Bad Interview and still gotten an acceptance?

[blahwhatever]

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I interviewed at a school about a week ago, and I thought my interview went really badly. I was really nervous, and I'm not sure if I made sense at certain points (because I didn't know what I was talking about, I was just trying to provide some sort of an answer). I also answered "I don't know" to some questions. I felt unprepared, even though I had prepared. I just don't interview well. Basically, I blew it.

Sigh.. I have a terrible feeling about this. I feel almost positive that this will result in a rejection, because it was such a train wreck.

Has anyone else gotten an acceptance after a bad interview? If so, how was your interview bad, was it something similar? Did you have extremely high stats to make them sort of look past the bad interview part?

 

[kuhlguy]

haha ... my worst interview was at UCSD and right now that looks like where I might be going ... got an acceptance 3 weeks later

they asked me the typical "why do you want to go to UCSD" ... I had just pulled an allnighter for a neuro midterm and completly blanked ... all i could say was for the weather!!!!!!

.... so yes ... bad interview does not mean rejection/waitlist haha

 

[blahwhatever]

haha ... my worst interview was at UCSD and right now that looks like where I might be going ... got an acceptance 3 weeks later

they asked me the typical "why do you want to go to UCSD" ... I had just pulled an allnighter for a neuro midterm and completly blanked ... all i could say was for the weather!!!!!!

.... so yes ... bad interview does not mean rejection/waitlist haha

You have awesome stats, you don't count 😛

 

[Monkey House]

I had a bad interview at GW....the interviewer and me were just on different pages. There was no tension or fights, but you could tell he thought my background was odd and I thought he was odd. End result.....rejection!

 

[SwtAnana]

I wouldn't worry about that...

I thought my third interview was my worst but I was accepted 2 weeks later....I thought my second interview was my best and I was waitlisted.

Point is, you never can tell. I know it's easier said than done but just sit tight and wait....you never know.....

 

[MassTransport]

Worst judge of how you did in an interview is yourself. I agree with SwtAnana.

 

[aaj117]

if it makes you feel any better, i had a god-awful interview at one school and was accepted. The interviewer was rude to me, and i did my best not to be rude right back, but it wasn't easy and i failed at points. He was outright telling me that i've shown no interest in medicine because i was an anthropology major (apparently 9 years of EMS, an ALS certification, a year of clinical research in heme/onc, being a CPR instructor, working 4 different paid EMS jobs and being a "nurse" at a summer camp, doing peer education and other HIV prevention work, focusing my LGBT activism on medical access equality, all shows "no interest" in medicine) and that my interests were too varied and medical school wasn't for me. He also made remarks about my LGBT activities and how that "lifestyle" woudln't fit into a career in medicine (apparently knowing how to advocate for a marginalized group is not a good quality in a physician), and was just generally rude and uninterested in my responses. I did receive an acceptance like two months later, but i withdrew pretty quickly.

 

[Boogsie]

I had the same experience as aaj117 at one school that I got in to. The guy was a total jerk and even belittled my hobbies!!!

Just try not to think about the interviews when you are done. You cannot change the past...and do you really want to go to a school where that kind of thing is accepted?? I sure didn't...I withdrew right after I got accepted.

 

[DoctorDreamer]

My interview rankings and results:

WashU: ***** at one, * at the other - Rejected
OUHSC: *** - Accepted in 10 days
Baylor: *** at both - Waitlisted
UTMB: ** - Withdrew
Emory: *** at one, ***** at the other - Waitlisted
Colorado: **** at one, *** at the other - Waitlisted
Georgetown: ***** - Waitlisted
Johns Hopkins: ***** at both - Rejected.

I don't think there's any way to really predict. 🙁

 

[dc5484]

i thought my panel interview at Northwestern was one of the worst interviews ever. It might have been one of the most stressful hour and fifteen minutes of my life. I thought there was no way I would ever get into Northwestern. Well, I was wrong 😀. Likewise, I've been flat-out rejected at a school where I thought the interviews went really well. The truth is, you just can't predict anything based on the interview.

 

[OncDoc19]

I thought my interview with the MSTP director at Penn was the worst of the interview season. It was so stressful (on par with my Rhodes interview) and I came out of that room shaking. I thought that there was no way I got in, but thankfully I was wrong!

 

[Monkey House]

So I do not mean to be the negative one on this thread because even I had an interview that was bad beyond bad and somehow I did get in! But on average, most of my bad interviews did not lead to acceptances. Of course there are exceptions and those are what we like to talk about, but usually you need a strong interview to separate yourself from the other applicants and get in.

 

[dancinRN1022]

you do need a strong interview to get in...but it is hard to tell what they are looking for...and it is hard to judge ourselves...

i was accepted to every school i interviewed at...however there were some interviews that went perfectly i said everything i wanted...and i was even witty and made them laugh...and there were some in which i left with no impression of how did...and there was one really bad one

there was one in particular who i thought hated me...told me he had doubts about me...made fun of me practically...and made me sooo mad... i didn't let him see it...but i had my interview the first thing in the morning before all of the other activities of the day and i almost left...i was sleepy and i had to work the next day... i would have bet money that i was going to be rejected but i wasn't....so it is hard to tell... i think now he wanted to be mean and he wanted to see how i would handle my self...he many not have even meant all that he was saying...because after my acceptance i received a nice hand written note from him...telling me how much he enjoyed out interview and how well i did...he even remembered one of the comments i made...

so write your thank you letters...and keep your fingers crossed...good luck!

 

[blahwhatever]

Thanks everyone! Made me feel better. We'll see how it goes. I'm basically going to treat it as a rejection, if something else comes out of it it'll be shocking. But for right now, I'll just forget about it.

 

[OCallag]

Thanks everyone! Made me feel better. We'll see how it goes. I'm basically going to treat it as a rejection, if something else comes out of it it'll be shocking. But for right now, I'll just forget about it.

Best to play it conservatively and plan for the worst, but you honestly cannot tell the outcome of an interview. Before I applied to med school, I would have considered myself excellent at determining interview outcomes. For most job interviews you can just tell. Med school...not so much.