Feel like I screwed my interview at Albert Einstein this week..but

[theDr.]

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hey guys,
I definitely feel like I stumbled through the gates this week at my Albert Einstein, but it did seem to improve as the interview progressed. However, I don't know what to think. How can you tell his the interview liked you or not...no idea...I LOVED the school and now I feel like I blew it. My mcat is much lower than their average mcat..but i still interviewed...but now who the hell knows....any thoughts?

 

[Alexander99]

What specifically do you think went wrong with the interview? I applied to Einstein and am curious about how a number of people have said their interviews went badly. In the end, I'll just be ready for anything they throw at me but it's still good to get a heads up.

 

[theDr.]

for instance, my interviewer kept asking how I would improve the health care system...like 3 times..he wanted specific details...i guess because im currently in a MPH program...but i don't have a magic solution...i gave some specific areas we can work on...but i don't know. And my initial question "what do you want to do with your life" kind of through me off...its just such a broad question i didn't know where to begin. I have just don't know...

 

[theDr.]

Also,
I hated the fact the he took a few minutes before the interview to read over my application...not a very relaxing thing

 

[Alexander99]

Thanks for the info. Was this your first interview? It sounds like you just had the jitters. The interviewer should have read your file beforehand but what can you do? I'm sure your other ones will go better. Good luck.

 

[kwanny]

Yeah, stuff like that happens all the time. I think it's just a matter of keeping your cool and answering the question calmly and eloquently (as if you had thought about it before). 🙂

My interviews haven't been so hot either. For example, my interviewer at AE came an hour late... but the worst part of it was that she caught me while I was dozing off and when I had inadvertently had taken my shoes off (exposing my socks with holes in them). Oh well... 🙄

 

[jlee9531]

i guess he asked so many times because he wanted to see your depth of knowledge in the subject.

even the worst interviews gain acceptances. who knows if they are just putting up a front or if that is how they really are. ya never know until you get that letter.

 

[Rendar5]

AE won't care too much about your MCAT. They are big on bringing people they like, not necessarily people with the 4.0's and 45's.

 

[Bernd]

Einstein really likes to know when people like them, because they lose a lot of applicants to other New York and East Coast schools. In fact, last year they sent out an email to the waitlisters asking them if they were still interested or not before they started pulling people from the list. If you really feel like they're your first choice, it's never too early to send a letter expressing your interest and/or intent. It won't make up for a bad interview if it did indeed go poorly, but chances are your interviewer was also wondering if you liked Einstein enough to go there if accepted.

 

[theDr.]

what exactly is a poor interview. Mumbling, can't answer correctly...etc. I did kind of trip up over my words at the beginning...but it got better as it went along..

 

[Adapt]

theDr.,
I will give you my advice but it may be harsh and you can take it or not.

First, as I have seen in another of your posts, your MCAT is a 25. Thus, as lucky as you are to even get MD interviews, you really have to impress them in order for you to be accepted. That is, you can't just have so so interviews.

I would say a bad interview is being overly nervous. This is understandable because your stats are significantly lower than the competition so there is so much pressure to excel. I felt this way at the beginning of my interviewing process even with my 29 MCAT.

My first interview was at Temple and I was overly nervous, stumbled over my words at times, but it did get better as it went along. In the end, I was pleasantly surprised to be accepted when I was counting on a waitlist. There were other interviews such as my MCW one which I thought went 10 times better but I was waitlisted.

The point is it is correct to say you never know. However, I am almost certain that with your MCAT score YOU NEED to have an awesome interview to get in.

With that said, I IMPLORE YOU to look into applying to DO schools. If you really wanted to be a doctor you would. Even with that score it would still be difficult to be accepted to a DO school with a decent interview. So, in other words, do not kid yourself. Since it seems that you cannot sell yourself that well, either you retake the MCAT and score higher, or you apply to DO schools as well.

I do not mean to be harsh, bu I'm just giving you a dose of reality. Of course all of this is assuming you are not a URM.

 

[theDr.]

if I was such a poor applicant...why give me an interview?

 

[Kashue]

Originally posted by Slickness
theDr.,
I will give you my advice but it may be harsh and you can take it or not.

First, as I have seen in another of your posts, your MCAT is a 25. Thus, as lucky as you are to even get MD interviews, you really have to impress them in order for you to be accepted. That is, you can't just have so so interviews.

I would say a bad interview is being overly nervous. This is understandable because your stats are significantly lower than the competition so there is so much pressure to excel. I felt this way at the beginning of my interviewing process even with my 29 MCAT.

My first interview was at Temple and I was overly nervous, stumbled over my words at times, but it did get better as it went along. In the end, I was pleasantly surprised to be accepted when I was counting on a waitlist. There were other interviews such as my MCW one which I thought went 10 times better but I was waitlisted.

The point is it is correct to say you never know. However, I am almost certain that with your MCAT score YOU NEED to have an awesome interview to get in.

