Anyone with a good interview who was accepted?

[silas2642]

Okay, I just wanted to know if good interviews were in actuality correlated with acceptances, so if you had a good interview and were accepted, please tell us your story. Reading these threads has made me begin to think that the entire process is ass-backwards, and bad interviews lead to acceptances.

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[Turkeyman]

Yes, I had a great interview and was accepted. One of my biggest interests in the sciences happened to be pathology(I mentioned this in my "Why Medicine" blurb)...and my interviewer happened to be a pathologist. That made for some good convo =].

I know what you mean though...in the weeks after the interview my feeling of confidence about an acceptance began to warp into pure hopelessness -- as almost everyone here says they have horrible interviews and end up getting accepted.

Maybe pre-meds are just bad at acknowledging their strengths. Who knows...

 

[Moto]

Okay, I just wanted to know if good interviews were in actuality correlated with acceptances, so if you had a good interview and were accepted, please tell us your story. Reading these threads has made me begin to think that the entire process is ass-backwards, and bad interviews lead to acceptances.

I consider an interview as the last chance for the school to check for 'red flags' specifically psychological instabitilies. They are observing how you behave in person (there are some nutcases that look fantastic on paper but horrible in person, like weird and mentally deranged) and your maturity level. so.....apart from that it's also an opportunity to explain any weaknesses in your file.

That's the way I think of the interviews. Don't BS, be honest, explain bad grades/low scores etc, and don't act weird (or at least learn how to act normal with people if you do have social inadequecies, when you're a doctor they will be call eccentricities)


When I got rejected after the interview, I brushed it up to limited size, b/c I got accepted at another school. But that's the way I rationalize interviewing process.

 

[Saluki]

I consider an interview as the last chance for the school to check for 'red flags' specifically psychological instabitilies. They are observing how you behave in person (there are some nutcases that look fantastic on paper but horrible in person, like weird and mentally deranged) and your maturity level. so.....apart from that it's also an opportunity to explain any weaknesses in your file.

That's the way I think of the interviews. Don't BS, be honest, explain bad grades/low scores etc, and don't act weird (or at least learn how to act normal with people if you do have social inadequecies, when you're a doctor they will be call eccentricities)

That can't be all it does when schools interview 1,000 people for a 100 slots or 400 for 100...

 

[RunnerMD]

Here's an encouraging/funny story for you. I arrived at my interview day where we had an informal meeting with current students. The student with whom I was speaking, asked to see my itinerary (with a list of my interviewers).

Student <<looks at first interviewer>>: Oh Dr. so-and-so is really nice, very laid back...you'll like her.

Me: Oh good, that's a relief

Student <<looks at second interviewer and gets a really disturbed look on her face>>: Ummm...

Me: Umm...?

Student: That's Dr. so-and-so...he's umm...he's a bit gruff. Don't let him throw you off. You're lucky you have the other one first.

So all day I'm freaking out...but both interviewers were soooooooooooo nice! I have no idea what the girl was talking about. Anyway, getting back to the OPs question--both interviews went really well and I was accepted two weeks later

 

[Moto]

That can't be all it does when schools interview 1,000 people for a 100 slots or 400 for 100...

I edited my comment to include that, ofcourse it's a number game too, and it helps to think of that whe you get rejected.

 

[silas2642]

I consider an interview as the last chance for the school to check for 'red flags' specifically psychological instabitilies. They are observing how you behave in person (there are some nutcases that look fantastic on paper but horrible in person, like weird and mentally deranged) and your maturity level. so.....apart from that it's also an opportunity to explain any weaknesses in your file.

That's the way I think of the interviews. Don't BS, be honest, explain bad grades/low scores etc, and don't act weird (or at least learn how to act normal with people if you do have social inadequecies, when you're a doctor they will be call eccentricities)


When I got rejected after the interview, I brushed it up to limited size, b/c I got accepted at another school. But that's the way I rationalize interviewing process.

