Not preparing for interviews?

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MDPedigree

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So one of my doctors told me that he interviewed at 7 schools and got into 6 straight and off the waitlist of the 7th. He believes the reason for his interview success was that he didn't prepare at all. He just walked into them and was completely himself and allowed his personality to shine through. He said they can tell when someone is authentic, and can tell when people have prepared and read things like books on "how to master your med school interview". He advised me for my interviews coming to just be myself because I am a very personable person and my personality will shine through much better that way than if I tried using other people's ideas and sounded mechanical. What do you guys think??
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MDPedigree said:
So one of my doctors told me that he interviewed at 7 schools and got into 6 straight and off the waitlist of the 7th. He believes the reason for his interview success was that he didn't prepare at all. He just walked into them and was completely himself and allowed his personality to shine through. He said they can tell when someone is authentic, and can tell when people have prepared and read things like books on "how to master your med school interview". He advised me for my interviews coming to just be myself because I am a very personable person and my personality will shine through much better that way than if I tried using other people's ideas and sounded mechanical. What do you guys think??
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My golden rule is that an interview is done to match you with the school, and it's mission, along with the people you'll be working with and treating. Basically, can you do it? I research missions and values, along with programs, only to gauge where my interviewer will be coming from. Then I stop. I also think you can't BS a BSer. Don't overinflate things, just to sound impressive, but sell them. Take your time and piece together your responses; the interviewer will see thoughtfulness in this.

So yes, they have a point. Be yourself, but tailor yourself to guide the interview as best as you can, when you can. For this, you need a little research. Nothing crazy, but it helps when they ask you, "so what about [blank] brought you here?" for example. You'll answer, using your experiences and thoughts as a great answer, and then be prepared for follow-ups related to whatever you said.

But just talk and have fun! Don't be so robotic in calculating things and analyzing that you lose sight of your normal self within the interview! An interview, if it's even average at best, has a good chance of putting you through! My rule of thumb for my interviews was:

*they want you, and are just making sure they didn't make a mistake. You're in, until you give them a real reason to not like you.
 
He probably also interviewed a long time ago. If you ask certain doctors, they'll also tell you that they never studied for the MCAT and they just rolled out of bed one day and took it. Such were the days.

Now, it's different given how competitive medical admissions has become. While you don't want to sound rehearsed and mechanical, you also don't want to sound like you've never thought about a question before. So you should have a rough roadmap for how you're going to answer the basic questions of why medicine, why this school, and tell me about yourself. Those will come up over and over again. A few other questions will recur and those you would be best served to know as well.

As for delivery, the delivery should be natural and not rehearsed. You can do this by thinking about the main points you want to hit with those questions and just having those main points in mind as you go into the interviews. That way, you can guide the conversation without sounding mechanical.
 
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I would do some research on the school itself mainly as someone said above rather than just winging it with zero preparation, but that's me.
 
Make sure you've rehearsed the basic interview questions if you don't have good answers to those you will be in rough shape

aldol16 said:
He probably also interviewed a long time ago. If you ask certain doctors, they'll also tell you that they never studied for the MCAT and they just rolled out of bed one day and took it. Such were the days.
.
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Said doc might now be performing open heart surgery right now.... Makes you think doesn't it
 
gonnif said:
30 years ago, premeds all took essentially the same courses on the same schedule including Ochem Junior year; all took the MCAT on the same day all over the country in June for 8 hours right after all your coursework . AAMC viciously guarded the term MCAT that test prep companies were not allowed to use it; there were no official practice tests as AAMC never released old exams or questions. A minority of students took any sort of prep class for it. If you hadnt learned the material in UG, you would do badly. In the early 1970s to late 1980s medical school acceptance rate was below 30%
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I recant my judgement
 
I did a combination of both.
I prepared myself for basic interview questions like, tell me about yourself and why medicine. However, I just memorized bullet points on what topics I should talk about and things I should mention. I reviewed my AMCAS application and tried to explain each activity in my own words. I also reviewed my personal statement and my secondary essays.

