My dream school interview didn't go well - is there still hope?

[wehhe14112]

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This is sort of a long post about a recent interview I had at my top choice school. One of my faculty interviews did not go well, and I don't know if it was me or just my interviewer's style. It felt like the whole time he was trying to put me down, and I just tried my best to keep my cool. Here are some things that happened during my interview. Are my chances shot?

1. My interviewer asked, "what do you think about the current state of health care in america/medicare for all". I had read about this stuff online before my interview, but my knowledge was pretty limited (like most premeds) since I never took an actual class on this, and health policy was my interviewer's field of interest. So I basically answered with some pros/cons of the current system but also said "of course this is just my opinion and i don't have expert knowledge on this topic". Then my interviewer said something like, "Oh is this not a topic that interests you?" I responded with, "oh it definitely interests me I'm just not an expert on it." And he was like"Oh it's ok if you're not interested in it". Like it just sounded very passive aggressive and I'm not really sure what he expected out of me since I was just trying to say what I knew about this topic.

2. My interviewer commented on my MCAT score, saying it was very high and asking how long I spent studying. I said "4 months" and then he was like "oh wow that's a very long time," as if it were a bad thing. Then i said how i wanted to make sure i was adequately prepared and then he said something like, "that must've been very tough. you must've had no free time." I told him I had a strong support system and had hobbies that I kept up with. But it seemed like to me that he had some preconception of me as someone who just studies all day and has no life, and that during the interview he was trying to confirm his idea of me. For example he asked me what I did in high school, and I told him about all the activities/clubs I did, and he just kept asking, "so what else did you do?". Eventually I ran out of stuff to say and just said that I hung out with friends and watched movies like any other high school student.

3. Then mid way through the interview he was like, "Is there anything you want me to know, anything you are dying to get off your chest that you just really want to tell me". So I took this opportunity to basically say how this school was like my first choice school and I gave a ton of reasons and was really passionate in my delivery. And then he was like, "oh I thought you were going to tell me more about yourself". Like his question did not sound at all like a tell me about yourself.

tldr I just feel like I got screwed over with the interviewer I was assigned to. At most of my other interviewers so far I've been pretty lucky and have had pretty normal conversations, but here it just felt like the whole time he was looking for something to criticize. I tried at every moment to make the interview conversational and pleasant, but it seemed like my interviewer took every opportunity to question my answers and make me uncomfortable. Do you think he would write something really negative about me? How much of an effect would this have on my decision? I also had another interview that day with another faculty interviewer which went really well, maybe one of my best interviews yet. How would the admissions committee reconcile this difference between my two interviews? I almost want to cry since I really want to attend this school but I feel like my chances just went out the window, and that it wasn't even really my fault.

 

[IsleyOfTheNorth]

Honestly, I would say that sounds like an experienced interviewer. Most likely s/he was just pressing your buttons to see how you'd react. That's a technique used to weed-out the psychos. Don't count yourself out.

 

[builderstorch]

This is sort of a long post about a recent interview I had at my top choice school. One of my faculty interviews did not go well, and I don't know if it was me or just my interviewer's style. It felt like the whole time he was trying to put me down, and I just tried my best to keep my cool. Here are some things that happened during my interview. Are my chances shot?

1. My interviewer asked, "what do you think about the current state of health care in america/medicare for all". I had read about this stuff online before my interview, but my knowledge was pretty limited (like most premeds) since I never took an actual class on this, and health policy was my interviewer's field of interest. So I basically answered with some pros/cons of the current system but also said "of course this is just my opinion and i don't have expert knowledge on this topic". Then my interviewer said something like, "Oh is this not a topic that interests you?" I responded with, "oh it definitely interests me I'm just not an expert on it." And he was like"Oh it's ok if you're not interested in it". Like it just sounded very passive aggressive and I'm not really sure what he expected out of me since I was just trying to say what I knew about this topic.

2. My interviewer commented on my MCAT score, saying it was very high and asking how long I spent studying. I said "4 months" and then he was like "oh wow that's a very long time," as if it were a bad thing. Then i said how i wanted to make sure i was adequately prepared and then he said something like, "that must've been very tough. you must've had no free time." I told him I had a strong support system and had hobbies that I kept up with. But it seemed like to me that he had some preconception of me as someone who just studies all day and has no life, and that during the interview he was trying to confirm his idea of me. For example he asked me what I did in high school, and I told him about all the activities/clubs I did, and he just kept asking, "so what else did you do?". Eventually I ran out of stuff to say and just said that I hung out with friends and watched movies like any other high school student.

3. Then mid way through the interview he was like, "Is there anything you want me to know, anything you are dying to get off your chest that you just really want to tell me". So I took this opportunity to basically say how this school was like my first choice school and I gave a ton of reasons and was really passionate in my delivery. And then he was like, "oh I thought you were going to tell me more about yourself". Like his question did not sound at all like a tell me about yourself.

tldr I just feel like I got screwed over with the interviewer I was assigned to. At most of my other interviewers so far I've been pretty lucky and have had pretty normal conversations, but here it just felt like the whole time he was looking for something to criticize. I tried at every moment to make the interview conversational and pleasant, but it seemed like my interviewer took every opportunity to question my answers and make me uncomfortable. Do you think he would write something really negative about me? How much of an effect would this have on my decision? I also had another interview that day with another faculty interviewer which went really well, maybe one of my best interviews yet. How would the admissions committee reconcile this difference between my two interviews? I almost want to cry since I really want to attend this school but I feel like my chances just went out the window, and that it wasn't even really my fault.

i think youre alright nothing seemed like a red-flag. I think its funny he said 4 months is a long time to study. He must have just said that to see how you would react.