Congrats on your acceptance. I think that my neuroses may be driving ME crazy, along with everyone else around me. God, I can't even decide if the interview went well or not. I am sitting here at the computer commiserating with my fellow applicants with sweaty palms when I should be studying. One week and the admissions committee meets, and then Lord only knows how long until I receive my snail mail waitlist/rejection. I don't even know if it's better to assume I'm going to get rejected or to at least hope for the best and have my hopes crushed upon the delivery of a thin white envelope from my first choice school. I don't think I can wait another week, which is a problem because if I keep stalking my mailman, he's going to have me arrested in violation of his restraining order against me.

 

[gdbaby]

I had a great interview at Iowa. I told them I was an anthropology professor and one of the Drs asked about courses I taught. When I mentioned one was Anthropological Linguistics, he told me about how he had published some articles on bilingual education and standardized testing. At the end of the interview he commented that he hoped he gave me a compelling argument to come to Iowa. I should say so!!!

 

[silas2642]

I had a great interview at Iowa. I told them I was an anthropology professor and one of the Drs asked about courses I taught. When I mentioned one was Anthropological Linguistics, he told me about how he had published some articles on bilingual education and standardized testing. At the end of the interview he commented that he hoped he gave me a compelling argument to come to Iowa. I should say so!!!

No kidding. A compelling argument for me to go to any school would be for them to accept me.

 

[Doko]

My two best interviews were at CCLCM and Drexel. The professors who interviewed me told me that I would have "no problem" getting accepted, and one of them even said that he would give me his "highest recommendation."

Needless to say, I was accepted at those two schools.

I'm not trying to boast when I say this, but I really think that the interview is a HUGE part of the process (once you get one). All of my interviews were merely average/so-so, and I was waitlisted at most of my other schools.

I think this goes to show you that you should NEVER underestimate your interviews.

 

[gdbaby]

No kidding. A compelling argument for me to go to any school would be for them to accept me.

HA!

 

[drlalchick]

My interview with a dean went very well. She even gave me a hug! I thought she was just being nice, but I was accepted, so perhaps good interviews do lead to acceptances. Hope that helps!

 

[.edu-MD]

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[Overlap12]

So far I have had 2 interviews, Temple and NYMC.

My interview at Temple was super laid-back and with an incredibly nice professor and I was accepted the NEXT WEEK!

At NYMC, I was the only one with 2 interviews (everyone else had 1), which I thought meant I was being looked at carefully since maybe they had invited me by accident (lol). It turned out at NYMC that my original interviewer had an emergency with a patient and so I was scheduled with someone new to the interview committee. In that case, when you interview with someone new, they give you 2 interviews to ensure that you are interviewed fairly in case the relatively new person is harder on you. Both of my interviewers were extremely friendly. My second was the favorite professor of all the students I met on campus and I could see why - he was so nice and really made me feel great about the school and my chances. I am waiting to hear from NYMC but hopefully it will be good!

I am interviewing at U of Chicago in January and Tufts in February so hopefully, those will go well too. So while numbers are definitely a factor (space and number of slots already filled), I really believe that the interview is a great indication of your chances, especially if it goes really well and you're not just full of yourself and thinking that!

 

[pallcare]

my panel interview at Northwestern went extremely well. I was able to answer the questions succintly and meaninfully, and during the mock "problem solving" session I somehow ended up as the facilitator amongst the applicants. I think my strong impression is the reason i got accepted in the november pool, cause otherwise I have a mediocre gpa (good ECs and that's prolly why i got the interview)


so that's my good interview story!

 

[TimmyTheWonderD]

I had an unsettlingly good feeling about both my interviews...and I left thinking, "there's no way I am going to get in, that was far too laid back and was far too easy"...probably because I was building up all this "what if" type stuff in my head and preparing for the worst questions/interview scenarios in advance. My feelings about the interviews going well turned out to be right and I was accepted! Both of my interviewers expressed their enjoyment of their time spent with me, and one of them even contacted me after the interview (before the adcom had even met) and thanked me for my thank you letter! How nice is that (I am excited about having this person as a prof)! Therefore, if you feel like it went well, I am sure it did and you can most likely relax a notch and wait for a pleasant reply!