Your doctor has a point. Medical schools want to see your personality and not just a robot version of yourself. You should not go there completely unprepared and you should not sound like you memorized all the answers. A combination of both would be golden!
 
kdapik said:
I did a combination of both.
I prepared myself for basic interview questions like, tell me about yourself and why medicine. However, I just memorized bullet points on what topics I should talk about and things I should mention. I reviewed my AMCAS application and tried to explain each activity in my own words. I also reviewed my personal statement and my secondary essays.

Your doctor has a point. Medical schools want to see your personality and not just a robot version of yourself. You should not go there completely unprepared and you should not sound like you memorized all the answers. A combination of both would be golden!
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I did the same for a mock interview I had for my committee letter and my interviewer told me she liked how natural I sounded and how I sometimes paused to think about my answers rather than blurt out a response. Just a mock interview but I'll probably stick with the same strategy
 
I like to think it's a good idea to research the school a little bit just to get an idea of what that school is looking for within its students - this certainly helps with those "why us" questions. Otherwise, I agree with having bullet points you wish to hit. Essentially every school (at least most) will ask why medicine, maybe a strength/weakness question - it couldn't hurt to have a few key ideas to speak about. I don't believe this would make you sound robotic, it just helps you to be prepared.

For my interviews, I did a quick mock interview the night before with my GF and skimmed through the institution website. I felt comfortable at every interview and my answers all differed slightly depending on the school (aka - I don't think I sounded robotic)!

Overall just relax and be yourself and you will do fine!
 
MDPedigree said:
So one of my doctors told me that he interviewed at 7 schools and got into 6 straight and off the waitlist of the 7th. He believes the reason for his interview success was that he didn't prepare at all. He just walked into them and was completely himself and allowed his personality to shine through. He said they can tell when someone is authentic, and can tell when people have prepared and read things like books on "how to master your med school interview". He advised me for my interviews coming to just be myself because I am a very personable person and my personality will shine through much better that way than if I tried using other people's ideas and sounded mechanical. What do you guys think??
Click to expand...
"Just be yourself" is advice I give all the time.

That said, you should still know what's in your file, and and any of the common interview questions int he same way as if your gramma/abuela/nana asked you.
 
MDPedigree said:
So one of my doctors told me that he interviewed at 7 schools and got into 6 straight and off the waitlist of the 7th. He believes the reason for his interview success was that he didn't prepare at all. He just walked into them and was completely himself and allowed his personality to shine through. He said they can tell when someone is authentic, and can tell when people have prepared and read things like books on "how to master your med school interview". He advised me for my interviews coming to just be myself because I am a very personable person and my personality will shine through much better that way than if I tried using other people's ideas and sounded mechanical. What do you guys think??
Click to expand...
Aside from thoroughly browsing the school website, I just winged it all with good results.
 
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Haven't been accepted yet (will hear back next week), but my number 1 piece of advice to future students (if I'm accepted) will be to prepare as little as possible. Research the mission, curriculum, and rotations and that's it. I've run into a couple people who I could tell were treating our conversation before the interview as interview practice and the scripted nature of the conversation was cringe-worthy to even me. Let alone someone who's interviewed 100's-1000's of candidates over a career.

Addition-- Interviewed at 2 schools and was accepted to both.
 
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Heard back from 5 schools I've interviewed at so far. Got into 4, waitlist at the other (which waitlisted practically all OOS).

Personally, I never prepare. I just go in and be myself. It's worked.
 
Coltuna said:
Haven't been accepted yet (will hear back next week), but my number 1 piece of advice to future students (if I'm accepted) will be to prepare as little as possible. Research the mission, curriculum, and rotations and that's it. I've run into a couple people who I could tell were treating our conversation before the interview as interview practice and the scripted nature of the conversation was cringe-worthy to even me. Let alone someone who's interviewed 100's-1000's of candidates over a career.
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"I haven't actually proven this works, but let me give you some advice on the matter."

