Interviewer feedback debunked!

[KBCoch]

It is the end of the interview. All questions are answered, and this is the point where the interviewer chooses to simply say goodbye or chooses to offer some shred of feedback. I'm interested to hear what some people's experiences are with interviewer feedback. From my experience, it means nothing (how discouraging). Here are my experiences and those of my friends:

Friend interviewed at Duke and wrote a thank you note. Interviewer actually wrote him back and told him that he got the highest interview scores possible. February arrives. Friend does not get in.

Friend interviewed at Penn. Interviewer tells her at the end of the interview that she is "exactly the type of applicant that they look for at Penn." February arrives. Friend is waitlisted.

I interviewed at Emory. Interviewer said, "I think you will do very well here." I actually got in.

Interviewed at Wash U. Interviewer said, "Well if you get in, I hope you come here." (I know, something that is probably said to everyone) Still waiting for the verdict on that one.

Friend interviewed at Pitt. Interviewer said in mid-interview, "I don't think you are taking this seriously enough!" February arrives. Friend gets in.

So who knows. My opinion is that most interviewer feedback comments can only be taken with a grain of salt, but if you are like me, you have a hard time not obsessing about them anyway.

Anyone have any other experiences to share?

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[DW]

i try not to put a ton of weight into what the interviewer says at the end. I haven't had a bad experience yet. But, I do realize that that person is only one person on the adcom really, and the whole committee still has to come to some sort of consensus. If he or she really likes the way I present myself, but the rest of the adcom hates my research or something, well, again, in comes this "crapshoot" element of the process we speak of.
At my jefferson interview, the guy went as far as to say "you'll be a good candidate get a merit scholarship here". Hell, that would nice, and I liked their school very much, but its still just one guy on the adcom. No sense in dwelling on it, i'll wait till the official word comes in

 

[BobbyDylanFan]

My $.02:

Probably many people have good med school interviews. Even an interviewer that is wallowing in his own saliva can only do so much to get you in ( more than likely a lot of people can just give you a good interview score unless they know the adcom peeps). The interview is still just a small part in this huge application process. You can't trust anyone or anything when it comes to this crap shoot!

 

[williestyle81]

hey DW,

when did you turn in your secondary for NJMS? When did you get word taht you were interviewing there. I turned in my secondary at the very end of August and still haven't gotten word. But i keep getting these emails from Dean Heinrich entitiled "Update from NJMS" and all it talks about are their newsletters, or their research buildings. Is this some kind of sign that I'm getting their emails, or just some kind of ploy to string me along ?
Thanks
EW

 

[DW]

sending you a pm, big willy style

 

[jwin]

Originally posted by KBCoch

Friend interviewed at Duke and wrote a thank you note. Interviewer actually wrote him back and told him that he got the highest interview scores possible. February arrives. Friend does not get in.

Friend interviewed at Penn. Interviewer tells her at the end of the interview that she is "exactly the type of applicant that they look for at Penn." February arrives. Friend is waitlisted.

I interviewed at Emory. Interviewer said, "I think you will do very well here." I actually got in.

Interviewed at Wash U. Interviewer said, "Well if you get in, I hope you come here." (I know, something that is probably said to everyone) Still waiting for the verdict on that one.

Friend interviewed at Pitt. Interviewer said in mid-interview, "I don't think you are taking this seriously enough!" February arrives. Friend gets in.

My question is based on stats and ECs did you think these people were going to get in?
were the penn/duke persons qualified (close to averages of students)?
were you well qualified for emory?

i was just wondering if these people had great applications compared to school averages, great interviews and then were waitlisted/rejected

 

[KBCoch]

I really don't know a lot about the stats on the Duke guy. All I know is that he had some pretty impressive research background and was an incredible writer (and Duke had a buttload of essays).

The Penn girl, I thought she would get in. Her stats were pretty on par as far as I know. But then, what the heck do I know about med admissions?

As for me, my stats were just slightly above Emory's avgs, so I felt I was qualified.

I realize that you can't put any stock in interviewer feedback. I think that I just put a bit too much weight on interviews in my mind. It is all those comments like "Once we ask you to interview, that means you have the numbers to get in." I'm not sure that I believe that, because once they sit down to make their final decision, I'm sure they go over the numbers all over again. Anyway, I'm just fishing for other interesting stories...

 

[STi555]

Originally posted by KBCoch
I really don't know a lot about the stats on the Duke guy. All I know is that he had some pretty impressive research background and was an incredible writer (and Duke had a buttload of essays).

The Penn girl, I thought she would get in. Her stats were pretty on par as far as I know. But then, what the heck do I know about med admissions?

As for me, my stats were just slightly above Emory's avgs, so I felt I was qualified.

I realize that you can't put any stock in interviewer feedback. I think that I just put a bit too much weight on interviews in my mind. It is all those comments like "Once we ask you to interview, that means you have the numbers to get in." I'm not sure that I believe that, because once they sit down to make their final decision, I'm sure they go over the numbers all over again. Anyway, I'm just fishing for other interesting stories...

No interviews so no interesting stories yet. It is interesting to speculate on how much weight the interview carries. I mean it is no surprise that some people are in as long as they don't totally blow the interview, but I would expect that if you got invited for an interview and got the highest score possible that you should at least get waitlist if not outright acceptance. Afterall, why are they having you interview if you can't get in with the best interview score? Just another thing that goes into the mysterious black box of medical school admissions.

 

[relatively prime]

I was told by an interviewer that interviews mean very little.

 

[siempre595]

I really hope that's not true. Otherwise think of the money and time we are all spending to do this, just so schools can have a formality kind of thing? That really bothers me. And why interview so many people then. I have no evidence of it actually mattering, but I hope it does, otherwise i'm just more disillusioned with this whole process.

