How do you avoid sounding super rehearsed for interviews? + other interview questions I have.

[savithramma]

At one school I got rejected for sounding too rehearsed in my interview. Basically I did a large number of mock interviews, made flashcards for my answers and reviewed them daily, and practice constantly. In this one interview, the person interviewing me asked me every single question I had prepared for with no surprises ("why medicine?", "why this school?", "what if you get rejected from medical school?"). The result was a rejection because I went monotone since I had complete script, and they said I lacked inflection (I'd dispute the latter, but I was like a professor who had given the same lecture for 20 years). How could I avoid this in the future?

I ditched the flashcards and practicing every day, and only did a few more mock interviews with different people from before with more varied questions. It still bothers me a bit that being over-prepared looked bad, because I put a lot of effort into learning my answers, and was very in-depth about specific opportunities available at this school including how I'd make use of them and how they connect to my interests. It also gets harder and harder not to be over-prepared as I attend more interviews (I think that one was my fifth) and there's a fine-line between being prepared enough and over-prepared.

I also have some other questions:
How do you best handle acting scenarios in MMIs? I avoid over-preparing for them, so I don't come across as flat. I always find ways to put things about wanting to help the person and offering to work with them. In some of these MMIs acting scenarios I just end up at a dead end where the person just basically says "No, I don't want that" or "I don't care" like in a case where I had to convince someone to stop eating poorly. What could I do when I hit a dead end like that?

Finally for other MMI scenarios like where I have to work with another interviewee in a team exercise, what's the general strategy? For example, if I'm given a drawing that only I can see and have to give the other person instructions on how to draw it. Schools usually give us really wonky and confusing stuff that's hard to explain for these scenarios, so I think the key is to be patient, calm, and maybe even ask the other person's learning style. If I'm the person having to do the drawing I'd explain every step I take to draw, and ask about it in different ways if I don't understand.

Perhaps it'd help better if I knew how MMI scenarios and other interview scenarios were evaluated by schools. Is it more about the quality of your answers or ability to articulate yourself, engage in eye-contact, and other non-verbal communication?

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[godawg300]

Memorize interview answers on flash cards!? What the hell. I just thought about the questions and practiced them out loud once or twice. It should come naturally. You shouldn't memorize your answers.

 

[savithramma]

Memorize interview answers on flash cards!? What the hell. I just thought about the questions and practiced them out loud once or twice. It should come naturally. You shouldn't memorize your answers.

There was a lot I had to say and I viewed interviews as a competition in terms of quality of answers. I prepared flashcards to make sure I hit all my key-points just like one would do when studying for a test or for a powerpoint presentation. My perspective was a bad perspective to have though. You're definitely right about that.

 

[godawg300]

There was a lot I had to say and I viewed interviews as a competition in terms of quality of answers. I prepared flashcards to make sure I hit all my key-points just like one would do when studying for a test or for a powerpoint presentation. My perspective was a bad perspective to have though. You're definitely right about that.

Nope. It's not a competition in terms of quality of answers. After doing 20 real interviews and doing well (multiple acceptances, no rejections or wl), I can tell you it's not. It's not like taking an exam where you want to write down all the key points. You tell a story, be engaged, be enthusiastic about your experience and answers. It's not about coming up with the best answer but having the interviewer leave with the impression that you would be a great fit for their school.

 

[NickNaylor]

There was a lot I had to say and I viewed interviews as a competition in terms of quality of answers. I prepared flashcards to make sure I hit all my key-points just like one would do when studying for a test or for a powerpoint presentation. My perspective was a bad perspective to have though. You're definitely right about that.

This is why you sounded super rehearsed.

 

[ridethecliche]

This is why you sounded super rehearsed.

I think rehearsing is fine, but I'd honestly think that you probably came off as sounding like you were in a debate because of how competitive you made this out to be.

 

[savithramma]

I think rehearsing is fine, but I'd honestly think that you probably came off as sounding like you were in a debate because of how competitive you made this out to be.

I can see that more so. I was surprised that they said I was monotone/robotic because I'm not usually that way, and am very expressive. The feedback really threw me off.

 

[MrLogan13]

Preparing is good, but over rehearsing the way you did makes your answers sound non-genuine and fake. There needs to be room for spontaneity and for your personality to show. No one wants a robot.

 

[JPA178]

Flash cards? No wonder your answers sounded rehearsed. Talk to people you know (informally) about what you've done and why you want to be a doctor. Don't memorize anything. Gain that fluency from communicating, not from memorizing. Write down a list of questions you have about the school/for your interviewer and take it with you. That's all you should do. It's what I did and it worked for me.

 

[sunflower18]

Although I did research about the school and knew my application well, I really approached my interviews just as a conversation -- an opportunity for me to get a few of my questions answered while sharing my passion for a career as a physician. I was worried that I would come across as too intense (in an enthusiastic, cheerful, excited way -- not a stern way), but I decided to not filter my emotions and just be genuinely myself because ultimately I want to end up at a school that likes me, not a super rehearsed or toned down version of me. I'm not sure if that was the absolute best possible strategy, but I feel confident in the way that I performed and pleased that I stayed true to myself.

 

[singergirl18]

I reviewed my apps and delved into lots of research about each school. I basically convinced myself that each school was number one choice the night before each interview, and I conveyed my enthusiasm about each school. I did minimal (but definitely some) verbal practicing of answers. On the day of, I was MYSELF. The interviews have seemed easy so far, because I told the truth and my real perspectives instead of what I thought they wanted to hear. Your interviewers want to get to know you and assess if you are a good "fit". Rehearsed answers that seem forced prevent them from doing so.

