most bizarre interview moment?

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In one of my interviews, the interviewer asked what my hobbies were... (normal question, right?)

As I went down the list, she stopped me when I got to bowling - said her son was an avid bowler as well and proceeded to tell me all about the bowling alleys in town and which ones he thought were best etc.

She was hilarious.
 
I asked about the cultural life in the area during one interview and then we had a 15 minute discussion about the symphony and opera. I'm going to take it as a good sign when interviewers try to sell us on the area based on interests that we state. Its like 'hey after I recommend you for admission and when you matriculate you can still enjoy these things in this area.'
 
A young PhD faculty member asked me an ethics question "If a liver was available for transplant...who would you give it to - an 80 year old or an 18 year old?"

I said "Well aren't there committees that decide that?"

"Oh...good point, I think there are." After a few seconds of silence she apologized and said I caught her off guard with my response. And then answered it but it was funny to see her squirm a little.
 
At one of my interviews, I was asked for about 10 minutes about ticks: I had to name two diseases they carry, what animals tend to have them, what attracts ticks, and a way to capture ticks.... all this because I'm from Virginia.

I love this thread. :laugh: Days of entertainment!

Interestingly, this interviewer is still there four years later. I'm also from Virginia and I had an interview with him a few weeks ago. The only reason I know is because we actually did discuss the finer points of tick capture and disease for a decent portion of the 25-minute interview!

He was a really nice old guy. Thankfully, he also did most of the talking. Luckily, I knew just enough about insect-borne diseases to keep things going. I guess some things never change ...
 
Ok, so this one had nothing to do with me, but I found it pretty bizarre/shocking. I was in between interviews, so I was hanging out with some second years talking about the school and such. They said that the week prior to me, some girl had come to her interview in a mini-skirt. One of them told me "this wasn't like a suit skirt that was just too short. It was a black mini-skirt that women wear out to clubs when they want to get hit on/picked up by guys." I looked at him like :wow: "are you serious?" and some of the others confirmed it.

On second thought, maybe I should post this in the women's suit thread instead. I would hope women would know what attire was appropriate for an interview, but apparently not all of them do...🙄
 
I love this thread. :laugh: Days of entertainment!

Interestingly, this interviewer is still there four years later. I'm also from Virginia and I had an interview with him a few weeks ago. The only reason I know is because we actually did discuss the finer points of tick capture and disease for a decent portion of the 25-minute interview!

He was a really nice old guy. Thankfully, he also did most of the talking. Luckily, I knew just enough about insect-borne diseases to keep things going. I guess some things never change ...
How bizarre! Mind if ask what school?
 
at penn state my interviewer asked me (first question, before even introducing himself) "who do you think is the greatest 400m runner of all time?" ouch. I mean I watch the olympics and what not, but who can recall sports statistics when they're in nervous interview mode? I said, "well I met Carl Lewis a few years ago..." and he snaps back at me, "Carl Lewis never ran the 400." Didn't exactly get off to a great start.
 
I so want to be on an admissions committee one day so I can freak premeds out with random questions.
 
In one of my interviews, the interviewer asked what my hobbies were... (normal question, right?)

As I went down the list, she stopped me when I got to bowling - said her son was an avid bowler as well and proceeded to tell me all about the bowling alleys in town and which ones he thought were best etc.

She was hilarious.

Same thing happened to me...I was a bowler on my high school team and I got into talking w/ my interviewer about the differences between ten-pin and candlepin LOL!
 
So, I was interviewing with this school that had us meet with various interviewing phsycians at their own offices all around town. At my second interview, I ended up at a group practice where I had noticed the admissions dean and another interviewee that I had talked with earlier. The admissions dean had been driving around the students who didn't have transportation to their various interviews. One thing lead to another, and I ended up giving the other interviewee a ride to the third and final interview.

On the car ride over, we had a chat about our histories and our motivations, etc. And we also found out we had the same interviewer at the same time on our interview agenda. I thought it was going to be an awfully short interview if the guy only had only interview slot to split between the two of us.

