bad to let the interviewer hold the door for you?

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hopeful2007

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after the interview, the interviewer showed me how to get to the library because I had some extra time to kill. as we walked through the hallways, he opened a door and I thought he was holding the door for me, so I let him.

We had already finished the interview, but I am wondering if I fell into some gender stereotyping that might not be helpful for my application. is this a big deal? should I just forget about it?

Background info: I am female, relatively attractive, and went to a liberal women's college.
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Uh, I'm a dude, and I let my interviewer (male) buy my coffee and open doors for me.

Result: Accepted.

(not joking, not making this up)

You're OK, take a breather.
 
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I think you are thinking about it too deeply. If he was the first person to the door, and if someone was behind him, then it would only be natural to hold it open for that person. Nothing wrong with a little chivalry.
 
Dendrite said:
I think you are thinking about it too deeply. If he was the first person to the door, and if someone was behind him, then it would only be natural to hold it open for that person. Nothing wrong with a little chivalry.
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yea, happens all the time.

maybe you'd be more familiar with it if you lived in the south. 🙂
 
seraph524 said:
what door trick?
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The one where the interviewer opens the door, and you think you're supposed to walk through, but you really aren't supposed to. Its the oldest trick in the book, I can't believe the OP fell for it. It's basically cause for an automatic rejection from what I've heard.
 
gatorsbball said:
The one where the interviewer opens the door, and you think you're supposed to walk through, but you really aren't supposed to. Its the oldest trick in the book, I can't believe the OP fell for it. It's basically cause for an automatic rejection from what I've heard.
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At some really high-ranked schools, the interviewer will also stick his foot out and trip you if you're gutsy enough to try to walk through.
 
gatorsbball said:
The one where the interviewer opens the door, and you think you're supposed to walk through, but you really aren't supposed to. Its the oldest trick in the book, I can't believe the OP fell for it. It's basically cause for an automatic rejection from what I've heard.
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Umm...I've walked through many doors that they held open for me...

And as to answer the thread starter's post directly...I don't think its a big deal that you walked through the door. It was just courtesy like previous posters have said...I can't imagine it would reflect on your application at all.
 
seraph524 said:
Umm...I've walked through many doors that they held open for me...
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aabf18_sarcasm_detector.jpg
 
Inuranic said:
At some really high-ranked schools, the interviewer will also stick his foot out and trip you if you're gutsy enough to try to walk through.
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But when you jump over the foot I hear you are guaranteed at least a position on the waitlist. They like gutsy people.
 
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Wow.


Wow to the OP. Wow to anyone who totally missed the point of Zissou's reply (seraph).

Just wow.
 
seraph524 said:
?

Okay....I only said that to show the thread starter that it's not some conspiracy to reject applicants. What is your deal?
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I was trying to point out that the post to which you replied was a fairly obvious example of sarcasm.

I forgot that the internets are serious business.
 
CptCrunch said:
I was trying to point out that the post to which you replied was a fairly obvious example of sarcasm.

I forgot that the internets are serious business.
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Yea...in hindsight...haha... I forgot I can't trust anything in pre-allo 😉
 
wow that cat is fugly.
 
hopeful2007 said:
after the interview, the interviewer showed me how to get to the library because I had some extra time to kill. as we walked through the hallways, he opened a door and I thought he was holding the door for me, so I let him.

We had already finished the interview, but I am wondering if I fell into some gender stereotyping that might not be helpful for my application. is this a big deal? should I just forget about it?

Background info: I am female, relatively attractive, and went to a liberal women's college.
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It depends what type of door it was. As long as you didn't wind up doing something like this, you're fine.

281961262.jpg
 
Picklesali said:
But when you jump over the foot I hear you are guaranteed at least a position on the waitlist. They like gutsy people.
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I jumped over the foot and fell anyway, am I rejected? 🙁
 
hopeful2007 said:
after the interview, the interviewer showed me how to get to the library because I had some extra time to kill. as we walked through the hallways, he opened a door and I thought he was holding the door for me, so I let him.

We had already finished the interview, but I am wondering if I fell into some gender stereotyping that might not be helpful for my application. is this a big deal? should I just forget about it?

Background info: I am female, relatively attractive, and went to a liberal women's college.
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I think you are headed to an automatic rejection. My guess is that the thin envelope is in the mail this week. In fact, letting the interviewer hold the door open for you probably infuriated the admissions committee enough to also contact AMCAS and have your entire application to the profession rescinded. You should begin your preparation for nursing school.

