Most Ridiculous Interview Question...

[TeamZissou]

No offense, but seriously not knowing each candidate's healthcare proposal when you plan to enter a healthcare field in arguably the most historic election ever???

No offense taken. However this interview was in the beginning of September when the candidates detailed healthcare plans were not widely talked about. Also when I was asked the dollar amount people would be receiving from McCain in comparison to the cost for small businesses under Obama's plan that was more specific than I knew. Another thing to keep in mind is that at this point the party's had not even comfirmed their candidates yet.

Sooooooo while I agree those pursuing a career in healthcare should be aware of current events, to ask the dollar amount received under McCain's plan for families compared to individuals was a bit much.

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[cyclin M]

No offense taken. However this interview was in the beginning of September when the candidates detailed healthcare plans were not widely talked about. Also when I was asked the dollar amount people would be receiving from McCain in comparison to the cost for small businesses under Obama's plan that was more specific than I knew. Another thing to keep in mind is that at this point the party's had not even comfirmed their candidates yet.

I see, I just assumed this was after the election because he asked you about McCain and Obama. For him to ask this before the primaries were even over shows a lot of foresight on his part.

 

[Narmerguy]

What is the most ridiculous question that you've been asked during an interview?

Mine:

During a situation in you life where you were faced with a choice, did you make the wrong choice? And then how did you rectify that wrong decision?

I blanked and basically dodged the question with something about me maturing. haha. ah well.

1 post? Really? This guy got banned for this?

 

[TeamZissou]

Ya I saw that too... Kind of interesting, I bet they were making multiple accounts or had already had their email address flagged prior to making this account.... Who knows.

 

[cavalier329]

i meant more about obscure political views rather than those concerning healthcare...more specifically the Gore video.

I like to consider myself well versed on the current healthcare situation, but I don't particularly know the details of every current event in the world today...I don't think that is unreasonable.

While knowing about healthcare is important especially if you will enter the field, I think people can safely pick and choose to learn about the rest of it all.

Although as a side note...I think everyone should know what's going on with the economy...thats fair game.

 

[Lukkie]

they should also have a map on the wall and make you point to iraq and afghanistan

 

[cavalier329]

agreed

 

[vadd0]

they should also have a map on the wall and make you point to iraq and afghanistan

And the Comoros Islands, just for good measure

 

[nick_carraway]

And the Comoros Islands, just for good measure

Please. We only care about countries that we invade.

Unless you know something that you want to share?

 

[229141]

Ugh, I'm really glad I won't be interviewing during an election year. I'm fairly political, and while I'm perfectly capable of keeping my mouth shut about it, I'm not very good at hedging when somebody straight up asks me. With my luck I'd end up ruining my chances at my dream schools by pissing off the adcoms.

Try being from Alaska like Sarah Palin after the media crushed her. A bunch of my friends (3 of them lol) first question at their interviews was "Do you support Sarah Palin". Thats bull****...they cleverly stated they were moderates and picked issues they agreed or disagreed with and balanced it out. Imagine going to a liberal school and saying you didn't vote for Obama...instant rejection.

 

[Kaustikos]

Try being from Alaska like Sarah Palin after the media crushed her. A bunch of my friends (3 of them lol) first question at their interviews was "Do you support Sarah Palin". Thats bull****...they cleverly stated they were moderates and picked issues they agreed or disagreed with and balanced it out. Imagine going to a liberal school and saying you didn't vote for Obama...instant rejection.

That explains so much

 

[229141]

That explains so much

Seriously..if they asked you that question and you said no, how do you think it would go over...?

 

[scarletgirl777]

Seriously..if they asked you that question and you said no, how do you think it would go over...?

As long as you weren't too dogmatic in your answer and didn't emotionally bash the candidate, I seriously think it would be fine.

 

[diosa428]

Seriously..if they asked you that question and you said no, how do you think it would go over...?

Yes medical schools totally base admissions decisions on political leanings.

Seriously, if someone asked you that, it would most likely be out of curiosity, or they would follow it up with some question to which they would expect an intelligent, well-thought out answer.

 

[riceman04]

I have yet to be asked any odd or unexpected interview questions!

 

[Raryn]

And the Comoros Islands, just for good measure

I can point out the vast majority of the countries in the world on a map....

...except for 2/3 of Africa. And a good portion of the south pacific. The Americas and Eurasia are easy though.

 

[229141]

As long as you weren't too dogmatic in your answer and didn't emotionally bash the candidate, I seriously think it would be fine.

