I keep getting post-interview rejections... :(

[physiologist]

Hi everyone,

I just received my third post-interview rejection out of four schools I interviewed at. This time it was for an MD/Master's program. My app is being sent along to the MD school for further deliberations. They claim the MD/Master's program is more competitive than the MD itself, but I'm thinking if I'm not competitive for MD/Master's, I'm at the very most getting a low-tier waitlist from the MD program. Does anyone have any previous experiences in this or similar matters?

Has anyone else had this terrible a track record? I had a low GPA (3.5ish). I don't think I did anything to offend anyone. Any adcoms have any idea as to why you would interview someone with low stats, only to reject them for their stats? I'm really surprised, I thought I did a good job in my interview. I guess not.

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[Doctor Strange]

We're going to need some more elaboration in the stats area. The big glaring elephant in the room here is that you only applied to four schools, with one of them being a joint degree programs. With a 3.5 GPA, you kind of shot yourself in the foot there. When it comes time to deliberate over candidates for limited spots in a joint degree program, they're looking for anything to cut you.

 

[physiologist]

No, I was only INTERVIEWED at 4 schools. I'm referring to the schools I was interviewed at.

Stats: GPA: 3.52, MCAT: 31R. OOS. ORM.

 

[Doctor Strange]

No, I was only INTERVIEWED at 4 schools. I'm referring to the schools I was interviewed at.

Stats: GPA: 3.52, MCAT: 31R. OOS. ORM.

Oh, the way you wrote it, it seemed like you only applied to only four schools. I apologize. In any case, your stats are a little borderline, which may be why you're not having much success. How many schools did you apply to overall? Top-heavy? Backups? Did you apply to/interview at many joint degree programs?

 

[physiologist]

I thought I would have a better shot at a dual degree program than medicine, based on the stats that I saw from the school, although my letter said that I'm still being considered for the MD program, and that the dual degree program is more competitive.

My schools were not top-heavy. It was a handful of top schools, about 10 mid-tiers, and 10 low-tiers. I got solid rejections from the low-tiers, and all my interviews were from mid-tiers.

They wouldn't have interviewed me if my GPA was a fatal flaw. And I wasn't even waitlisted. So I wish I understand what it is about the interview that I keep messing up. What is the most common reason, if you know?

 

[Doctor Strange]

I thought I would have a better shot at a dual degree program than medicine, based on the stats that I saw from the school, although my letter said that I'm still being considered for the MD program, and that the dual degree program is more competitive.

My schools were not top-heavy. It was a handful of top schools, about 10 mid-tiers, and 10 low-tiers. I got solid rejections from the low-tiers, and all my interviews were from mid-tiers.

They wouldn't have interviewed me if my GPA was a fatal flaw. So I wish I understand what it is about the interview that I keep messing up. What is the most common reason, if you know?

Well, GPA and MCAT aren't completely off the table once you've finished interviewing, so I would keep that in mind. It's hard to tell how someone is interviewing without actually meeting them and talking to them in person. Were there any particular questions that you think you might have stumbled through? How was your demanor (smiling, blank face, etc.)? How long did you typically take to give an answer? Do you consider yourself an introvert? There are just so many factors that go into an interview.

My best advice would be to set up a mock interview with maybe your pre-med adviser or someone at the school career services department that could maybe identify what interview weaknesses you may have.

 

[Geebeejay]

Sounds like it's the interview....aside from making sure you aren't making the mistakes listed above, make sure you are selling yourself, smiling and coming off as pleasant, enthusiastic and mature.

 

[physiologist]

Well, GPA and MCAT aren't completely off the table once you've finished interviewing, so I would keep that in mind. It's hard to tell how someone is interviewing without actually meeting them and talking to them in person. Were there any particular questions that you think you might have stumbled through? How was your demanor (smiling, blank face, etc.)? How long did you typically take to give an answer? Do you consider yourself an introvert? There are just so many factors that go into an interview.

My best advice would be to set up a mock interview with maybe your pre-med adviser or someone at the school career services department that could maybe identify what interview weaknesses you may have.

I was smiling and I'm an extrovert. I don't think I overspoke. Like I said, I had an interview coach who said I was fine.

