Most dreaded Interview questions?

[Textuality]

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Just thought to ask what general question people either are fearing to be asked, or had the hardest time answering. Not including science/overly specific questions like "draw me this amino acid" or "what is the capital of [insert random, small country]"

For example, my least favorite so far is :
"Is there anything you want me to relay to the committee about you that's not in your file?"

I hate that question because I can't think of answers that don't sound really lame? There's nothing in my file I need to explain in terms of glaring holes (I hope). It's kind of a chance to kiss your own butt, and I just don't bend that way easily. So it's awkward for me.

How about you guys?

 

[Jolie South]

I got a pretty bad one at my last interview.

Here goes: So imagine that the president of the medical school commissions IT specialists to create a computer that combines the knowledge of the 5 greatest physicians alive. It's your job to decide whether it should be used or not and to what extent. Give 5 pros and 5 cons.

needless to say it was difficult. He didn't say a few pros and cons. He said "5". He counted them off on his hand as well, so yea he was definitely keeping track.

The pros were no problem, but I totally got stuck after 2 cons. It was horrible.

 

[Phoenix.]

My "favorites":

You're sitting in a room with the entire admissions committee. You have three minutes. Go.

Have you ever been married? No? Well, everyone has their reasons..... [silence during which time I realize I'm supposed to say something]

What do you think of Hillary's plan? [Thanks to SDN I was prepared]

You're on a boat for ten days. What are the titles of the three books you'd bring?

What are three recent medical breakthroughs? Which is the most important to the future of medicine and to your practice as a physician? [Luckily I'd prepared for this question per SDN interview feedback forum or I might have been stumped to come up with a third on the spot]

 

[Textuality]

Uh...yeah, sounds kinda weird..I'm actually having a hard time thinking of 5 pros 😛

 

[TheRealMD]

"About your age...."

I don't even want to get into that one. (I'm younger, not older btw).

 

[jochi1543]

Have you ever been married? No? Well, everyone has their reasons..... [silence during which time I realize I'm supposed to say something]

Um, I haven't met a person I liked enough to marry them? Duh.😕 LOL.

You're on a boat for ten days. What are the titles of the three books you'd bring?

That's another ridiculous question. You can't say you'll bring books you've read, because who the hell would do that? So you'd have to come up with some books you wanted to read, but haven't yet, which doesn't tell them a whole lot about you.

 

[LikeClockWork]

"Who are you and what are you doing in my house?"

Man, I hate it when they ask compound questions like that!

 

[jochi1543]

I didn't have a most dreaded interview question until I looked at this thread. Thanks, SDN.👍

 

[Phoenix.]

Uh...yeah, sounds kinda weird..I'm actually having a hard time thinking of 5 pros 😛

Yeah, I hate list questions. We should be judged on the quality of our thoughts and answers, not the quantity.

 

[OCallag]

the one i hate the most is one of the most common in both med school and job interviews: list three strengths/weaknesses. if that's not the dumbest question one could ask i don't know what is. i understand it's to get people to think critically about what they need to work on, but EVERYONE has pre-rehearsed answers to that question now, so it serves no purpose to an interviewer to ask it, assuming their BS radar is at least on.

i have decent answers for it, but how can you respond to it without thinking to yourself "wow OCallag, you sound like a tremendous douche." because at least some of what you're saying is a joke. honestly. i'd rather have something interesting like what jolie_south and phoenix mentioned because it actually allows me to think.

 

[Textuality]

Haha, I'm really tempted that if anybody asks "what do you like least about yourself" I'm going to say "that I'm not 21 yet" (assuming my interview is before january)

Because seriously, it's annoying. I almost got banned from my own alumni reunion party because I didn't have ID. I can't go to happy hour with my coworkers. I can't go celebrate my friends' 21st birthdays with them because I can't get in! AAARG! But hey, only 3 more months to wait!

