Caught in a lie during an interview??? Tell us about it

[jbm44]

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I spent 8 years learning French and was in France for several months. I put it on my AMCAS but if somebody would start speaking to me in French during an interview I don't think I could have a conversation, it's just too hard if you haven't spoken the language in a while. However, give me a week in France and my French is up to par again. I guess some of you would say I lied. 😀
Well, at least there is only a 1/3 chance that it will be French. I put two other languages down too and I am quite capable of having an interview in those languages at any time. 😉

Somehow, you Hardy, spending time in France comes as no surprise to me.

That's probably in part, how you got you're SDNer's Most LIkely list spot.

French would be a cool language to know...its true, its so true to hold on to a language when you don't have a chance to speak it that often.

 

[errozion]

What if one can read arabic and understands very little; 10% of it, they shouldn't list it right?

 

[gujuDoc]

You really think VN music is that beautiful? That's funny cuz I'm VN and I can't stand our pop. I listen to Chinese, K-pop and some J-pop, but don't like VN stuff. I even learned Mandarin and Korean for them! Haha. Funny! Different folks, different strokes!

I live with a Vietnamese girl that is also premed. That's why i hear a lot of it.

Its funny you mention chinese stuff, though, cuz she always watches chinese movies that have been dubbed and translated in vietnamese. They are her favorites. But it can be weird watching them when they have the voices dubbed because it is so obvious that it has been dubbed.

 

[gujuDoc]

I think its way hard to learn any language unless you are totally submersed in it. It took a few months of get comfortable with Japanese for me

Hence, why I forgot all the Spanish I knew in highschool. I took 4 years of spanish in highschool and was taught by my teacher how to read basic books in spanish. I have forgotten it all now because of lack of use. Back then, I used to want to go to another country and do a summer there to learn it more fluently.

My list of foreign languages I'd love to learn to at least understand, if not speak as well........

Arabic
Greek
Malayalee/Tamil
Hindi
Guju (only bc I should know this being that I'm guju)
Japanese

Those are the languages that fascinate me.

 

[wetlightning]

Hence, why I forgot all the Spanish I knew in highschool. I took 4 years of spanish in highschool and was taught by my teacher how to read basic books in spanish. I have forgotten it all now because of lack of use. Back then, I used to want to go to another country and do a summer there to learn it more fluently.

My list of foreign languages I'd love to learn to at least understand, if not speak as well........

Arabic
Greek
Malayalee/Tamil
Hindi
Guju (only bc I should know this being that I'm guju)
Japanese

Those are the languages that fascinate me.

YAYYYYY malayalam! i feel like i lose touch with it so much b/c i don't speak it that often with my parents (only when they're pissed at me, )...but when i go to india i pick it up quickly again. i can understand rudimentary tamil as well, but it sounds like choppy malayalam to me...although i hear that malayalam actually stemmed from tamil, not the other way around.

i'm working on hindi right now -- i can understand it, can speak decently, but want to read and write.

arabic is GORGEOUS. i agree with you, guju, would love to learn it.

and of course, my favorite of all, german 👍

 

[Turkeyman]

What if one can read arabic and understands very little; 10% of it, they shouldn't list it right?

Hehe yes, that's the case here as well. I didn't list arabic even though I can read it fairly well...but I listed Urdu and Panjabi since I actually do speak those(pretty much the same thing bahah). I wouldn't want to do my interview in urdu or punjabi though...I can't express myself as I would in English. I'd just sound stupid 😀.

 

[errozion]

if you know hindi then you pretty much know urdu...very similar languages except urdu has in it some farsi and arabic...both hindi and urdu have adapted each others words, both are beautiful languages.

Tamil is a different story, that and Malayalee are VERY different, and TOUGH languages to learn. Punjabi and Guju are just different dialects and if you know hindi and urdu you can sorta understand Punjabi and Gujurati.

Haha yea same story here with my Spanish, I knew it in HS but now forgot it.

Yea so should I list on my application arabic (i can read and know very little) and spanish (i took 4 yrs of class but forgot most of it)???

 

[Turkeyman]

Hence, why I forgot all the Spanish I knew in highschool. I took 4 years of spanish in highschool and was taught by my teacher how to read basic books in spanish. I have forgotten it all now because of lack of use. Back then, I used to want to go to another country and do a summer there to learn it more fluently.

My list of foreign languages I'd love to learn to at least understand, if not speak as well........

Arabic
Greek
Malayalee/Tamil
Hindi
Guju (only bc I should know this being that I'm guju)
Japanese

Those are the languages that fascinate me.

