Interview

[bullyman]

I went for my first interview on the 26 Aug. I just want to say DON'T BRING YOUR GIRLFRIEND! Some kid in our group brought his and she followed him around like a lost puppy the entire day. It was very professional.

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[Mango]

I went to one with a girl who brought her mommy. Aparently they haven't cut the umbilical cord yet! Yikes...

 

[imtiaz]

Wow, I find your attitudes toward this issue to be somewhat appaling. First of all, presumably these interviews give the candidates an idea of what the school has to offer, and just give a general overview of the cirriculum, and etc. Most "traditional" premeds are coming straight out of college, ~21 years old. At that age, you aren't fully independent yet, so naturally you are going to bring a parent with you to check the school out and provide some sort of feedback. Not everyone is 35 and applying to medical school with 4 kids and a wife. I for one, plan to bring a parent with me just for some sort of emotional encouragement/support. To downplay the importance of something like this is pretty childish. So, that girl who brought her "mommy" with her probably did it because she was out of state and because she wanted a second opinion from a more unbiased person. Because needless to say, anyone will go anywhere they're accepted, especially if their options are limited. Then again, I don't know enough about interviews to fully judge how this is looked upon by adcoms, but I doubt it is looked upon as something detrimental. Provided they don't physically come with you into the interview room, I would think it would be pretty safe to bring someone along with you (a parent) for company. Does anyone have any other thoughts on this? Maybe I'm wrong, I've never interviewed but those are just my personal thoughts on the subject.

-imtiaz

 

[Mango]

Alright, I concede that interviews are stressfull, but then again, so is med school. I can tell you, after interviewing at six schools, that she was the only one (out of probably over 100 students) who brought a parent. And what did her mother do all day? Sat in the admissions office waiting room reading magazines. She couldn't even go on the tour. I don't know if you've heard, but a lot of times the students leading the tours are actually evaluating the applicants as well. So bringing a parent is completely inapropriate.

I'm sorry you find my statements "appaling," but I think you will find that I am not alone in these opinions. I will leave you with a direct quote from the book: "Inside Scoop on Medical School Admissions," published by Kaplan.

"Do NOT bring family members or girlfriends/boyfriends to the interview. Drop them at the mall; give them movie money. Just don't take them to your interview!"

If you don't believe me, I'd hope you would trust Kaplan. I think they know what they're doing...

[This message has been edited by Mango (edited 08-27-2000).]

 

[Mango]

One more point, 21 year olds have corporate job interviews every day. Do you think anybody brings a parent with them to their interview with Anderson Consulting? Bottom line: leave mom an pop at home, you're expected to be independent by this point.

 

[imtiaz]

Hey Mango,

I always find myself contradicting what you say, with no really strong basis for my end of the argument. I hope that you realize it isn't a personal thing between you and me, and I am glad that you go out of your way to enlighten me.

Thanks for the advice, I had no idea that bringing someone with you would be something that medical schools would look at as undesirable. About the corporate interviews, those are not as stressful I would imagine than a medical school interview. I say this because I have a lot of friends in computers, and I know they get lots of interviews. The thing is, the IT field is pretty much taking anyone who has a degree and is breathing. Those jobs are really really in demand. Contrast that with something like medicine, where they can afford to reject a large amount of people who have the grades but just don't fit that particular medical school's profile. You have to go into these respective interviews with different mindsets. Ok, enough of all that, back to drafting my AMCAS.

-imtiaz

 

[mschlesi]

I just recieved an interview invite to Einstein and they encouraged us to bring a family member....clearly not all schools look down on this.

 

[Hercules]

My girlfriend, while not going to the interview itself, will definitely be making the trips to the different cities with me. I think that it's important for her to see where we might be living for the next 4 years. Does anyone else plan on bringing their significant other along?

 

[abbeydesert]

My husband is going to my first interview with me (Hopefully the first of many to come.) He's probably just going to spend the day wandering about the school or hanging out in the student center or library- but, in any case, getting a feel for the place. Also, he's great for moral support!

 

[Arti]

I find this topic fascinating, and here is my fice cents. Unless you have been told directly that it is OK to bring a parent or a significant other, by no means show up to the admissions interview with anybody. It looks awfull, esspecially if it is a parent. I saw a young woman at my NYU interview and her mom was putting lipstick on for her. This looked really unprofessional. Most of the time there is just room for the applicants and that is it, no one wants or needs parents there.

Arti

 

[Cameron]

Arti,
I think you're right. However, as Hercules and abbeydesert have mentioned, I think that bringing a significant other along so that they can see the city and environment is a good idea. My wife will be going with me to a couple of interviews -- no, she won't come to the interview room with me, but will likely just spend time wandering around the campus and city to get a feel for it. Since this decision affects both of us, I'd like her to be as informed as possible. My $.02

- Cameron

 

[Mango]

Imitiaz- no hard feelings, we all have different backgrounds and that's what makes a discussion forum such as this so usefull.

I would like to reiterate my point to those of you above who plan on bringing a SO/Parent with you. It's fine to bring them to the city, and maybe even to the campus. But when you set foot in the office of admissions, you should absolutly be ALONE.