The problem is, I'm not sure I am fully cognizant of what it means to "sell yourself". I'm not sure how to do that without appearing obnoxious.

 

[Daodejing]

I would say the most important things in the interview are to listen to the interviewer and own up to the role of guiding the conversation. Also, courtesy throughout is paramount.

 

[physiologist]

I would say the most important things in the interview are to listen to the interviewer and own up to the role of guiding the conversation. Also, courtesy throughout is paramount.

Ugh I keep getting contradictory info from everyone!!!! Some people say "just answer the questions, don't try to monopolize the conversation, be concise and to the point," and others tell me to guide the conversation? I am so lost....

 

[anguisette]

Ugh I keep getting contradictory info from everyone!!!! Some people say "just answer the questions, don't try to monopolize the conversation, be concise and to the point," and others tell me to guide the conversation? I am so lost....

It's interviewer dependent since some want you to answer their set of prepared questions while others just want to get to know you a bit better--so you need to take cues from the interviewer. One pro of guiding the conversation is you can steer it towards the things you want to talk about and maybe away from your weaknesses. If you're talking about something that you're passionate about, that will show and it'll probably make you more interesting and likeable. If you only answer the questions in a short, concise manner without additional details, then it may not be as engaging of a conversation for both people involved. JMO, but I felt the best coming out of the conversational interviews where I guided portions of it because.. well, it was a conversation, and not a Q&A session.

 

[saveourpens]

I hate to go down the "interviewing could use some work path" but considering 3 rejections in a row (not wait lists) that may be the case. Just be yourself, be excited, know that you're going to make a great physician, and mean everything that you say.

 

[Daodejing]

Err on the side of caution for your first couple of responses with a particular interviewer, and you should then be able to gauge how the rest of the conversation will go.

 

[Tulkas]

The interview is a conversation, which means that you want to answer the questions, yes, but you don't want it to just be a Q&A session. With that said, that means you also have to sometimes guide the conversation by engaging the interviewer and taking the interview beyond the Q&A phase. You can do that by just asking relevant questions, and/or going off on relevant tangents (depends on how your interview is going and your interviewer).

Do you think you are preparing enough for your interviews? I did not do very well in my first three interviews. So, for my fourth interview, I spent more time preparing for it than I did for all of my previous three combined. I wrote down the questions (from the SDN interview feedback page) that would most likely be asked, and wrote down like several drafts worth of answers. I practiced answering the questions by having a family member be the mock interviewer, trying to remain conscious of what I was communicating non-verbally. All that preparation really helped me to be more relaxed going in for my fourth interview, and I ended up getting accepted.

Also, try researching (for your remaining interviews, if any) what the schools that you are interviewing at look for in terms of fit. Is it work hard and play hard? Collaborative learning? And, then try to sell yourself by talking about how you, yourself, and the things from your application show that you fit.

 

[Frazier]

I hate to go down the "interviewing could use some work path" but considering 3 rejections in a row (not wait lists) that may be the case. Just be yourself, be excited, know that you're going to make a great physician, and mean everything that you say.

+1

Kind of suspicious that you have a 100% rejection rate for decisions with zero waitlist action.

You are doing something unwise during the interview day.

 

[Lucky Louie]

It's interviewer dependent since some want you to answer their set of prepared questions while others just want to get to know you a bit better--so you need to take cues from the interviewer. One pro of guiding the conversation is you can steer it towards the things you want to talk about and maybe away from your weaknesses. If you're talking about something that you're passionate about, that will show and it'll probably make you more interesting and likeable. If you only answer the questions in a short, concise manner without additional details, then it may not be as engaging of a conversation for both people involved. JMO, but I felt the best coming out of the conversational interviews where I guided portions of it because.. well, it was a conversation, and not a Q&A session.

I really liked the response above. Pick up the cues from the person who is interviewing you. Were there questions you didn't like? Did the interviewer keep going back to topics that you only superficially covered? Did it seem you wanted to talk about one thing, but the interviewers had no interest and no follow-up questions? Did it seem like it was a Q&A session, or was it a conversation?