Personalities are very different and I wouldn't be surprised if the vast majority of the people on this thread saying "just wing it" or "I didn't prepare" are extroverts. For some people, conversation comes easily and they can talk all day long. However, for others, conversation is a learned technique. They are quieter and more introspective. Preparing calms them. Others often have a hard time discussing their accomplishments. It's true that some may overdue it, esp given the stressful nature and the weight associated with interviews, but that doesn't mean it's not warranted.

And I'll say this in anticipation of a common rebuttal - extrovert vs introvert has no bearing on one's ability to be a physician or interact with patients.
 
CyrilFiggis said:
"I haven't actually proven this works, but let me give you some advice on the matter."

Personalities are very different and I wouldn't be surprised if the vast majority of the people on this thread saying "just wing it" or "I didn't prepare" are extroverts. For some people, conversation comes easily and they can talk all day long. However, for others, conversation is a learned technique. They are quieter and more introspective. Preparing calms them. Others often have a hard time discussing their accomplishments. It's true that some may overdue it, esp given the stressful nature and the weight associated with interviews, but that doesn't mean it's not warranted.

And I'll say this in anticipation of a common rebuttal - extrovert vs introvert has no bearing on one's ability to be a physician or interact with patients.
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In response to bolded, you may want to read what I said again; I added several caveats lol. Fair enough though! I do agree that personalities differ, and my advice is more for natural extroverts.
 
Albanian24 said:
Heard back from 5 schools I've interviewed at so far. Got into 4, waitlist at the other (which waitlisted practically all OOS).

Personally, I never prepare. I just go in and be myself. It's worked.
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That's what I did two years ago. Worked wonders. I also don't get nervous about anything ever, which also may help.
 
Now that I've been accepted somewhere, I feel like I can share...

I didn't prepare for the interviews in the traditional sense - no mock interviews or looking up MMI videos on Youtube. I did, however, spend a lot of time thinking about my app (not just going over it, but thinking about what I learned from my experiences and how I grew as a complete person). I also reread my secondaries and looked at the info of the school I was interviewing at prior to going in.

Agreeing with the above, it's important to have thought about everything, but unless you're shy/timid/etc., practicing in front of the mirror will just make you sound robotic.
 
I think that kind of advice is very good. I did something very similar - I didn't prepare any answers because that would just come off sounding canned. I had a general idea of what I wanted to get across with the main questions "Why medicine" or "Tell me about yourself" but I didn't practice or rehearse them. The only thing I prepared for was for each school I interviewed at, I looked up their mission and thought about how I would fit into that mission.
 
aldol16 said:
I think that kind of advice is very good. I did something very similar - I didn't prepare any answers because that would just come off sounding canned. I had a general idea of what I wanted to get across with the main questions "Why medicine" or "Tell me about yourself" but I didn't practice or rehearse them. The only thing I prepared for was for each school I interviewed at, I looked up their mission and thought about how I would fit into that mission.
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Yeh really important to get a good bead on the school's mission and ethos, amazing how many people ignore this prior to interviews. Easy to concentrate on yourself too much and forget about the program!
 
kdapik said:
I did a combination of both.
I prepared myself for basic interview questions like, tell me about yourself and why medicine. However, I just memorized bullet points on what topics I should talk about and things I should mention. I reviewed my AMCAS application and tried to explain each activity in my own words. I also reviewed my personal statement and my secondary essays.

Your doctor has a point. Medical schools want to see your personality and not just a robot version of yourself. You should not go there completely unprepared and you should not sound like you memorized all the answers. A combination of both would be golden!
Click to expand...

I did the same as well. I'm naturally chatty/bubbly, and I typically interview well.
 
I'm overjoyed I had an acceptance at school I would love to attend, which I am eternally grateful for. However, I have another coming up next week at a close second that is nearer to my family. Not knowing what the future holds I think it might be good to keep my options open...

I'm a reserved person, have been waitlisted many times before, and had to work hard at preparing and calming my nerves for the acceptance. I think I've gotten better.