Heheh yeahh Arabic/Japanese/[Urdu/Panjabi] are my eventual "fluid language" goals. I watch a fair bit of anime so Japanese would always be cool to learn. It sounds very nice as well.

Haha, all I can say in japanese at this point is epic quotes I've picked up from various anime episodes

 

[gujuDoc]

YAYYYYY malayalam! i feel like i lose touch with it so much b/c i don't speak it that often with my parents (only when they're pissed at me, )...but when i go to india i pick it up quickly again. i can understand rudimentary tamil as well, but it sounds like choppy malayalam to me...although i hear that malayalam actually stemmed from tamil, not the other way around.

i'm working on hindi right now -- i can understand it, can speak decently, but want to read and write.

arabic is GORGEOUS. i agree with you, guju, would love to learn it.

and of course, my favorite of all, german 👍

Like I told you before Wet........

My best friend is Malayalee, so she always speaks it and listens to it as well as Tamil. And yes you are correct that Malayalee stems from Tamil.

I read that little bit of history when I was desparately searching for a hindi translator online so I could figure out what the word Ishq meant. But I realized that ishq meant love in hindi later on.

Someone needs to create a free hindi translator. wah wah wah lol

 

[errozion]

Yea i guess i wouldnt list it as well then, makes sense.

If my interviewer was a desi...and spoke to me in hindi or urdu, that would be awsome!!! But the chances of that happening are slim to none.

 

[gujuDoc]

if you know hindi then you pretty much know urdu...very similar languages except urdu has in it some farsi and arabic...both hindi and urdu have adapted each others words, both are beautiful languages.

Tamil is a different story, that and Malayalee are VERY different, and TOUGH languages to learn. Punjabi and Guju are just different dialects and if you know hindi and urdu you can sorta understand Punjabi and Gujurati.

Haha yea same story here with my Spanish, I knew it in HS but now forgot it.

Yea so should I list on my application arabic (i can read and know very little) and spanish (i took 4 yrs of class but forgot most of it)???

Yah I agree with your assessment of Indian languages.

I think the reason Tamil/Malayalee are different is because they stemmed from the Dravidians, while most of the rest stemmed from the Arayan history of India. At least, that's sorta what I read online and heard from my Malayalee friend.

 

[errozion]

guju doc just watch bollywood movies, you'll catch on in no time!!! ishq especially! haha

 

[jon stewart]

what if you can speak a language but cant read or write it, does that count as knowing another language?

 

[Turkeyman]

what if you can speak a language but cant read or write it, does that count as knowing another language?

I would say so. There's plenty of people who live in their respective countries without being able to read or write and can communicate just fine.


On a side note, I was looking for this thread again because I left for a bit and realized its the "caught in a lie during an interview thread." What a tangent we went on 😀

 

[71263]

This happened to me at MCW, I put I speak Japanese and I got lined up to interview with the only Japanese-speaking faculty member, he was Korean. Once he found out that I speak Japanese, he asks to do the rest of the interview in Japanese! His wife is a native of Japan and he spoke it perfectly. Luckily for me, I wasn't lying about my skills and I stepped up and nailed the interview all in soothing Japanese. I was accepted two weeks later...

Big pimping

Dude, thats awesome. I wanna learn japanese soo badly (so that I can understand anime without subtitles, if for no other reason ).

Actually, I had a similar experience at one of my interviews. The guy asked me for a foreign language, and I told him I spoke Spanish. Having grown up in south america, the guy was fluent, and he started a conversation en espanol. Luckily for me, I spoke for 6 yrs in high school (although Im a little rusty now since I cant practice with anyone). He said I spoke pretty well, but I still only got waitlisted 🙁

 

[Turkeyman]

Dude, thats awesome. I wanna learn japanese soo badly (so that I can understand anime without subtitles, if for no other reason ).

Actually, I had a similar experience at one of my interviews. The guy asked me for a foreign language, and I told him I spoke Spanish. Having grown up in south america, the guy was fluent, and he started a conversation en espanol. Luckily for me, I spoke for 6 yrs in high school (although Im a little rusty now since I cant practice with anyone). He said I spoke pretty well, but I still only got waitlisted 🙁

<3 Midori No Hibi

 

[63768]

what if you can speak a language but cant read or write it, does that count as knowing another language?

on the flip side, what if you know how to read and write but do not speak well? that's the way i am with spanish and i think i oughta take it off. i speak alright. but the conjugation is a little slow and i'm rusty with the tenses.

also after reading this thread, i hope i get a vietnamese interviewer. i'd own that interview.

