Interesting paper on the validity of admissions interviews

[sumstorm]

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I think another component of this is to question HOW the interviews are conducted. A good interview can be a goldmine of information that can't be found on any written application or accounted for by tests and grades. A bad interview can detract from the applicant and from the school. I have heard at least one vet say that their vet school did away with interviews because 1) no one wanted to conduct the interviews 2) the interviews were vastly different depending on who conducted the interviews, in questions, style, technique, etc 3) interviews were opening the school to potential liability in regards to discrimination because some of the interviewer were incredibly un-professional. She was an upperclass student during the years where the school stopped conducting interviews.

 

[Bill59]

That's a good point. If you're going to have interviews it's vital to have some sort of training for the interviewers and to have general guidelines and structure for the interviews. Just because someone knows, for example, how to teach anatomy doesn't mean they know how to conduct an interview.

 

[cwc07]

I have to agree with sumstorm's post. I interviewed for the second time at UF this past spring (needless to say, didn't get in). During my interview (which was supposed to be a closed-file, "cold" interview - meaning my interviewers weren't supposed to know anything about me), it was brought up early in the interview by one of my interviewers that I had an interview the previous year. That threw me for a loop because I hadn't mentioned the fact that I had interviewed the year before. When I went in for my file review, I asked the Dean of Students and Instruction how did my interviewers knew this was my second time, he said he went through and marked on the interviewer's sheets those people who had an interview the previous year so they would not be asked the same questions as those who were being interviewed for the first time. Apparently UF uses the same behavorial interview questions and the dean thought that those who were on their second interview would have an advantage by knowing the questions that were to be asked, so those of us on our second interview were asked different questions! I was appalled for 2 reasons: (1) this took away the basic premise of the interview being "cold" - my interviewers knew I had tried once and failed, so I felt that put me at a disadvantage from the beginning, and (2) how can you compare the responses to 2 separate sets of interview questions when deciding whom to admit? For the record, I thought both my interviews went well, but the dean said the reason I wasn't accepted was because the interviews didn't go as well as I thought. He said I was perfect on paper. The only advice he had for me from this past file review was to "surround myself by people whom I'm not afraid to ask me embarassing questions."😕

 

[twelvetigers]

That's very unpleasant, cwc! I hope that OKstate is not the same way when I reapply next year. It's not really a behavioral interview, so the questions should be different. Why would they need to know it was my second time? They don't know anything else about me besides what I put specifically into VMCAS.

I don't see how an interview could go so poorly without you noticing. I mean, it doesn't make any sense. Could he not tell you WHAT you had done to make it so bad? As for the last part, what does that even mean? You're supposed to surround yourself with people you like and have them ask you embarassing questions? Like what? "What color are your underwear?" That's strange.

I hope things go better for you in the future. There's nothing quite so frustrating as being told that you are "great on paper, but don't interview well" but having no idea how to improve in that area (except by having people ask you strange questions?)... very frustrating!

 

[cwc07]

I don't see how an interview could go so poorly without you noticing. I mean, it doesn't make any sense. Could he not tell you WHAT you had done to make it so bad? As for the last part, what does that even mean? You're supposed to surround yourself with people you like and have them ask you embarassing questions? Like what? "What color are your underwear?" That's strange.

Thanks twelvetigers and good luck to you with Oklahoma State.

I know the reason I didn't get in the first time I had my interview - my GRE scores were weak. So I retook the GRE and did everything else the dean told me to do after my first file review. This dean was granted a promotion and so for last year's application cycle, there was a new Dean for Students and Instruction. If the former dean had still been there, I'm pretty confident I would have gotten in this year.

There were some weird things that happened with UF's application process last cycle. The most egregious (in my opinion) was that one of the people granted admission into this year's class was a person that was initially denied an interview! I still don't understand how that happened!

And when I had my file review with the dean, I asked if I was going to receive a letter summarizing what was discussed (the previous dean did that). He said yes. Two months later, no letter, so I called and was told the letters were going out in batches. Two more months pass, still no letter - call again. This time I was told he had no intention of sending out letters and that he has an excellent memory! When I said that the dean told me he was going to mail me a letter, my file was pulled and all that was in there regarding the file review meeting was a note stating the date and time of the meeting!

So yes, I am reapplying again, but I don't have my hopes high as I just don't trust this dean (and I have stated in previous postings why I'm Florida-locked). I asked him to tell me point blank if I had a chance of ever getting in (I'm 41 years old and can't wait forever), and he said yes, that I just need to get over the cusp of the interview. Both deans couldn't give me specifics about the interview - saying they weren't in the room (I think it's more to cover their rear). The first dean did say my interview went OK (even my interviewers at the end said I did a good job), but like I said, I knew it was my GRE scores that killed me. This year, I thought it went well again - especially when the first words out of one of my interviewer's mouth were, "You're the best dressed person we've seen all day!" So much for first impressions! This is the first time I've never gotten what I wanted after an interview.

 

[nyanko]

There were some weird things that happened with UF's application process last cycle. The most egregious (in my opinion) was that one of the people granted admission into this year's class was a person that was initially denied an interview! I still don't understand how that happened!

A number of people here actually ended up getting called for interviews by UF after having gotten a rejection letter, actually. I would have been kind of surprised if NONE of the people they did this to got in, so I'm not surprised that one did.

 

[sumstorm]

Could you contact the interviewers you had directly? Might not work now, a year later, but that might have been an option.

 

[cwc07]

Could you contact the interviewers you had directly? Might not work now, a year later, but that might have been an option.

I do have the names of my interviewers for the past 2 years, but I doubt they would have me anything specific because we live in a litigious society. All I would get would be generalities. My equine vet (a graduate of The OSU) told me that a lot of schools are moving away from interviews because of that. The only thing I can do is try again, practice mock interviews over and over until it becomes old hat. Giving up when I came so close is not an option.

A number of people here actually ended up getting called for interviews by UF after having gotten a rejection letter, actually. I would have been kind of surprised if NONE of the people they did this to got in, so I'm not surprised that one did.

The point I was trying to make is that if I was, as the dean said, "perfect on paper," I do not see how my interview could have gone so badly that someone who wasn't so perfect on paper got in. I just don't see that their interview would have placed them over the top. Maybe I'm just being naive.