Anyhow, we arrive at the medical sciences building where we are to meet with a basic sciences professor. Just as we walk through the door, the other interviewee says, "Maybe it will be a group interview." I chuckled a bit and dismissively said, "Yeah, right."

Well, we show up at the professor's office and she walks through the door first. I waved to the professor to announce my presence and then backed out of the door so they could get started. The professor then says that since we only have a limited amount of time, we might as well both interview at the same time.

So, he then starts off by saying that we both have stellar MCAT scores and he really flatters us. He continues to do so for the rest of the interview (I'm in love with the school, btw). It gets really interesting because the other interviewee is this 20-year-old girl with all of this research experience and awesome grades who is coming from this really prestigious university. I, on the other hand, am a bit of a hardship case with some other strong points coming from a totally different angle than she did.

Anyhow, the interviewer closes with: If you end up coming here, I only ask one thing of you--that you come here and study with the intensity that I see in you today. I see you both having the potential to be very, very successful.
 
Haha, I'm totally tempted to just pick my fav funny questions from this thread and use them when I interview people. I probably won't though, I don't want to unintentionally give someone a hard time.

We had interviews last week, and the students were brought into anatomy lab. One poor guy fainted and cracked his head open on the edge of one of the dissection tables, and went to the ER. He turned out fine, and even made it to the interview, lol. We all felt for the guy.
 
Haha, I'm totally tempted to just pick my fav funny questions from this thread and use them when I interview people. I probably won't though, I don't want to unintentionally give someone a hard time.

We had interviews last week, and the students were brought into anatomy lab. One poor guy fainted and cracked his head open on the edge of one of the dissection tables, and went to the ER. He turned out fine, and even made it to the interview, lol. We all felt for the guy.

whoa, i guess it's good that my school doesn't do anatomy lab tours.
 
Haha, I'm totally tempted to just pick my fav funny questions from this thread and use them when I interview people. I probably won't though, I don't want to unintentionally give someone a hard time.

We had interviews last week, and the students were brought into anatomy lab. One poor guy fainted and cracked his head open on the edge of one of the dissection tables, and went to the ER. He turned out fine, and even made it to the interview, lol. We all felt for the guy.

Happened to my mom when she was a first year med student
 
A young PhD faculty member asked me an ethics question "If a liver was available for transplant...who would you give it to - an 80 year old or an 18 year old?"

I said "Well aren't there committees that decide that?"

"Oh...good point, I think there are." After a few seconds of silence she apologized and said I caught her off guard with my response. And then answered it but it was funny to see her squirm a little.

I had the same question during one of my bad interviews.

I answered that whomever was first on the "list" should be entitled to the liver transplant, and it is irrelevant to the age,status,influence of the patient. No physician can play god.

They didn't like my answer at first, and repeated the same question again, with a spin...the 80 year old was a politician.

I said the same answer again... what difference does it make?

they then busily scribbled some notes down on the page... and said "ok..."

not good....
 
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I had the same question during one of my bad interviews.

I answered that whomever was first on the "list" should be entitled to the liver transplant, and it is irrelevant to the age,status,influence of the patient. No physician can play god.

They didn't like my answer at first, and repeated the same question again, with a spin...the 80 year old was a politician.

I said the same answer again... what difference does it make?

they then busily scribbled some notes down on the page... and said "ok..."

not good....

I agree with your answer. Back when transplants were a new medical procedure and performing them was rare, there use to be a "god squad" committee that would rate patients based on their "future potential to society." The one whose life was deemed to contribute more got the organ. It ended up being heavily favored towards affluent, white men. Glad we don't do things that way anymore.
 
I had the same question during one of my bad interviews.

I answered that whomever was first on the "list" should be entitled to the liver transplant, and it is irrelevant to the age,status,influence of the patient. No physician can play god.

They didn't like my answer at first, and repeated the same question again, with a spin...the 80 year old was a politician.

I said the same answer again... what difference does it make?

they then busily scribbled some notes down on the page... and said "ok..."

not good....



