my interview nightmare

[coldblood]

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HI guys,

Recently I interviewed at one of the medical colleges.

I walked in, shook hands with the lady and the lady stared at me for like 10 sec and did not smile the entire interview. I was already nervous and this just made it much more stressful.

Then first question she asked was why my extracurricular were so few
this question was just unexpected. expected something like tell me about ur self. this question was by far the hardest.

second question why i did so bad in one of the courses

third question why my english writing socre on mcat was low

fourth why do i have very little medical exposure

fifth what would i do to solve healthcare. Had no clue. I was trying to make sumtin up at the same look normal.

And then she asked me do u have any questions for sake of asking.


There was no question like tell me about ur self, why do u want to be a doctor. i felt like i was just explaining and when i was finished she kicked me out. had no chance to say anything positive. i was stressed as hell but i managed to stay cool and nice. i felt like punching the next guy i saw smiling when i walked out of that interview. the enxt girls who went in and i talked to said her interview was not stressful at all.

Has anyone been through sumthing like this? should i just expect a rejection?

 

[7starmantis]

You should probably expect a lot of responses about using the search function.

 

[mybubbles14]

maybe you were just getting the stressful experience test...

I had an interview from hell (or so it seemed at the time) and I thought it went horribly. After talking to other interviewees that interviewed with the same interviewer that gave me a hard time they didn't relate anything similar to what I went through. Anyways...long story short I got accepted early even with what I thought was a failed interview.

 

[BlueElmo]

Yeah, I've heard plenty stories about people who thought they did horrible in the interview but ended up getting accepted.

 

[coldblood]

maybe you were just getting the stressful experience test...

I had an interview from hell (or so it seemed at the time) and I thought it went horribly. After talking to other interviewees that interviewed with the same interviewer that gave me a hard time they didn't relate anything similar to what I went through. Anyways...long story short I got accepted early even with what I thought was a failed interview.

I would believe that if every single person who interviewed had the same response. 2 other girls who interviewed after me said theirs was perfectly normal. they were asked why do u want to be a doctor. i wasnt even asked that.

 

[J1515]

Grow a thicker skin. Everybody has the same canned response for why they want to be a doctor. They don't need you telling them your PS all over again. Your interviewer wanted to clarify things (red flags) on your application and gave you an opportunity to explain yourself. The other option is to outright reject you without that opportunity. Be grateful.

 

[mybubbles14]

I would believe that if every single person who interviewed had the same response. 2 other girls who interviewed after me said theirs was perfectly normal. they were asked why do u want to be a doctor. i wasnt even asked that.

That's what I'm saying...everyone else said the interview was great and not stressful etc. and didn't get asked the same difficult questions. I got asked some pretty hard questions (similar to what you described) along with some questions/comments I'm pretty sure the school wouldn't have been ok with had they been aware. A couple people told me I should've reported the interviewer (that's how bad it was)...

Anyways like others have said...that's just how it goes sometimes. They don't have to use the same interviewing style with every person.

 

[bannie22]

hey coldblood, really sorry to hear that it went that badly.
just remember for your future interviews that sometimes the interviewer might be out to test how you deal with stress.

for the next interview, be prepared for that, and just answer the questions normally as you would.

the question regarding waht you would do to solve healthcare is also quite a common quesiton too.

 

[bannie22]

my toughest interview was when my interviewer had a laptop in fronta her, and i had to sit really really upright to see her face... looolz. that was really tough, and i might have forgotten to even shake her hand on the way out... so yeah! i took it as a lesson, to relax and just be yourself, just answer the questions.

why did you not do well in the course? surely you have thought it out and seeked methods to do better in the future? that would be a nice way to respond to that.

why the lack of medical related ECs? maybe you were more invovled elsewhere which you want to bring to their attention?


good luck!!! i think you will do fine! just remmeber to learn from this experience instead of just sulk and complaining (which is waht i am really worried for you about! heh)

regarding your question, you are not rejected until you are rejected. !!!

