How much to weight the interviewers?

[laconfidential]

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I recently interviewed at a program where my interviewer said to me that he "didn't really work with the residents" and he "probably couldn't answer any questions." It seemed really odd that they had this guy interviewing prospective residents when he knew so little about the program.

My question is, how much does this matter? Is it a bad reflection on the place that they can't even find interviewers who are familiar with the residency? FWIW this was a well-known university program, not some place in the boonies.

 

[CanIMakeIt]

I recently interviewed at a program where my interviewer said to me that he "didn't really work with the residents" and he "probably couldn't answer any questions." It seemed really odd that they had this guy interviewing prospective residents when he knew so little about the program.

My question is, how much does this matter? Is it a bad reflection on the place that they can't even find interviewers who are familiar with the residency? FWIW this was a well-known university program, not some place in the boonies.

Interview generally doesn't move people too much up or down on the final list. Positive remark has little impact (as that is expected) whereas a negative remark could make a huge difference. It is always a challenge to find interviewers because not everyone is available at a given date, so sometime programs have to scramble - it's just logistics - large programs interview about 500 candidates and not everyone is enthusiastic about interviewing 3/week or interviewing every week. I wouldn't pay much attention to it.

 

[C5toC9]

It's a bit unsettling to go through this expensive process with travel and interviewing to know that programs almost have their rank list completed before you step in their door.

 

[HoldTheCoffee]

Yeah seriously. I guess the only thing the interview can really do is hurt you if you act like a ***** or if it's abundantly clear that you have zero interest. Oh well. I suppose it's hard to expect otherwise-- it's hard to let a few 30 minute interviews trump years worth of work.

 

[twright]

At our program, we have a preliminary sense for where you would be ranked and the function of the interview is (a) to see if you could move up a few notches, or (b) to screen out troublemakers, weird people, etc.

This may be institution dependent, but in my experience and in my conversations with colleagues at other top programs, this approach seems to be common.

At the Brigham and Women's medicine program, for example, interviewers are instructed to evaluate an applicant based on XYZ 'objective' criteria (i.e., what is on paper). A good interview is only permitted to nudge you up a little. It is explicitly stated that, while a positive interview can exert a positive influence on the interviewer's evaluation, it should not exert an undue positive influence. When it comes to committee deliberations about ranks, they flash your picture up on the screen, and then people go to town on you. Anything weird, anything petty, etc. and you lose substantive ground in the preliminary ranks. Anything red-flaggy and you are pretty much done.

 

[maleus]

At our program, we have a preliminary sense for where you would be ranked and the function of the interview is (a) to see if you could move up a few notches, or (b) to screen out troublemakers, weird people, etc.

This may be institution dependent, but in my experience and in my conversations with colleagues at other top programs, this approach seems to be common.

At the Brigham and Women's medicine program, for example, interviewers are instructed to evaluate an applicant based on XYZ 'objective' criteria (i.e., what is on paper). A good interview is only permitted to nudge you up a little. It is explicitly stated that, while a positive interview can exert a positive influence on the interviewer's evaluation, it should not exert an undue positive influence. When it comes to committee deliberations about ranks, they flash your picture up on the screen, and then people go to town on you. Anything weird, anything petty, etc. and you lose substantive ground in the preliminary ranks. Anything red-flaggy and you are pretty much done.

This seems reasonable, but my question is what happens when the two interviewers disagree? So in my situation, I was interviewing at one of my top choices which I am competitive for (I'm guessing pre-interview I would probably be ranked pretty high), my first interview went amazingly, possibly the best interview I've ever had. The second interview was really very cold and ended early (the interviewer basically preempted my asking any more questions and just stood up after a half ass answer on my previous question while I was mid sentence obviously trying to think up anther one). While he made a reassuring comment as we walked out I had a pretty bad feeling about it overall. So my question is, if the second interview went as badly as I felt it did, would that tank my application regardless of how well the first interview went? Also I got along amazingly with all the residents, do they have any input?