 

[coffeesnob]

Hi everyone,

I just received my third post-interview rejection out of four schools I applied to. This time it was for an MD/Master's program. My app is being sent along to the MD school for further deliberations. They claim the MD/Master's program is more competitive than the MD itself, but I'm thinking if I'm not competitive for MD/Master's, I'm at the very most getting a low-tier waitlist from the MD program. Does anyone have any previous experiences in this or similar matters?

Has anyone else had this terrible a track record? I had a low GPA (3.5ish). I don't think I did anything to offend anyone. Any adcoms have any idea as to why you would interview someone with low stats, only to reject them for their stats? I'm really surprised, I thought I did a good job in my interview. I guess not.

Have you tried contacting any of the adcom members to see what the weakest part of your application was? I would emphasize that you want to improve for the next application cycle (whether or not you are re-applying or not..). I think most of them are willing to give you a feedback especially after the post-interview rejection. Your impression of the interview can be vastly different from that of the interviewer.

Are they going to interview you again for the MD-only program? If so, I would really talk to a adcom member at that particular school to see what can be improved.

 

[MusicJunkie]

We're going to need some more elaboration in the stats area. The big glaring elephant in the room here is that you only applied to four schools, with one of them being a joint degree programs. With a 3.5 GPA, you kind of shot yourself in the foot there. When it comes time to deliberate over candidates for limited spots in a joint degree program, they're looking for anything to cut you.

I, too, thought the OP only applied to four schools.

Are you "over-prepared"? Sometimes when you've rehearsed an answer to a question so much, it seems forced, robotic, or inauthentic. Also, is there possibly a red flag in your Letters of Recommendation? According to a survey of admissions committee members, the most important factors post-interview tend to be interviewer feedback and LORs. Every school is different, but that could be one of the problems as well.

 

[physiologist]

The interview is a conversation, which means that you want to answer the questions, yes, but you don't want it to just be a Q&A session. With that said, that means you also have to sometimes guide the conversation by engaging the interviewer and taking the interview beyond the Q&A phase. You can do that by just asking relevant questions, and/or going off on relevant tangents (depends on how your interview is going and your interviewer).

Do you think you are preparing enough for your interviews? I did not do very well in my first three interviews. So, for my fourth interview, I spent more time preparing for it than I did for all of my previous three combined. I wrote down the questions (from the SDN interview feedback page) that would most likely be asked, and wrote down like several drafts worth of answers. I practiced answering the questions by having a family member be the mock interviewer, trying to remain conscious of what I was communicating non-verbally. All that preparation really helped me to be more relaxed going in for my fourth interview, and I ended up getting accepted.

Also, try researching (for your remaining interviews, if any) what the schools that you are interviewing at look for in terms of fit. Is it work hard and play hard? Collaborative learning? And, then try to sell yourself by talking about how you, yourself, and the things from your application show that you fit.

This is what I did differently for my 4th interview. It was a total Q and A session, but I feel like that's how the interviewer wanted it to be. I wrote up a bunch of questions with give bullet points for my answer. I demonstrated knowledge of the school by talking about the programs I find interesting and about an underserved group I have experience with helping that their city has a large population of. Before my interview I practiced with 2 family members who all said I was fantastic. But who knows?

I did stumble when she asked why they should pick me. I just reiterated my strengths that she asked me for earlier. I didn't know what else to say, since I'm a very humble person who doesn't think I'm any better than anyone else intrinsically. That is my only qualm though.

I'm a free-spirited person, so I don't think the bullet points sounded too rehearsed. If anything, they focused me better.

My interviewers won't give me feedback, nor would the director of the MD/Masters program. I'm going to ask the dean when I get my official MD rejection letter.

I wish I knew what I was doing wrong. In my theatre experiences, the dress rehearsals always went fantastic, but the actual show, for some reason, I'd clam up and freeze. Maybe my nervousness made me kind of stiff? I don't know what else to think, but in this case no amount of practice would ever fix this. Especially since I had about 7 mock interviews in total, on top of the 4 actual ones.

 

[HSUReddie]

Ugh I keep getting contradictory info from everyone!!!! Some people say "just answer the questions, don't try to monopolize the conversation, be concise and to the point," and others tell me to guide the conversation? I am so lost....