Yes medical schools totally base admissions decisions on political leanings.

Seriously, if someone asked you that, it would most likely be out of curiosity, or they would follow it up with some question to which they would expect an intelligent, well-thought out answer.

The key to answering that kind of question is to stay in the middle and explain logically like you guys said imo. I doubt it'd be a good idea to come out and say "Oh why actually I am a communist!" or something insane like that (although in today's world that one might work LOL)

 

[ILikeFood]

"Do you have lazy eye?"

 

[Narmerguy]

What do they expect students to say if they're a part of a campus party organization (republican or democrat or whatever). You can't pretend to present a balanced response to the Palin question if you're obviously of a democrat affiliation.

 

[Narmerguy]

"Do you have lazy eye?"

Please explain your signature.

 

[Loon]

His (Her? I dunno) sig is from "The Princess Bride."

 

[NAVYLABTECH08]

What Date were you married?

 

[NAVYLABTECH08]

I can point out the vast majority of the countries in the world on a map....

...except for 2/3 of Africa. And a good portion of the south pacific. The Americas and Eurasia are easy though.

I can name the top 100 US cities in order by population and the top 50 world cities. and the point is.......

 

[ChubbyChaser]

Try being from Alaska like Sarah Palin after the media crushed her. A bunch of my friends (3 of them lol) first question at their interviews was "Do you support Sarah Palin". Thats bull****...they cleverly stated they were moderates and picked issues they agreed or disagreed with and balanced it out. Imagine going to a liberal school and saying you didn't vote for Obama...instant rejection.

Thats when you say neither and tell them you're a libertarian or communist.

 

[LizzyM]

Last winter I interviewed a poli sci major. Given his major, and the fact that there was no incumbent in the race for the first time in 50 years or more, and the 6 or more candidates from each party in the primaries, I asked him for his take on this historic situation. He told me he wasn't political but then sized me up by state residence, race and sex and told me that he thought that Senator So-and-so was the best candidate. When I didn't show any enthusiasm for his response he flipped and told me that he thought that Senator Someone was going to win the nomination and the presidency. I just said that the next 10 months would be interesting and left it at that.

I wasn't looking for an endorsement of my political viewpoint, or measuring the applicant based on his own political leanings, I wanted a political scientist's thoughtful analysis of the situationor a simple statement that he wasn't following the races but had a greater academic interest in some other topic such as parlimentary forms of government or transitions from dictatorships. By attempting to pander to me, the applicant slit his own throat,

 

[armybound]

Last winter I interviewed a poli sci major. Given his major, and the fact that there was no incumbent in the race for the first time in 50 years or more, and the 6 or more candidates from each party in the primaries, I asked him for his take on this historic situation. He told me he wasn't political but then sized me up by state residence, race and sex and told me that he thought that Senator So-and-so was the best candidate. When I didn't show any enthusiasm for his response he flipped and told me that he thought that Senator Someone was going to win the nomination and the presidency. I just said that the next 10 months would be interesting and left it at that.

I wasn't looking for an endorsement of my political viewpoint, or measuring the applicant based on his own political leanings, I wanted a political scientist's thoughtful analysis of the situationor a simple statement that he wasn't following the races but had a greater academic interest in some other topic such as parlimentary forms of government or transitions from dictatorships. By attempting to pander to me, the applicant slit his own throat,

you mean success in med school applications doesn't ultimately coming down to saying exactly what you think the adcomm wants to hear?

this is going to send shockwaves through the pre-med community.

 

[dally1025]

How do you make a pie crust?

If you could be a fruit what would you be and why?

 

[Lukkie]

you mean success in med school applications doesn't ultimately coming down to saying exactly what you think the adcomm wants to hear?

this is going to send shockwaves through the pre-med community.

and why would a political science major not be 'political'. its like someone interested in medicine not caring about advances in the field.

 

[Valvool]

LMAO...no way? How did you respond? I would just burst out laughing.

I said I thought the patient would be lying, unless the patient was born without arms or something similar. My interviewer laughed and agreed but advised me not to tell hypothetical patient I thought that.

 

[alehar]

This happened to a friend at an interview we had together. He had been staying with a student who had told him a few stories about the interviewers and phd's at the school.

Interviewer: *pulling out a box* Can you tell me what this is? *shows him a small white stone*
Friend: Sure. It's a kidney stone.
I: (surprised) Um, yes. How did you know that?
F: The medical student I'm staying with told me about a dr. who likes to ask about kidney stones.
I: I see, what's the medical student's name?
F: *tells him*

The guy ended up asking my friend how he knew it was a kidney stone while simultaneously sending the medical student an email to berate him for spreading his little secret question.

