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~*~*~*~*OFFICIAL NUTCASE APPLICANTS THREAD*~*~*~*~
Started by HomeSkool
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Bump. We're approaching the end of another application cycle, so there has to be more fodder for this thread. There just has to be.
Someone peed on university grounds during the student-led tour. Just broke off from the group and had a whizz behind a tree and came back. Student guide said "Where'd ya go?" after someone mentioned to wait for someone who had walked off. Interviewee said "Needed to pee."
If there was a camera I would've stared into it.
If there was a camera I would've stared into it.
Well at an interview this past week a fellow applicant who was sitting behind me while the admissions people were out of the room started twirling my hair and then asked me out on a date in front of everyone to which I obviously said no. Just a 10/10 awkward experience
Also does anyone else have fellow applicants who ask everyone to go around and state where they've interviewed? Every time someone does this I'm like smh mind your own business
Baaaaaaaarf. Sounds like some world-class insecurity to me.
We had an interviewee who sat and played on his phone through the presentations of multiple offices within the medical school. I'm sure that's not an occurrence unique to my school, but it does highlight the need to turn those phones off!
ahhhh y'all are nice - I would have kicked him out
That's what the post-interview committee vote is for.
One hell of a power move.
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So this is kinda neurotic but do ADCOMS put security cameras in the applicant conference rooms to review them afterward?
A better question might be: would it change your behavior if they did? One of the reasons interviews are so exhausting is that you have to be "on" all of the time, but it's safest to act that way and leave the intra-applicant venting / gossiping for the evening off-campus events haha. FWIW I don't think they do this and when they find out about what ppl did outside the interview room it's usually because they did something so obviously mean-spirited, horrible, unethical that someone on staff went out of their way to report them.
Always assume you are being watched and evaluated at all times everywhere by anyone during any interview season.
I used to work for a fairly well-respected residency program where I was the PD's favorite employee. Even though I was at the bottom of the food chain work-wise, I was often times the tiebreaker for candidates the attendings argued about. The candidates who were rude to me did not get ranked or were ranked near the bottom.
Everywhere I’ve interviewed, someone from the admissions staff has been in the room where we wait for our interviewers.
interesting. Don't think there ever was for any extended period of time at mine.
At one interview, we literally waited in the admissions office lol. At the other two, we were in a lobby, but staff was always sitting around chatting with us or each other.
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A 3.9/516 (also only 19 years old due to running start) applicant from my school only applied to 2 schools (our state schools) and received post interview rejections from both of them because he told each of them at his interview that he had an acceptance from the other school to try to leverage an acceptance out of them.
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We were assigned to a conference room for the day and a member of the admissions staf was our “handler”. He made sure we got to talk to students, go on tour and have lunch, got to our interviews in time, knew where the restrooms were, etc. He also managed to have a little casual one-on-one time with each of us throughout the day. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out he was a deciding vote on the committee, because he got to see “behind the masks”.
Me and a few interviewees shared an uber to an airport. We agreed to take it to the middle terminal since it was the most equal distance from the others. Person who called the uber called it to their own terminal without telling anyone. I had plenty of time till my flight but another person with us had about 1 hour till her flight and had to make a 20 to 30 minute trek to get to her flight so it was super stressful. Not sure if the person who called the uber did it on purpose or by accident so will cut them some slack but definitely felt bad for the other applicant with us.
Only heard this story second hand, but one of my classmates hosted an interviewee who went out partying (on a sunday night), got back at 2am, peed all over the host's bathroom, and left something out on the counter that the host's cat got into and got sick from. He then basically asked during his tour the next day if cheating was okay.
Apparently this dude had acceptances elsewhere and just came to our city to party? Don't do that y'all.
Apparently this dude had acceptances elsewhere and just came to our city to party? Don't do that y'all.
Going to rat myself out on this one...
Was interviewing at my home UG which is a UC and was sitting in the waiting room with a few other applicants and someone from admissions. They had puzzles for us to play with and one of the applicants mentioned that there was a piece missing from the puzzle.
Me being the comedian I am jokingly said to one of the interview day coordinators (who i had been joking with all day) "Wow, the other UC's had all the puzzle pieces in their puzzles."
Coordinator laughed but all the other applicants were kind of stunned and I was honestly stunned that i said it... One of the applicants said, "Someone is a little to comfortable..." LOL
Result: Accepted! 🙂
Was interviewing at my home UG which is a UC and was sitting in the waiting room with a few other applicants and someone from admissions. They had puzzles for us to play with and one of the applicants mentioned that there was a piece missing from the puzzle.
Me being the comedian I am jokingly said to one of the interview day coordinators (who i had been joking with all day) "Wow, the other UC's had all the puzzle pieces in their puzzles."
