Please help me answer this line of dialogue in an interview.

[pglo]

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I have an interview at a school coming up in about a month that I have interviewed at previously on the east coast. In my previous interview, they asked about my MCAT and I explained it off with something along the lines of "I don't think it accurately reflects my understanding of the material and my ability to apply the material to real-world situations."

The thing is that the interviewer then said "but we are worried that your mediocre performance on the MCAT may translate to a mediocre performance on board scores."

How would you respond to this?

 

[cabinbuilder]

The problem is that everything in medical school, the boards and board cert exams are all standardized tests. If you can't do them, they don't want to admit students who cannot pass them and they don't want students who have to repeat the tests. Some states only allow a certain amount of repeats for licensing. That's why they asked you that question.

 

[pglo]

How would you respond to this?

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

I have an interview at a school coming up in about a month that I have interviewed at previously on the east coast. In my previous interview, they asked about my MCAT and I explained it off with something along the lines of "I don't think it accurately reflects my understanding of the material and my ability to apply the material to real-world situations."

The thing is that the interviewer then said "but we are worried that your mediocre performance on the MCAT may translate to a mediocre performance on board scores."

How would you respond to this?

Acknowledge that it is a legitimate concern and that it is also something you're addressing. Then proceed to cite some studies (etc.) where you have seen that MCAT to USMLE correlate is not 1 to 1 and that you suspect that this is the case for you because your GPA is strong and the correlate to GPA to USMLE is X number.

 

[Goro]

It's vastly more important as to how YOU would respond to it!

Don't parrot someone else. .. you're in a hole, you dig yourself out.

I have an interview at a school coming up in about a month that I have interviewed at previously on the east coast. In my previous interview, they asked about my MCAT and I explained it off with something along the lines of "I don't think it accurately reflects my understanding of the material and my ability to apply the material to real-world situations."

The thing is that the interviewer then said "but we are worried that your mediocre performance on the MCAT may translate to a mediocre performance on board scores."

How would you respond to this?

 

[CaffeineTwitch]

I think the important thing to remember here is they are willing to interview you a second time. I would take this as a sign that that they want you and are begging you to allay their fears. You are in a good position because you know what to expect. Give them something real that will make them comfortable to give you the spot they want to give you. Also, I think, you know what not to say 😉.

 

[pglo]

Thank you for the responses everyone! Consider this question answered.