How best to answer these questions??

[skatertudoroga]

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Say you are asked these questions on the interview?
1)Why did you not get in last cycle? Did you have any interviews?
-I feel that "i ****ed up on the interviews" will only give them another reason to reject me again. It needs to be something subtle. I.e. saying "I have weak interpersonal communications skills" is basically saying "please reject me". So what is a good way of saying this?

2) Have you applied to our school before? Why not?
-So why did I not apply there last year??

3) Do you have any other interviews this cycle?
-it seems that if i say yes they might think i might get accepted elsewhere and choose not to come. they are one of those schools where a lot of out-of-state students choose not to matriculate and it makes quite a difference in post-interview selection. and if i say no they might think since no other school offered me an interview it was a mistake for them to offer me an interview... Also is this the type of answer where you just say "yes/no" or are you supposed to add a couple of sentences to make some point?

 

[LRAccord624]

1) Why didn't you get in last cycle? Did you have any interviews?

- "I did have a couple of interviews last cycle. Upon being rejected from those schools, I contacted them (hopefully you did) in order to get some insight on the major shortcomings of my application. I have used these last few months to better myself both as an applicant and as a hopeful future physician; for example...."

2) Have you applied to our school before? Why not?

- "I think that one of the major problems with my application last year was that I didn't spend the time researching the schools that I applied to. (Give a justification for why you applied to the schools you did- geographic range, cost, etc). This cycle, however, I really spent a lot of time and effort researching as many schools as possible. I narrowed down my choices based on (price, geographic range, etc, and most importantly, how well I felt I could mesh with the program). This is why I chose to apply to your school this year- such and such aspects of your goals/mission statement are very appealing to me because I am interested in/have experience doing..."

3) Do you have any other interviews this cycle?

-"Yes, I do have other interviews. I was especially excited to be invited to this school. I am interested in coming here because... (same line of reasoning as above)."

 

[LRAccord624]

Or, "not yet, but I'm still waiting to hear from a few schools. While the application process is stressful, it's irrelevant today. I'm just excited to be here, get to know you and the school, and show you what I have to offer the program."

 

[Myuu]

Or, "not yet, but I'm still waiting to hear from a few schools. While the application process is stressful, it's irrelevant today. I'm just excited to be here, get to know you and the school, and show you what I have to offer the program."

I would strike the line about stress, actually.

 

[LRAccord624]

Yeah good point.

 

[Avoidthetiger]

Does the school know you are a re-applicant? It doesn't state it on your AMCAS, so unless you mentioned it in your personal statement, addressed it someone on your secondary, or applied there before -- they don't know. If they don't know, I would try to avoid the whole "I've applied before" convo.

other than that, I like LRAccord624's answers.

 

[skatertudoroga]

1) Why didn't you get in last cycle? Did you have any interviews?

- "I did have a couple of interviews last cycle. Upon being rejected from those schools, I contacted them (hopefully you did) in order to get some insight on the major shortcomings of my application. I have used these last few months to better myself both as an applicant and as a hopeful future physician; for example...."

2) Have you applied to our school before? Why not?

- "I think that one of the major problems with my application last year was that I didn't spend the time researching the schools that I applied to. (Give a justification for why you applied to the schools you did- geographic range, cost, etc). This cycle, however, I really spent a lot of time and effort researching as many schools as possible. I narrowed down my choices based on (price, geographic range, etc, and most importantly, how well I felt I could mesh with the program). This is why I chose to apply to your school this year- such and such aspects of your goals/mission statement are very appealing to me because I am interested in/have experience doing..."

3) Do you have any other interviews this cycle?

-"Yes, I do have other interviews. I was especially excited to be invited to this school. I am interested in coming here because... (same line of reasoning as above)."

Wow thank you! Just one question for #1 what if they really stress "so why did they reject you?" Is there a way to say that I performed poorly on my interviews without sabotaging my application once again or is there a way to somehow deflect that question? If I tell them this year "Last year I did not know how to answer a question "what qualities should a physician have?" i really have no excuse why i did not... maybe if instead i say that i knew how to answer all the questions but i had terrible anxiety and i am working on that it might sound better? Of course no matter what I will be using your model response which avoids this negativity unless they ask a followup question of "why?". Also if they ask me what is my weakness is it ok to say "anxiety but working on it in ways blabla" or is it imperative to make as much effort as possible to avoid answering the question?

 

[fizzgig]

yeah don't go down a long road of negativity. you don't absolutely know 100% why they rejected you so don't feel you have to give a 5minute concrete answer about all the 10 ways from sunday that you're awful or anything. you can say that it's difficult to know with certainty but you think maybe you needed to take more time to compose your answers to ensure you were communicating clearly. i think it's ok to say because you were nervous, kind of in passing, but you need to not freak out about saying that to them (meaning, be calm in contrast to the time you're describing... i'd think of it as kind of laughingly/sheepishly describing how i fell on my face that one time to someone. it's embarrassing but i'm telling you about it, and we both know it doesn't reflect on me as a person - i'm not worried about it now.. kwim?).

 

[skatertudoroga]

yeah don't go down a long road of negativity. you don't absolutely know 100% why they rejected you so don't feel you have to give a 5minute concrete answer about all the 10 ways from sunday that you're awful or anything. you can say that it's difficult to know with certainty but you think maybe you needed to take more time to compose your answers to ensure you were communicating clearly. i think it's ok to say because you were nervous, kind of in passing, but you need to not freak out about saying that to them (meaning, be calm in contrast to the time you're describing... i'd think of it as kind of laughingly/sheepishly describing how i fell on my face that one time to someone. it's embarrassing but i'm telling you about it, and we both know it doesn't reflect on me as a person - i'm not worried about it now.. kwim?).

Thank you!
You guys are great! I've been agonizing over these questions for months. Now I have some hope!