I got asked the same Liver transplant question at an interview. I stood my ground and answered similarly to you, that it wasn't up to me individually, and that there are lists that determine who gets it. He tried to alter the scenario slightly a couple times by changing who the two candidate were, and I kept reaffirming my original answer. He seemed a little annoyed.

Accepted three weeks later.
 
At a interview I arrived to see a sign that said something like, "Today we welcome candidates from..." then it listed all the schools like Harvard, Yale, Brown, etc. I scanned the list looking for my school and didn't see it. I kinda got a little freaked out at that point. I knew I was there on the right date. Then I saw it. Instead of listing my correct school where I had done 99.9% of my coursework at, they listed the community college where I had taken a summer course that was listed on my amcas. The community college was also listed on my nametag... To make things worse they had a couple of TVs in the waiting room with the same list scrolling....
 
At a interview I arrived to see a sign that said something like, "Today we welcome candidates from..." then it listed all the schools like Harvard, Yale, Brown, etc. I scanned the list looking for my school and didn't see it. I kinda got a little freaked out at that point. I knew I was there on the right date. Then I saw it. Instead of listing my correct school where I had done 99.9% of my coursework at, they listed the community college where I had taken a summer course that was listed on my amcas. The community college was also listed on my nametag... To make things worse they had a couple of TVs in the waiting room with the same list scrolling....
:laugh:
I feel bad for you, lets hope those other Ivies weren't tooo judgmental.
 
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At a interview I arrived to see a sign that said something like, "Today we welcome candidates from..." then it listed all the schools like Harvard, Yale, Brown, etc. I scanned the list looking for my school and didn't see it. I kinda got a little freaked out at that point. I knew I was there on the right date. Then I saw it. Instead of listing my correct school where I had done 99.9% of my coursework at, they listed the community college where I had taken a summer course that was listed on my amcas. The community college was also listed on my nametag... To make things worse they had a couple of TVs in the waiting room with the same list scrolling....

Oh man. As if it wasn't easy enough to feel inferior during and interview day...
 
For a job..

Interview Lady - So what do you think your greatest weakness is?
Me (before I could stop myself) - Weakness? Me? No, I don't have any...
Interview Lady stares at me while I just do that nervous I-just-made-a-complete-ass-out-of-myself giggle
 
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I was at an MD/PhD interview, and one of the items on our schedule was to go on rounds with a doctor in their diabetes clinic (in Texas with our huge hispanic population, you see a lot of diabetes, and some have complications that require inpatient attention). Anyways, the doctor brings us into the room of one guy who had some pretty gross rash and ulceration on his leg as a result of some complication (don't remember the specifics). Also, he was pretty obese and naked, as his wounds were being washed. I thought his pathology was pretty interesting, but apparently one of the guys in our group had spent too much time at the bench and not enough time with patients, as he actually FAINTED! He fell and got a cut on his head, and the doctor we were following actually said, "That guy's never gonna be a doctor." I hope the poor guy was still out when the doc said that!

Even worse, when the kid came to, he revealed that this was the SECOND TIME he's fainted around a patient.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
At a interview I arrived to see a sign that said something like, "Today we welcome candidates from..." then it listed all the schools like Harvard, Yale, Brown, etc. I scanned the list looking for my school and didn't see it. I kinda got a little freaked out at that point. I knew I was there on the right date. Then I saw it. Instead of listing my correct school where I had done 99.9% of my coursework at, they listed the community college where I had taken a summer course that was listed on my amcas. The community college was also listed on my nametag... To make things worse they had a couple of TVs in the waiting room with the same list scrolling....

at one of the schools I interviewed at, they had me down as going to a highly unknown school that I didn't even attend.