 

[wetlightning]

guju doc just watch bollywood movies, you'll catch on in no time!!! ishq especially! haha

yes, guju, i agree! i learned most of my hindi from hindi songs and my mom's occasional rants.

ishq...very important.. 😍

oh, and sorry to be anal, y'all, but i gotta correct: malayalam is the language....those who are from kerala are malayali 👍

 

[wetlightning]

one other thing, guju (sorry to turn this into an indian language thread)

i dunno about tamil, but malayalam actually stems largely from sanskrit, which as we know, was introduced by the indo-europeans. soooo, i think the mixing in indian is greater than previously supposed....

then again, kerala is a different southern state because of all the arab/persian/greek seamen and merchants who arrived there. so there are more indo-european influences than in states like karnataka, tamilnad, etc.

 

[W222]

I never lied in an interview or anything like that but the interviewer definitely thought I did during a college interview. I was interviewing for a VERY top notch Ivy school and it was my second interview. I wasn't a strong high school student but I was interesting and apparently fit the eccentric mold they were looking for. I made the cut past the first interview stage and was given a second interview, after which apparently you are either rejected or accepted. This women was an alum and I went to her house and it turned out that her husband and I shared a hobbie, which helped. She asked me what I read recently and I stated something about a Greek mythology section that I had recently read. She asked me to tell her about the story and I told her what I remember, then she told me she majored in the subject and corrected all my errors. Kinda a b!tch. Needless to say I was rejected.

 

[BlinkyCat]

I never lied in an interview or anything like that but the interviewer definitely thought I did during a college interview. I was interviewing for a VERY top notch Ivy school and it was my second interview. I wasn't a strong high school student but I was interesting and apparently fit the eccentric mold they were looking for. I made the cut past the first interview stage and was given a second interview, after which apparently you are either rejected or accepted. This women was an alum and I went to her house and it turned out that her husband and I shared a hobbie, which helped. She asked me what I read recently and I stated something about a Greek mythology section that I had recently read. She asked me to tell her about the story and I told her what I remember, then she told me she majored in the subject and corrected all my errors. Kinda a b!tch. Needless to say I was rejected.

Which school was that? What jerks.... I didn't remember interviewing for college...I thought you can choose to skip it if you wanted...I didn't do any interviews for college...hmm..interesting..

 

[45408]

That happened to a friend of mine at Temple. He wrote that he could speak spanish and the interviewer started asking him questions in spanish. Luckily, he was telling the truth and could easily talk with the guy. He got accepted about three weeks later.

if I recall correctly, this year's AMCAS simply asked if you spoke any other languages - it didn't ask if you were fluent/proficient/etc., just if you spoke another language. I put Spanish, and while I couldn't discuss philosophy in Spanish, I can converse about day-to-day topics. If someone had a really bizarre dialect though, I'd be screwed.

I debated putting it down, because I've heard the rumors about having an interview in another language. Some people are impossible to understand - I can never follow along with my Mexican co-workers' discussions, but some guy was at the gym the other day talking to a friend in Spanish, and I was picking up quite a bit of it. If an interviewer launched into a Spanish question that I was clueless about, I'd just say "Puedo explicar mejor en ingles." 😛

 

[gujuDoc]

yes, guju, i agree! i learned most of my hindi from hindi songs and my mom's occasional rants.

ishq...very important.. 😍



oh, and sorry to be anal, y'all, but i gotta correct: malayalam is the language....those who are from kerala are malayali 👍

Sorry my bad.

But yah, I agree about Kerala being very rich in history. Definitely very very diverse with its many different religious groups and what not. But the thing that impresses me most about Kerala is that it is the only state in India to have a 96% literacy rate. That's probably higher then some states in America.

But yah, I love your language and Tamil too. They are soooooooo musical in nature and soft spoken compared to the harsher sounds of some of the other Indian languages. It just sounds so beautiful.

 

[TexPre-Med]

While at a seminar at Texas A&M, someone on the admissions committee warned us about lying. He said that last year a guy claimed to know how to play the piano. Turns out there is a piano in the basement of the medical building or something. The professor led the guy to the piano and asked him to play his favorite piece. The guy just kind of punched the keys and admitted that he had lied. Not only was he rejected but A&M reported this to TMDSAS who pulled his application. OUCH!

 

[DieselPetrolGrl]

lying is bad.
PD taught me this.

