If you personally know one of your interviewers...

[dr_dre]

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I know a nice lady who is an interviewer at one of the schools I applied to. She has been doing interviews there for several years. I have known her for almost my entire life, as she is a friend of my family and also our family doctor.

I have an interview at this school and she will be there, so should I make it seem as if I know her. The interviews are usually done in a little group format, so there would be at least 2 other interviewrs there. I'm not sure if they will all wear name cards. If they do not have name cards, should I go in and still say "Hi Dr....." since I know her well. Or should I treat her equally with the other interviewers and just say "Hi".
Basically, I don't know if I should make it apparent to the other interviewers that I know her well. At the same time, since she is a good family friend I don't want to make her feel as if I'm ignoring her.

 

[mshheaddoc]

I wouldn't make it apparent. If she has a good word for you she'll put it in herself. You can always greet her when you see her but don't go out of your way to "showoff". You'd look extremely overeager 😉

 

[PerpetualBurn]

If she recognizes you, she may have to absolve herself of taking part in the decision-making. I spoke to a person who was on an admissions committee at a medical school and this is precisely what he did when his close friend's child was interviewing there. He was not allowed to contribute his impression of that candidate.

 

[kapil_MD]

I wouldn't make it apparent. If she has a good word for you she'll put it in herself. You can always greet her when you see her but don't go out of your way to "showoff". You'd look extremely overeager 😉

Agreed.

 

[MossPoh]

A guy I shadowed that was on an adcom for while said the situation happened to him 2 or 3 times. He was kind of trained by other members when he first joined to just keep his gameface and treat them like everybody else. It is easier said than done but it was the basic work separate from the rest of your life idea. If there is a high amount of bias then I'm sure the person will just not give their input. Many of these people are very good at being as unbiased as possible..and in some cases they are harder on you if they know you.😉

 

[63768]

don't make it apparent. the other interviewers could feel that that puts you at an unfair advantage and make a big deal about it. talk with her outside of the interview, but don't act too personal in the interview setting, just draws too much unwanted attention.

 

[christian15213]

I know a nice lady who is an interviewer at one of the schools I applied to. She has been doing interviews there for several years. I have known her for almost my entire life, as she is a friend of my family and also our family doctor.

I have an interview at this school and she will be there, so should I make it seem as if I know her. The interviews are usually done in a little group format, so there would be at least 2 other interviewrs there. I'm not sure if they will all wear name cards. If they do not have name cards, should I go in and still say "Hi Dr....." since I know her well. Or should I treat her equally with the other interviewers and just say "Hi".
Basically, I don't know if I should make it apparent to the other interviewers that I know her well. At the same time, since she is a good family friend I don't want to make her feel as if I'm ignoring her.

You are obviously in a good situation not a bad one...

Here is how I would handle this...

Don't surprise her... Let her know you are interviewing, even if she already knows and ask her if it is Ok that you are being interviewed by someone you know. Professional

then, when she says yes it is all good proceed to be very humble in the interview. Most likely everyone is going to know you know one of the interviewers... but maintain you position of immpression first... Don't pull out his / her name and try to be smug by showing your association... It would be horrible if you didn't get accepted because of your arrogance and assumption that knowing someone was going to get you in... even if it does!!!

I think in the least the advantage is surely in your favor and just play it calm and smooth and this should be a school of acceptance for you.

 

[MEG@COOL]

If she recognizes you, she may have to absolve herself of taking part in the decision-making. I spoke to a person who was on an admissions committee at a medical school and this is precisely what he did when his close friend's child was interviewing there. He was not allowed to contribute his impression of that candidate.

I would do the same.

 

[notdeadyet]

If she recognizes you, she may have to absolve herself of taking part in the decision-making. I spoke to a person who was on an admissions committee at a medical school and this is precisely what he did when his close friend's child was interviewing there. He was not allowed to contribute his impression of that candidate.

Agreed. But I'd be proactive about it. If you know you're being interviewed at the school by the woman you know and don't let admissions know, you could give the impression of either pulling a fast one, blase about ethics, or have a pretty high tolerance of bias.

 

[Sol Rosenberg]

It is unethical for an interviewer to interview someone that they already know and represent themselves as impartial/unbiased. That is their burden/obligation, and they should (and probably will) recuse themselves from interviewing you. You have no obligation to do anything, but it would be seriously bad form to advertise that you know someone on the ADCOM very well, etc. I'd keep it low-profile, and be happy to know that you already have someone rooting for you behind-the-scenes.

 

[gipper]

This happened to me during college interviews and the person had to excuse themselves - so I would leave it up to her to decide was she needs to do. As far as how you should act, I would take her lead - she is the "professional" in this situation and know what is appropriate.

 

[Dr. Pepper]

This happened to me during college interviews and the person had to excuse themselves - so I would leave it up to her to decide was she needs to do. As far as how you should act, I would take her lead - she is the "professional" in this situation and know what is appropriate.

Probably what I would recommend...just let her lead, it's her job.
-Dr. P.

 

[Testy McAterson]

Don't surprise her... Let her know you are interviewing, even if she already knows and ask her if it is Ok that you are being interviewed by someone you know. Professional

I definitely agree with this. Talk to her about it and go from there. Whatever happens (whether she interviews you or not) I think you're in a pretty good position 🙂

 

[gildas]

If she recognizes you, she may have to absolve herself of taking part in the decision-making. I spoke to a person who was on an admissions committee at a medical school and this is precisely what he did when his close friend's child was interviewing there. He was not allowed to contribute his impression of that candidate.

