Interview question

[munchkin910]

I just came back from an interview, and was asked if i applied to any other DO or MD schools. There was another interviewee with me who was asked more specifically which schools did she apply to and what is her status in each school that she applied to. Are interviewers allowed to ask these questions??? or do we have to answer?

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[jp104]

From what I've read here, they are allowed to ask where else you've applied to.

I don't know if you've applied to NSUCOM, but on their supplemental there is a section to fill out that asks about all the schools are are applying to.

 

[Soccer885]

If I were asked, I am not sure I could remember all of the schools I have applied to, there are just to many...

 

[munchkin910]

Do you think telling them which schools you applied to, or which schools you were accepted or rejected from would affect their decision on whether to accept or reject you?

 

[PassingDays11]

I just came back from an interview, and was asked if i applied to any other DO or MD schools. There was another interviewee with me who was asked more specifically which schools did she apply to and what is her status in each school that she applied to. Are interviewers allowed to ask these questions??? or do we have to answer?

I am not sure if it is ethical or not to ask these type of questions, but I do know that refusing to answer an interviewer's question won't win you any brownie points with him/her. I think I would be honest and tell them the truth. If you're worried about getting this question then you should probably be prepared with a solid answer in the event that it is asked.

So in answer to your question, they can ask you pretty much anything they want. You don't have to answer anything you don't want to, but I sure as heck wouldn't want to offend the person guarding the gate between me and sweet success. Be ready to address any potentially negative conclusions they could draw from your choices. And in all honesty, if you think you have something to hide and can't come up with a good response then you probably should reevaluate why you are applying to that school and the integrity of that decision. just my opinion

 

[Testy McAterson]

Do you think telling them which schools you applied to, or which schools you were accepted or rejected from would affect their decision on whether to accept or reject you?

I don't think it's likely to hurt you and I wouldn't stress too much about it. There've been some similar threads on the pre-md board that generally agree that schools know students apply to multiple schools (or would be silly not to!) and these questions are more to see what your reasoning is--if you're applying to x,y,z because of location, if you're looking for a special program, etc.--and to help them figure out where they are in your mind or if they're a "last choice" option (i.e. if you're applying everywhere and really have no strong reasons to go to their school). posters have suggested handling these questions with honest explanations and bonus points if you can wrap it all together by saying something like "i applied to these schools for these reasons and YOUR school provides all these benefits as well as..."