Is there any risk to just going to this MMI, being myself, and seeing what comes of it? I feel safer in taking kind of a risk, since I won't be all in knots. Has anyone had success at an MMI without going over sample prompts for weeks on end? Or am I just wasting everyone's time without intense preparation?
 
ReapPremed said:
Is there any risk to just going to this MMI, being myself, and seeing what comes of it? I feel safer in taking kind of a risk, since I won't be all in knots. Has anyone had success at an MMI without going over sample prompts for weeks on end? Or am I just wasting everyone's time without intense preparation?
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Concur with the above poster - I didn't prepare at all for my MMIs and got in. Really, the scenarios are often so specific that you won't easily be able to find examples exactly like them. Just being able to talk about different perspectives articulately is usually enough; the interviewers typically have prompts for follow-up questions anyways.
 
Welshman said:
I did the same for a mock interview I had for my committee letter and my interviewer told me she liked how natural I sounded and how I sometimes paused to think about my answers rather than blurt out a response. Just a mock interview but I'll probably stick with the same strategy
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After attending two interviews now I would say 100% prepare for the basic interview questions and have your main ideas aligned with their mission. The pressure of the interview has a tendency to help you forget or gloss over important aspects of your app. At least for me...
 
Depends on your personality, but generally I think that's bad advice. If you are great at off-the-cuff answers under high pressure situations, always relaxed and charming, able to speak fluently and easily in front of strangers who are evaluating you and making major decisions about your worth and your life... then you probably don't need to prepare too much. But if you are anything like me (and probably like most people), then that's nothing but a fantasy, and you should rehearse answers to basic questions out loud, and have a list in your head of things you want to touch on. Though definitely avoid reciting a prepared speech word-per-word. Think of it like a fluid, open conversation, generally centered on topics you've already thought deeply about and decided you want to talk about, while still being flexible enough to react to curveballs.

But I haven't been accepted yet soooo take my advice for what it's worth...
 
For my first interview I extensively prepared, was too nervous to eat breakfast, felt faint by the time lunch rolled around, didn't use hardly any of my prep during the actual interview, and ended up getting waitlisted. 🤣

Honestly, for me, the prep made me more nervous and wasn't worth the time. I do quick read-throughs of my app, my bullet points for "Why medicine?" and "Why you?", and glance at the school's website.

The thing is, at every interview, there is not a pop quiz on the details of the school. In fact, there is the opposite: They literally give you hours of presentations on why their school is great before you interview (most places). So even if your interview asks a super school-specific question, you just watched a powerpoint on very school-specific things.

For MMIs, I honestly just showed up, gave my brain a pep talk, and went for it.

I've gotten one traditional interview acceptance, and one MMI acceptance, so n=1 in favor of minimal prep.
 
Half and half. I would definitely look up the main points of the school and the unique things about their program. For example, if you’re applying for Duke, know that they have mandatory research year. If you ask questions like, “are there opportunities to do research,” I would assume that won’t fly well with Duke Adcom. Try to organize your thoughts and responses for common questions like “why medicine” and know your application inside out and backward. Aside from that, just relax and at the end of the day, all interviewers are people too, just interact with them genuinely. It should about fit. If you are yourself and they don’t think you’re a good fit for their school and class, chances are you probably won’t be happy there either. Remember to ask questions if you have any because it’s a two-way street and you’re interviewing the school as much as they are interviewing you.
 
I personally like to familiarize myself with the school so that I can give a solid and genuine answer to "why this school". Otherwise, just go in with confidence and be yourself. You've clearly already impressed the admissions committee or they would not be interviewing you. 1/1 for me so far
 
Dwight Snoot said:
I personally like to familiarize myself with the school so that I can give a solid and genuine answer to "why this school". Otherwise, just go in with confidence and be yourself. You've clearly already impressed the admissions committee or they would not be interviewing you. 1/1 for me so far
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That's true, easy to forget that to get in the room you've already done a lot of hard work.
 
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