Coordinator laughed but all the other applicants were kind of stunned and I was honestly stunned that i said it... One of the applicants said, "Someone is a little to comfortable..." LOL
Result: Accepted! 🙂
hahahaha well if it helps I think that's pretty funny... I've definitely had way too many times where I thought 'I cannot believe I said that'
Haha that is great!
I'll also rat myself out: At one of my interviews after my second interview there i was gonna have an hour break until we met up again. Felt the interview had gone pretty well but at the end my interviewer said something like "now you can relax for a bit until the next planned thing" and i replied with "maybe I'll take a nap" jokingly. I was pretty tired because it was a super long day so maybe it showed because they took me seriously and said "oh no, don't do that. You can take it easy and relax but definitely don't nap" (or something along those lines). I was mentally slapping myself for saying something like that and mentioned i was just kidding but not sure what they thought in the end haha. Still waiting on my decision for this school but they recently called with acceptances so it's probably gonna be a waitlist or rejection for me 😛
Also i feel like these aren't very nutcase type things but oh well, still funny to read. Hopefully some more adcoms can share some of the more crazy stuff. I remember at one of my interviews they told the story of an interviewee who took off their tie and put their feet up... Another one took their shoes off during the interview...
Ok. I'll rat myself out here too. This was at my dream school and the school I am attending in fall.
On my interview day, when we went around introduce where each of us is from, I realized everyone was from BIG NAMES and IVIES, except me. Instantly raised my internal nervousness. During one of my traditional interviews, my interviewer asked me: "So, how do like it here at [the school]"? I responded by saying that I am honored to be here and that I absolutely loved it here, and it's a dream to come then, then I said: "I thought I never stood a chance because of my relatively low GPA." Right off I said that I was like "****!!!!" and my mind exploded as my interviewer looked at me and said, "You don't seem to have much confidence in yourself." That sentence sounded like death to me, and my mind was like a rollercoaster that drifted off the track. I paused as my smile froze. Then I took a deep breath and gave him a bitter and kinda awkward smile. I basically just ranted something along these things:
From the moment I received the interview invite, I had so much insecurity. Everything is like a dream, being here is like a dream. I told myself that I earned this, but the truth is, I couldn't believe that. I didn't even tell my parents that I am here because I don't want to disappoint them. I grew up learning that most of the time efforts do not translate into direct and equivalent outcomes. So, I know to try hard, work hard, but don’t expect much. I think by getting this interview, this chance, was honorable enough. It showed me that my efforts are recognized, and by that, I am proud of what I have done to be here, interviewing at one of the best medical schools in the world. So, I don’t think that I am unconfident. I think I am just too cautious with life.”
“Hmm. What do you want to gain from this school? What’s your goal as a physician?”
I resume to my normal self and give the answer and continue the interview.
He never smiled or nodded, not even once.
On my interview day, when we went around introduce where each of us is from, I realized everyone was from BIG NAMES and IVIES, except me. Instantly raised my internal nervousness. During one of my traditional interviews, my interviewer asked me: "So, how do like it here at [the school]"? I responded by saying that I am honored to be here and that I absolutely loved it here, and it's a dream to come then, then I said: "I thought I never stood a chance because of my relatively low GPA." Right off I said that I was like "****!!!!" and my mind exploded as my interviewer looked at me and said, "You don't seem to have much confidence in yourself." That sentence sounded like death to me, and my mind was like a rollercoaster that drifted off the track. I paused as my smile froze. Then I took a deep breath and gave him a bitter and kinda awkward smile. I basically just ranted something along these things:
From the moment I received the interview invite, I had so much insecurity. Everything is like a dream, being here is like a dream. I told myself that I earned this, but the truth is, I couldn't believe that. I didn't even tell my parents that I am here because I don't want to disappoint them. I grew up learning that most of the time efforts do not translate into direct and equivalent outcomes. So, I know to try hard, work hard, but don’t expect much. I think by getting this interview, this chance, was honorable enough. It showed me that my efforts are recognized, and by that, I am proud of what I have done to be here, interviewing at one of the best medical schools in the world. So, I don’t think that I am unconfident. I think I am just too cautious with life.”
“Hmm. What do you want to gain from this school? What’s your goal as a physician?”
I resume to my normal self and give the answer and continue the interview.
He never smiled or nodded, not even once.
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This thread is making ME a nutcase because it makes me think I’ll get rejected from med school for coughing during the interveiw. LOL.