 

[twright]

This seems reasonable, but my question is what happens when the two interviewers disagree? So in my situation, I was interviewing at one of my top choices which I am competitive for (I'm guessing pre-interview I would probably be ranked pretty high), my first interview went amazingly, possibly the best interview I've ever had. The second interview was really very cold and ended early (the interviewer basically preempted my asking any more questions and just stood up after a half ass answer on my previous question while I was mid sentence obviously trying to think up anther one). While he made a reassuring comment as we walked out I had a pretty bad feeling about it overall. So my question is, if the second interview went as badly as I felt it did, would that tank my application regardless of how well the first interview went? Also I got along amazingly with all the residents, do they have any input?

Probably varies from program to program but likely parallels the interview weighting in that the feedback can help you a little or hurt you a lot. At our program, resident input can (a) bump you up a few notches, or (b) get you DNR'd/do not rank (e.g., anything weird, anything petty, anything red-flaggy, etc).

If the feedback is widely disparate (e.g., glowing letters, great numbers, mostly positive feedback from residents, thumbs up from the PD, but one attending had a really, really negative interaction) then we talk it out. If we can reason our way through what happened (e.g., "sounds like it was just an off interview") then we go with the mostly positive feedback. If we can't reason our way through it (e.g., "he spat on the program coordinator and called him a b*$#@") then your goose is cooked.

 

[maleus]

X

 

[darkelven29]

I've met several interviewers who cut the time short, mostly I think because they were impressed and had no more questions for me. Usually the ones they paired with research interest are also less familiar with the residency program so could not answer all my questions. So after 15-20 min. we really ran out of things to talk about. But usually they assure me during the interview, not really right after.

Anyways, interviewers are busy and have things to do, generally just affirm your interest/qualifications before you leave, and if they think you will be ranked highly, they won't spend too much time and will really be there to answer your questions or convince you that their location or institution is great (it's always one of the two). That's my 2 cents.

 

[wyme84]

I have been asked a number of times by some SoCal programs where else I am applying. Is that a legal question now?

 

[HoldTheCoffee]

I have been asked a number of times by some SoCal programs where else I am applying. Is that a legal question now?

I don't believe they're supposed to ask that.

Also I've had some similar experiences with people on this thread where my interview has essentially just started off with "Do you have any questions?" and with pretty much no actual interview. I wouldn't really read to much into it though, no idea if it's good or bad that the interview went like that or not.

 

[FrisbeeDocIM]

I have been asked a number of times by some SoCal programs where else I am applying. Is that a legal question now?

I've been asked this at a majority of the programs I've interviewed, but this may be due to the fact that I've been interviewing outside the region of my school & they want to gauge my interest in the area. I respond by naming the regions in which I'm applying, rather than naming schools, which usually suffices.

 

[gutonc]

I have been asked a number of times by some SoCal programs where else I am applying. Is that a legal question now?

Why would that be "illegal"? I mean, it's kind of a lame question but there's nothing inherently wrong with it.

 

[beavis84]

...

 

[HoldTheCoffee]

I was told by my advisors that they aren't supposed to ask about it. Usually, I get the feeling that my interviewers who do ask are just trying to be friendly/start conversation about what I'm looking for in a program and I haven't gotten the impression that there are any bad intentions involved.

 

[harate09]

Interviewers in 3 of the 5 places I interviewed asked me if I was interviewing in city A and city B. I am not sure if they were expecting me to name them but I just said yes. Then they told me (as if they were helping me out) that city B has lot more to offer me. It sounded like they wanted to write me off and not even give me a chance. I told them why I was considering them. I am not sure how convincing I was. I have few more serious interviews and will see what happens in March. It is very frustrating. Anyone experienced this ?

 

[coffeebeanjenn]

I feel like, based on the conversations I've had, that my interviewers are just being curious and nostalgic when they ask me where else I'm looking. It usually ties into a conversation about why they chose the program. They get starry eyed, remembering the interview trail of their youth, and ask just because it is something we all have in common. Just have an answer prepared that you're comfortable with. I tend toward a vague geographical response and I've been asked for more specifics only once.

I actually think it is kind of nice they ask. Sometimes awkward, but very human. I'd rather answer that question than describe a clinical case!