My interviewers kept getting confused. :laugh:
 
At a interview I arrived to see a sign that said something like, "Today we welcome candidates from..." then it listed all the schools like Harvard, Yale, Brown, etc. I scanned the list looking for my school and didn't see it. I kinda got a little freaked out at that point. I knew I was there on the right date. Then I saw it. Instead of listing my correct school where I had done 99.9% of my coursework at, they listed the community college where I had taken a summer course that was listed on my amcas. The community college was also listed on my nametag... To make things worse they had a couple of TVs in the waiting room with the same list scrolling....


lol, this must have been at vandy...i felt the same way with my measely state school alongside all the ive schools, the only non ivies at my interview were notredame and duke..lol
 
I had my first interview of the day with the chaplain of the school. At first we talked about standard stuff, like volunteer work, work experiences, blah blah. After about 10 minutes we start talking about the local area, and he starts recommending things for me to do (I was staying in town that night).

He proceeded to tell me about various things to do in the city and mentions that there is a plethora of things to see, and touch if you want...(followed by a wink and then a huge laugh). I laughed along with him but in my head I was freaking out (this is the chaplain!!).

He then started talking about how hard it is to tell whether some of them are real women or not until its too late. Followed by more laughs and winks.

At this point I didn't know what to say so I just went along with him and laughed. He proceeded to tell me a story about an ER doc he knew that accidentally made out with a dude prostitute.

From there the conversation moved to alcoholic beverages.

I still can't believe this happened. I don't know if he was trying to judge my reaction or what. I went along with it the whole time and laughed with him jokingly saying "oh hahha, I'll have to remember that."

I left in a daze.

However, it was possibly one of the most awkward/awesome moments of my life.
 
At Cornell, they had Q&A type session w/ the Assoc. Dean of Admissions. One of the interviewees asked: "So how do Columbia students...(can't remember the question)"

The Dean answered: "Well, I don't know about students at COLUMBIA, but I can tell you about students at Cornell."

Something along those lines - the guy was pretty embarrassed. :laugh:
 
I had my first interview of the day with the chaplain of the school. At first we talked about standard stuff, like volunteer work, work experiences, blah blah. After about 10 minutes we start talking about the local area, and he starts recommending things for me to do (I was staying in town that night).

He proceeded to tell me about various things to do in the city and mentions that there is a plethora of things to see, and touch if you want...(followed by a wink and then a huge laugh). I laughed along with him but in my head I was freaking out (this is the chaplain!!).

He then started talking about how hard it is to tell whether some of them are real women or not until its too late. Followed by more laughs and winks.

At this point I didn't know what to say so I just went along with him and laughed. He proceeded to tell me a story about an ER doc he knew that accidentally made out with a dude prostitute.

From there the conversation moved to alcoholic beverages.

I still can't believe this happened. I don't know if he was trying to judge my reaction or what. I went along with it the whole time and laughed with him jokingly saying "oh hahha, I'll have to remember that."

I left in a daze.

However, it was possibly one of the most awkward/awesome moments of my life.

And we have a winner!
 
I was at an MD/PhD interview, and one of the items on our schedule was to go on rounds with a doctor in their diabetes clinic (in Texas with our huge hispanic population, you see a lot of diabetes, and some have complications that require inpatient attention). Anyways, the doctor brings us into the room of one guy who had some pretty gross rash and ulceration on his leg as a result of some complication (don't remember the specifics). Also, he was pretty obese and naked, as his wounds were being washed. I thought his pathology was pretty interesting, but apparently one of the guys in our group had spent too much time at the bench and not enough time with patients, as he actually FAINTED! He fell and got a cut on his head, and the doctor we were following actually said, "That guy's never gonna be a doctor." I hope the poor guy was still out when the doc said that!

Even worse, when the kid came to, he revealed that this was the SECOND TIME he's fainted around a patient.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:laugh:

How did the patient react when the kid fainted?
 
:laugh:

How did the patient react when the kid fainted?

Yeah, it was terrible, the patient actually looked like he felt guilty. Which is a shame, cuz he was a really cool guy who was just chatting it up to all us crazy guys in suits gawking at him while he was naked and geting cleaned before that.
 
