Explaining a B or two?

[medmaedchen]

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At a recent interview, my interviewer looked over my transcript and made me explain why I got a B in a few of my classes... has this happened to anyone else? I was kind of surprised... at first I thought he was kidding, but no, definitely serious! Are a few B's that really bad and should I prepare for this in future interviews???

 

[MDRus]

was it at, like, harvard???

 

[Ashers]

While I was interviewing, a few years ago, I never got asked about any of my Bs, and I always had at least 1 every semester. I don't think it's that common.

 

[Kthanksbye]

They probably just want to see how you'll respond. The interviewer knows most people have a few Bs, and I would be surprised if they are going to be a major detriment to your application. If you start saying that the professor sucked and start blaming others for not getting As, then it could be a problem. But they asked you to interview. I would assume that at this point, your academic record is not what is in question any longer. Just don't play the blame game and you should be fine.

 

[0Complications]

At a recent interview, my interviewer looked over my transcript and made me explain why I got a B in a few of my classes... has this happened to anyone else? I was kind of surprised... at first I thought he was kidding, but no, definitely serious! Are a few B's that really bad and should I prepare for this in future interviews???

Well, if you only had 3 of them (judging from your MDApps) the interviewer might have just been curious as to what made those 3 classes that much more difficult for you than the rest of your classes. I definitely don't think the interviewer was coming down on you for them, probably just curious.

 

[Spin]

They probably just want to see how you'll respond. The interviewer knows most people have a few Bs, and I would be surprised if they are going to be a major detriment to your application. If you start saying that the professor sucked and start blaming others for not getting As, then it could be a problem. But they asked you to interview. I would assume that at this point, your academic record is not what is in question any longer. Just don't play the blame game and you should be fine.

I agree. Now the question is, do they want you to blame yourself (ie "I didn't study hard enough," "I took too many classes at once," etc), or do they want you to say that you're happy with the grade you got and that you think you did well?

My guess is, say you're happy with the grade you got and your understanding of the material. If they push it, say that if you were to take it again you would do X and Y to earn a better grade. That way it shows that you realize you're human but that you learn from the past.

 

[Spin]

Well, if you only had 3 of them (judging from your MDApps) the interviewer might have just been curious as to what made those 3 classes that much more difficult for you than the rest of your classes. I definitely don't think the interviewer was coming down on you for them, probably just curious.

Oh, true. I hadn't thought of that.

 

[malicious1116]

Was it Drexel? When I was there one of the other interviewees said her faculty interviewer did the same thing. My interviewer picked my transcript apart asking why I dropped so many classes. It caught me off guard because I dont think I dropped that many and none were science classes.