 

[saphireflame]

Interviewers in 3 of the 5 places I interviewed asked me if I was interviewing in city A and city B. I am not sure if they were expecting me to name them but I just said yes. Then they told me (as if they were helping me out) that city B has lot more to offer me. It sounded like they wanted to write me off and not even give me a chance. I told them why I was considering them. I am not sure how convincing I was. I have few more serious interviews and will see what happens in March. It is very frustrating. Anyone experienced this ?

i had a similar experience recently. this particular interviewer said a few times that my home institution must be trying to recruit me, why not stay? and then she proceeded to tell me about why program X is better than program Y for me (neither of which is the program i was interviewing at- which happens to be one of my top choices, if not THE top choice). i definitely left the interview feeling like they didn't really care to recruit me, but was instead trying to put me somewhere else... that's silly right?

 

[jarmen]

Interviewers in 3 of the 5 places I interviewed asked me if I was interviewing in city A and city B. I am not sure if they were expecting me to name them but I just said yes. Then they told me (as if they were helping me out) that city B has lot more to offer me. It sounded like they wanted to write me off and not even give me a chance. I told them why I was considering them. I am not sure how convincing I was. I have few more serious interviews and will see what happens in March. It is very frustrating. Anyone experienced this ?

i had a similar experience recently. this particular interviewer said a few times that my home institution must be trying to recruit me, why not stay? and then she proceeded to tell me about why program X is better than program Y for me (neither of which is the program i was interviewing at- which happens to be one of my top choices, if not THE top choice). i definitely left the interview feeling like they didn't really care to recruit me, but was instead trying to put me somewhere else... that's silly right?

i find this pretty weird..... i mean if ur reasoning is correct (they suggest another city/program bc they are trying to tell you that you arent getting into theirs) then y even offer you an interview in the first place? i have to assume everyone who is offered an interview has a shot or else its just a waist of money for them. secondly, id wager the interviewer themselves have no idea where on the rank list the admissions committee will place you, all they can do is recommend or not recommend u. and unless it seemed obvious they didnt like u, u dont know whether or not their reports back will be negative/neutral/positive. Also, im assuming u had two interviews and talked to residents, and if the responses to my experience were correct, if one interview went badly and the rest is positive u still have a fair chance at being ranked relatively highly. all in all id say try not to read into things too much, although its reallyyyy hard not to.... but we've all heard stories of interviews that went amazing and the applicants not matching and others that were horrible but they matched anyways so just rank where you want to go and see what happens.

 

[CanIMakeIt]

i find this pretty weird..... i mean if ur reasoning is correct (they suggest another city/program bc they are trying to tell you that you arent getting into theirs) then y even offer you an interview in the first place? i have to assume everyone who is offered an interview has a shot or else its just a waist of money for them. secondly, id wager the interviewer themselves have no idea where on the rank list the admissions committee will place you, all they can do is recommend or not recommend u. and unless it seemed obvious they didnt like u, u dont know whether or not their reports back will be negative/neutral/positive. Also, im assuming u had two interviews and talked to residents, and if the responses to my experience were correct, if one interview went badly and the rest is positive u still have a fair chance at being ranked relatively highly. all in all id say try not to read into things too much, although its reallyyyy hard not to.... but we've all heard stories of interviews that went amazing and the applicants not matching and others that were horrible but they matched anyways so just rank where you want to go and see what happens.

Other way of looking at it is that depending on your application and interests, the interviewer out of goodness of their heart thought that you will be a good fit for another program depending on their experience. And may not have anything to do with anything else.

I think you gave yourself the best advice that anyone can give you here - Don't try to read into things too much - neither the interviews nor the thank you letters - they are what they are - check boxes.

 

[harate09]

I believe it is "interviewer out of goodness of their heart" case. I do have couple of things going for me (not to mention Armani suit 🙂 ) but other than that I am an ordinary Joe. My only concern is that I may be too ordinary for other programs in my list. All we can do at this point is to get our message across during the interviews, keep an open mind and see what happens on match day. Good luck everyone. Hope I have run into some of you during my interview trail. I was impressed with every candidate I have met so far. Thanks

 

[saphireflame]

i've been uber impressed with all the applicants i've met on the interview trail too! thanks for all the reassurance guys.

