Mayo phone ques..

[geneman]

Just curious but how do they make use of the phone interview? Do they actually listen to each one (I'm assuming there are 100's) or do they have their secretary's transcribe them?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[xaelia]

There really aren't all that many; they only phone interview a small percentage of their applicants to begin with.

Theoretically, yes, they are tape recorded and played back. My day last week happened to be a day of broken tape recorder, so she transcribed my answers to some extent. Still waiting to hear back.....

 

[mpp]

The admissions commitee does not actually ever listen to your phone interview nor do they read the transcripts. The phone interview is used as a sort of psycho-social profile to determine if you fit the type of people they are looking for. Much of the decision made regarding whether or not you will be invited for the on-site interview is made on the spot. The transcription (or recording) is used only for clarification purposes. That is why the turnaround for the phone interview (interview invite versus rejection) is almost always within a few weeks.

 

[xaelia]

Originally posted by mpp
The admissions commitee does not actually ever listen to your phone interview nor do they read the transcripts. The phone interview is used as a sort of psycho-social profile to determine if you fit the type of people they are looking for. Much of the decision made regarding whether or not you will be invited for the on-site interview is made on the spot. The transcription (or recording) is used only for clarification purposes. That is why the turnaround for the phone interview (interview invite versus rejection) is almost always within a few weeks.

Really? So it's basically just a tool to use to clear up remaining curiosities in an application they're considering for an interview invite? Or is that even an excessive glorification of the actual use of the phone interview....

 

[mpp]

I think it is a little more than that. They are looking for people that have strong values, a sense of committment to society and an understanding of respect, sincerity, quality, and professionalism in career and personal life.

This is impossible to evaluate from the AMCAS primary application. And the on-site interview is subjective and more personally oriented (since for each individual (both applicant and interviewer) it will be a different exerpience). The standardized telephone interview offers a good way to make comparisons between students and still get a feeling for their background. It is even better than some standardized written evaluation, because it is more difficult to come across as sincere when you are asked questions verbally on the spot rather than reading them on an application form and spending time to craft an answer that will be distorted and based on what the applicant thinks the evaluator wants to read.

Fortunately for applicants, things like SDN give an opportunity for applicants to at least get a feel for what the questions will be like and have some prepared responses. However, it would not surprise me if Mayo were to vary their questions so as to always have a few questions that applicant would not have seen elsewhere.