Interview Question

[5113nc3d]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Hey,
For one of my med school interviews, one of the 2 interviewers did not show up. Does that count as an unfair interview since the other interviewees had 2 interviewers? The opinion of 1 vs 2 can be vastly conflicting or converging. Furthermore, having 2 interviewers can let them probe into their own specific interests of the applicant and to clarify/expand on the question of the other interviewer. Personally, my one interviewer was pretty rude and kept interrupting my responses when I was not even 1/2 finished with them to go to another question. Furthermore, he asked irrelevant questions like "why do you think there are more of this ethnicity at your school." I said education and location, but he brought up as being infamous for partying. I said "don't worry, i'm alcohol intolerant." He then brought up asking me what I thought about what caused alcohol intolerance. After I answered correctly, he gave me a more in depth response after. I told him about my parents uneducated background, thus causing me to have amblyopia (lazy eye). He then waste a question asking about this disability (not really a disability, but don't know what to call it for now) whether or not I could see in 3d. I thought this was a discriminatory questions since you are not allow to accept people based on disabilities. These WASTED A LOT OF TIME and we didn't have enough time to dive too deep into talking about volunteer/research/my job/leadership before time was up. 1 was because he interrupted me halfway, 2 because he asked questions that don't relate to anything, 3 because the program was running behind of schedule, and 4 because our interview started late because of a mix up of the same name people being called (delayed probably 3 mins). I feel like having 2 interviewers things would have gone way different.... This was a while ago, but I wanted to know what others thought about it. Can this lead to a petition for another interview if the interview process was the big factor that they didn't take you in and you felt it was unfair since everyone else had 2 interviewers?

 

[chizledfrmstone]

How many interviews did you have?

I think you were expecting to be asked the usual questions and the interviewer surprised you.

 

[Plecopotamus]

Hey,
For one of my med school interviews, one of the 2 interviewers did not show up. Does that count as an unfair interview since the other interviewees had 2 interviewers? The opinion of 1 vs 2 can be vastly conflicting or converging. Furthermore, having 2 interviewers can let them probe into their own specific interests of the applicant and to clarify/expand on the question of the other interviewer. Personally, my one interviewer was pretty rude and kept interrupting my responses when I was not even 1/2 finished with them to go to another question. Furthermore, he asked irrelevant questions like "why do you think there are more of this ethnicity at your school." I said education and location, but he brought up as being infamous for partying. I said "don't worry, i'm alcohol intolerant." He then brought up asking me what I thought about what caused alcohol intolerance. After I answered correctly, he gave me a more in depth response after. I told him about my parents uneducated background, thus causing me to have amblyopia (lazy eye). He then waste a question asking about this disability (not really a disability, but don't know what to call it for now) whether or not I could see in 3d. I thought this was a discriminatory questions since you are not allow to accept people based on disabilities. These WASTED A LOT OF TIME and we didn't have enough time to dive too deep into talking about volunteer/research/my job/leadership before time was up. 1 was because he interrupted me halfway, 2 because he asked questions that don't relate to anything, 3 because the program was running behind of schedule, and 4 because our interview started late because of a mix up of the same name people being called (delayed probably 3 mins). I feel like having 2 interviewers things would have gone way different.... This was a while ago, but I wanted to know what others thought about it. Can this lead to a petition for another interview if the interview process was the big factor that they didn't take you in and you felt it was unfair since everyone else had 2 interviewers?

When you think your interview process was inappropriate, you need to tell a school before a decision was made on your application. No school wants bad interviewers, and no school can weed them out if nobody complains, but the weight of any complaint is drastically reduced if it is post rejection.

It would be nice and fair for every interviewee to have the same number of interviewers (or even the same interviewers), but it doesn't mean you are guaranteed that or even entitled to it. You can ask if they'd do it, but it's totally at their discretion not to -- and it remains at your discretion to not attend a school that treats applicants that way and to share with other applicants that perhaps this institution is not the most respectful environment.

You as the interviewee do not get to determine what is wasted time or content. Different schools and different interviewers seek out different information in interviews. Just because you don't get to flesh out your CV in an interview does not mean it was "wasted." In many cases, the purpose of the interview is solely to gauge your interpersonal skills. Unfortunately, some interviewers include being abrasive and stressing the interviewee as a test of your ability to cope with difficult interactions. I don't necessarily think that's what you're interviewer was doing, but I think it's really important to put the purpose/goals in perspective for someone who feels like he/she should be in control when merely an applicant. I would never ask an applicant about the mechanism of his/her alcohol intolerance, but I would be more convinced the applicant was interested in medicine if he/she demonstrated enough medical interest to have looked it up previously. I'd also be interested in how well the applicant could explain the mechanism -- teaching patients is part of the daily job for most physicians as is explaining your assessments to other specialists. For what it's worth, interviewers at my school typically ask questions to get to know you and would be pretty disinterested in stuff like research that is adequately covered in the application.