I don't know if that's necessarily contradictory. It's more of just a happy medium. When an interviewer asks you for instance, "What are some of the biggest obstacles you've overcome?" I think being concise means don't mention every last thing in your life that's ever happened to you. Pick a big one or a couple. I would say feel free to talk about them in detail though. That's what's really going to have them get to know you. My answer to that question was along the lines of me being a first generation college student. But I didn't leave my answer at, "I was a first generation college student."

I also think it's important to guide the conversation because I'm sure you have important things you want to point out to the interviewers (this especially goes for blind interviews where they haven't seen your file). "Tell me a little bit about yourself," and other broad questions are perfect ways to get them to ask you more about the things YOU want to talk about.

 

[physiologist]

I don't know if that's necessarily contradictory. It's more of just a happy medium. When an interviewer asks you for instance, "What are some of the biggest obstacles you've overcome?" I think being concise means don't mention every last thing in your life that's ever happened to you. Pick a big one or a couple. I would say feel free to talk about them in detail though. That's what's really going to have them get to know you. My answer to that question was along the lines of me being a first generation college student. But I didn't leave my answer at, "I was a first generation college student."

I also think it's important to guide the conversation because I'm sure you have important things you want to point out to the interviewers (this especially goes for blind interviews where they haven't seen your file). "Tell me a little bit about yourself," and other broad questions are perfect ways to get them to ask you more about the things YOU want to talk about.

I tried to guide the conversation under "is there anything you would like to add?" By discussing my experiences working with an underserved group. But she wasn't very conversational herself. She seemed to want it to stick to plain q+a. But then again I'm not the best at reading social cues so maybe I am just doomed to be stuck in a dark lab forever.

I'm a very quirky person by nature, so I tried very hard to suppress my quirks in the interview and appear more "normal." I don't know, I feel totally hopeless...

 

[TheShaker]

Physiologist, how do you think your LoRs are? I know that they are less important pre-interview but more important post-interview so do you think you have a toxic one that might kill an otherwise strong application?

 

[MusicJunkie]

I tried to guide the conversation under "is there anything you would like to add?" By discussing my experiences working with an underserved group. But she wasn't very conversational herself. She seemed to want it to stick to plain q+a. But then again I'm not the best at reading social cues so maybe I am just doomed to be stuck in a dark lab forever.

I'm a very quirky person by nature, so I tried very hard to suppress my quirks in the interview and appear more "normal." I don't know, I feel totally hopeless...

Some people find quirks endearing. I suppose it depends on what your quirks are, but the very thing you were repressing might have made you appear more personable.

 

[cinamin]

What did you wear? You wore a suit and looked professional right? I have seen some major faux pas on the interview trail.. Just checking.

What are the schools. That might help figure this out a bit more.

 

[impermanence]

I am sorry to hear about the rejections physiologist. I think that 2 things that my interviewers did not like in the past (during my first cycle) was 1) critizing my undergrad alma matter (I know kind of dumb but I was just being honest. This time I focused primarily in the positive & they were way more receptive) 2) asking about the university relationship with the surrounding community (one of my interviewers really liked it, the others were a bit weirded out specially because they did not think it was that important since you may be a commuter or will be in the library all day anyways... this time around I chose schools with better matching missions).

Also- did you apply early in the cycle?

 

[physiologist]

Physiologist, how do you think your LoRs are? I know that they are less important pre-interview but more important post-interview so do you think you have a toxic one that might kill an otherwise strong application?

I have no clue how they are, although I cannot think of better people to write them.

 

[physiologist]

What did you wear? You wore a suit and looked professional right? I have seen some major faux pas on the interview trail.. Just checking.

What are the schools. That might help figure this out a bit more.

My first interview attire was a faux-pas. I learned from this though, and for my 2nd interview, I blended in perfectly with the other interviewees re:attire.

 

[physiologist]

I am sorry to hear about the rejections physiologist. I think that 2 things that my interviewers did not like in the past (during my first cycle) was 1) critizing my undergrad alma matter (I know kind of dumb but I was just being honest. This time I focused primarily in the positive & they were way more receptive) 2) asking about the university relationship with the surrounding community (one of my interviewers really liked it, the others were a bit weirded out specially because they did not think it was that important since you may be a commuter or will be in the library all day anyways... this time around I chose schools with better matching missions).