(I have a 100% post-interview acceptance rate so far (3/3) and am waiting on a few more schools. I think this strategy works very well for me.)

 

[Goro]

This is really, really simple.

Just speak from the heart.

I also have some other questions:
How do you best handle acting scenarios in MMIs? I avoid over-preparing for them, so I don't come across as flat. I always find ways to put things about wanting to help the person and offering to work with them. In some of these MMIs acting scenarios I just end up at a dead end where the person just basically says "No, I don't want that" or "I don't care" like in a case where I had to convince someone to stop eating poorly. What could I do when I hit a dead end like that?

 

[ConfusedChemist]

Nope. It's not a competition in terms of quality of answers. After doing 20 real interviews and doing well (multiple acceptances, no rejections or wl), I can tell you it's not. It's not like taking an exam where you want to write down all the key points. You tell a story, be engaged, be enthusiastic about your experience and answers. It's not about coming up with the best answer but having the interviewer leave with the impression that you would be a great fit for their school.

for an MMI, it's you last sentence
how you say it is>what you say for acting stations, team stations, scenarios, etc.
I feel like you've spent so much time preparing that when you're getting to the interviews you're at a greater risk of answering the wrong question (i.e. with a similar prepared response without even noticing) than not having anything to say

 

[ConfusedChemist]

for an MMI, it's you last sentence
how you say it is>what you say for acting stations, team stations, scenarios, etc.
I feel like you've spent so much time preparing that when you're getting to the interviews you're at a greater risk of answering the wrong question (i.e. with a similar prepared response without even noticing) than not having anything to say

that was meant to be a reply to the original, sorry about that..

 

[swindoll]

You rehearse not sounding super rehearsed.

 

[pink/\floyd]

Preparation for me was making 3-4 bullet points (mentally, not on flash cards!) about the things I wanted to convey during the interview. You want to have a conversation with your interviewer. This is no viva voce. And like Goro said, just "speak from your heart".

 

[Rando73493]

You sounded super rehearsed because you were super rehearsed.
I prepared for interviews by doing one mock interview just to get comfortable with being interviewed. Otherwise I made sure I had thoroughly thought through two questions before walking into the room, why medicine and why this school?
Other than that I found it helpful to have a few stories/personal experiences fresh in my memory that I could call upon as examples for more abstract questions or questions like tell me about a time when you encountered X.
That's it. The rest is just being yourself, I echo "speak from your heart." Interviewers want to have a conversation with you and see that you are personable. They don't want to hear someone speak like an answer-regurgitating robot. In fact, I really feel that often your actual answers matter less than the overall impression you leave on the interviewer.

 

[NickNaylor]

I agree with @Rando73493. Review your application and make sure that you're familiar with everything that's on there. If you want to prepare, I'd recommend printing out your AMCAS app and jotting a few (2-4) points about each of your activities that you want to make sure you mention if you're asked about that activity. Know the general ideas of basic questions: why this medical school, why do you want to be a physician, tell me about a time you had a challenge/difficulty, etc. but don't actually rehearse the answers. Towards the end of the interview season - after you've said these things multiple times - you might have to "act" a bit in terms of making sure your answers sound just as fresh and enthusiastic as the first time you said them.

Approaching interviews as a script that needs to be followed is a very, very bad idea. Trust me, as an interviewer it's painfully obvious that rehearsed answers have been rehearsed. As an adcom, whenever I see comments like "sounded rehearsed," I immediately think "gunner." Being rehearsed isn't going to do you any good.

 

[PantherPride]

A majority of my interviews have been very conversational. Yeah, you should get some of the common questions, but if you are sincere and knowledgeable about why you've chosen to pursue medicine and what activities you've done throughout college, you shouldn't have any trouble just speaking about it on the spot.

 

[Pacna]

Honestly, when I ask a question in an interview, I either just made that up because I'm curious, have used it before because I care, or am required to ask it (because it matters to the school).

My tip: Really listen to the question, and don't answer the question you want to be asked. Take a second to square yourself up against the prompt. Think of it like an essay question on an exam. If you just answer one part of it, you'll be lucky to get partial credit.

To not sound super harsh: I usually followup with trying to draw out what I want answered if someone dodges/misses the question, but sometimes even then they don't really reply to me. They're too busy listening to their own rehearsed comfort zone. How can we expect you to truly listen to patients if you can't even listen to a person who wants you to tell them about yourself? Just show us that personality you sold us on in your written application.

 

[Ace Khalifa]

I agree with all the above statements about speaking from the heart and having general ideas about what you wanna say. There is no reason you need to over prepare for an interview by rehearsing your answers. For example, for my interview earlier today, I didn't verbally practice at all this time. The result? I was still able to give honest, coherent answers (and my interviewers mostly asked me stuff that I had not prepared an answer for in the first place). As a physician, you will have to abandon the script a lot if you really want to help your patients. I see this in the ED all the time; every patient that comes in is different with a different story to tell. You can't go off an existing script and expect to listen to the patient fully; you might miss an important detail and possibly choose the wrong DDx. And if a patient comes in with something you've never seen before? Scripts are entirely useless in this situation. Stop treating the interview like an undergrad exam you can memorize and regurgitate for because that's not the purpose of an interview. The purpose is to assess your communication skills, judge your ability to think on the spot, and see if you're a nice, genuine person who can fit well with the school's mission and students.

 

[Lysinee]

I answered my questions in bullet form and just memorized the main things I had to say. I would review the bullets the night before. I would also have a few pauses during my answer to show that I am thinking and not just saying the ready made answer. Also, memorize your AMCAS application since you don't want to be contradicting yourself on interview day.