You are apparently the one who raised the issue of your "disability" -- once you've done that, you'd be better served to view his question as an opportunity to explain how you aren't limited by it or to demonstrate that you have thoughtfully considered feasible ways to compensate. While it may have been unwise of him to ask you further questions about it, you can't finger them for discrimination over a condition that you volunteered information about.

 

[radkat101]

Yeah, I can see your problem and it does sound a little unfair. I had an interview with one interviewer that acted similar to yours (about other things) and one interview with a higher up that went great. Pretty sure I was only accepted because of that interview saving me. Your course or action will entirely depend on the school so I don't know what you tell you as far as that goes.

 

[kinzav]

Hey,
For one of my med school interviews, one of the 2 interviewers did not show up. Does that count as an unfair interview since the other interviewees had 2 interviewers? The opinion of 1 vs 2 can be vastly conflicting or converging. Furthermore, having 2 interviewers can let them probe into their own specific interests of the applicant and to clarify/expand on the question of the other interviewer. Personally, my one interviewer was pretty rude and kept interrupting my responses when I was not even 1/2 finished with them to go to another question. Furthermore, he asked irrelevant questions like "why do you think there are more of this ethnicity at your school." I said education and location, but he brought up as being infamous for partying. I said "don't worry, i'm alcohol intolerant." He then brought up asking me what I thought about what caused alcohol intolerance. After I answered correctly, he gave me a more in depth response after. I told him about my parents uneducated background, thus causing me to have amblyopia (lazy eye). He then waste a question asking about this disability (not really a disability, but don't know what to call it for now) whether or not I could see in 3d. I thought this was a discriminatory questions since you are not allow to accept people based on disabilities. These WASTED A LOT OF TIME and we didn't have enough time to dive too deep into talking about volunteer/research/my job/leadership before time was up. 1 was because he interrupted me halfway, 2 because he asked questions that don't relate to anything, 3 because the program was running behind of schedule, and 4 because our interview started late because of a mix up of the same name people being called (delayed probably 3 mins). I feel like having 2 interviewers things would have gone way different.... This was a while ago, but I wanted to know what others thought about it. Can this lead to a petition for another interview if the interview process was the big factor that they didn't take you in and you felt it was unfair since everyone else had 2 interviewers?

Personally, I don't think the interview is all that important. There's a clear way to get it wrong (take it too lightly, get mad, get stumped, etc.) but outside of that, the interview isn't a time to rehash your EC's, it's a time to see if passed your "paper credentials" you're likable/personable/"doctor-ly". I wouldn't complain because 1. I'm sure countless other students have interviewed with him and emerged with an acceptance (standardization on his side), and 2. It may have been a tactic he's used numerous times, and complaining would be a red flag. Just try to be the coolest, nicest, most patient you that you can be, and hope they see you're right for their program (also you might see that guy around if you're accepted... and the whole "burning bridges, etc. etc." thing...).

 

[Goro]

You had best let this go and take it as a learning moment that:

1) Life doesn't always go according to a script
2) Faculty/interviewers are human and can get sick, get stuck in traffic, space out or have other issues that prevents them from coming to an interview.
3) Many schools use only one interviewer
4) You might have been interrupted because you were babbling, or weren't answering the question
5) Having an exaggerated sense of entitlement is a sure way to get rejected.
6) Questions that may be pointless to you have perfect reasoning from the interviewer's perspective.
7) Pay careful attention: life is unfair.


For one of my med school interviews, one of the 2 interviewers did not show up. Does that count as an unfair interview since the other interviewees had 2 interviewers? The opinion of 1 vs 2 can be vastly conflicting or converging. Furthermore, having 2 interviewers can let them probe into their own specific interests of the applicant and to clarify/expand on the question of the other interviewer. Personally, my one interviewer was pretty rude and kept interrupting my responses when I was not even 1/2 finished with them to go to another question. Furthermore, he asked irrelevant questions like "why do you think there are more of this ethnicity at your school." I said education and location, but he brought up as being infamous for partying. I said "don't worry, i'm alcohol intolerant." He then brought up asking me what I thought about what caused alcohol intolerance. After I answered correctly, he gave me a more in depth response after. I told him about my parents uneducated background, thus causing me to have amblyopia (lazy eye). He then waste a question asking about this disability (not really a disability, but don't know what to call it for now) whether or not I could see in 3d. I thought this was a discriminatory questions since you are not allow to accept people based on disabilities. These WASTED A LOT OF TIME and we didn't have enough time to dive too deep into talking about volunteer/research/my job/leadership before time was up. 1 was because he interrupted me halfway, 2 because he asked questions that don't relate to anything, 3 because the program was running behind of schedule, and 4 because our interview started late because of a mix up of the same name people being called (delayed probably 3 mins). I feel like having 2 interviewers things would have gone way different.... This was a while ago, but I wanted to know what others thought about it. Can this lead to a petition for another interview if the interview process was the big factor that they didn't take you in and you felt it was unfair since everyone else had 2 interviewers?[/QUOTE]