All serious now, you're over-reacting. Put yourself in the interviewer's position. The last thing he is going to remember about you is who opened the door to the library. Especially if you are as hot as you say!😉

BTW- I love how you say relatively attractive. Relative to what? Hillary?
 
I know interviews are stressful and I probably over analyze an interview, but wow....

There was this one interview where I got the chicken tacos but I was sitting next to the dean of admissions and he had the lasagna, and I bet he took one look at what I was eating and was like, "wtf? what kind of doctor eats chicken tacos?"
 
dd128 said:
I know interviews are stressful and I probably over analyze an interview, but wow....

There was this one interview where I got the chicken tacos but I was sitting next to the dean of admissions and he had the lasagna, and I bet he took one look at what I was eating and was like, "wtf? what kind of doctor eats chicken tacos?"
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That's legit though. Beef on tacos, chicken on burritos. This is easy stuff, bud. FAIL.
 
Think about it though, if holding the door was a relevant criteria for this interviewer to give you bad remarks, would you really even want to go to that school? C'mon.
 
sylus said:
I jumped over the foot and fell anyway, am I rejected? 🙁
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Rejected? You wish! For tripping yourself, you've been blacklisted at all US allo schools.


Now you'll have to decide between DO and Caribbean. You should probably start a new thread to get some advice about that.
 
seraph524 said:
?

Okay....I only said that to show the thread starter that it's not some conspiracy to reject applicants. What is your deal?
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lol at seraph...actually thought he was being sarcastic himself, but turns out, nope! i guess some people aren't born with the sarcasm gene
 
Damn it, is this what's going to happen to me in a little while? Dear lord.
 
I can't figure out how your attractiveness or the political leaning of your undergrad figures in here. Thinking....thinking....still no. I give up. And yea, what does "relatively" attractive mean?
 
HumidBeing said:
It depends what type of door it was. As long as you didn't wind up doing something like this, you're fine.

281961262.jpg
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All that pic needs is a little bubble by the girls head that reads, "Waaaaaassssaaaaaaaaaaaapp!?"
 
brianmartin said:
I can't figure out how your attractiveness or the political leaning of your undergrad figures in here. Thinking....thinking....still no. I give up. And yea, what does "relatively" attractive mean?
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It means her mom says she attractive, but most others don't. :meanie:


I was also stumped by how any of those additional variables really mattered... 😕
 
0Complications said:
It means her mom says she attractive, but most others don't. :meanie:


I was also stumped by how any of those additional variables really mattered... 😕
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duh, guys are extra sexist when the chick is relatively attractive. and the liberal arts college just goes to show why she finds chivalry or manners offensive.
 
duh, guys are extra sexist when the chick is relatively attractive. and the liberal arts college just goes to show why she finds chivalry or manners offensive.
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how any of those additional variables really mattered...
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This is a riot 🙂 Hey I get it - the guy is supposedly more likely to hold doors for attractive woman. And she is more likely to find this offensive given her educational background. But these two facts simply do not intersect. What is the problem, that she gave the perception that maybe she was "expecting" him to hold the door? How would that be a problem if he was going to do it anyway? And if she is such a liberal, she wasn't expecting the door hold. In that case, she was pleasantly surprised by a chivalrous man opening a door for her.

The OP wondered,
"if I fell into some gender stereotyping that might not be helpful for my application.
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Well? I think this means she assumed he was holding the door so she went through, just like any other person would. First, I don't see how this is "falling into some gender stereotyping." Second, I can't figure out how this would negatively impact her application, since she mentioned she was attractive and the only reason to mention this is to show that the man opened the door for her because she's hot. If this is true, then her walking through the door was the correct choice was it not?

And I don't see why her beliefs about gender roles play in. Let's say she was a traditional, feminine woman who wants to be treated like a lady. She still would've walked through the door!?

I cannot uncover a problem here! The story + background info...do not equal a problem! What's the problem?? This could be Seinfeld episode, lol 🙂
 
Inuranic said:
At some really high-ranked schools, the interviewer will also stick his foot out and trip you if you're gutsy enough to try to walk through.
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Haha! That is the best line I have ever heard. To the OP, I think you will be ok!
 
