Please wish me good luck...

[lady in red]

Off to the torture tomorrow...(the interview); it is my first and only one (and I applied to 58 schools!), so it feels like it is the only chance i have; i really need some encouragement from you guys. For all of you 'seasoned' interviewers, how did you deal with stress the night before? I find it so overwhelming that i can't think of anything else; i know UCSF does not use interrogator tactics, but still...
What did you think about just before you walked into the interviewer's office?
For all those interested, you can send me a private message and i will be happy to share my experiences, or questions. Good luck to all and to me.

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[SMW]

Best of luck, lady in red!! I know you'll be fine (and your hair will look glorious! ). Try to get some sleep. And then go in there and tell them why you want to be a doctor educated in their program and why they should want you!! I was terrified before my first interview, but found that only lasted a short time, and after that it wasn't bad at all.

DO NOT mention applying to 58 schools!!! That has to be some kind of SDN record!! How, and why, in the world did you do it?

 

[paisley1]

Lady in Red, let me be the first to wish you good luck tomorrow. I'm sure you won't need it though. Just be cool, calm and collected and you'll do great!
I was really nervous the night before and couldn't sleep so I did some reading until late into the night (NOT a good idea!). Also, make sure you have all of your stuff ready to go so that you won't have to rush the next morning and make yourself even more panicked than you already are.
I don't really know what I was thinking when I walked in to meet my first interviewer. They say first impressions are important so I was probably doing my best to smile and appear cheerful and relaxed even though I was really nervous. Best of luck to you!

 

[THE instiGATOR]

GLUK HABEN!!!

Pretend you have an acceptance to Haaaaahvard already, and this is just a charity endeavor on your part! Say with me now..."I'm THE WOMAN"!!! Well...I'm not, but you are !

 

[Hopkins2010]

1) Recognize that although with the benefit of hindsight you might wish you could/showld have done more to prepare, that at this point in time you cant do anything more except be yourself.

2) Remember that the interviewer is human who has also experienced similar fears, nervousness, uncertainty, etc.

3) One thing I always try to do is, when asked a question, be sure to elaborate for awhile on it. Dont just give a one line response but make thoughtful commentary and give in-depth content.

4) Dont take #3 so far that you ramble. Its all about balance, you dont want to come off as self-absorbed.

5) Don't memorize responses to commonly-asked questions. You definitely want to think about these things, but DONT memorize. I think most people would agree that its better to come off in a spontaneous, but thoughtful manner.

6) For those few interviewers that dont give you a jumping off point for the conversation, keep a couple of things in mind just in case. This is pretty rare, as the vast majority of interviewers will start off with a question or at least make some comment that acts as a point for you to jump in. However, some interviewers wont do this and expect YOU to start up everything. This was probalby the toughest thing to do for me anyways.

7) Always take a second to really think about the questions before you respond. I know that even one second of silence in an interview seems like an eternity, but from the interviewer's perspective time acts on a different scale.

8) Good luck lady in red. I'm rooting for you. Right before the interview, try not to think about anything. I think its better to clear your head instead of just getting even more nervous thinking about questions/responses, and its very unlikely that this last minute extra focus will pay any dividends for you.

 

[elle]

Lady in red,

good luck!!!! I hope you have a great experience interviewing -- UCSF is a wonderful school. The night before an interview, I try to review my AMCAS personal statement and then read or just hang out with friends/family so I don't stress too much. For my first interviews, what I thought right beforehand was "owwww my feet hurt", it's worth the price to buy a pair of comfortable shoes!

Good luck

 

[jmejia1]

I know exactly how you feel. Last Tuesday I left on airplane to my very first interview and yes I was pretty anxious not knowing what to expect.

Understand that all 30,000+ of us med school applicants who got interviews go through the same nerve-wretching process.

I'm sure you went through interviewfeedback.com so know you're pretty prepared for typical questions. Talk to the other applicants there. It helps reduce nervous tension. Good luck.

 

[locitamd]

Lady in Red,

I'm the last one who can dispense advice about remaining calm. Therefore I will offer you this: this may be your first interview, but if it's at UCSF, then it certainly won't be your last (you're just starting with the best!). UCSF is not a school that wastes time interviewing people who aren't qualified, or for that matter, people who aren't cream of the crop. Convince yourself of this, and then go in tomorrow, convince them, and knock their socks off!

Best of luck, and try and get a good night's rest. Let us know how it goes, we'll all be rooting for ya.

 

[mpp]

Good luck and have a good time...

 

[lady in red]

wow, thank you everybody. I feel like family here...(i don't have one of my own); thanks for taking the time to encourage me, it helped a lot. By the way, I guess memorizing responses to questions indeed does not help, because out of fear, I have already forgotten all of them! (including what my research is about) I am just trying to keep sane enough to remember who i am...

 

[nerfornothin]

Best of luck lady in red! Read something familiar and comforting tonight. Throw on an old movie you love. Make some hot chocolate or warm milk. Go to bed when your sleepy, not when you think you should.

Get to UCSF early and read the paper in the little cafe behind the caffeteria area. If it's not too foggy the view is awesome.

Find strengh in the fact that they have chosen you to interview. Unlike Wayne and Garth when they encountered Alice Cooper YOU ARE WORTHY! Forget putting on an act. Channel that nervousness energy into showing your interviewers how enthusiastic you are about the school. Best of luck! PM me and tell me how it goes.

 

[md2be06]

Originally posted by lady in red:
•(and I applied to 58 schools •••

Good luck! God only knows that you deserve to get in somewhere if you filled out that many secondary applications. Just approximating the cost of your primary AMCAS app pains me. I hope it works out for you. UCSF is a great school!

 

[starplayer]

hey lady in red, go in there and rock that interview! i know you will, i've been following your posts and you have an awesome personality and you know what you want, they will love you.

tomorrow morning, i say forget the newspaper and blast some of your favorite music and sing at the top of your lungs as you get ready, that'll get you pumped up for the interview...i suggest some blink 182
keep us posted!!
-star

 

[brandonite]

Originally posted by starplayer:
•hey lady in red, go in there and rock that interview! i know you will, i've been following your posts and you have an awesome personality and you know what you want, they will love you.
<snip>
-star•••

Yup, couldn't agree more! You seem like the kind of person who deserves to be a doctor. I know you'll do fine! And with 58 schools (WOW!), you'll definitely get more interviews than that. Getting an interview at UCSF is definitely great! They haven't even sent me a secondary yet, so you're WAY ahead of me.

Remember, just relax, be yourself, and smile a lot. Smiling makes people happy, and you want happy interviewers.

Let us know how it goes! But I'm sure you'll do fine!

 

[daisygirl]

I don't have any advice since I have not had an interview yet , but I wish you lots of luck!

 

[Wednesday]

Thought I'd use my 100th post to wish you good luck! There's gotta be some luck in that. (Although I don't think you'll need it).

 

[isa]

lady in red,

Good luck tomorrow! The worries I wrote about from my interview experience there was mostly paranoia; they're really a good bunch. You'll do wonderfully!

 

[Mystique]

Awwww, I'm too late! I hope your interview went well! Luckily, you ended up w/ some good-humored interviewers rather than the other extreme. Anyways, I'm sure you knocked their socks off. After all, you had all these veteran SDNers to help you along the way!

Hope you had an enjoyable experience!