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Marking his territory. I’m assuming with that alpha move he got an A
This is more of an interview nightmare experience from an interviewee POV. On one of my interviews, I fell down a staircase while leaving a physicians office. Like full on, went to take a step down and my foot somehow missed and I went flying face first down the stairs, arms shot out in front of me to try and catch my fall, and I landed knees first on the pavement basically laying down. Cut open my knees and shins, one of my shoes flew off, ripped my stockings, legs started bleeding, it was great. After standing up and cleaning myself off, I checked my phone and saw an email that had JUST arrived in my inbox while I was falling from my top choice program about a waitlist offer when I had felt really good about getting accepted. I proceeded to start ugly sobbing/hyperventilating about my crushed dreams and the stress of potentially not getting in anywhere. I was just pacing back and forth on this sidewalk on campus trying to pull myself together, like "omg I'm a failure, omg I can't go through this application process again, omg my leg really hurts". Once I calmed down, I had to quickly run into a CVS to buy new stockings to change into so I wouldn't look like I had just been attacked by a dog at my next event. I think I was still crying while I was paying for the stockings. Apologies to the cashier in CVS who didn't really know how to handle that situation, and to anyone who was walking/driving around campus who witnessed my post fall/post waitlist emotional breakdown. I probably looked really disturbed lol. I was in a foul mood for the rest of the interview and had a hard time being super bubbly and enthusiastic around the rest of the people I met/interviewed with. I must have come across as not very friendly, because I was sure as hell wearing my emotions on my sleeve. That was in early December and it's been radio silence since then, so I'm kind of expecting a rejection.
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Waitlist email right after you interviewed? That probably hurt more than the fall...
Oh I should clarify, the email I got was from a program I had interviewed at like 2 months earlier. The program gave a really specific day that all interviewees for the cycle would hear from the program about acceptance/rejection/wait list. I had been a nervous wreck for that whole two months counting down the days until I knew I would be getting an admissions decision, and the day happened to overlap with an interview at this other program.
Not necessarily "nutcase" level, but I walked out of an interview and rejoined the applicants sitting in the lounge. After a few minutes, my interviewer poked their head into the room and said "Sagebrush, I just sent a message to Dr. SoandSo. I'm waiting to hear back from him and I'll let you know if he has time to meet with you today." This was in regards to a new program the school was starting that I expressed interest in during my interview.
Another applicant spoke over the top of me while I was trying to thank the interviewer, saying something along the lines of "What's all that about? Did your interview go badly? Did something happen? Why do you have another meeting?", rapid-fire and super demanding. It was definitely super off-putting 😵 Don't be that person!
Another applicant spoke over the top of me while I was trying to thank the interviewer, saying something along the lines of "What's all that about? Did your interview go badly? Did something happen? Why do you have another meeting?", rapid-fire and super demanding. It was definitely super off-putting 😵 Don't be that person!
I feel like this re-applicant has got to be a troll.
Seems odd that they would waste a FAP spot on trolling.
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I have a post-bacc classmate who has similar stats (2.3/483) who is dead-set on the fact that it was his essays. I have reviewed and editted them...It wasn't his essays, but they certainly didn't help his lost cause.
These are not trolls, they are people who just have such large cognitive dissonence....
Many of them are on the far left of the curve...
No real understanding of the admissions process but absolutely sure they have the answers. Dunning-Kruger explains so very many things.
Idk how someone can be so delusional. You could be URM, served in the military, opened up an orphanage, and that wouldn’t get these people in.
Do you think trolls are worried about wasting time or a spot on FAP?
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I had a URM, Military friend this last cycle with minimum prereqs, liberal arts college, no volunteering, about a year and a half as an LPN, GPA 2.8, MCAT 504. He applied to 31 schools, got 18 interviews and 13 acceptances....
Don’t underestimate the value of URM and Military.
A 504 is MUCH different than a 483.
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This is very true.
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What recommendations would you give to students for phone-alternatives in interview waiting rooms?
At one of my interviews, we had to go around the table and say where we were from, school, and a fun fact. A typical activity at an interview. It was this applicant's turn, who also happen to be from Harvard, and said "and my fun fact is that I do cardiology research at Harvard." The entire room went quite for a couple of seconds until the person from admissions had to say, "ok, next person."
You mean alternatives to pulling out your phone? If there's other applicants there then try to talk to them. If not then just sit there and think some positive thoughts that's what I do.
He could have had an upward trend in GPA so a 2.8 wouldn’t keep someone out of led school(close to 3.0) and a 504 MCAT is pretty close to the average for URM acceptances. My post wasn’t meant to under estimate anything. Crazy amount of acceptances but even those things couldn’t help 480 MCAT and 2.0 GPA.
Put it away? Lol this generation spends way too much time on cell phones and social media.
When you have to go, you gotta do what you gotta do.
My 70 year old mother spends way more time on FB than I do.
Good ol' Mount Stupid.
Facebook, yes. Personally I'm glued to Instagram, and suffer from a pretty severe case of "scrolling brain".
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This last weekend I was at a pre-application school orientation (New school) and, beyond one group of friends that came together, no one was really talking with each other beyond little chit-chat.
Is that reflective of actual interview days or are students more open when they know these could be their classmates next year?