 

[kanelope]

"Give me the history of medicine of the past 200 years, how has it changed, why has it changed, where are we headed in the future and what implications or challenges should we expect"

"Have you ever been drunk, behaved in a risky sexual manner, or done illegal drugs if yes...(Don't even remember what he said here, as I was still dumbfounded by the beginning of the question). If no, how do you plan to deal with these kinds of issues in your professional life?"

I could go on...but I don't want to make people too nervous...this was my first interview of the cycle...

 

[Jolie South]

"Give me the history of medicine of the past 200 years, how has it changed, why has it changed, where are we headed in the future and what implications or challenges should we expect"

"Have you ever been drunk, behaved in a risky sexual manner, or done illegal drugs if yes...(Don't even remember what he said here, as I was still dumbfounded by the beginning of the question). If no, how do you plan to deal with these kinds of issues in your professional life?"

I could go on...but I don't want to make people too nervous...this was my first interview of the cycle...

yikes, could you give us a little hint as to where this occurred?

 

[kanelope]

yikes, could you give us a little hint as to where this occurred?

Haha, well probably not too difficult to find out from my previous posts...but it was in a little town named Omaha. On the bright side, my interviewer was the only one asking these types of ?'s and he wrote me a really nice email describing his life's history to me...I think it was his form of apology

 

[Phoenix.]

That's another ridiculous question. You can't say you'll bring books you've read, because who the hell would do that? So you'd have to come up with some books you wanted to read, but haven't yet, which doesn't tell them a whole lot about you.

Well, I was really stumped how to answer this too, so I evaded a little. I asked what body of water I was sailing in/geographical location, and then talked about how I love to read books based in the culture/location where I am. He said I was sailing around the Greek islands. So, I said a book on greek mythology since I'd be seeing ruins and the like. He asked for the title, and I couldn't help but grin and say "I'm sure there's a book out there called The Greek Gods." Then, to "change the topic," I asked him what he'd bring. He listed three really dense historical/philosophical (think ancient Greek) texts, and then asked me a new question (I was SO relieved I didn't have to come up with two more!). Whew.

 

[Horusman]

From a friend:

"Name three famous Bulgarians."

Once he realized that the interviewer was Bulgarian, he only needed to think of two more...but still difficult.

 

[cgjock80]

"So, with all your extracurricular activities, do you have any friends?"

No, i just make love to my text books. Repeatedly

 

[Textuality]

Haha! Well, I don't know if I'd dread that question, I mean, it's pretty easy to answer (one would hope !)

As for the famous Bulgarians, yeah....none are coming to mind! Haha, I'm Chinese, so I might ask him in response to name 3 famous Chinese people....but it's not really the same because China's huge and chinese actors are fairly easy to pick out and occasionally popular (i.e. Jackie Chan, Lucy Lu, Jet Li). And if nothing else, you can just say Confuscious, lol.

 

[mvenus929]

You can't say you'll bring books you've read, because who the hell would do that? So you'd have to come up with some books you wanted to read, but haven't yet, which doesn't tell them a whole lot about you.

I would bring books I've read before. You get something new out of a book each time you read it.

"Give me the history of medicine of the past 200 years, how has it changed, why has it changed, where are we headed in the future and what implications or challenges should we expect"

Uhh.... 200 years, huh? Yeah, that would be rather intimidating...

 

[MooseKing]

"Who are you and what are you doing in my house?"

Man, I hate it when they ask compound questions like that!

i hate when they ask tricky questions like 'have you ever had sugar..............or PCP?'"

-mitch hedberg

 

[Kthanksbye]

Man, these questions scare me because they are just sadistic. They provide absolutely no information that is relevant to being admitted to medical school. Please tell me that not all adcoms are like this, that they generally ask relevant questions and are rational people.

I would hate to think that I would be passed over because I couldn't name 3 famous Bulgarians or because I didn't want to talk about my sex life at a med school interview (inappropriate, by the way. That guy shouldn't be interviewing people).