With that said, I IMPLORE YOU to look into applying to DO schools. If you really wanted to be a doctor you would. Even with that score it would still be difficult to be accepted to a DO school with a decent interview. So, in other words, do not kid yourself. Since it seems that you cannot sell yourself that well, either you retake the MCAT and score higher, or you apply to DO schools as well.

I do not mean to be harsh, bu I'm just giving you a dose of reality. Of course all of this is assuming you are not a URM.

ouch..

theDr, I seriously think you need to chill out bro. You spam this board way too much. Dude, just write a letter of intent to Einstein and tell them you'll attend if accepted. Make sure you include what a great school they are and what you like about them and how you'll fit in.

 

[SarahGM]

theDr.--

At Einstein, I'm almost certain that EVERY interviewer reads the packet of information about the interviewee immediately before the interview. i was given my envelope of documents and told NOT to open it, but to give it to my interviewer upon arriving at my interview site. the way i was instructed to do so, it seemed like this was common protocol. and, what's more, i had to sit there in the same room as my interviewer read my information-- right in front of me!!

all in all, AECOM was probably the interview that i feel went the worst for me. hang in there!

 

[kito]

I loved Einstein. Everybody is so very nice up there. 😍

 

[theDr.]

yeah, the practice of reading your file right in front of you is not the best, in my eyes.

 

[Adapt]

Originally posted by theDr.
if I was such a poor applicant...why give me an interview?

Who knows but you know that the AE inteview will probably be one of your only interviews if not your only one.

People, don't give theDr. false hope. I know everyone is trying to be nice but we all have to be realistic. You may just be waiting for a big let down. You were the one that posted if you could get into Columbia with a 25 MCAT right?

Some people don't even get into any MD schools with above 30 MCATs.

 

[Kashue]

Originally posted by Slickness
Who knows but you know that the AE inteview will probably be one of your only interviews if not your only one.

People, don't give theDr. false hope. I know everyone is trying to be nice but we all have to be realistic. You may just be waiting for a big let down. You were the one that posted if you could get into Columbia with a 25 MCAT right?

Some people don't even get into any MD schools with above 30 MCATs.

A non-URM got into Columbia with a 26 MCAT:

http://www.mdapplicants.com/viewprofile.php?id=484

So anything is possible with this crazy process.
But it is definately going to be an uphill process for you theDr., but worst comes to worst, just take the MCAT again and do well.

 

[calebho501]

Originally posted by Kashue
A non-URM got into Columbia with a 26 MCAT:

http://www.mdapplicants.com/viewprofile.php?id=484

So anything is possible with this crazy process.
But it is definately going to be an uphill process for you theDr., but worst comes to worst, just take the MCAT again and do well.

Wow this girl only got into one school but it's a great school!

I have read a post by an international applicant who only got 3 interviews, and got accepted into 2 -- Tulane and Columbia. Obviously he chose Columbia. So I think Columbia does have very interesting way of selecting applicants.

 

[krevelli]

Just to encourage you (and others who feel they didn't interview well)... My best friend was certain that "if only" she could get to the interview stage, she'd be ok and that the admissions committee would see through her grades and realize through divine inspiration that she was meant to live her life in a white coat.

So she comes back from the interview and all she says is "It was short." She apparently spent the entire night afterwards crying and thinking "that was my very, very last shot at medicine." She was asked "What do you think about [some controversial topic]?" She gave her most educated, confident answer when the interviewer goes "Well, I guess we're all entitled to our own opinions..."

Then there's a series of short question-and-answer dialogues, none of which leave her feeling that they got the answer they were looking for. Then she asks towards the end of the interview if her master's degree in biomedicine would allow her advanced standing in any of the medical courses. The guy looks at her and goes "You should check the other schools you're applying to, because we don't have that system here."

Two months later (this was in the UK), she calls me with the announcement that she got an unconditional offer from one of the top medical programs in Britain. So go figure!

 

[krevelli]

Just to encourage you (and others who feel they didn't interview well)... My best friend was certain that "if only" she could get to the interview stage, she'd be ok and that the admissions committee would see through her grades and realize through divine inspiration that she was meant to live her life in a white coat.

So she comes back from the interview and all she says is "It was short." She apparently spent the entire night afterwards crying and thinking "that was my very, very last shot at medicine." She was asked "What do you think about [some controversial topic]?" She gave her most educated, confident answer when the interviewer goes "Well, I guess we're all entitled to our own opinions..."

Then there's a series of short question-and-answer dialogues, none of which leave her feeling that they got the answer they were looking for. Then she asks towards the end of the interview if her master's degree in biomedicine would allow her advanced standing in any of the medical courses. The guy looks at her and goes "You should check the other schools you're applying to, because we don't have that system here."

Two months later (this was in the UK), she calls me with the announcement that she got an unconditional offer from one of the top medical programs in Britain. So go figure!

 

[exigente chica]

nice tips orbital..thanx