Do I have any recourse for this?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

A Trained Chimp

New Member
7+ Year Member
Joined
Mar 16, 2016
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
A little background on me: I graduated Suma from UB (that's SUNY at Buffalo for anyone unfamiliar with the NY schools) with a 3.8 gpa. My MCAT is nothing special at a 31, but still I feel like its good enough for most of the schools I am applying to. My extracurriculars are also solid according to my PreHealth advisors.

I recently interviewed at an allopathic med school (that shall remain unnamed) that employed the MMI format. One of the questions asked me to elaborate on any concerns I had regarding the school. Now for anyone that is unfamiliar with UB and the Buffalo area in general, let me just say that both the school and the city are fairly massive. UB contains a med school, dent school, pharmacy school, lots of graduate programs including some rather large research laboratories. In short, it is a very large and very diverse environment. My concern regarding the med school at which I was interviewing was that this medical school was much smaller than my alma mater, and the city and surrounding area was much smaller and less urban. When I walked into the interview room to give my response, the interviewer (who was a second year medical student) responded by saying, "I don't think I agree with you". The student the proceeded to explain his reason for why my concern was invalid and basically took up the remainder of the time allotted for the interview. I tried to recover from this, but I couldn't really say anything without him trying to give evidence to support his disagreement. I do not wish to divulge the name of the med school nor the city, but suffice it to say that m concerns where reasonable, something that I felt quite confident about especially after the campus tour.

Obviously I was rejected after this trainwreck of an interview. I am just wondering if I have any recourse here. I feel as though I was judged by a person who was misinformed with regard to the knowledge on which my concerns were based, that it hurt my chances of acceptance. Can anyone comment on this/give advice for how to move forward?

Thanks

Members don't see this ad.
 
It seems you are assuming that you were rejected based on this one question. I highly doubt this is the case. Recourse? Contact the school to see if they'll give you feedback about why you were rejected. And stop dwelling on that lone question.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Oh I'm sure other things were considered and that this wasn't the singular blemish on an otherwise perfect application. But I feel I do have very strong application and that the rest of the interviews went very well, so I feel confident in saying that this particular interview pushed me over the edge.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
My concern regarding the med school at which I was interviewing was that this medical school was much smaller than my alma mater, and the city and surrounding area was much smaller and less urban. When I walked into the interview room to give my response, the interviewer (who was a second year medical student) responded by saying, "I don't think I agree with you". The student the proceeded to explain his reason for why my concern was invalid and basically took up the remainder of the time allotted for the interview.
If you walked in and said "I am concerned that the school and its surrounding area lacks divesity and is too small" then I can see how someone can give you a defensive response.

But if you came in and said "Coming from a big undergraduate and a more-urban enviorment, I am concerned about the diversity of the people living in the city" he would not have anything to disagree with. I think this approach would have spawned a more conversational interview instead of a defensive response.

Not sure how you said it, but still the interviewer shouldn't have wasted time being so defensive and instead used it to get to know you better.
 
First off, given that it's MMI, your disagreement with one interviewer shouldn't imply a rejection, unless you were rude or otherwise displayed attitudes incompatible with medicine.

Second, just because they disagree doesn't mean that it sank you.

Third, if this is the SUNY school I think it is, I'm pretty sure you can ask for post rejection feedback. Regardless of the reason, it's worth your while to find out, unless you have other acceptances.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
You have no recourse, and why do you think it was this one thing that led to your rejection???

Most people are terrible judges of their own interview performance.

Just let it go.




A little background on me: I graduated Suma from UB (that's SUNY at Buffalo for anyone unfamiliar with the NY schools) with a 3.8 gpa. My MCAT is nothing special at a 31, but still I feel like its good enough for most of the schools I am applying to. My extracurriculars are also solid according to my PreHealth advisors.

I recently interviewed at an allopathic med school (that shall remain unnamed) that employed the MMI format. One of the questions asked me to elaborate on any concerns I had regarding the school. Now for anyone that is unfamiliar with UB and the Buffalo area in general, let me just say that both the school and the city are fairly massive. UB contains a med school, dent school, pharmacy school, lots of graduate programs including some rather large research laboratories. In short, it is a very large and very diverse environment. My concern regarding the med school at which I was interviewing was that this medical school was much smaller than my alma mater, and the city and surrounding area was much smaller and less urban. When I walked into the interview room to give my response, the interviewer (who was a second year medical student) responded by saying, "I don't think I agree with you". The student the proceeded to explain his reason for why my concern was invalid and basically took up the remainder of the time allotted for the interview. I tried to recover from this, but I couldn't really say anything without him trying to give evidence to support his disagreement. I do not wish to divulge the name of the med school nor the city, but suffice it to say that m concerns where reasonable, something that I felt quite confident about especially after the campus tour.

Obviously I was rejected after this trainwreck of an interview. I am just wondering if I have any recourse here. I feel as though I was judged by a person who was misinformed with regard to the knowledge on which my concerns were based, that it hurt my chances of acceptance. Can anyone comment on this/give advice for how to move forward?

Thanks
 
  • Like
Reactions: 3 users
Top