 

[DieselPetrolGrl]

While at a seminar at Texas A&M, someone on the admissions committee warned us about lying. He said that last year a guy claimed to know how to play the piano. Turns out there is a piano in the basement of the medical building or something. The professor led the guy to the piano and asked him to play his favorite piece. The guy just kind of punched the keys and admitted that he had lied. Not only was he rejected but A&M reported this to TMDSAS who pulled his application. OUCH!

i claim i am musically ******ed
just to show you guys i am not kidding : my parents had to write me a note in the 5th grade so i wouldnt haveto go learn AB-c hi C low C things
i was so poor at that class i would cry to the point my parents would be afraid i would stop breathing - my face would turn blue and the veins in my neck would bulge out in a violent dance of anger.


and yet even i can play a song on the paino - green sleves by memory only (i memorizied the key distances) and only 30 seconds worth

i still dont think that qualifies as knowing how to play the piano

ps: i think the biggest cheating is in volunteer services - i sadly know of a BUNCH of persons who are doing this this year to get into college - i am shocked at how mad the college application process has gotten and how it is so slack in verification. makes me REALLY angry. i dont remember it being a big deal 4 years ago but now everywhere i look kids are in their SAT books - only taking breaks to concoct lies about saving another microasia.

 

[gujuDoc]

While at a seminar at Texas A&M, someone on the admissions committee warned us about lying. He said that last year a guy claimed to know how to play the piano. Turns out there is a piano in the basement of the medical building or something. The professor led the guy to the piano and asked him to play his favorite piece. The guy just kind of punched the keys and admitted that he had lied. Not only was he rejected but A&M reported this to TMDSAS who pulled his application. OUCH!

I would love an interview like that. I think I'd pass fairly easy. 😀

I would probably Fur Eloise by Beethoven. That is the one song that I can play off the top of my head. Or If I remembered off the top of my head, I'd play something like the songs from Sound of Music. I can play those songs too, but don't have the music memorized, so would need the music in front of me.

Actually, my roommate would love love love an interview like that. I'm betting that Selienne(sp?? 😕 ) probably would too.

 

[gujuDoc]

lying is bad.
PD taught me this.

😀

You are going to be one funny doctor.

 

[pagemmapants]

Actually, my roommate would love love love an interview like that. I'm betting that Selienne(sp?? 😕 ) probably would too.

Durn tootin'! I may not be able to tell you the chord progressions involved, but I could play you a damn fine version of "(Everything I Do) I do it for you"! Oh, Bryan Adams.

Or I could sing the soprano line of deVictoria's Ave Maria. . . (best Ave Maria EVER) or, if you're into froggies, the sop. line of "Le Cantique du Jean Racine". . . so pretty. . . 😍

 

[gujuDoc]

Durn tootin'! I may not be able to tell you the chord progressions involved, but I could play you a damn fine version of "(Everything I Do) I do it for you"! Oh, Bryan Adams.

Or I could sing the soprano line of deVictoria's Ave Maria. . . (best Ave Maria EVER) or, if you're into froggies, the sop. line of "Le Cantique du Jean Racine". . . so pretty. . . 😍

That's awesome. You are my new hero. Why can't all interviews be like the guy who was asked to play the piano??? That would be the greatest interview ever.

 

[45408]

wow, I don't know what idiot would lie about something as easily testable as playing the piano. You'd think they would pick something hard to disprove (like volunteering).

I'd be able to play something decent on the piano, but my brother can storm up a few really awesome songs (like Rondo alla Turca, Maple Leaf Rag, or the full version of Canon in D)

 

[gujuDoc]

wow, I don't know what idiot would lie about something as easily testable as playing the piano. You'd think they would pick something hard to disprove (like volunteering).

I'd be able to play something decent on the piano, but my brother can storm up a few really awesome songs (like Rondo alla Turca, Maple Leaf Rag, or the full version of Canon in D)

I can play a variation of Canon In D that I learned in a highschool Piano class that I took for an easy A. I took piano in highschool cuz I knew I was good at it already so it would turn out to be an easy class. I'm glad I did too, cuz the book we used had some awesome songs to learn. But the problem is I can't play a lot of songs off the top of my head. I'd need the music in front of me for anything but Fur Eloise.

 

[DrPain]

I can play a variation of Canon In D that I learned in a highschool Piano class that I took for an easy A. I took piano in highschool cuz I knew I was good at it already so it would turn out to be an easy class. I'm glad I did too, cuz the book we used had some awesome songs to learn. But the problem is I can't play a lot of songs off the top of my head. I'd need the music in front of me for anything but Fur Eloise.

Let's hear some more people. Try not to veer away from the thread subject matter.

