Low stat applicant with a Interview at a reach school

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mddodr

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Hi guys, I have an interview coming up at a school with a matriculant GPA average a full .2 higher than my GPA. Additionally, some of my MCAT subsection scores are in the bottom 10th percentile of their accepted students. I am not a URM or have a compelling story about my upbringing etc.

This is an open file interview so they will see my stats. How would you guys recommend approaching this situation? Should I approach this head on and have an explanation prepared for my grades? If so, how would one even explain mediocre grades? Would an honest explanation that reflects on misaligned priorities in undergrad be acceptable or would that be a red flag? I'm 2 years out of undergrad by the way.

Any suggestions/insight is appreciated!
 
mddodr said:
Hi guys, I have an interview coming up at a school with a matriculant GPA average a full .2 higher than my GPA. Additionally, some of my MCAT subsection scores are in the bottom 10th percentile of their accepted students. I am not a URM or have a compelling story about my upbringing etc.

This is an open file interview so they will see my stats. How would you guys recommend approaching this situation? Should I approach this head on and have an explanation prepared for my grades? If so, how would one even explain mediocre grades? Would an honest explanation that reflects on misaligned priorities in undergrad be acceptable or would that be a red flag? I'm 2 years out of undergrad by the way.

Any suggestions/insight is appreciated!
Click to expand...

The bolded is meaningless.

In addition to Homeskool's wise advice, ppeak from the heart, and know what's in your app.
And read this:
Goro's Guide to Interviews
Goro's Guide to Interviews: The View from Behind the Curtain
Goro's Guide to YOUR Interview Questions (2016 edition)
 
They can already see your low-stat application and they still are offering you an interview! That shows they like you're character despite what your application or LizzyM score looks like. Just show them who you are and you'll be fine. They liked you enough to give you an interview, do the same thing and they'll like you enough to offer you a seat. Good luck!
 
Also interviewed at what I considered a reach school. My GPA was on par, but my MCAT was < 25%ile and one of my subsections wasn't even in the 10%ile. I'm also not URM.

I will be matriculating at this school in August.

Just be honest, genuinely interested in and knowledgeable about the school, and the cards will fall where they may. Good luck and enjoy your interview day!
 
Hey, my LizzyM was about 8-9 points below the schools median.... rock the interview, be confident, make sure your dressed well (get your clothes tailored etc) and enjoy it.
 
mddodr said:
Should I approach this head on and have an explanation prepared for my grades? If so, how would one even explain mediocre grades? Would an honest explanation that reflects on misaligned priorities in undergrad be acceptable or would that be a red flag?
Click to expand...
Make sure your explanation isn't an excuse. Be less concerned about explaining how it happened and more focused on what you learned from it and how you grew. If the interviewer doesn't make a big deal of it or bring it up, you shouldn't either.
 
mddodr said:
Hi guys, I have an interview coming up at a school with a matriculant GPA average a full .2 higher than my GPA. Additionally, some of my MCAT subsection scores are in the bottom 10th percentile of their accepted students. I am not a URM or have a compelling story about my upbringing etc.

This is an open file interview so they will see my stats. How would you guys recommend approaching this situation? Should I approach this head on and have an explanation prepared for my grades? If so, how would one even explain mediocre grades? Would an honest explanation that reflects on misaligned priorities in undergrad be acceptable or would that be a red flag? I'm 2 years out of undergrad by the way.

Any suggestions/insight is appreciated!
Click to expand...
Being below the median is not the same thing as being uncompetitive.
SDN has this mindset and it's honestly depressing.
Please let us know what comes of the interview! I'm curious.
 
That sucks. I had an interview like that at my state school - a total disaster. You are not alone!
 
calivianya said:
That sucks. I had an interview like that at my state school - a total disaster. You are not alone!
Click to expand...
Yeah I don't know what happened in the OP, but my friend went to a regional state school for undergrad, interviewed at a top 20, and was grilled about the lack of pedigree/rigor of his UG and "concerns" over his 3.9/516...
 
Maybe it is not as bad as you thought, unless you put your foot on your interviewer's desk or something, then it is bad.
I would say in general, people who hold themselves to high standards are not very good at judging what other people think about them.
 
