% sure that if I was accepted, I would not attend the school anyhow.

The third interview that I was on seemed to be an almost automatic acceptance and resulted in the total opposite, a rejection. During the interview, I was actually given excuses of why they thought I did poorly in certains areas. I told them that I didn't want excuses and that my file was what it was. I'm still not sure why I was rejected. However, given that I was accepted somewhere else already, I didn't want to bring down my self esteem and ask why I was rejected.

In the end, the fact that I applied early, but with low stats, made all the difference.

 

[JonnyG]

Im batting 3 for 3 so far and I really have subpar GPA stats. I think the best advice for any interview is to remember that every interview is predictable, so have the answers thought out ahead of time especially things that highlight your strong suits. If an interview is thirty minutes, you can easily control 15 minutes of that with basic things.

3-5 minutes to answer so tell me about yourself.
3 minutes for why do you want to be physician/DO
3 minutes for why our school
3 minutes for we see this issue with your application.....etc

Don't give them time to surprise you with anything. And the truth is if you get an interview, they have already evaluated your weaknesses and want to give you a chance. In other words don't worry about them, but own up to them.

It also helps to always tie things back to your strong points.

Hope this helps...........I also interview people at my company so I know what I look for in an interview the first five minutes are all that matters.

 

[domsport]

Thanks everyone...I agree that it is a crap shoot. As I walked out of one of my interviews, the student interviewer (fourth year) actually said "you have nothin' to worry about" shook my hand and winked!! Man...I thought I was as good as in...guess what? two weeks later...rejection letter...you never know!

 

[gwynnetn]

So far I have had 5 interviews 3 DO 2 MD with 4 acceptances. My first one I was NERVOUS as hell at LECOM. I told the interviews HOW I felt about medicine, what I loved about being in medicine, my family history, and anything I felt was related. My speech was not intelligent, but I believe I presented my sincerity to the profession. When I boarded the plane home I called my mother and said well that went TERRIBLE. Guess I can count that one out. I told her best friend whom is a MD about it and she said well it was a learning experience. Next time think your answers out better and answer how they want you too (aka rehearse BULL**** answers). Who knows you might get another interview soon. 2 Weeks later I was at ETSU and felt the interview went great. I answered very articulate and as I was COACHED by MD friends and School group. Even though the answers I gave was not how I felt.
Low and behold 2 weeks letter I got 2 small letters, one from LECOM one from ETSU (TN MD school). I opened ETSU first and was a rejection letter. Feeling a bit down, I opened the second one which was an acceptance letter from LECOM. Personally I feel this shows you should just be yourself. IF you are nervous but sincere the interviewer's will give you a chance.
GPA science 3.0
GPA non-science 3.0
MCAT 29
29 yearold male

 

[domsport]

great story..and congratulations! I always felt strange about those pre- rehearsed canned answers...they just dont seem sincere...I want to just go in there and have a great conversation about why I love Osteopathy!!!

 

[Ypo.]

I don't think it is good to have canned answers. This is not to say that you shouldn't spend time thinking about what kind of questions they will ask and exam your stance on each issue-you definitely should. They are looking for your reasoning, not straight forward yes or no answers. Hence, if you think about questions they will ask, and put in some serious consideration of the issues as well as reasoning the pros and cons of each view point in your mind, then you'll be able to discuss it in a relaxed manner on interview day, which is what they are looking for.

I've been accepted to 3/3 osteopathic medical schools I've interviewed at. I really wasn't nervous for some reason. It was easy to prepare for DO interviews, because I knew they would be interested in me as a person, and that they would also ask questions about my knowledge of osteopathic medicine, which I really prepared for by shadowing DOs, observing OMM, and reading the DO's by Norman Gevitz.

The greatest website I can give you to get you thinking about ethics-based questions is this (I got it from Nate here on SDN)http://eduserv.hscer.washington.edu/bioethics/topics/index.html

This website is both informative (teaches about responsibilities of physicians), and it guides you in thinking about these questions. I felt fully prepared after reading it.

 

[fotolilith]

People learn and relate to one another through parables (ie, stories), so if you ever feel stuck or feel like you're not truly conveying your love of medicine, think of a specific event that relates to the topic.

At my interview this week I felt nervous and kinda verbose the first few minutes (this tends to happen, especially with busy interviewers), but then I started slowing down & citing specific incidences that related to all the issues. I'd thought of a few of the examples (ie, people I met while volunteering or shadowing that helped me learn "lesson x," how a certain failure led to a subsequent success, how my research/ personal experiences have already helped me to evaluate medical situations, etc), but didn't have a script.

Subsequently, my 30 minute interview spanned 2 hours, and as I was leaving the school a secretary told me that an adcom member (my interviewer) specifically asked for my file & said "there would be a lot of people pulling" for me. 🙂

The same thing happened at my first interview, and I was accepted a little over a week later.

Sure, it's no guarantee (tho it's encouraging), but I felt more comfortable when I tossed away the typical answers and went with my gut experiences. I don't really go to my interviews with an arsenal of sob stories, but I review in my mind what specific examples illustrate each of my strengths.

If you make an issue personal, whether you're doing a presentation or an interview, you increase your likelihood of reaching your audience.

Good luck!

 

[kahoo99]

so far i'm five for five, and it's time to start paying some deposits. I was nervous for all of them for different reasons-the first one because it was the first, the second because i really liked the school, the third because i didn't prepare very much, the fourth because i really really liked the school, and the fifth because of the scholarship opportunities and i liked the school. that said, i felt like the first four went smashingly, and the fifth so-so but they came out roses in the end. i labourously went through the SDN interview feedback section to know what kind of questions they had asked in the past and mentally developed answers to basically every question-except for the school i didn't really prepare for. i talked to my family and friends, to my wife about how they perceived me for some of the strength weakness stuff, and tried to be as confident and relaxed and as honest as i could even when that meant telling an interviewer during a three interview day how i actually felt. he seemed to appreciate that.

good luck

where do you have interviews?

 

[Inquiringmind24]

So far I've had five interviews (COMP,DMU,AZCOM,KCOM, and CCOM). COMP has put me on hold for a decision at the end of January, DMU waitlisted me, KCOM rejected me, CCOM waitlisted me, and finally AZCOM accepted me. I must say that I'm really disappointed to only have been accepted to one school out of five on the first round of interviewing. I like AZCOM alot but I would feel much more comfortable attending there if I had been accepted to other programs as well. As far as inteview advice goes, I thought I was myself at all of them and always tried to throw in a little humor and stories from my past experiences. The thing that stood out about the AZCOM interview was that I was able to generate ethical discussions based on experiences I had talked about (undergrad labs and trip to Africa). The other interviews didn't seem to get into the ethics as much and just wanted to get to know me personally. I'll admit that I didn't put a lot of preparation into them and just came for a discussion about me and my application. With more schools to hear back from I might prepare more ahead of time and make sure to get into ethical discussions. Perhaps I'll have more success in the future. Congrats to everyone who was accepted to multiple schools and good luck to you on future interviews.

 

[DD214_DOC]

Be yourself and know your file. That's really all there is to it. Everything else is left to the subjectivity of your interviewers.