Auto Reject Interview Thread

[Almighty Saguaro]

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Because we know this is impossible!

You've obviously never met me B-)

I kid, of course 😛

Sent from my C5306 using Tapatalk

 

[starspells]

Because we know this is impossible!
When the letter writer shows an understanding of what we want to know instead of the generic bland blather, we know we are (at least potentially) getting an honest and forthcoming assessment.

I realize this helps maintain trust in whatever institution the applicant is from but weaknesses will do nothing but hurt an applicant. As we saw from that person who posted a thread about not matching today...

 

[gyngyn]

I realize this helps maintain trust in whatever institution the applicant is from but weaknesses will do nothing but hurt an applicant. As we saw from that person who posted a thread about not matching today...

An honest and thoughtful evaluation of strengths (and weaknesses) is a much more powerful letter than the usual fluff.

The MSPE for a person with a pattern of unreliable behavior must reflect this problem if a PD is to rely on the MSPE at all. If everybody has a glowing letter, there is no way to distinguish the honest and reliable student from those not ready for real responsibility.

 

[starspells]

An honest and thoughtful evaluation of strengths (and weaknesses) is a much more powerful letter than the usual fluff.

So even if there's a negative comment or two you guys are willing to overlook that if there's enough positives to offset it and perhaps if you believe that the person has potential to improve?

Your school has accepted people who had these "weaknesses" in their letters?

 

[gyngyn]

So even if there's a negative comment or two you guys are willing to overlook that if there's enough positives to offset it and perhaps if you believe that the person has potential to improve?

Your school has accepted people who had these "weaknesses" in their letters?

Of course! In the context of a real LOE, we expect to see areas of weakness.

 

[Nietzschelover]

I am not an adcom, but I play one on SDNTV 😉

In all seriousness, I have reviewed apps and done interviews for internships and clinical jobs. Applicants who present with no weaknesses aren't presenting themselves as real people. I assume adcoms want people who are smart, talented, focused, able to laugh at themselves, and who have a capacity for self-awareness, self-reflection, and insight. Personally, what I look for the most assuming sufficient talent and promise is a lack of defensiveness (or conversely, evidence of defensiveness that is more than just nerves that will almost certainly be a problem down the road). Is sports lingo, is this a kid who is coachable? Do I really want this kid as a part of my team? I don't want kids who are clueless about strengths and weaknesses.

Unfortunately, this is not to say that malignant narcissists don't ever get through. I saw a forensic psychiatrist who presented himself as a world-famous psychiatrist who apparently has testified in some huge national cases who was hawking for Trump, and I was embarrassed as he stood out like a sore thumb as Don Lemon was hosting a panel of guests.

 

[maxwell_edison]

I don't think this was an auto-reject, but I heard from another interviewee about this story somewhere and it definitely upset me. Apparently there was an interviewee that showed up all shabby and had cat-hairs everywhere (which okay, was inappropriate), and some other fellow interviewees would make snide comments to her the whole day and make fun of her attire. I think what pissed me off about this story is that no one bothered to stick up for her. For some reason this story just stuck with me.

I saved someone like that at one of my interviews. I guess her relatives\friends or student she stayed with had cats. And I had packed my mini lint roller. Good deed for the day.

There are many Latin Americans with Spanish (as in Spain) descent that are white in skin color.

One of my mentors was pretty much that exact situation. Super stereotypically Jewish name, basically translucent. Born in Uruguay, came to the US as a kid, English as a second language. Runs a bilingual practice.

 

[Spinach Dip]

Well this turned into one of the most interesting reads I've found on this site in a long time.

👍