How you felt about interview vs whether or not you were accepted

[sadpremed121]

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Question for people who got accepted in previous cycles. Did you get rejected/waitlisted at schools where your interview didn’t feel great? Did you get into schools where you really vibed with your interviewer? I’ve gone to a couple interviews now and I feel like some of my interviews were really casual and I had a great conversation with my interviewer. At other interviews I felt like my interviewer was interrogating me and asking questions the whole way thru, so I couldn’t connect with them. Like I have no sense of what they thought about me. Then at these same interviews talking to other interviewees they all felt like theirs were chill, but that’s not how I felt about mine. Did your good interviews usually translate to an acceptance? Did your bad interviews usually result in a rejection?

 

[Aloe paleo]

i wanna know what people have to say about this...interested!

 

[deleted987519]

Then at these same interviews talking to other interviewees they all felt like theirs were chill, but that’s not how I felt about mine.

People like to save face...I got smoked in my first interview but told anyone that asked it was super laid back lol.

EDIT: I think there was a poll on here a few weeks ago with this question and the takeaway was applicants are terrible at assessing their own performance at an interview

 

[907914]

I gotchu my guy:

How to know if an interview went well?

Overall, I feel confident in my performance. I know there were 2 or 3 answers that were kinda “meh” and will work to improve next to round, but my overall reflection of the day is a very positive vibe. How did you feel after your interviews? Did ‘feeling good about it’ usually yield better...

forums.studentdoctor.net

 

[deleted1005514]

Felt terrible about my interview, got the call a week later. Actually, one of my faculty interviewers came up to me last week and told me he was super happy I was at their school, so I was way off with my assessment.

 

[sadpremed121]

Felt terrible about my interview, got the call a week later. Actually, one of my faculty interviewers came up to me last week and told me he was super happy I was at their school, so I was way off with my assessment.

Why did you feel terrible. Did you completely blank out on a question? Stutter the whole way through? Just didn’t get any compliments from the interviewer?

 

[calipremed5768]

Lol seems like half the people on sdn get the red carpet treatment. Personal emails from the dean, office of admissions begging them to apply, calls from faculty interviewers.

 

[sadpremed121]

Lol seems like half the people on sdn get the red carpet treatment. Personal emails from the dean, office of admissions begging them to apply, calls from faculty interviewers.

I wish I was loved like that :’(

 

[RNthenDoc]

I felt pretty confident in all of my interviews, and received acceptances from each one.
The thing is, you *know* what kinds of questions you're going to be asked, it isn't super hard to have answers for them prepared, or at least to be able to have a brief, intelligent conversation about a question.

One of the best pieces of advice I got about interviewing was to take a walk a few times and just *think* about medical school, medicine, medical ethics, and to draw some conclusions.

I got asked an ethical question wherein my answer might have been the "wrong" one, but I think the biggest aspect was just that they wanted to assess if I had given any thought to situations that aren't black or white. Sometimes there is no right answer other than having a logical one you can stand by.

 

[capriccio]

The school I go to now, I vibed like crazy with my interviewers. I was also accepted to schools where I felt I had average/lukewarm interviews. At one, my interviewer said my PS didn't really convey why I wanted to go into medicine, and asked me to re-explain it to her and I scrambled in a panic for what felt like ages to me, and I was kinda internally shook for the rest of the interview. Was accepted, and later offered a big scholarship, so I must've done something right lmao.

I think at the schools I was waitlisted at, I felt pretty good about my interviews overall.... I think my conclusion is that I'm a terrible judge.

 

[CJhooper123]

Although I felt good at most interviews and got accepted to the majority... It’s tough to tell.

The best interview I had (IMO) was the only school I got rejected at post-II.

The worst interview I had (IMO - no sleep, sinus infection) resulted in an acceptance. This ended up being the school I picked.

 

[sadpremed121]

Although I felt good at most interviews and got accepted to the majority... It’s tough to tell.

The best interview I had (IMO) was the only school I got rejected at post-II.

The worst interview I had (IMO - no sleep, sinus infection) resulted in an acceptance. This ended up being the school I picked.

What about the interview itself made it feel good/bad? Questions you couldn’t answer at all? Questions you didn’t prepare for or caught you off guard? Stumbling over an answer? Lack of a natural conversation?

 

[CJhooper123]

What about the interview itself made it feel good/bad? Questions you couldn’t answer at all? Questions you didn’t prepare for or caught you off guard? Stumbling over an answer? Lack of a natural conversation?

That's a good question.