I am still waiting for interview invites myself.

 

[muireinin]

"is that your cell phone? throw it away"


admittedly, i should have TRIPLE checked to make sure it was off 🙁

 

[Kingfish]

One kid left his interview looking like a ghost. We asked him what happened and he said his interviewer gave him a really hard question. "On a scale of 1-10, rate how humble you are." I laughed and laughed.

 

[Dr_Dan_the_man]

"is that your cell phone? throw it away"


admittedly, i should have TRIPLE checked to make sure it was off 🙁

haha wow... that is pretty ridiculous, hope it wasnt a top choice

 

[alwaysaangel]

[QUOTE='Textuality"]
For example, my least favorite so far is :
"Is there anything you want me to relay to the committee about you that's not in your file?"
[/QUOTE]
When I got this one last year I mentioned that I'm conversant in Spanish and sign language and working on becoming fluent. I recommend you think of something that you decided wasn't important enough to put in your application but is worth them knowing or even interesting at all.

My "favorites":

You're sitting in a room with the entire admissions committee. You have three minutes. Go.

I think this one is awesome! Imagine you're on the waitlist and you're sending them a letter of interest convincing them why you're sooo perfect for their school. Why you fit them, why you're so great, what they can do for you and what you can do for them.

What do you think of Hillary's plan? [Thanks to SDN I was prepared]

You're on a boat for ten days. What are the titles of the three books you'd bring?

What are three recent medical breakthroughs? Which is the most important to the future of medicine and to your practice as a physician? [Luckily I'd prepared for this question per SDN interview feedback forum or I might have been stumped to come up with a third on the spot]

Ouch! Those suck. Where was that EVMS?

With all the horror stories on here I still can't believe I got through even 4 interviews unscathed. I never got a single ethics/current events/weird philosophical question.

Man, these questions scare me because they are just sadistic. They provide absolutely no information that is relevant to being admitted to medical school. Please tell me that not all adcoms are like this, that they generally ask relevant questions and are rational people.

Don't worry about it. Granted I only went to 4 interviews but I never got any questions like that.

If you're really egotistical and/or vain and can talk about yourself for a full hour without stopping I genuinely believe you can dodge these questions in most interviews.

 

[Phoenix.]

Ouch! Those suck. Where was that EVMS?

Nope. See below:

RFU: What do you think of Hillary's plan? [Thanks to SDN I was prepared]

Loyola: You're on a boat for ten days. What are the titles of the three books you'd bring?

UIC: What are three recent medical breakthroughs? Which is the most important to the future of medicine and to your practice as a physician? [Luckily I'd prepared for this question per SDN interview feedback forum or I might have been stumped to come up with a third on the spot]

 

[Jolie South]

Nope. See below:

RFU: What do you think of Hillary's plan? [Thanks to SDN I was prepared]

Loyola: You're on a boat for ten days. What are the titles of the three books you'd bring?

UIC: What are three recent medical breakthroughs? Which is the most important to the future of medicine and to your practice as a physician? [Luckily I'd prepared for this question per SDN interview feedback forum or I might have been stumped to come up with a third on the spot]

YES! I'm not interviewing at any of those schools. 😀

 

[MassTransport]

Holy jeez, 200 years of medicine?

 

[Jolie South]

Holy jeez, 200 years of medicine?

I know. It's like ok. ..

They invented the scalpel (that would have to be the beginning of "technology"). Blood letting. Trepanation. Aseptic Technique. Antibiotics. Stem Cells. Transplants. Chemotherapy. Vaccines. Destigmatization of mental health. AIDS. and the list goes on . . .

Geez, I would ramble on about this forever.

 

[Phoenix.]

YES! I'm not interviewing at any of those schools. 😀

Hey, I'm really happy that I had my "bad" questions, and that you had yours. I would have HATED to get the question you posted at the top of this thread. 😱

 

[Bacchus]

Holy jeez, 200 years of medicine?

