Interview Questions

[Courtjester8]

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Just a couple of interview questions I was hoping someone could shed some light on.

Once offered an interview, are applicants essentially on a level playing field and only differentiated based on their interview performance?

Does an earlier interview invitation mean that the school sees you as a more competitive applicant?


-cj8

 

[NuttyEngDude]

depends on the school. some schools use a scoring system, so the interview is a small portion of a subtotal. I think Q could shed more light on this, and lizzy (i think her name is?) on the trad side.

 

[LifeTake2]

It is school dependent. But you can look at it kinda like this:

If you get an interview, you meet the requirements to get in or they wouldn't waste the time.

Now it is in your court. Do well, and any hesitations in your application go away and you are golden. Come across rude or entitled and that 4.0 won't count for anything.

Now that is not to say your application isn't still a factor, but yes you are competing against the other 300 interviews vs the 5K applications they started with.

 

[DrMidlife]

If you get an interview, you meet the requirements to get in or they wouldn't waste the time.

Not necessarily. In '08 I went to interview at a DO school, and halfway through the day I was told my 20 year old transcripts had too much damage for me to be accepted. They were baffled when I objected to finding this out during the interview (after paying for the secondary, taking time off from work, flying, hotelling, and rental carring).

Hopefully this is an anomaly, but it's a seller's market. They can do whatever they want.

 

[thlaxer]

Once offered an interview, are applicants essentially on a level playing field and only differentiated based on their interview performance?

Schools still take into account the rest of your application post-interview, at least in my experience. They're likely more forgiving of a less amazing interview performance if the rest of your application is great. As LifeTake2 said though, if you come off as awkward or rude in an interview, you won't be accepted even if you have a high GPA/MCAT +good ECs and LORs.