Obviously there is some implicit bias involved... but in general, I felt an interview went well if I was able to "show the true me". In a good interview, conversations were easy. I didn't let me nerves/anxiety hinder my ability to LISTEN effectively to the interviewer, connect, and respond appropriately.

Basically... If I showed the school who I really was... I felt that I succeeded. If I didn't show the school who I really was, I felt that the interview didn't go well. Interviews are almost like tryouts for both sides. Do you fit the school? Does the school fit you?

 

[MyOdyssey]

I think I've posted this on here somewhere before in response to a similar question, but how you feel like an interview went is WAY more about the interviewer than about your performance.

To give an example: I interviewed some applicants together with faculty members at my med school. One of our faculty members Dr. X gives VERY little feedback, verbal or nonverbal, in the actual interview. He doesn't smile, he doesn't say "great!" or "that's interesting!" or make any conversation after your answer. He just nods and moves on to the next question, or he will push back a bit on your response to make you think and readjust. It makes applicants nervous. He acts the same exact way whether he thinks the person is a fantastic candidate or a terrible one. I'm the opposite - I'm generally pretty kind and smiley regardless. You could give the worst answer in the world and I'd smile and say "Wow, that's really interesting, I'm glad you shared that!" The same applicant could walk out of an interview with me feeling like they did amazing, and walk out of an interview with Dr. X feeling like they did terrible, and it has no bearing on their actual performance.

In summary: do your best and then don't dwell on it. Just put it out of your mind til the decision comes back.

Your school deploys the good cop, bad cop strategy, I see.

 

[deleted1005514]

Why did you feel terrible. Did you completely blank out on a question? Stutter the whole way through? Just didn’t get any compliments from the interviewer?

My own neuroticism. Everyone was lovely and kind during my interview, I just don’t like feeling like I’m “on” all day, and I get very nervous, although I’ve been told I come across as very calm and self-assured.

Interview days are exhausting, and orientation was too. Now that school is in session and I know people better, I’m much more relaxed and I feel like my good qualities shine through.

 

[Goro]

Question for people who got accepted in previous cycles. Did you get rejected/waitlisted at schools where your interview didn’t feel great? Did you get into schools where you really vibed with your interviewer? I’ve gone to a couple interviews now and I feel like some of my interviews were really casual and I had a great conversation with my interviewer. At other interviews I felt like my interviewer was interrogating me and asking questions the whole way thru, so I couldn’t connect with them. Like I have no sense of what they thought about me. Then at these same interviews talking to other interviewees they all felt like theirs were chill, but that’s not how I felt about mine. Did your good interviews usually translate to an acceptance? Did your bad interviews usually result in a rejection?

Most people are terrible judges of their interview skills, and of how their interviews went, period.

 

[calipremed5768]

Every sdner who says they did terrible on interview actually did extremely well

 

[deleted972488]

Every sdner who says they did terrible on interview actually did extremely well

I’m now going to post after every interview and say I did terribly.

 

[Engrailed]

Question for people who got accepted in previous cycles. Did you get rejected/waitlisted at schools where your interview didn’t feel great? Did you get into schools where you really vibed with your interviewer? I’ve gone to a couple interviews now and I feel like some of my interviews were really casual and I had a great conversation with my interviewer. At other interviews I felt like my interviewer was interrogating me and asking questions the whole way thru, so I couldn’t connect with them. Like I have no sense of what they thought about me. Then at these same interviews talking to other interviewees they all felt like theirs were chill, but that’s not how I felt about mine. Did your good interviews usually translate to an acceptance? Did your bad interviews usually result in a rejection?

Lol seems like half the people on sdn get the red carpet treatment. Personal emails from the dean, office of admissions begging them to apply, calls from faculty interviewers.

Is this true?

 

[DJay4534533]

Really hard to tell. I felt horrible after my first interview, mainly because it was my first interview & I was nervous. I got waitlisted, but I honestly don’t know if it was the interview or other factors because I don’t even know why I got an interview at the school anyway because my stats were so out of range for them. I also was overthinking my other 2 interviews, which resulted in acceptances.

I’m the type of person who never feels “good” after an interview. I just feel like the whole process is unpredictable and it’s hard to tell how much weight your interview actually has on your acceptance. I think some schools are ready to accept you off stats alone as long as you don’t bomb the interview, while some schools are unsure but they could be swayed by a good interview, and other schools (like the first one I interviewed at) I feel like they are already leaning towards a waitlist, but they’re ready to accept if you have a stellar interview.