Luckily I once wrote a 12 page paper on Military Medicine (I think that was in 10th grade) and still remember some of it. A lot of the military medicine made it mainstream, luckily.

 

[Tropicana100]

From UC Davis last year: "Rank the schools you have interviewed at." It's a trap!!

 

[kanelope]

I know. It's like ok. ..

They invented the scalpel (that would have to be the beginning of "technology"). Blood letting. Trepanation. Aseptic Technique. Antibiotics. Stem Cells. Transplants. Chemotherapy. Vaccines. Destigmatization of mental health. AIDS. and the list goes on . . .

Geez, I would ramble on about this forever.

Thank you, thank you, thank you...this is what I started to talk about and my interviewer told me he was looking for how 200 years ago we really only had the placebo effect and did not have a true understanding of why remedies worked, etc. Now we test on animals. My response: "Huh, that's an interesting perspective"

 

[87138]

From UC Davis last year: "Rank the schools you have interviewed at." It's a trap!!

Just sit there thoughtful for a second (kind of looking up as though you're thinking/counting/ranking), quietly saying "ok......1........2...3.....4.......yeah that's about right. So, are the students at this medical school pretty happy? [or insert any random question you'd like to know from the interviewer, to change the subject.]"

 

[elfish]

Just sit there thoughtful for a second (kind of looking up as though you're thinking/counting/ranking), quietly saying "ok......1........2...3.....4.......yeah that's about right. So, are the students at this medical school pretty happy? [or insert any random question you'd like to know from the interviewer, to change the subject.]"

as in, not telling the interviewer the actual schools? wouldnt that be awkward and piss him/her off? (not that it wouldn't be awkward if you did tell him/her, ha

 

[87138]

as in, not telling the interviewer the actual schools? wouldnt that be awkward and piss him/her off? (not that it wouldn't be awkward if you did tell him/her, ha

My post was 99% facetious . . . of course, if you really had the balls (or an acceptance in hand from another school), I'd advocate giving it a shot, should the question arise. The interviewer is knowingly being an ass in that situation, why not be one right back? 🙂 Of course I'm a smartass by nature, so that's just me.

Note: I don't recommend trying this if you don't yet have an acceptance and your life plans necessarily hinge on getting into THIS school . . .

 

[artaxerxes]

That's another ridiculous question. You can't say you'll bring books you've read, because who the hell would do that? So you'd have to come up with some books you wanted to read, but haven't yet, which doesn't tell them a whole lot about you.

How to survive on a desert Island
How to escape from a desert island
and
War and Peace<---ALways wanted to read it, its long, heavy, can be used as a weapon or burned for kindling.

 

[Adradr]

My "favorites":

You're sitting in a room with the entire admissions committee. You have three minutes. Go.

Have you ever been married? No? Well, everyone has their reasons..... [silence during which time I realize I'm supposed to say something]

What do you think of Hillary's plan? [Thanks to SDN I was prepared]

You're on a boat for ten days. What are the titles of the three books you'd bring?

What are three recent medical breakthroughs? Which is the most important to the future of medicine and to your practice as a physician? [Luckily I'd prepared for this question per SDN interview feedback forum or I might have been stumped to come up with a third on the spot]

This made me SHUDDER. If I got that question right now, I'd smile weakly and say, "Well, uhh, uhh...if it's anything like her plan from 1993..."

Thanks for the heads-up. Anyone want to PM me before my first interview and say, "Don't forget to brush up on health policy, you dummy!"? 😳 Somehow, it hasn't been at the top of my priorities what with school and work...but ooh, that could kill an interview right there! Eek!

 

[154241]

some of these questions are absolutely terrifying. i think i've been lulled into a false sense of security by my interviews so far. anyone get any hard questions at tulane?

 

[Jolie South]

Hey, I'm really happy that I had my "bad" questions, and that you had yours. I would have HATED to get the question you posted at the top of this thread. 😱

It was bad, but the interviewer was eccentric so I kind of laughed it off. I tried not to let it get to me.