 

[Lukkie]

at alehar story.

if i interview with him ill tell him alehar from SDN told me about the stone.

 

[pianola]

I had an interviewer who questioned every single thing that I said, no matter how obvious or common-sensical it might seem. (e.g. "So why are you arguing that obesity is unhealthy for our population? Why would you think that?")

It was interesting trying to keep a mix of holding-my-own and listening to his arguments. I think he was just doing it for the heck of it. Maybe to see how well I hold up under pressure?

 

[LizzyM]

and why would a political science major not be 'political'. its like someone interested in medicine not caring about advances in the field.

I think he was more interested in political theory than practice.

 

[nick_carraway]

I had an interviewer who questioned every single thing that I said, no matter how obvious or common-sensical it might seem. (e.g. "So why are you arguing that obesity is unhealthy for our population? Why would you think that?")

It was interesting trying to keep a mix of holding-my-own and listening to his arguments. I think he was just doing it for the heck of it. Maybe to see how well I hold up under pressure?

That happened to me too. I've learned not to say anything that I don't want to discuss for the next 5 minutes thanks to that experience.

The school is famous for friendly interviews, so to sit down to a 45 min stress interview wasn't an enjoyable experience at all.

I have to admit that I got flustered about... 15 min into the interview and was obviously stuttering a good amount of the time but eventually recovered.

 

[bleeker10]

I was asked a question at an interview this year that completely caught me by surprise. The interviewer asked me "If you look at a graph of the advancement of technology and the advancement of biological knowledge, the curve for biological knowledge is slowing down whereas the curve for technological advancement is increasing. Why do you think that is?"

 

[EP123]

I was asked a question at an interview this year that completely caught me by surprise. The interviewer asked me "If you look at a graph of the advancement of technology and the advancement of biological knowledge, the curve for biological knowledge is slowing down whereas the curve for technological advancement is increasing. Why do you think that is?"

I would answer that first by the longest pause in interview history.

 

[cavalier329]

id have to guess that there's less money out there for people with a background in science...more specifically biological science.

Less money, less incentive. But who knows. With the emphasis being placed on conservation and alternative fuel now, that may and probably will change.

 

[Raryn]

I was asked a question at an interview this year that completely caught me by surprise. The interviewer asked me "If you look at a graph of the advancement of technology and the advancement of biological knowledge, the curve for biological knowledge is slowing down whereas the curve for technological advancement is increasing. Why do you think that is?"

One of them is more discovery while the other is innovation?

Can only discover so much before all the easy stuff is gone.

Dunno...

 

[shemarty]

One of them is more discovery while the other is innovation?

Can only discover so much before all the easy stuff is gone.

Dunno...

Agree. The fundamentals of Bio have already been discovered. We're plateau-ing. Technological advances ...still so many uninvented possibilities.

 

[fizzle]

I was asked a question at an interview this year that completely caught me by surprise. The interviewer asked me "If you look at a graph of the advancement of technology and the advancement of biological knowledge, the curve for biological knowledge is slowing down whereas the curve for technological advancement is increasing. Why do you think that is?"

My first question would be, "How do you graph something like that?" Do you assign an arbitrary quantitative value measuring significance of each advancement? Or is it simply by the number of advancements, which would not tell the whole story?

 

[Vihsadas]

While I somewhat agree with the premise that bio is based on discovery and technology is based on innovation, I think that it's worthwhile to explore what might change in the future. As it stands, there is a clear divide between the two sciences built into how we are educated. I think that the training received in the physical/mathematical sciences is focused on a more logic-driven, invention based foundation and bio is based on a more observational and empirical foundation. I think that this particular attitude is one that is lagging behind the advances in both fields; as we learn more about the world around us and become more adept at manipulating it, the line between those two sciences will begin to blur. I would argue that technology, because of its innovation driven foundation, will be the impetus that pulls biological advancements into the same realm. So for that reason, technology will continue to grow exponentially, and bio will begin to lag. Then eventually, the way we approach biological problems will become more like how we approach technological problems (less observational and more, for lack of a better word, "creational") and you'll see bio sciences start to grow exponentially as well.
*shortened version*
Eventually we will create cyborgs.

If I got that question in an interview I'd say something to that effect I think.

/end totally unqualified opinion/guess