 

[gujuDoc]

Let's hear some more people. Try not to veer away from the thread subject matter.

All threads veer away from the original thread. Get used to it.

Secondly, I don't see the point in wanting to hear people brag about being unethical.

Thirdly, do a search and find the thread It. created sometime ago, and you'll see plenty of horror stories of people getting caught in lies.

In fact, here's the link to It.'s thread on this topic.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=206502

 

[lexrageorge]

Some thoughts (worth less than the price paid for your broadband connection):

It is a shame that applicants feel such pressure to "embellish" their EC's. I realize part of the problem is that many applicants are academically qualified and interview slots are limited. So schools have to find some way to differentiate among thousands of qualified applicants.

Just remember that there are many ways to make yourself sound interesting that don't involve lying. If you love to bicycle, but only do it about 1x/week on a ten year old second-hand bike, put it down in your list of activities. You don't need to be Lance Armstrong. Just don't claim to be Lance if you're not.

As for volunteering, my cynical view is that schools make applicants jump through the volunteer hoops just to make their jobs easier. Those that jump through the hoops get the interviews. Volunteering in an ER is a far cry from being a doctor. If you hate the idea of being a hospital volunteer, don't do it. Find some other activity in which you're more interested. You will find it much easier to write and talk about something you enjoyed doing and why you enjoyed it. That's a far better option than lying about your volunteer experience.

 

[shahalam]

Hey people, no one cares about your ethics. I think the OP just wanted to have an interesting thread on SDN. Dont push your ethics into this cause it's not going to change any lifestyles. People lie. Get over it. Lets stick with the topic and listen to the funny stuff!

 

[KNightInBlue]

Yah I agree with your assessment of Indian languages.

I think the reason Tamil/Malayalee are different is because they stemmed from the Dravidians, while most of the rest stemmed from the Arayan history of India. At least, that's sorta what I read online and heard from my Malayalee friend.

Malayalam originated from Tamil which was derived from...........Telugu! Another dravidian language and my native tongue. It'd be too much to hope for a telugu interviewer though, might as well hope to win the lotto.

The languages I want to learn are Italian and French (and for a brief stint in college, greek. Not for the love of it or anything, just happened to be dating a greek girl back then and wanted to understand all the things she was saying🙂 )

 

[gujuDoc]

Malayalam originated from Tamil which was derived from...........Telugu! Another dravidian language and my native tongue. It'd be too much to hope for a telugu interviewer though, might as well hope to win the lotto.

The languages I want to learn are Italian and French (and for a brief stint in college, greek. Not for the love of it or anything, just happened to be dating a greek girl back then and wanted to understand all the things she was saying🙂 )

The only things you need to know for that purpose are:

Pethi mou (the one who's carrying my child or also means My DEAR)

Agape mou (MY LOVE)

Christos = Christ.

That's what I gathered from reading my mom's harlequin romance novels on a boring day at my 'rents house. 😀 😛

 

[gujuDoc]

Hey people, no one cares about your ethics. I think the OP just wanted to have an interesting thread on SDN. Dont push your ethics into this cause it's not going to change any lifestyles. People lie. Get over it. Lets stick with the topic and listen to the funny stuff!

And that is just the point. What is interesting about someone bragging about something that could cost them everything they ever cared about??? There is nothing funny about hearing stories about people's small white lies led to revocation of their acceptance or being expelled.

There are far more interesting things that can be discussed if you wanted something out of the norm. I.e. Its_murdah's thread on wild experiences, or experiences about embarassing moments.

But doing the one thing that could cause you toi lose everything you ever cared about career wise is not funny or even remotely interesting. And if someone is going to lie, it probably isn't a good idea to share that lie on a board where some adcoms visit and lurk. Nor is it a good idea to share it to random people who might go ahead and rat you out if they can figure out who you are.

But to each his/her own.

 

[gujuDoc]

guju doc just watch bollywood movies, you'll catch on in no time!!! ishq especially! haha

I think you are right. I guess I should start watching more. I started learning some songs by listening to Bollywood music, when my friend told me the meanings of different words.

So now I know the following words.........

Ishq
zindagi
deewana/deewane
Mehboob
tasveer (sp??)



But outside of that..........

not much that I understand.

Well I take that back, I also know the meaning of bhauji (sp??), didi, biwi, nai, hum, tum, and kuch kuch hota hai.

Ok I'm done rambling.

Oh and to KnightInblue, that's interesting about what you said about telugu and tamil. I had no clue that Tamil came from Telugu. I guess you learn something new every day.