Plus, another interviewee went in directly after me. When she came out, she totally freaked out. We got the same question. The difference is that he didn't give her any opportunity to talk about herself. I at least got some other stuff in.

What makes this whole thing worse is that this was at my top choice.

 

[Phoenix.]

It was bad, but the interviewer was eccentric so I kind of laughed it off. I tried not to let it get to me.

Plus, another interviewee went in directly after me. When she came out, she totally freaked out. We got the same question. The difference is that he didn't give her any opportunity to talk about herself. I at least got some other stuff in.

What makes this whole thing worse is that this was at my top choice.

Sounds like you did fine. I think a lot of these "tough" questions can be handled well with a minimum of information if you have confidence. For the Hillary's plan question above, I had merely skimmed an article on it the night before. But I vaguely remembered one or two points, and expounded on them. Then, I turned it around and said, "What do you think about her plan? Do you think it has a chance?" And the interviewer looked away (i.e., couldn't meet my eyes) and mumbled something about not really knowing the details of her plan well yet. So, it was more just a test. I don't think he really expected me to have a good answer.

some of these questions are absolutely terrifying. i think i've been lulled into a false sense of security by my interviews so far. anyone get any hard questions at tulane?

My first interview was with the asst dean. She's incredibly nice, friendly and a great conversationalist. She definitely puts you at ease, but at the same time, she's incredibly blunt about what she perceives to be any weakness in your application. She's sure to bring it up and ask you about it. So, I think I felt more on the defensive during that interview than any other I've had, even though it was enjoyable and she was bubbly and nice. Just be ready to explain a low gpa, your passion/dedication to medicine if you don't have a lot of ECs (or if you're a career-changer, definitely expect to get grilled on that), etc. But it was all just talking about my background and who I am. I believe all of the other interviewees had the same exact experience. And it's 30 minutes. The other interview was very straight forward. He would just ask you questions as he jotted down notes. I got the impression I was writing the letter that he would give to the committee for him. He wanted a chronology of education, gpa, majors, activities, years, language skills, and of course, why Tulane. So, no tricky or stress questions at Tulane at all. Good luck guys!

EDIT: FYI: At Tulane, the second interviewer did ask how many interviews I'd had so far, and how many in the future.... Not tricky, but it did give me a little pause. Oh, and my student interviewer was really nice, and it was basically just a conversation over lunch.

 

[Neuronix]

Back when I used to student interview me and my student interviewer pals used to ask some trivial and some ridiculous stuff. It comes partially from wondering how you'll react to oddballs and certain med students just being oddballs. It also comes from the fact that interviewers really have no training in how to be interviewers. You can interview as first years if you want. You'll say to yourself... Now wtf do I ask? Someday you'll find yourself as an attending and you'll ask the same sorts of questions. So what, I'm a MD, what do I know about who else should be an MD? I'd say over half the interviewers go in with a "I shouldn't judge" mentality that leads to 90% of applicants scoring about the same (this is true at my school). So to fill time I ask all sorts of random stuff just to see if the person seems like a normal, decent human being. If you can relax and fend off those kinds of questions with tact and a smile, you're golden.

No, in reality I'd say the question that sunk it for the most people interviewing with me is the following, "Why did you apply here?" It's very obvious that most of the people I interviewed applied because USNews gives us a very high ranking. "Because here I'll have the most opportunities"..."To do what?"..."Uhhh, medicine?"

If you want to shine in your interviews, know something about the school's strengths. Play to them. Relate your own experiences to them.

Every applicant who got him probably remembers the student who used to give applicants puzzles to solve during the interview. He just wanted to see how you'd respond. Your ability to solve a puzzle was not actually being determined. The reality is that that sometimes if you spend so much time focusing on the possibly strange questions, you'll completely ignore the obvious ones.