 

[lang]

so i just had this weird experience at boston university. the guy i interviewed with seemed pretty high up in the adcom. the interview went very well i thought, but at the end, he seemed to be saying to me that he really wanted me to follow up and let him know if BU is my first choice, implying that's how i would get in. the thing is that BU is not my first choice and i don't want to lie, but of course I do want to get in somewhere!!! i'm totally obsessing over this and don't know what to do.

 

[relatively prime]

Originally posted by lang
so i just had this weird experience at boston university. the guy i interviewed with seemed pretty high up in the adcom. the interview went very well i thought, but at the end, he seemed to be saying to me that he really wanted me to follow up and let him know if BU is my first choice, implying that's how i would get in. the thing is that BU is not my first choice and i don't want to lie, but of course I do want to get in somewhere!!! i'm totally obsessing over this and don't know what to do.

You can write to them saying how much you really like hte school and how much you'd really love to go there... without saying that it's your number one choice. That's what I would do.

 

[Dr Chooch]

Originally posted by relatively prime
I was told by an interviewer that interviews mean very little.

I think that varies with different adcoms. The director of admissions at Yale pretty much told us that by the time you are interviewed, he could pretty much pick at random students to fill the class, and he would be satisfied. But I'm sure at other schools they really look for your interview to be more of a defining moment in your application process. I think most are just looking for some red flags, and when it really comes down to it, the rest of your application has the most to do with it. But just an aside, my interviewer at Hopkins definitely wanted to see how good I was at thinking on my feet, and definitely made me look like an idiot in doing so . So, hmm, we'll see what happens with that one.

But we should remember that the interview is not only a time for them to evalute us, but it's also a time for us to actually SEE the school and tell them what we think about it. That, in the end, might be the factor that gets you in the door.

 

[STi555]

I agree that a part of the interview is to get to see the school, but schools really should not give out interview invites to people that won't get in no matter how well they interview. That is just a waste of everyone's time and money.

 

[UCSBPre-Med]

Interviews matter, but not in the way that we think they do.

Medical schools (and any professional school that interviews for that matter) hold interviews in order to judge the "people" skills of the interviewee. They already know that you are an outstanding applicant, one worthy of their prestigious institution, but they want to make sure you aren't an anti-socialite, or a serial killer or something.

Schools do this to weed out potential maniacs. Who would want an anti-socialite with no people skills to be their doc?

 

[jot]

Schools do this to weed out potential maniacs

on a completely unrelated note - don't you like how michigan makes sure to point out kevorkian on their walls

 

[TroutBum]

At the end of one of my interviews, the interviewer told me that he was "going to very highly recommend [me]." I got waitlisted. I agree with those who said a lot of it depends on the school, and that some schools consider the interview more heavily than others. In my opinion, that was probably the best interview I've had so far (at least it seemed so to me, the way my interviewer and I hit it off) and I don't think he would probably say that to everybody, so even if I nailed my interview, at this school it wasn't enough to get me in right off the bat.

Keeping my fingers crossed. And I agree that it's not fair for schools to ask people to come interview if they're pretty sure they wouldn't take you anyways. It's too damn expensive to do this as it is.

 

[Dr Chooch]

Originally posted by STi555
I agree that a part of the interview is to get to see the school, but schools really should not give out interview invites to people that won't get in no matter how well they interview. That is just a waste of everyone's time and money.

I agree. It is pretty damn ******ed of them to do something like that, because they are wasted everyone's time and money. You would think though, that everyone who interviews has at least a REMOTE chance of getting in. But I guess for the people who just make the interview cut, the school is looking for them to dig themselves out of a hole, which I imagine might be a pretty difficult task. I say just blame it all on AMCAS.

 

[batman123]

For the "sterling #s candidates" (i.e. >37 MCAT, >3,8 GPA from top undergrad institutions), the interview really doesn't mean too mcuh. My younger brother, who has these stats, but what most adcoms would consider as only "average" ECs and "average" social skills, has still managed top get acceptances to top 10 schools. Furthermore, he's told me that most of his interviewers at the top places, and in particular Wash U-St, Louis and Stanford, have tried to "Sell" the schools to him, rather than probe his personality, motivations for medicine, etc. Furthermore, he said that his interviewers seemed more interested in where else he was applying than his personality, motivations, etc.

I think that for people with only average stats and undergrad institution, the interview takes on greater importance. It is the primary means for expressing 1) dedication to medicine as a career, and 2) our enthusiasm for the school we are interviewing at.


This is what I think, from my own limited experiences with this frustrating process.

 

[batman123]

Oh yeah, i fall under the average stats/institution category, so I feel the interview has much more significance to me

 

[Random Access]

Originally posted by STi555
I agree that a part of the interview is to get to see the school, but schools really should not give out interview invites to people that won't get in no matter how well they interview. That is just a waste of everyone's time and money.

Schools don't invite people for interviews whom they absolutely wouldn't accept. What are you referring to?

 

[STi555]

I was refering to the first post about the person who supposedly got the highest interview score possible and got rejected. Of course this information is third hand so I don't know how true it.

 

[Peter Parker]

Originally posted by STi555
I agree that a part of the interview is to get to see the school, but schools really should not give out interview invites to people that won't get in no matter how well they interview. That is just a waste of everyone's time and money.

I somehow get the impression Columbia behaves this way. They interview ~1000 people, yet they consistently have one of the highest MCAT averages. This only tells me they're dishing out a lot of false hope and wasting people's money, because they're only going to take the kids with good numbers at the end of the day (okay, this has exceptions).

P. Parker