 

[red10]

None of those questions are out of line or odd in anyway. yea it sucks that you got grilled and didn't get to give your well rehearsed answers but at the same time you had the chance to show grace under pressure and show how your struggles have led to self improvement and understanding.

 

[DendWrite]

Whatever you do, don't even think about "reporting" the interviewer unless you find out that you didn't get in and you decide that you have no interest in reapplying or ever attending that school again. Sorry you had a tough time, but like people said, you just have to wait and see how things turn out. You might be surprised.

 

[jvesco22]

i felt like punching the next guy i saw smiling when i walked out of that interview.

I don't know why, but I lol'd so hard!

But yeh, that sucks man. It's crappy that they focused on only the negative parts of your application. Good luck with it

 

[Ilvcurst]

don't worry I had a horrible interview recently as well...just one of those interviews where the whole time you are thinking "why did I get invited here again??", like the previous poster said, it sucks when all they do is focus on the negatives w/o even giving you a chance to talk about your positives.

It's okay, I agree with that complaining is not a good idea. Just hang in there and you never know, maybe their personality is just like that.

 

[brooklynblunder]

they focus on negative parts so they can go to the committee and defend the same questions the adcom will ask the interviewer. not always, but some people do

 

[Ilvcurst]

they focus on negative parts so they can go to the committee and defend the same questions the adcom will ask the interviewer. not always, but some people do

So if they say they have to advocate you, will they then? I mean do they ever not advocate you? That part is kind of puzzling because my interviewer is suppose to advocate me and somethings he said was to provide them an explanation but other things were just strange.

Anyways, I think the important thing is that you aren't rejected untill they tell you so just hang in there...

 

[brooklynblunder]

So if they say they have to advocate you, will they then? I mean do they ever not advocate you? That part is kind of puzzling because my interviewer is suppose to advocate me and somethings he said was to provide them an explanation but other things were just strange.

Anyways, I think the important thing is that you aren't rejected untill they tell you so just hang in there...

my PI is an interviewer at an I-league schoo, he says he has asked for straight rejects before. very rarely

vanderbilt has a rec form by the interviewers

accept immediately
accept with reservation
waitlist
reject


i could have made that up though

 

[mybubbles14]

Whatever you do, don't even think about "reporting" the interviewer unless you find out that you didn't get in and you decide that you have no interest in reapplying or ever attending that school again. Sorry you had a tough time, but like people said, you just have to wait and see how things turn out. You might be surprised.

I agree...especially not with what OP described. I only mentioned that because physicians and individuals I knew involved in the admissions process told me that the things my interviewer said were extremely inappropriate etc. However, I know better than to report him despite the advice of people that supposedly knew what they were talking about. I believe Bannie gave some good advice on how to answer some of these "difficult" questions going forward. The healthcare one is always difficult because everyone has their own belief...but as long as you have an opinion either way I think that is what matters most (assuming its not completely idiotic). My interviewer asked me about this as well and surprisingly that was the ONLY thing that went "ok" during the entire interview ie. we agreed.

 

[onb2014]

my toughest interview was when my interviewer had a laptop in fronta her, and i had to sit really really upright to see her face... looolz. that was really tough, and i might have forgotten to even shake her hand on the way out... so yeah! i took it as a lesson, to relax and just be yourself, just answer the questions.

why did you not do well in the course? surely you have thought it out and seeked methods to do better in the future? that would be a nice way to respond to that.

why the lack of medical related ECs? maybe you were more invovled elsewhere which you want to bring to their attention?


good luck!!! i think you will do fine! just remmeber to learn from this experience instead of just sulk and complaining (which is waht i am really worried for you about! heh)

regarding your question, you are not rejected until you are rejected. !!!

lol laptop, sounds like tufts.

 

[w8ting2exhale]

OP please don't lose sleep over how your interview went. It's a total waste of time lol