 

[Old Grunt]

I got a pretty bad one at my last interview.

Here goes: So imagine that the president of the medical school commissions IT specialists to create a computer that combines the knowledge of the 5 greatest physicians alive. It's your job to decide whether it should be used or not and to what extent. Give 5 pros and 5 cons.

needless to say it was difficult. He didn't say a few pros and cons. He said "5". He counted them off on his hand as well, so yea he was definitely keeping track.

The pros were no problem, but I totally got stuck after 2 cons. It was horrible.

Five? Damn.

That reminds me of this dinner I went to when the guest speaker bloviated for about an hour about how great he was (he sold cars in Mississippi).

At the end of the hour he said "I want to leave you with 13 tips to success".

13? How about three?

 

[ttlove]

"Should illegal immigrants be allowed free abortions?"

I got this question at UT San Antonio and had no idea what to say. I think the interview went downhill from there.

 

[Textuality]

Whoa....yeah...that's a hard question 🙁

 

[Phoenix.]

"Should illegal immigrants be allowed free abortions?"

I got this question at UT San Antonio and had no idea what to say. I think the interview went downhill from there.

Hmmm. I would probably say that they should be entitled to medically necessary health care regardless of their status as illegal immigrants, but that there does need to be a balance (re: economics and policy), so that for elective procedures, no. US citizens aren't entitled to free elective procedures, why should immigrants be? Or was this in the context of a hypothetical where all medical care is now free in this country, and whether immigrants should also be entitled to that "new" free medical care policy? Anyway, I would have done my best to keep this a policy issue, and avoided ethical/moral/religious implications as best I could.

Regardless, that is a tough one, especially to parse through on the spot. Hopefully your interviewer was human and realized that. Good luck!

 

[alwaysaangel]

Hmmm. I would probably say that they should be entitled to medically necessary health care regardless of their status as illegal immigrants, but that there does need to be a balance (re: economics and policy), so that for elective procedures, no. US citizens aren't entitled to free elective procedures, why should immigrants be? Or was this in the context of a hypothetical where all medical care is now free in this country, and whether immigrants should also be entitled to that "new" free medical care policy? Anyway, I would have done my best to keep this a policy issue, and avoided ethical/moral/religious implications as best I could.

Regardless, that is a tough one, especially to parse through on the spot. Hopefully your interviewer was human and realized that. Good luck!

And the other (terrifying to bring up in an interview) issue that needs to be considered is that if you don't give her the elective abortion then now her child will be born in the US and is by law a citizen. Which opens up a huge can of works (like the lady who just got deported from Chicago AGAIN).

That is an awful question.

 

[Phoenix.]

And the other (terrifying to bring up in an interview) issue that needs to be considered is that if you don't give her the elective abortion then now her child will be born in the US and is by law a citizen. Which opens up a huge can of works (like the lady who just got deported from Chicago AGAIN).

That is an awful question.

Personally, I would avoid that discussion at all costs. I don't think that it should be a doctor's place to make that call. That's really a political issue, not medical.

 

[HoboCommander]

If your interviewer bahaves unprofessionally (such as physically assault you), would reporting that to the adcom increase your chance of admissions? i ask because i've heard such interviewer abuse stories and the interviewee always got in.

 

[Phoenix.]

If your interviewer bahaves unprofessionally (such as physically assault you), would reporting that to the adcom increase your chance of admissions? i ask because i've heard such interviewer abuse stories and the interviewee always got in.

What, if someone says that it would increase your chances, are you going to try to bait them to attack you? Anyway, this entire question sounds ridiculous and most likely fictitious. I can't even fathom a situation where the interviewer physically assaulted an interviewee. And regardless, it would be insanely stupid to try to provoke an interviewer.

However, if an interviewer does act unprofessionally in such a way as to be offensive or unlikely to yield a fair interview, you should of course go directly to the admissions office and let them know. They should be happy to provide you with an additional interview.