Most med schools will not allow somebody you know to interview you

 

[BuckeyeSurgn]

You should definitely say "Hi Dr. so-and-so". If you think she hasnt told the other interviewers that she knows you before you even enter the room, your crazy" It would be really awkward for her to tell them, "Oh hey I know this next kid coming in pretty well, etc." and then you come in and act like you've never seen her before 😕 .

Throughout the interview I don't think you need to emphasize or focus on the fact that you know this woman, but definitely don't treat her like she is a stranger.

 

[tulanensis]

If she's a family friend, get her to hook it up 😀 This kind of thing goes on all the time, unfair and wrong as it may seem. You think the sons and daughters of adcom members have a difficult time getting in? Of course not! I know more than a few kids with well-below-average stats in MD schools where their parents work. A friend of mine was accepted in a top-15 school last year with a sub-3 GPA and MCAT 4 points lower than the average because he had a family friend on the committee. Definitely wouldn't have even gotten an interview otherwise. Use the advantage to the fullest.

 

[stoic]

I know a nice lady who is an interviewer at one of the schools I applied to. She has been doing interviews there for several years. I have known her for almost my entire life, as she is a friend of my family and also our family doctor.

I have an interview at this school and she will be there, so should I make it seem as if I know her. The interviews are usually done in a little group format, so there would be at least 2 other interviewrs there. I'm not sure if they will all wear name cards. If they do not have name cards, should I go in and still say "Hi Dr....." since I know her well. Or should I treat her equally with the other interviewers and just say "Hi".
Basically, I don't know if I should make it apparent to the other interviewers that I know her well. At the same time, since she is a good family friend I don't want to make her feel as if I'm ignoring her.

don't bring up your personal relationship during your interview. do the whole thing completely professinally. say "hi dr. x, nice to see you" or something like that. i doubt that the interviewer would break out of the professional relationship role during the interview. maybe say hi personally afterwards, but certainly don't do anything that is going to raise eyebrows of those you're with. because if you did, people would not be happy and may even raise hell about you. you know how some premeds are.

i can almost promise you that as long as you don't completely bomb the interview, you'll be getting good marks from her.

this kind of stuff happens from time to time. one of the girls in my class had a dad on the adcom. one of my interviewers (it was one on one, though) was a good friend of the professor I did all my undergrad research with. (i didn't know this would be the case before hand). they actually were going to a dinner party together that evening... directly after the adcom met and made decisions (i did early decision). that didn't get me into med school, but it helped.

in any case, they were emailing out the decisions the next morning... so i *might* 😉 have heard some rumors of good news from a certain professor that same evening. still, though, i was so nervous that he was just ****ign with me that i had to drink myself to sleep and about had an MI opening the email in the morning. sometimes the gods smile on us, you know?

if you're really uncomfortable with it, you could ask to be placed in a different interview group. i don't think there's anything inherently unethical about the situation; but that's just my opinion. personally i'd thank my lucky stars and play it cool. med school admissions can be so arbitrary, so just go with it and reap the benifits of your good fortune.

 

[Handy388]

If she's a family friend, get her to hook it up 😀 This kind of thing goes on all the time, unfair and wrong as it may seem. You think the sons and daughters of adcom members have a difficult time getting in? Of course not! I know more than a few kids with well-below-average stats in MD schools where their parents work. A friend of mine was accepted in a top-15 school last year with a sub-3 GPA and MCAT 4 points lower than the average because he had a family friend on the committee. Definitely wouldn't have even gotten an interview otherwise. Use the advantage to the fullest.

I interviewed at one of the school and was rejected. It turned out my interviewer's own son couldn't get into the school.

 

[Medstudent85]

I interviewed at one of the school and was rejected. It turned out my interviewer's own son couldn't get into the school.

Agreed, I know of someone that thought he was "in" for sure at a college down here since he was good friends with one of the professors on staff, and also an interviewer, yet he didn't even get in. So don't take anything for granted

 

[DrWookie]

It will vary from school to school (and person to person) but I'm going to say in most situations people who know you, or are connected to you in any way, are probably not going to interview you. While they may be able to tip the scale in your favor "behind the scenes", it would be unethical to interview you like some other candidate, because he or she already knows so much about you and is biased.

Though, from your point of view, you probably don't need to do anything. It sounds like you aren't even positive she will be one of the people interviewing you. You should leave it up to her with how to proceed, however some schools ahead of time ask if you have any connection with the school. If they ask, or have already asked, you should have said your connection.

When I interviewed at OHSU (I live and was born in Portland) they asked me when I was signing up for an interview date if I knew anyone or had any connection with the school. I told them my father is a physician in the city and has a working relationship with the people in his field, and they thanked me for letting them know so that I didn't end up interviewing with them. (I actually thought in this case an interview with one of them would HURT more than help, since my father runs the only other practice of its type in the city outside of OHSU and there is a bit of competition).

 

[mikethomp]

Agreed, I know of someone that thought he was "in" for sure at a college down here since he was good friends with one of the professors on staff, and also an interviewer, yet he didn't even get in. So don't take anything for granted

Agreed.

However, I know that person your talking about as well. I do recall him getting into multiple high ranked schools, in which he had no affiliations with what so ever. So I believe the school that he knows the professor in is a school that is very unorganized and oblivious to their qualified applicant pool.

So I would not take that experience too serious, but I will say that if you are a good applicant, you need no help in matriculating into a medical school. Also, I would not rely or depend on an outside source for an acceptance.. and neither should you! Thus, go into the interview as if you knew none and rock the interview with that outlook, and you should do fine.