At Cornell, they had Q&A type session w/ the Assoc. Dean of Admissions. One of the interviewees asked: "So how do Columbia students...(can't remember the question)"

The Dean answered: "Well, I don't know about students at COLUMBIA, but I can tell you about students at Cornell."

Something along those lines - the guy was pretty embarrassed. :laugh:

Oh, OUCH! That's gotta hurt.
 
Yeah, it was terrible, the patient actually looked like he felt guilty. Which is a shame, cuz he was a really cool guy who was just chatting it up to all us crazy guys in suits gawking at him while he was naked and geting cleaned before that.

Did anyone laugh or were you all able to maintain your composure?

I can't lie. I would've laughed my azz off and felt bad about it afterwards. 🙁
 
Did anyone laugh or were you all able to maintain your composure?

I can't lie. I would've laughed my azz off and felt bad about it afterwards. 🙁

I think we were all just shocked. And the way the doc kept berating the poor kid (not to his face, as he had to go and get stitches- lol), we were all scared to death that we could be the next one to fall!

It's hilarious now, though 🙂
 
I had my first interview of the day with the chaplain of the school. At first we talked about standard stuff, like volunteer work, work experiences, blah blah. After about 10 minutes we start talking about the local area, and he starts recommending things for me to do (I was staying in town that night).

He proceeded to tell me about various things to do in the city and mentions that there is a plethora of things to see, and touch if you want...(followed by a wink and then a huge laugh). I laughed along with him but in my head I was freaking out (this is the chaplain!!).

He then started talking about how hard it is to tell whether some of them are real women or not until its too late. Followed by more laughs and winks.

At this point I didn't know what to say so I just went along with him and laughed. He proceeded to tell me a story about an ER doc he knew that accidentally made out with a dude prostitute.

From there the conversation moved to alcoholic beverages.

I still can't believe this happened. I don't know if he was trying to judge my reaction or what. I went along with it the whole time and laughed with him jokingly saying "oh hahha, I'll have to remember that."

I left in a daze.

However, it was possibly one of the most awkward/awesome moments of my life.
Tulane? Father Don? :laugh:
 
At Morehouse where I sit down and my interviewers asks "What is Ghetto Fabulous." I remembered that I wrote about that in my secondary lol and I had to explain what it was. I though that would be the oddest question then he asks me " What is anime," and I had to proceed explaining anime and manga to a 60 year old black man who didn't seem to have any idea what a cartoon is.
 
At Morehouse where I sit down and my interviewers asks "What is Ghetto Fabulous." I remembered that I wrote about that in my secondary lol and I had to explain what it was. I though that would be the oddest question then he asks me " What is anime," and I had to proceed explaining anime and manga to a 60 year old black man who didn't seem to have any idea what a cartoon is.

:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:
 
Rush -- Explain all of your non-A grades. What a nut. I think he wanted to make sure I am not a crazy grade-driven psycho, so I just said I don't feel I need to explain them, I think my grades are just fine and he dropped it.


My reply would have been a quick, "That would take a really long time; Wouldn't you rather I just explain my A-Grades?" :laugh:
 
INTERVIEWER: What is your theme song?
ME: "C is for Cookie"
INTERVIEWER(with WTF expression): ??? Why is that?
ME: [Extolls the virtues of Cookie Monster]
 
INTERVIEWER: What is your theme song?
ME: "C is for Cookie"
INTERVIEWER(with WTF expression): ??? Why is that?
ME: [Extolls the virtues of Cookie Monster]

divinelolwut.jpg
 
At one of the schools I was interviewed by a sweet old man in his 70s. The interview started off nicely...Then in the middle of the interview:

Interviewer: So where have you travelled?
Me: Well, I've been to X , Y and Z.
Interviewer: Did you travel alone?
Me: No....Actually, I went with my boyfriend.
Interviewer: So did he pay for the trips?

Later...
Interviewer: Have you ever cheated on your BF?
Me (not believing my ears, but without hesitation): No! Of Course not!
Interviewer: Well, did he cheat on you?
Me (thinking WTF???? but trying to turn it into a joke): Hahaha, I don't know...I guess you never know...
Interviewer: Hahaha...