Also- did you apply early in the cycle?

Nope, I was super late (mid-October complete) although these schools claim it doesn't make a difference.

Next cycle I'm definitely getting my stuff together June 1!!!

And I would never insult anything. Even though I don't like my alma mater all too much. Although I did bad mouth my province, sort of. I live in Quebec, and the language laws here are driving my American English-speaking fiancé out of the country! Not in such rash terms, but I mentioned the difficulty my fiancé would have at finding a job here.

 

[SOMBound13]

When you say that you're OOS, do you mean that your interviews were all to public OOS schools?

Are you an international?


Nope, I was super late (mid-October complete) although these schools claim it doesn't make a difference.

Next cycle I'm definitely getting my stuff together June 1!!!

The schools may say this, but that's probably not really true.

 

[Weewee]

I think you just figured out the issue. You're Canadian!

I am sure you are fine in interviews but since I am guessing you are most likely considered international you really have to wow your interviewers.

 

[Nahnia]

I'm in the same position as you for the most part. 3 II and looking at 2 post interview rejections so far and the last one accepted 1 international student in span of 4 years...ugh. I think you probably need to look at the schools who show Canadians the most love. I remember calling some schools where the Admissions Office told me that they accept applications from international students but that it is was very very very unlikely I'd get an interview or even get in. If you do end up reapplying just try calling around looking for that international love.

 

[physiologist]

I think you just figured out the issue. You're Canadian!

I am sure you are fine in interviews but since I am guessing you are most likely considered international you really have to wow your interviewers.

What I don't get is, why would they even waste an interview on me if they were just going to reject me? Also the tour guides are always like: "we have 3 Canadians in our class!!!" So it's not like they don't accept us. They claim to treat Canadians as OOS, not international, because our school system is the same.

Also, why would they lie about being Canadian-friendly? And what do they have against us anyway?

And yes, even though I applied mostly private, I got lots of love from public state schools. 3/4 to be precise (of my interviews)

Should I apply again next cycle but on the first day possible, or should I wait a whole year (meaning i'll have 2 gap years) since I'm marrying my american boyfriend this fall and get US PR probably six months later?

 

[cinamin]

My first interview attire was a faux-pas. I learned from this though, and for my 2nd interview, I blended in perfectly with the other interviewees re:attire.

Hmm what did you wear / how bad was it?

So you dressed fine the other two interviews. But you are canadian so I guess this is going to be harder for you. Didn't you send a pretty lengthy thank you email to a school post interview? Perhaps there was like a variable factor in each interview that resulted in a post-interview rejection?

I don't know what the real world is like, but on SDN, it seems as though post-interview rejections are not very common...unless some red flag came up.

 

[chillaxbro]

I'm in the same boat
I've got good stats (3.75+/-0.1, 36+/-1)
I've got good LOR (mentioned by 2/4 interviewers)
Yet I've been rejected from 3/4 post-interview, all state schools, including one which was my alma matar. Not even a waitlist.

Still waiting for my last interview decision which has higher average stats than the 3 state schools I've been rejected from so I feel like I have no chance.

 

[Arbor Vitae]

Hi everyone,

I just received my third post-interview rejection out of four schools I applied to. This time it was for an MD/Master's program. My app is being sent along to the MD school for further deliberations. They claim the MD/Master's program is more competitive than the MD itself, but I'm thinking if I'm not competitive for MD/Master's, I'm at the very most getting a low-tier waitlist from the MD program. Does anyone have any previous experiences in this or similar matters?

Has anyone else had this terrible a track record? I had a low GPA (3.5ish). I don't think I did anything to offend anyone. Any adcoms have any idea as to why you would interview someone with low stats, only to reject them for their stats? I'm really surprised, I thought I did a good job in my interview. I guess not.

