Inappropriate/appropriate interview question

[GasPrincess]

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I hope everyone's interviews are going well. I just have a quick question for everyone. Do you think its appropriate for interviewers to ask where else you've interviewed? I guess I'm not too sure about this question, and what it accomplishes. Does it matter where else you've interviewed? How do I go about answering this question without listing all the places I'm interviewing and the rest of my interview schedule? I'm not trying to hide where I'm interviewing, I just want to focus on the place on where I'm interviewing at the time, not where I will be going next or where I've been. Any thoughts are appreciated! Thanks!

 

[amyl]

i have been asked this question many times... at both interviews and on away rotations. i don't know what the right answer is so i just tell the truth ;-) i am not very good at all this game playing b.s.

 

[Anesdawg]

I have been asked that same question.....kinda caught me off guard but I just shot it to him straight and told him where I was going. I couldn't get a good feel for what his question was trying to accomplish either. Don't get me wrong, the guy was real nice and it was a very pleasant, low stress interview. Like you, I am curious regarding this type of question's intent.

 

[Ferdie]

I have a few theories on this, though I don't know if any are correct:

1. small talk (hasn't it been your small talk lately when you bump into classmates in the hospital with whom you have nothing else to talk about? It's been mine)
2. to gague how competitive a candidate you are (though your application already speaks to this, people always like to know who they're up against)
3. to gague how interested you are in a particular part of the country.

just my thoughts. I've been wondering the same thing. The past 2 weeks I was doing a pain rotation with my home program, and it was especially difficult for me there to know how much I should talk about where I've been and where I'm going. I'm not very good at keeping much under my hat.

 

[Curare]

I hope everyone's interviews are going well. I just have a quick question for everyone. Do you think its appropriate for interviewers to ask where else you've interviewed? I guess I'm not too sure about this question, and what it accomplishes. Does it matter where else you've interviewed? How do I go about answering this question without listing all the places I'm interviewing and the rest of my interview schedule? I'm not trying to hide where I'm interviewing, I just want to focus on the place on where I'm interviewing at the time, not where I will be going next or where I've been. Any thoughts are appreciated! Thanks!

Yeah, there is always one interviewer that asks that question. It isn't appropriate but telling them that doesn't bode well in the interview. My reply has been to only answer it in part. I let them know that this is the program I really want to get into and that my back ups are neighboring programs. I think it makes them feel good that I consider their school better than school X. Even though everyone knows school X is better.

I would never tell them that I have applied to 30+ schools. I think it makes me look desperate or unsure of myself. I have classmates who tell them only the top programs to which they have applied in hopes that it makes them look smart and desirable but I feel it could backfire.

 

[RickKane]

After going through my list interviews with an interviewer he proceeded to tell me which programs he thought where BETTER than his institution. Odd, but helpful.

 

[cameljocke]

My convo went like this...

Interviewer: Have you interviewed at other places? Well obviously, it's pretty late in the interview season.
Me: Yes, I have.
I: Have you gotten in anywhere, yet?
Me: Yes, I have, fortunately.
I: Where?
Me: (takes 2 seconds to ponder why he's asking..Inappropriate, no??) As of now, I'm going to X.
I: But where else have you gotten in?
Me: (ok, so my plan to give him a bit didn't work) I have also gotten into Y and Z (I only named the next 2 best schools.)
I: Have you applied to state schools?
Me: Yes, I applied to all of them?
I: Did you get any secondaries? Interviews? Acceptances?
Me: (Feeling completely dumb at this point) Yes I got secondaries, but so far no interviews or acceptances.

The worst part is, he was writing all this down on the "report" he submits to the admissions committee later. This was by far the best school I had interviewed at to this point. It seems really inappropriate for an interviewer to be asking those kinds of questions, and even worse if an AdCom really considers where else you're going or have interviewed to determine if they should accept you or not.

Thoughts?

 

[173291]

My convo went like this...

Interviewer: Have you interviewed at other places? Well obviously, it's pretty late in the interview season.
Me: Yes, I have.
I: Have you gotten in anywhere, yet?
Me: Yes, I have, fortunately.
I: Where?
Me: (takes 2 seconds to ponder why he's asking..Inappropriate, no??) As of now, I'm going to X.
I: But where else have you gotten in?
Me: (ok, so my plan to give him a bit didn't work) I have also gotten into Y and Z (I only named the next 2 best schools.)
I: Have you applied to state schools?
Me: Yes, I applied to all of them?
I: Did you get any secondaries? Interviews? Acceptances?
Me: (Feeling completely dumb at this point) Yes I got secondaries, but so far no interviews or acceptances.

The worst part is, he was writing all this down on the "report" he submits to the admissions committee later. This was by far the best school I had interviewed at to this point. It seems really inappropriate for an interviewer to be asking those kinds of questions, and even worse if an AdCom really considers where else you're going or have interviewed to determine if they should accept you or not.

Thoughts?

That's lame. what an ***. Good luck with all of the madness.

 

[lord_jeebus]

Thoughts?

I think you meant to post on the premed forum, not the Anesthesiology forum.

 

[fakin' the funk]

I think you meant to post on the premed forum, not the Anesthesiology forum.

🙄

To be fair, neither that post nor this thread have anything to do with anesthesiology per se.

 

[indo]

My convo went like this...

Interviewer: Have you interviewed at other places? Well obviously, it's pretty late in the interview season.
Me: Yes, I have.
I: Have you gotten in anywhere, yet?
Me: Yes, I have, fortunately.
I: Where?
Me: (takes 2 seconds to ponder why he's asking..Inappropriate, no??) As of now, I'm going to X.
I: But where else have you gotten in?
Me: (ok, so my plan to give him a bit didn't work) I have also gotten into Y and Z (I only named the next 2 best schools.)
I: Have you applied to state schools?
Me: Yes, I applied to all of them?
I: Did you get any secondaries? Interviews? Acceptances?
Me: (Feeling completely dumb at this point) Yes I got secondaries, but so far no interviews or acceptances.

The worst part is, he was writing all this down on the "report" he submits to the admissions committee later. This was by far the best school I had interviewed at to this point. It seems really inappropriate for an interviewer to be asking those kinds of questions, and even worse if an AdCom really considers where else you're going or have interviewed to determine if they should accept you or not.

Thoughts?

He wasn't writing down your answers...he was finishing a Sudoku.

 

[CookWithGas]

After going through my list interviews with an interviewer he proceeded to tell me which programs he thought where BETTER than his institution. Odd, but helpful.

this EXACT same thing happened to me...im wondering if it was at the same institution....

 

[amyl]

didn't happen to me but it happened to someone i met on the interview trail who lurks here but doesn't post. I think it was too bad....just luck of the draw with which interviewer she happened to get vs. me --thus we had VERY different interview experiences.