What happened?? I really doubt it was a true disaster as you seem to have enough self-awareness to avoid a real doozy.
 
altblue said:
Yeah I don't know what happened in the OP, but my friend went to a regional state school for undergrad, interviewed at a top 20, and was grilled about the lack of pedigree/rigor of his UG and "concerns" over his 3.9/516...
Click to expand...
OMG I'd be pissed if they came at me like that. It'd be hard for me to withhold an aggressive retort. Unnecessary. Especially because the top 20 schools I've interviewed at so far didn't behave like that at all. Rude.
 
A lot of people feel like interviews were disasters but end up going well. Don't worry OP! I'm sure you did just fine!
 
altblue said:
Yeah I don't know what happened in the OP, but my friend went to a regional state school for undergrad, interviewed at a top 20, and was grilled about the lack of pedigree/rigor of his UG and "concerns" over his 3.9/516...
Click to expand...
I'm pretty sure that's not something interviewers are supposed to do....they can't offer someone an interview and then just spend the whole time grilling them on their stats/ UGrad.
Maybe @Goro can shed some light? I'm pretty sure they aren't allowed to do that.
 
mwsapphire said:
I'm pretty sure that's not something interviewers are supposed to do....they can't offer someone an interview and then just spend the whole time grilling them on their stats/ UGrad.
Maybe @Goro can shed some light? I'm pretty sure they aren't allowed to do that.
Click to expand...
Might be a stress interview gone too far
 
mwsapphire said:
Still... that's real ****ty and if they " go too far" then they should be reported? IDK it just seems unprofessional to me.
Click to expand...

I've had a quite "unprofessional" interview experience as well in the past (interviewer 10-15 mins late, looked down the entire time, didn't pay attention to what I was saying, tried to rush me through every answer, didn't take a single note, etc. etc.) I considered reporting or at least talking to someone at admissions about this but I figured this would probably do nothing, or only make things worse for me. Unfortunately I feel like its one of those things in life where you just have to play the game and roll with the punches. I wish it was different but I don't think there's a thing to be done about "unfair" interviews except in some fringe cases.

onyxbell said:
Also a lot of people feel like their interviews were pleasant (bonded well, similar EC activities with interviewers yada yada) but ended up with WL or R. Don't worry OP!
Click to expand...

AKA My interview cycle

hahahahahahahaha...
 
Last edited:
I got grilled over my ECs at my state school. The interview was open file except for GPA/MCAT, at a school with a service/primary care mission when my app was neither service nor primary care based. Since the interviewer couldn't see my MCAT (way above the school's median), I can see why he thought it was ridiculous that he was interviewing me when my app was so inappropriate for the school.
 
calivianya said:
I got grilled over my ECs at my state school. The interview was open file except for GPA/MCAT, at a school with a service/primary care mission when my app was neither service nor primary care based. Since the interviewer couldn't see my MCAT (way above the school's median), I can see why he thought it was ridiculous that he was interviewing me when my app was so inappropriate for the school.
Click to expand...
Actually, question about that.
If your state school has a slight primary care focus, but ultimately wants doctors that can practice in all disciplines, and you have an app that is service based but not with a Primary Care focus, would you be grilled for it/ not considered for an interview at all?
I'd love to go to my state school , they have a slight PCP focus, and my app is service based, and not Primary care based. I've always wondered what would happen in that situation. If I have a lot of service hours it should be fine, but I don't have a vested interest in primary care.
 
mwsapphire said:
Actually, question about that.
If your state school has a slight primary care focus, but ultimately wants doctors that can practice in all disciplines, and you have an app that is service based but not with a Primary Care focus, would you be grilled for it/ not considered for an interview at all?
I'd love to go to my state school , they have a slight PCP focus, and my app is service based, and not Primary care based. I've always wondered what would happen in that situation. If I have a lot of service hours it should be fine, but I don't have a vested interest in primary care.
Click to expand...
Based on what happened to me, I would recommend everyone do at least a little primary care shadowing, regardless of what schools are targeted. 10-20 hours is a very minute fraction of time in the grand scheme of things. It would give you some way to talk about your experiences with primary care if it came up in an interview, which, at a PCP focused school, it probably will.
 
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