 

[Gastrapathy]

The interview really doesn't matter much for most places. Really, its just a 40 minute test to see whether you can hide your personality disorder for a short period of time. All our PDs want to know is if there were crazy eyes.

 

[LovelyBRass]

The interview really doesn't matter much for most places. Really, its just a 40 minute test to see whether you can hide your personality disorder for a short period of time. All our PDs want to know is if there were crazy eyes.

Promise? lol

I definitely had some interviews where the interviewer literally knew nothing about the residency program and every question I asked they told me I'd have to ask either the residents or the PD (incredibly awkward if you haven't been in that position; there's like crickets chirping). They also didn't share my research/EC interests or have anything to talk to me about. Wanna talk about pulling teeth to try to impress them?!

 

[jackets5]

Do you think that the higher up the academic food chain the less the interviews matter.

 

[emboli]

I know things interviewers say should be taken with a grain of salt. So far, I've encountered those who were really receptive and said all the key things that made me feel loved (e.g. You have a really strong record and LORs. You're a good fit. We'll rank you highly. We have what you are looking for. etc etc). I have also encountered those who were warm and receptive, but not as forthcoming with some those loving phrases.

Do some interviewers just like to keep their cards close to their chest and not divulge how they really feel about you as an applicant?

 

[HoldTheCoffee]

I know things interviewers say should be taken with a grain of salt. So far, I've encountered those who were really receptive and said all the key things that made me feel loved (e.g. You have a really strong record and LORs. You're a good fit. We'll rank you highly. We have what you are looking for. etc etc). I have also encountered those who were warm and receptive, but not as forthcoming with some those loving phrases.

Do some interviewers just like to keep their cards close to their chest and not divulge how they really feel about you as an applicant?

Same experience here. My guess is that it probably doesn't matter either way. Apparently, there have been people in the past who've received "ranked to match" phone calls only to not match at said places. At the end of the day, I think the unfortunate truth is that we should ignore the nice things people/programs say to us. The only thing that really matters is the name you see when you open that envelope on Match Day.

 

[LovelyBRass]

Don't try to read into things too much - neither the interviews nor the thank you letters - they are what they are - check boxes.

I meant to ask about this - a thank you note to whom exactly gets you a check mark? And how does this check-marking happen? If I sent a thank you to my interviewer(s), is that enough? Do they have to tell someone? What if one tells the proper authorities and the other doesn't? Does it only count if the PD gets a thank you for the invite? Or is it really the thank you to the PC that matters because they're usually the ones that take care of this secretarial stuff?

 

[intmed3]

I know things interviewers say should be taken with a grain of salt. So far, I've encountered those who were really receptive and said all the key things that made me feel loved (e.g. You have a really strong record and LORs. You're a good fit. We'll rank you highly. We have what you are looking for. etc etc). I have also encountered those who were warm and receptive, but not as forthcoming with some those loving phrases.

Do some interviewers just like to keep their cards close to their chest and not divulge how they really feel about you as an applicant?

I wouldn't put too much stock in what an interviewer says about where you'll be on the rank list, especially during the interview day itself. Even if one interview loves you, usually they will just put it in their evaluation and they likely have no control over where you will actually be on the list.

 

[Cali2]

I meant to ask about this - a thank you note to whom exactly gets you a check mark? And how does this check-marking happen? If I sent a thank you to my interviewer(s), is that enough? Do they have to tell someone? What if one tells the proper authorities and the other doesn't? Does it only count if the PD gets a thank you for the invite? Or is it really the thank you to the PC that matters because they're usually the ones that take care of this secretarial stuff?

Relax, those check boxes were metaphorical....If you want to send them the classic people to send them to are the PD, the PC, and your interviewers.

 

[twright]

I meant to ask about this - a thank you note to whom exactly gets you a check mark? And how does this check-marking happen? If I sent a thank you to my interviewer(s), is that enough? Do they have to tell someone? What if one tells the proper authorities and the other doesn't? Does it only count if the PD gets a thank you for the invite? Or is it really the thank you to the PC that matters because they're usually the ones that take care of this secretarial stuff?

Wow.

 

[LovelyBRass]

My point is that this is ridiculous.