I'm not trying to humble brag here or anything, but out of the 30ish schools I applied to, I think I got 10 interviews, of which I went to 8, of which I thought I crushed them all, and I only got outright accepted at 2, wait list/deferred/silence from the rest. I have a horrendous undergrad GPA, but still, the process is cruel. It seems like if you barely get offered an interview at a school, and then you crush the interview, a bad GPA or MCAT will still haunt you at the end stage for acceptance.

edit: I take that back now, I actually had 1 bad/awkward interview because the interviewer was just really weird and negative and hated me from the get go. waitlisted and withdrew there. no surprise.

 

[cinamin]

I'm not trying to humble brag here or anything, but out of the 30ish schools I applied to, I think I got 10 interviews, of which I went to 8, of which I thought I crushed them all, and I only got outright accepted at 2, wait list/deferred/silence from the rest. I have a horrendous undergrad GPA, but still, the process is cruel. It seems like if you barely get offered an interview at a school, and then you crush the interview, a bad GPA or MCAT will still haunt you at the end stage for acceptance.

edit: I take that back now, I actually had 1 bad/awkward interview because the interviewer was just really weird and negative and hated me from the get go. waitlisted and withdrew there. no surprise.

THIS. THIS. THIS. Story of my interview season. poor GPA, 7 IIs, 2 waitlists, 2 still need to attend, will hear back from the other 3 at the end of the month. But man almost everytime, that GPA creeped into a convo.

 

[MusicJunkie]

THIS. THIS. THIS. Story of my interview season. poor GPA, 7 IIs, 2 waitlists, 2 still need to attend, will hear back from the other 3 at the end of the month. But man almost everytime, that GPA creeped into a convo.

For me, it was my MCAT. 10 interview invites, 6 attended, and an MCAT discussion creeped into two of my interviews (To be fair, I also had a couple of MMIs, so my MCAT couldn't be brought up as a topic of conversation at those schools). I was prepared to answer at the first interview, but the second was one of my top choices and I fumbled. -_____-

Still waiting to hear back.

 

[Panliz]

I am not applying to medical school but I'd like to way in and maybe help a little? I am an international student and I think citizenship really matters. Marry your boyfriend and become American then apply. Some schools may say they don't care when you apply or where you are from but in fact, they do and they care a lot. In my opinion, if you are an international student, 3.8 gpa will make you look better. (I am not saying your gpa is bad or something.) They have a lot Americans applying already and why would they give a spot to a foreigner who is not that competitive (grade-wise). I am not trying to say anything bad about you! I know a lot people may say, "oh, schools look at the whole package not only gap" But really, gpa IS that important.

 

[Weewee]

I am not applying to medical school but I'd like to way in and maybe help a little? I am an international student and I think citizenship really matters. Marry your boyfriend and become American then apply. Some schools may say they don't care when you apply or where you are from but in fact, they do and they care a lot. In my opinion, if you are an international student, 3.8 gpa will make you look better. (I am not saying your gpa is bad or something.) They have a lot Americans applying already and why would they give a spot to a foreigner who is not that competitive (grade-wise). I am not trying to say anything bad about you! I know a lot people may say, "oh, schools look at the whole package not only gap" But really, gpa IS that important.

It is out of a 4.0...3.8 is competitive.

 

[circulus vitios]

I'm in the same boat
I've got good stats (3.75+/-0.1, 36+/-1)
I've got good LOR (mentioned by 2/4 interviewers)
Yet I've been rejected from 3/4 post-interview, all state schools, including one which was my alma matar. Not even a waitlist.

Still waiting for my last interview decision which has higher average stats than the 3 state schools I've been rejected from so I feel like I have no chance.

Did you ever get shadowing experience? That might be why. I know it has to suck trying to shadow while working full time (and then some, if I remember correctly) but some schools definitely want to see it.

 

[cinamin]

Did you ever get shadowing experience? That might be why. I know it has to suck trying to shadow while working full time (and then some, if I remember correctly) but some schools definitely want to see it.

oh yeah good point. I've read on here that docs in canada don't really allow people to shadow and this isn't practiced in canada really..?

 

[Panliz]

It is out of a 4.0...3.8 is competitive.

Yeah, I know. But when you are international, you better get that high.