Yet later..
Interviewer: Why is it so hard for you to answer these personal questions? Haven't you been asked them before at other medical schools?
Me: Well, the only thing I've been asked before is whether my personal life will interfere with medical school, and let me assure you that it definitely won't!

I still can't believe that I was actually asked those questions during interview... 😕
 
At one of the schools I was interviewed by a sweet old man in his 70s. The interview started off nicely...Then in the middle of the interview:

Interviewer: So where have you travelled?
Me: Well, I've been to X , Y and Z.
Interviewer: Did you travel alone?
Me: No....Actually, I went with my boyfriend.
Interviewer: So did he pay for the trips?

Later...
Interviewer: Have you ever cheated on your BF?
Me (not believing my ears, but without hesitation): No! Of Course not!
Interviewer: Well, did he cheat on you?
Me (thinking WTF???? but trying to turn it into a joke): Hahaha, I don't know...I guess you never know...
Interviewer: Hahaha...

Yet later..
Interviewer: Why is it so hard for you to answer these personal questions? Haven't you been asked them before at other medical schools?
Me: Well, the only thing I've been asked before is whether my personal life will interfere with medical school, and let me assure you that it definitely won't!

I still can't believe that I was actually asked those questions during interview... 😕
😱
 
I had my first interview of the day with the chaplain of the school. At first we talked about standard stuff, like volunteer work, work experiences, blah blah. After about 10 minutes we start talking about the local area, and he starts recommending things for me to do (I was staying in town that night).

He proceeded to tell me about various things to do in the city and mentions that there is a plethora of things to see, and touch if you want...(followed by a wink and then a huge laugh). I laughed along with him but in my head I was freaking out (this is the chaplain!!).

He then started talking about how hard it is to tell whether some of them are real women or not until its too late. Followed by more laughs and winks.

At this point I didn't know what to say so I just went along with him and laughed. He proceeded to tell me a story about an ER doc he knew that accidentally made out with a dude prostitute.

From there the conversation moved to alcoholic beverages.

I still can't believe this happened. I don't know if he was trying to judge my reaction or what. I went along with it the whole time and laughed with him jokingly saying "oh hahha, I'll have to remember that."

I left in a daze.

However, it was possibly one of the most awkward/awesome moments of my life.

Wow 😱, that's a good one! I think awkward/awesome applies here (awkwasome?) I do wonder if maybe he was just testing your reaction tho, but either way absolutely nuts!
-Roy
 
Alright so another one...This one is actually me being stupid and not someone in my group (as people are figuring out, I am all about being awkward...also, I am a guy, so keep that in mind)

So I am at Loyola (they rendered the decision today so whatever), and I absolutely loved the school! Everyone was so nice, and for the first time, my interviews actually went longer than the time allotted. I had a really good feeling about my chances, and I felt the day couldn't have gone any better. Because my interviews went late, however, I had to go on the campus tour by myself with the tour guide. It wasn't a big deal, and the guy that took me on the tour was a really cool guy. He had a great sense of humor and really tried to show me as much as he could. Eventually, the day came to a close, and we had to go back to the admissions office. While we were wrapping up, my tour guide reached his arm past my head to grab something. I didn't look behind me to see what he was grabbing, and instinctively acted by hugging him around the back. Before I realized what had happened, he was kind of hugging me back and we were awkwardly patting each other on the back and looking at one another sheepishly. I broke the awkwardness by saying something like, "I hope your wedding goes well." We finally release from this horribly contorted hug, and I turn around to see that he had been reaching for his jacket. I could feel my ears starting to burn, and I shook his hand, and told everyone I had to finish the rest of the paperwork. A few minutes passed, and I went to turn in my paperwork, and the secretary said to me, "So you really enjoyed yourself?"
I was so embarrassed! If you read this tour guide, I am so sorry...I am not gay (not that there is anything wrong with that).

funniest thing by far!
 
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