Interviewers asking about where you've interviewed?

[GrnLt]

I was wondering how many of you had interviewers who inquired about where u have interviewed and where u have been accepted. Many of my interviewers started my interviews with this kind of question, and I wonder how other people handled it and felt about being asked such a question. I dont' remember where i heard this, but I thought interviewers aren't allowed to ask that kind of question.

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[Scooby Doo]

I was asked it pretty much everywhere I went.

I picked and chose interviews I wished to tell my interviewer or sometimes I would just say I have interviewed at a good amount of schools. And if they persisted, I would just say "A few top tier, a few lower tier." And if they kept nagging, I would just say, "Well, I think that where I have interviewed is not important but what is important is that I am choosing to interview at this school, XXXX school of medicine and the reasons why I chose to interview at this school are: a) b) c) etc etc."

 

[Cdc28p]

I was asked this only once or twice, at UCSF and probably another place. I just gave them an honest answer of where I had interviewed. What's the big deal?

 

[BlackPuma]

Argh I hated it...

they asked me at UCSF, Irvine, northwestern, suny buffalo, blah blah blah...what difference does it make...

ok this is how it went, suny buffalo asked me first, and i said the name of the schools, and SHE WROTE them down..and then she was like, which ones u got accepted, rejected and how many interviews left...I was like

so I went to UCSF...I was like, ok not repeating that damn mistake....they asked me and I only listed the top four impressive schools, and then the guy was like, ONLY 4?

so then I went to northwestern, and the guy was like like watcha how many interviews u had so far...I was like 11, and he was like <img border="0" alt="[Wowie]" title="" src="graemlins/wowie.gif" />

wtf?!?!?!? no matter what I said, high, low....these pple are psycho...why wont they just ask amcas if they are privy to all the info...

 

[la9s]

I had a nasty experience with this question too! In one interview, it was the ONLY question the doctor asked me. She then made a list of everywhere I had interviewed and went down the list telling me why I shouldn't go to these schools (really crazy reasons too, like "Don't go to school in California. The weather's too nice. They don't get anything done there." She then concluded that I should to go the university of Michigan (NOT where I was interviewing that day) because that's where my family is. At one point, I tried to interject information about myself, but she just charged right on with this diatribe about all the schools. I had loved this school up until this point, but just left the interview very confused. I did end up getting accepted, but have turned them down (to go to school in California, conveniently). I guess it would have been nice to have a quick answer to the question, but I have a feeling this woman would have done her thing no matter what. Sometimes you get interviewers with their own perogatives and you just have to go along for the ride!

 

[GrnLt]

I had a similar experience. My interviewer actually told me not to go to his school. He then proceeded to go through the other schools i had interviewed at and told me how they were better. Even by the end of the interview, I couldn't figure out if he was testing my desire for that school or if was indeed sincere. Weird huh?

 

[mr.annoying]

My interviewer at Temple asked me what schools I interviewed at, but I just told him exactly where I interviewed and went away from the subject right away. I don't think it's that big of a deal to tell them, but I guess that others have obviously had different experiences.

 

[strangeattractor]

yes, i got asked this question at all of the schools i interviewed at. ARRRRRRRRRRRGH! what made it more annoying was that i applied to all first tier schools but just happened to get interviews ONLY at three of the best schools i applied to, and my state school (which i declined...LONG STORY!) and it certainly raised an eyebrow...and all asked, "why only those schools?" or "why didn't you get an interview at X school?" so what was i supposed to say???? were they hinting that i must have foiled the process somehow on purpose, or was this supposed to be another variety of the "what is your weakness?" question? why do they even ask, to ascertain what your chances are of getting in somewhere else? at one school in particular they asked me why i didn't go to my state school's interview, and although i answered as honestly as possible, the guy then proceeded to ask me how i was going to pay for medical school, and tried to convince me to go to the state school (apparently he'd gone to HIS state school...but shouldn't he have been selling me on the place i was interviewing at????)! i thought that was completely inappropriate, and better left for the fafsa! obviously if i wasn't willing to take loans to go there, why would i have applied there...

at another school, the guy asked why i didn't apply to albert einstein -- i had actually just not turned in the secondary after i was running out of money, but this was my third interview and i was getting sick and tired of explaining, and knowing that they didn't get a copy of the last page of amcas, i thought it would be simpler to neglect to say i even applied -- when i had applied to nyu and columbia. i answered as honestly as possible without going into the whole shpiel, saying that sometimes it comes down to what looks best in the brochure and on the website when you haven't actually gone to visit the school, and monetary reasons restricted me from applying everywhere. turns out he'd gone to albert einstein. and then he brought it up AGAIN later on!!!

so at these two schools where they really drilled me on this question, i got rejected post-interview. i am waitlisted at the school that semi-drilled me...and whether or not this question was THE determining factor in my admissions is certainly pissing me off...

whew. &lt;taking deep breath&gt;

 

[oldman]

i was asked at my 1st interview where i applied. when i told him i applied to 26 schools. his mouth just dropped wide open.

 

[dynamic02]

Yes, I was asked the same question too, and I was just honest, but didn't make a big deal out of it. At first I just mentioned the general area of schools that I applied to (ie. East Coast, Midwest, etc), and then if they asked more details, then I just told them... Didn't sweat it though...
So I think in general, make sure you have an answer to that question and why you would like to attend school "X". Hope it goes well for you.

 

[leafs]

i was asked at some of the places i interviewed. A couple interviewers asked me to list where i had applied. I didn't think much of it at the time.....i think that all is important is that you have good reasons for applying to the school in question.

 

[otter]

Almost every place asked me, I think... Temple, Tufts, NYMC (I think)

 

[trout]

I was asked it at every school as well as where do we rank on your list...so basically I stretched the truth...

about the first...where did you apply/interview...I tried to pick out schools that were in the same geographic area (I think they want to see if you are serious about coming to certain locations...i.e. upstate ny) also equivalent and below ranking level...I generally said 5-6 schools and let it drop

where do we rank on your list...well until I had an acceptance every school was number one....but I generally dogded the question by saying something positive about the school, like I am excited about this program or would enjoy interacting with such a diverse student body or my grandfather was giving me free rent in burlington (which is/was true) and I had a lot of family members who live in thee burlington area for UVM

need to always speak positively of that school and never talk down about another school or even comparing one school to another can get you in trouble