 

[physiologist]

Did you ever get shadowing experience? That might be why. I know it has to suck trying to shadow while working full time (and then some, if I remember correctly) but some schools definitely want to see it.

I have a few hundred hours of shadowing all over the world, 8 specialties. people like me and often offer me to shadow them. So this is definitely not my weakness.

 

[physiologist]

I'm not trying to humble brag here or anything, but out of the 30ish schools I applied to, I think I got 10 interviews, of which I went to 8, of which I thought I crushed them all, and I only got outright accepted at 2, wait list/deferred/silence from the rest. I have a horrendous undergrad GPA, but still, the process is cruel. It seems like if you barely get offered an interview at a school, and then you crush the interview, a bad GPA or MCAT will still haunt you at the end stage for acceptance.

edit: I take that back now, I actually had 1 bad/awkward interview because the interviewer was just really weird and negative and hated me from the get go. waitlisted and withdrew there. no surprise.

At least you didn't get rejected!!! I'd kill to know what my red flag was.

Also, if they hate low-stat Canadians so much, why would they interview me?

 

[Panliz]

At least you didn't get rejected!!! I'd kill to know what my red flag was.

Also, if they hate low-stat Canadians so much, why would they interview me?

I feel like they want to see what kind of person you are maybe? Maybe maybe during the interview, you didn't make them feel like," yeah, that's the kind of person we are looking for."
Maybe you didn't do anything back or something, maybe you appear just average?

 

[Arbor Vitae]

At least you didn't get rejected!!! I'd kill to know what my red flag was.

Also, if they hate low-stat Canadians so much, why would they interview me?

sorry man, I was just trying to show how cruel the process is and how it took me applying to 32 schools to get 2 acceptances. It's just the odds of the bet. With a low stat or some red flag you have to apply broadly. The rejections are odd though. Are you sure you can trust all your letter writers or could there be anything on your record?

 

[deleted127837]

Getting an interview means somebody on the adcom thought, at least, you might maybe be an ok addition to their school.

It doesn't mean your interviewer thought that. They may not be the person who wanted you to come interview. The person (or people) who first saw the file and hit the invite button may be the only people on a 20+ person committee who wanted to give you a chance, and if your interviewer didn't agree with their decision to invite you...

Compound this with schools often interviewing 10x as many candidates as they have spots, having 150x+ applicants per seat, your status as Canadian, stats problems, some schools not considering the whole file before inviting you, and perhaps not being the best candidate your interviewer has ever seen walk through the door...

I know it sucks, but you can see how the puzzle fits together, right?

Edit: my 1000th post :O

 

[physiologist]

sorry man, I was just trying to show how cruel the process is and how it took me applying to 32 schools to get 2 acceptances. It's just the odds of the bet. With a low stat or some red flag you have to apply broadly. The rejections are odd though. Are you sure you can trust all your letter writers or could there be anything on your record?

My logic is this: don't they check LoRs before the interview? I feel like my gpa is so crappy that any other bad thing on my app would be an automatic pre-interview deal breaker.

 

[physiologist]

Getting an interview means somebody on the adcom thought, at least, you might maybe be an ok addition to their school.

It doesn't mean your interviewer thought that. They may not be the person who wanted you to come interview. The person (or people) who first saw the file and hit the invite button may be the only people on a 20+ person committee who wanted to give you a chance, and if your interviewer didn't agree with their decision to invite you...

Compound this with schools often interviewing 10x as many candidates as they have spots, your status as Canadian, stats problems, some schools not considering the whole file before inviting you, and perhaps not being the best candidate your interviewer has ever seen walk through the door...

I know it sucks, but you can see how the puzzle fits together, right?

The school i got the rejection for today was 60% off the bat acceptance.
Also the rejection was for their dual MD/Masters program. I just got passed over to the MD admissions committee. Not hopeful though, although they say its less competitive.

 

[Arbor Vitae]

My logic is this: don't they check LoRs before the interview? I feel like my gpa is so crappy that any other bad thing on my app would be an automatic pre-interview deal breaker.

Yeah, I guess if there was a bad LOR you wouldn't get an interview in the first place. How did you feel about the interviews? Was it like a comfortable, casual conversation or were you super nervous?