Harvard Interview - Weird

[mcshow2]

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Audio,

I do see your side. While I can't say I have been in your shoes I do try and understand. I bet you looked more into it than your interviewer and I am sure you did fine.

Good luck, and I bet you probably got in.

 

[fearishmv]

yeah, the above is sort of the stereotypical view of SOME Americans. So would you agree that if this guy was interviewing me, then I'd basically be screwed as a person of Iranian decent? Thankfully, I agree with most of you guys that a Harvard professor would have to be rational and a lot less ignorant than this 👍

there you go thinking again audio. isn't that what got you in trouble in the first place?

 

[fightingspirit]

..

 

[Audio]

guys................stop giving harvard and its faculty more than they deserve. audio and other SDNers, you really are sounding a bit pushy about your harvard mania.

Audio...now your fuss is about buffalo...eh ,,..lol.. i guess you wanna grab a bite from every good part of the american tart. poor canada...it keeps accepting those immigrants and then when the immigrants make it, they pursue aspirations in the states as opposed to giving back to canada..... ...oh also you sound like those who play the poor victim to get in.....



Audio, you are all over american resources (private and public). not once did we hear you pursuing canadian schools....poor canada

use some canadian tax money to clone yourself twice. you'll get 2 more audios. let one get into harvard. the other into buffalo, then you can stay at penn.... then when you graduate, let the clones be gprs for a few years, then poison them, and you'll have their money. no one would suspect cus they are technically you. that way you can fulfill your greed.

dude, you're crazy Why would I blab on about Canadian schools on an American board? Believe me, I'm also in the process of applying to Canadian schools, they just let us know about interviews wayyyyyy later 😀

I also have every intention of living in Canada once I graduate (if I attend an American school). So don't you worry your pretty head, once I steal American education (by paying $300,000 🙄 ) I'll gladly move back up to Canada - the greatest country in the world 😀

Also, I have great stats, great ECs, great LORs, 😍 etc I don't need to play a victim to get in .

As for the schools I've applied to, anyone who knows me from this board knows that from day 1, Buffalo was my top choice. Secondly, I think Penn probably has a better overall dental program than Harvard but I'd rather go to Harvard because it's cheaper than Penn. So I hope there really is no more confusion.

Listen fightingspirit, I know you haven't gotten in a believe me, I understand you can get stressed, esp. this late in the process. Good luck on getting in. You just need to chill out though. It's not worth all this stress.

 

[v&andy_yankee]

guys................stop giving harvard and its faculty more than they deserve. audio and other SDNers, you really are sounding a bit pushy about your harvard mania.

i'm not saying that just because a person represents hah-vard, it's impossible for that person to be a bigot. what i'm saying is that there's a less likelihood that person would be, compared to the averagejoe who lives in a cowtown that is all picket-fence white.

 

[fightingspirit]

..

 

[docnimster]

my vote: you're overreacting

the guy was just trying to find something interesting about your application--something that is different about you and sets you apart from all the other gazillion kids he's already interviewed. part of him was probably curious too, he wants to hear a first-person view of what <insert country/region here> is like. give the poor guy a break.

people are just too damn PC nowadays. sometimes, there is no race/ethnicity/sexual differences/blahblah at play--sometimes, it's just a plain, harmless question.


some americans may have that view, but i HIGHLY doubt that someone who is conducting interviews (therefore, educated, has a wide view of the world and has met people of many different backgrounds) would hold that view. the people you have described, the people who truly fear foreigners, etc--those are usually the people who live in cowtown and have little contact (if ever) with foreigners. this guy was just curious and trying to find something unique about your application.

It may be true that Audio may be reading too much into it, but at the same time my vandy yankee friend, don't assume that a person in a position of power on the adcom commitee who is "educated" is not racist. I, as a persian-american (who came to this country during the hostage crisis nonetheless) have experienced some very ignorant and racist comments and attitudes from people in high intellectual standing. It's not just the country "hillbillies." Racism is a disease that pervades society at all levels.

My father is a dentist, and when we came to this country during that time no school would accept him as an international applicant. One official in a certain univeristy in particular staright up told him that they don't want Iranians there!

It's impossible for you to understand what it is to be villified by the society you live in. I assume you haven't had the same experience, and as a result, you will never truly understand what it means to be in our position. I'm not saying you're not a open-minded person, on the contrary, you seem to be a very educated and aware. It's just your experience is very different form ours, and you cannot understand our sensitivities.

 

[isurus22]

harvard medicine = outstanding
harvard dentistry = overrated
dental dl = always correct

The Dental students are part of the medical curriculum for the first two years. What does that do to the formula?

 

[armorshell]

zombieeeeeee threeeeeead

 

[fancymylotus]

i love it when smrt-ies bump threads up that are a year+ old. sheeeeeeeesh🙄

 

[dentwannabe]

If you think thats stepping over the line...

At my interview the woman asked me about what I thought about Pakistan... (I was born there, lived there less than 2 months old). She then asked me how I felt about women wearing the burqa and I think I got my tongue tied answering that question.

Afterward I kept thinking if it was appropriate of her to ask these questions given the islamophobic climate these days.

 

[fancymylotus]

If you think thats stepping over the line...

At my interview the woman asked me about what I thought about Pakistan... (I was born there, lived there less than 2 months old). She then asked me how I felt about women wearing the burqa and I think I got my tongue tied answering that question.

Afterward I kept thinking if it was appropriate of her to ask these questions given the islamophobic climate these days.

sounds like she was just being curious

 

[SundevilDMD]

Well being an iranian myself, I too was put in the same situations at my interviews. But instead of focusing on the negatives that may have been brought up about my country, I tended to focus on the positives. And the interviewers all seemed to be to me, very intentive to what I was saying and enjoyed listening. Audio, I know that situation may have been tough man, but it happens all the time, its what you make of it. Dont let it be a negative, plus I guarantee you there have been many iranians who have graduated from that school, so its not like they have anything against them. but anyways good luck man.

 

[KOM]

Dude(fighting spirit)...wat ur saying is exactly true...i coudnt have said it better myself! Im glad there are right minded, educated people like you defending wats right.

I concur.

 

[dentwannabe]

sounds like she was just being curious

do you ask strangers how they feel about the burqa? btw, it wasn't objective she also went on to criticize the culture. I was criticizing the backwardness too, but like i said i got my tongue tied and i hope i didn't look bad.

the other guy asked me about pakistan, he was just much more nice, and relaxed about it. i never had it asked in an interview before, i was just surprised, is all.

 

[fancymylotus]

do you ask strangers how they feel about the burqa? btw, it wasn't objective she also went on to criticize the culture. I was criticizing the backwardness too, but like i said i got my tongue tied and i hope i didn't look bad.

the other guy asked me about pakistan, he was just much more nice, and relaxed about it. i never had it asked in an interview before, i was just surprised, is all.

all my interviews have wanted to talk about india and issues that are going on there now as well as stereotypes and such. i dont think it was such a big deal, more like they were trying to see if i 1) was aware of things going on around me besides my books, and 2) to get the perspective of the situation from someone from that area of the world. its called h-o-l-d-i-n-g a c-o-n-v-e-r-s-a-t-i-o-n.

PS: why is your interviewer asking you about the burqa such a big deal? yeah,theyre a stranger,but its not like they asked you to divulge your deepest,darkest,secret. it seemed like an honest question.


just my $0.02