SketchLazy said:
This thread is classic. I'm going to really make an effort to bump it for the remainder of the year. Who's with me on this?
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I'm in.

brianmartin said:
This is a riot 🙂 Hey I get it - the guy is supposedly more likely to hold doors for attractive woman. And she is more likely to find this offensive given her educational background. But these two facts simply do not intersect. What is the problem, that she gave the perception that maybe she was "expecting" him to hold the door? How would that be a problem if he was going to do it anyway? And if she is such a liberal, she wasn't expecting the door hold. In that case, she was pleasantly surprised by a chivalrous man opening a door for her.

The OP wondered, Well? I think this means she assumed he was holding the door so she went through, just like any other person would. First, I don't see how this is "falling into some gender stereotyping." Second, I can't figure out how this would negatively impact her application, since she mentioned she was attractive and the only reason to mention this is to show that the man opened the door for her because she's hot. If this is true, then her walking through the door was the correct choice was it not?

And I don't see why her beliefs about gender roles play in. Let's say she was a traditional, feminine woman who wants to be treated like a lady. She still would've walked through the door!?

I cannot uncover a problem here! The story + background info...do not equal a problem! What's the problem?? This could be Seinfeld episode, lol 🙂
Click to expand...

I think the problem is that the OP was offended that someone would hold the door open for her, possibly just because she is a relatively attractive female. If that is indeed the case, then I sympathize with the interviewer: I was actually scolded once by a (not even relatively attractive) girl for holding the door open (I mean, really? Of all the things this girl could criticize me for, it's my good manners? 🙄).

I don't know how walking through first could possibly be a negative on her application though. Maaaaaaaybe (and this is a real stretch here) if he didn't really intend on holding the door open, and he felt like she cut in front of him, that might be a negative. But that would just be absolutely ridiculous.

Also, I noticed the OP hasn't posted since the first post...
 
What I've seen from my interviews is that the doors are usually held open for interviewees, male and female a like. We are visitors to their school, and in most cases they are trying to convince us to come there, and thereby leave us with a good impression of their school. So interviewers, med students, admissions people they've all held the door open for me and I'm guy. Sure I may have lost some of my masculinity having a woman hold the door for me, but maybe that's the price we pay 😉
 
namsoon said:
I'm in.



Maaaaaaaybe (and this is a real stretch here) if he didn't really intend on holding the door open, and he felt like she cut in front of him, that might be a negative. But that would just be absolutely ridiculous.
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this is more the scenario I am worried about. He opened the door, and I thought, "maybe he is going to hold the door for me" so I walked through.
 
I cannot believe this thread exists.

OP: Much ado about nothing, seriously.
 
I love this thread.

But seriously, this is a really interesting issue, just not for med school apps. I also go to a liberal arts college, a fact I'm both proud and ashamed of, and I've heard this line of reasoning many times. It goes like this: If one is to truly believe in gender equality, it's ridiculous to hold the door open for one gender and not another, especially since the gesture may suggest that women are less capable of opening doors.

I'm a dude, though, and I hold doors open fairly regularly. I got chewed out once for doing it, too, but I say this: To hold the door open for someone is a gesture of goodwill, regardless of what gender you are. Someone might reply: That's fine if you do it equally for men and women. But I'd say I do it more often for women. I could chalk it up to force of habit, but that concedes the point. I don't see how it is at all discriminatory to be *nicer* to someone by holding the door for them.

Wow. That was off-topic. Also, thanks for the laugh (seraph).
 
hopeful2007 said:
this is more the scenario I am worried about. He opened the door, and I thought, "maybe he is going to hold the door for me" so I walked through.
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Welcome back to the thread 😀

In either case, whether he intended to open the door for you (which he almost certainly was) or not, there is no way that this could have impacted your application.

Unless of course, he held the door open for you, you walked through, and in your mini skirt suit slowly bent down to pick up a pen that you strategically dropped.
 
Picklesali said:
Welcome back to the thread 😀

In either case, whether he intended to open the door for you (which he almost certainly was) or not, there is no way that this could have impacted your application.

Unless of course, he held the door open for you, you walked through, and in your mini skirt suit slowly bent down to pick up a pen that you strategically dropped.
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Whoa whoa whoa, this changes the scenario completely! You instantly go from blacklisted at all schools to +5 on your MCAT score.
 
Big Deal.. you let your interviewer hold the door for you.. as long as thanked him/her.
I'm from the Northeast and I don't mind a little chivalry. I open/hold doors for people (male or female).
And how do you know your interviewer thinks your attractive?
 
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