Many of you may not know what to expect during an "Interview." I think that may be why people think it will be okay to bring somebody with them. They expect to show up, be called into a room, interviewed for about an hour, and then sent on their way, maybe after a short tour. Buzzz, wrong answer. Interviews are day-long, gruelling adventures. Several of mine lasted about eight hours! They put you in a conference room, have multiple speakers, videos, financial aid presentations, hour long lunches with current students, tours of the school, tours of at least one hospital (sometimes two), oh yeah, and then anywhere from one to three actual interviews! All this makes for a very long day, that you will probably not enjoy very much.

Remember- once you get to the interview stage, the school is really trying their best to impress you. That is to say they want to increase the chances that you will pick them should they decide to pick you. And let's face it, most schools end up accepting a large majority of the students that they interview (usually like 60-70%, sometimes more). So every school you interview at will give you a HUGE folder full of information that you can share with your SO/family. Plus, you could always come back with them later in the day and give them a tour of the facilities yourself.

Hope this info helps, remember, in the end, this is YOUR interview. You want to present yourself in a mature, professional way. And bringing a "support" person is HIGHLY atypical, and will tend to make you look less independent and mature. Good Luck Everyone! And remember the best interview pointer: Wear comfortable shoes, you'll be walking A LOT!!!

[This message has been edited by Mango (edited 08-29-2000).]

 

[drfermin]

I agree that it's absolutely inappropriate to bring anyone else to the interview site, just as it is when you are interviewing for professional (consulting, science, etc.) jobs. OTOH, I am recently married so I would definitey want my wife to see the different cities I might be dragging her to.

But obviously not the interview. You can always meet your "support person" afterward, wind down and recap for a little bit, then walk around the campus together and maybe chat with some students.

 

[iamlost]

I hope when we become surgeons, we won't bring our mommy to our first surgery for emotional support. We better learn to have others depend on us and not the other way around, cuz in us our patients'll look for support. Considering this, I think the adcoms look for people that have already learn this and can get through the difficult and sometimes dismal path of med school admission process w/o their mommy and g/b friends.

 

[Socceroo4ever]

No disrespect to any of the previous posters, but I suppose I'll take a middle ground on this issue! It's essentially the same thing I did when scouting out undergraduate universities. My parents would check out, say, Duke University while I toured UNC Chapel Hill, then on the next day, we switched roles, comparing notes after each day. I suppose I'll pull something of the same thing with a SO for medical schools: I'll interview one day and either the next day or the day before walk around with SO and check it out for ourselves.

My polished two cents!

 

[KWBum]

I must say that I find discussions like this rather slightly absurd. Oh, I realize that people will get up in arms about this comment. They seem to tend to do so around here. Know what I mean? Especially, what with exchanges like "Don't bring your girl/Mom/cat to the interview" eliciting characterizations such as "that comment was appaling."

Rather hyperbolic, no?

Anecdotes of mom applying lipstick, though cute, bespeak an abjact lack of preparedness for the road ahead.

It just seems manifestly obvious that one ought not bring anyone but oneself to an interview.

Yes, there is a great value in a second opinion about a school from a trusted "loved one." But the appropriate time for this is before or after. I am almost of the opinion that this is so obvious as to not even merit discussion. It should not need to be spelled out that girlfriend/mom should be left at the mall or the hotel pool or wherever.

As for an interview at a truly top consulting firm such as McKinsey or Mercer. Bringing your mom not only would guarantee failure to secure the position, it would also cement your place as the butt of jokes within the firm for the next month. This regardless of whether you are 20 or 40.

Med school interview. Simple. Wear a suit. Comb your hair. Don't say "yo" or "dude." Know the school. Have a spiel about yourself pre-prepared. Have a few tough questions. And leave mom/Trixie/the cat at home.

Nasty and tough? Yes. But true.

[This message has been edited by KWBum (edited 08-30-2000).]

[This message has been edited by KWBum (edited 08-30-2000).]

 

[Dave2K]

I can only hope that people are using different definitions of "the interview" in this discussion. As far as traveling to the school and checking out the facilities/city, by all means bring somebody. If you need a parent with you to make such a decision, I am inclined to agree with people who think you need to prepare for life on your own better. But, as far as a significant other or spouse is concerned, their input is VITAL, especially if they plan on moving out to the school with you.

As far as in the interview process itself, it is absolutely absurd to bring ANYONE else along with you. Your mom/dad/girfriend/ boyfriend should NOT accompany you on the official guided tour, should NOT be with you while you interact with other applicants and should DEFINITELY NOT sit in on the interview with you! You are being judged as an individual, and I think that dragging someone else along can only reflect poorly upon you.

 

[Hercules]

Just thought I'd clarify my position since it's been commented on. My girlfriend will take the trip not the interview with me. I don't plan on bringing her into the interview, on the tour, etc. I just thought it would be good for her to take a look at the different cities we might be in. She'll probably go looking for housing or something while I'm on the interview

This discussion sure did get heated in a hurry!!

 

[abbeydesert]

Ditto here. Of course, my husband isn't coming to the interview room with me- but he'll probably drive me to the school that morning, then go off exploring the campus and surroundings on his own. BTW, we did something similar when I went for job interviews in other cities and it worked out great. I agree that it would be inappropriate to bring another person to the actual interview with you.

 

[bullyman]

Looks like I started something. I have no issue with someone dropping you off or even wandering around the campus as you go for you interveiw. The guy I saw had his girlfriend everywhere with him. This website is cool.