Satisfaction of Interview experience fades over time...

[Stolenspatulas]

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Anyone else thinking about some of their interviews weeks ago in a different light? right out of some of my interviews in early october i felt really really good....confident that i gave them my best effort. but the thing is most people feel really good about their interviews. i would say probably 70% or so say they had a good-to-great interview..... but usually only 20-30% of applicants who made the interview stage get an offer.... so that begs me to think... can i honestly gauge how well i did in the interview? can anyone? maybe the interviewer you have that smiles very sincerely at the end and thanks you in such a personal way...does that to everyone he/she interviews? the thing is with my interviewers i felt i sort of developed a bond or connection at least... does this happen for most interviews? i think their is no way to gauge if it went well or not...

 

[Rafa]

^ You should be happy you aren't sure they went badly instead of lamenting whether they went well... 😎

 

[somemaybedoc]

I defenitely am finding that I am less and less satisfied as time goes on: "Did I answer that question on my motivations as well as I could; was I as passionate as I really am; etc."

I wish I knew what they were looking for. That's why I'm toying with the idea of trying to get on the ADCOM if I get in.

 

[Stolenspatulas]

^ You should be happy you aren't sure they went badly instead of lamenting whether they went well... 😎

the thing is though... people who can guarantee they got railed from the interview still get in to those places.... oh this damn process! its like the worst length of waiting 4-6 weeks. if it were longer, you could forget about it... if it were shorter, well no lamenting!

 

[Doctor~Detroit]

thinking back, i do think my first two interviews were the rustier than recent ones (i thought i did fine at the time). i wish my first two weren't at top choice schools.

 

[silkworm]

I think people tend to overestimate their performances simply because they are at a psychologically vulnerable state during interviews. When we are nervous and eager to be liked, we seize any scraps of encouraging words from the interviewers and tend to blown them out of proportion.

 

[jayhawk07]

but usually only 20-30% of applicants who made the interview stage get an offer....

Cheer up, the ratio is much better than that at all but the most selective schools.

 

[MadHopsMD]

Cheer up, the ratio is much better than that at all but the most selective schools.

That's right! cheer up.

state schools can have upto 90-100% acceptance rate after getting an interview (vermont, rosalind), and most schools the ratio are around 50%.

 

[stiffany]

I had the same experience post-MCAT (walking out feeling unsure but okay and then as the weeks went on thinking I did worse and worse) and I would have saved myself a lot of worry had I just shrugged it off. Plus, as other posters have said, the rate of acceptance post-interview is usually much higher than 20%. So, cheer up!!! I'd say with interviews this early in the game in general you're in great shape for a happy year!

 

[Stolenspatulas]

yea.... i tend to forget that most schools accept a lot more of students than matriculate. it seems like any given year they could get screwed, but somehow it usually works....

ex.
a fairly competitive school with 100 seats for a given class
accept 250 students of 750 that interview ==> 80 accept
20 taken off waitlist

so therefore the chance of getting in at the interview stage is 270/750 instead of 100/750...and also people get off the waitlist or chose not to attend the school once getting in off the waitlist so your chances increase even more.

(this ex im giving is what i remember about vanderbilt...numbers are comparable to the truth, except not sure if they interview ~750 in a given year)

 

[maestro1625]

big yes... I had an early september interview and get the decision next week... I get more and more nervous every day.

 

[baylormed]

Anyone else thinking about some of their interviews weeks ago in a different light? right out of some of my interviews in early october i felt really really good....confident that i gave them my best effort. but the thing is most people feel really good about their interviews. i would say probably 70% or so say they had a good-to-great interview..... but usually only 20-30% of applicants who made the interview stage get an offer.... so that begs me to think... can i honestly gauge how well i did in the interview? can anyone? maybe the interviewer you have that smiles very sincerely at the end and thanks you in such a personal way...does that to everyone he/she interviews? the thing is with my interviewers i felt i sort of developed a bond or connection at least... does this happen for most interviews? i think their is no way to gauge if it went well or not...

Yes, only about 1/5 to 1/3 get an acceptance offer, but take into consideration that some people will reject the acceptance in order to take one at another school.
We have agreed many times before on SDN that how you feel about your interviews has no correlation on whether you get in or not.
Be thankful for the interviews.