So-So Interviews

[4thQtrDreams]

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I seem to come out of interviews not having goofed it up majorly or stumbled over my words much, but still not feeling like i nailed it. So i cant really say whether i think they'll send me an acceptance letter on Dec 1st.

So far i 've gotten nice interviewers that dont seem they would push too hard or try to break me, so i dont know if they were just being nice or what..

theres always a question that i think about later and say, "i could have answered that better". Am i going to feel that way about all my interviews? and more importantly, am i going to get in?..

If an interview is meant for me to sell myself to the school , i don't know that i've done that adequately. If its meant for them to see i'm a normal person then i think i've accomplished the task..

Its all kinda frustrating.. I wish schools that didn't want me after an interview would mail me a rejection right away instead of waiting till Dec 1st, but i guess so long as the rejection letter is not sitting in your hand, there still hope.. nothing left to do but wait.. just venting 😕

 

[CSI Dentist]

you probably did better than you think. Don't think of rejections, think positively. You will get in, since you already had few interviews, that is an awesome sign already.

Good luck.

 

[cotinara]

totally agree with CSI dentist, don't fret you got alot of interviews already which is a huge factor. your just stressing. best of luck.

 

[4thQtrDreams]

Curious if most people feel they either nailed it, or thought it went poorly..

I'm in limbo it seems.. but i guess all of us are until December or later...

 

[CSI Dentist]

I would for instance feel pumped after the interview, and thought it went well. Then I would come on SDN and read some stuff, and then I start doubting myself, and redoing my interview in my head, and thinking how could I have put that differently than what I said that day.

I figured, what's happened is in the past, now only time will tell. Just need to stay positive, and busy untill the judgment day!

 

[hopelessdoc]

i agree with "CSI"...but i only have 1 interview so far so i just can't get away with the thought that i did bad or good???

 

[CSI Dentist]

it only takes one! 😉

 

[Yellow Snow]

Curious if most people feel they either nailed it, or thought it went poorly..

I'm in limbo it seems.. but i guess all of us are until December or later...

I have only felt like I really nailed one of the three I have been to. At the others I, like you, spoke clearly and sincerely but there just didn't seem to be anything to nail 🙂cool: ). The questions were so basic that one answer would have been as good as another. I've got USC next week so no questions there. Arizona in two weeks which should be a chance to sink or swim.

 

[ddsjymaeng]

temple coming up...
heard it was a group interview and seriously do we go around the table and answer the questions?

 

[4thQtrDreams]

.. I've got USC next week so no questions there. ..

Huh? no questions at USC?

 

[hopelessdoc]

temple coming up...
heard it was a group interview and seriously do we go around the table and answer the questions?

it's a group...interviewer will ask a quest and then he/she will go around the table to get everyone's opinion/ans...

 

[dentalman]

After I got home from my interview I kept questioning all of the mundane details, thinking ... maybe I should have said something else? Was I being myself too much? I think this is natural because you have WAY too much time to think about it, and it is the end of a long and tough process. The good thing, is that you can't do anything else at this point, except for wait. I ended up getting accepted, so I can say that it was a case of overanalysis, as it sounds you are doing now as well. So try not to look online and go out and watch some movies or something to get your mind off of it.

 

[MoobDDS]

temple coming up...
heard it was a group interview and seriously do we go around the table and answer the questions?

temple? don't stress about it. interviewer spent more time lecturing than asking questions.

 

[tissy]

I think AZ is the only interview that I didn't feel completely 100% selling myself. I think I did fine but I walked out thinking to myself that I should said this instead of that..blah blah..

 

[billyjones]

temple coming up...
heard it was a group interview and seriously do we go around the table and answer the questions?

The interview was completely stress free in my opinion. The only negative thing that comes to mind is that there was a woman in my interview group that was Ms. Super Applicant, she had a masters degree, and had been teaching High School for a few years. Everything that came out of her mouth was so articulate and professional. I just feel that in a group setting I was probably over shadowed by her because she had far more experience than I did.

In my opinion interviewers don't remember individuals as much as they do highlights. Had it been a one-on-one interview, they would have remembered MY highlights, whereas in the group interview the hightlights were primarily this woman's comments.

 

[hgfdsa]

Curious if most people feel they either nailed it, or thought it went poorly..

I'm in limbo it seems.. but i guess all of us are until December or later...

i've had 2 so far and felt like i nailed one, but walked out of the other definitely feeling like i hadnt represented myself as well as i could have

 

[Yellow Snow]

Huh? no questions at USC?

Yeah, I thought that we weren't directly asked any questions at the USC interview. Do we just do the tour/financial aid/overserve PBL/mock PBL session?

 

[coolraz]

With interviews, it's kind of simple. If you have good scores/extra curric's/shadowing, the interview will be VERY VERY easy. They will give you slow pitch questions and you just answer them. Sometimes, they won't even ask questions, they'll just chat with you about random stuff. If, however, there are negative things in your app (low GPA or low DAT, not enough shadowing), then they usually WILL grill you on that. It's not necessarily to be mean, it's just they want to hear your version. Also, they may grill you on something else (that is not a weak poing for you) to give you a chance to play that up. In all honesty, I very much think they already know whether they want you or not (i.e they have like 5 categories and four of them are already rated when you come to interview, the last one is the interview, but that means it's 80% decided) when they interview you, so just don't be an ass when you're there and everything will be OK.

 

[dddsmack]

With interviews, it's kind of simple. If you have good scores/extra curric's/shadowing, the interview will be VERY VERY easy. They will give you slow pitch questions and you just answer them. Sometimes, they won't even ask questions, they'll just chat with you about random stuff. If, however, there are negative things in your app (low GPA or low DAT, not enough shadowing), then they usually WILL grill you on that. It's not necessarily to be mean, it's just they want to hear your version. Also, they may grill you on something else (that is not a weak poing for you) to give you a chance to play that up. In all honesty, I very much think they already know whether they want you or not (i.e they have like 5 categories and four of them are already rated when you come to interview, the last one is the interview, but that means it's 80% decided) when they interview you, so just don't be an ass when you're there and everything will be OK.

I agree.

 

[Loodidoo]

With interviews, it's kind of simple. If you have good scores/extra curric's/shadowing, the interview will be VERY VERY easy. They will give you slow pitch questions and you just answer them. Sometimes, they won't even ask questions, they'll just chat with you about random stuff. If, however, there are negative things in your app (low GPA or low DAT, not enough shadowing), then they usually WILL grill you on that. It's not necessarily to be mean, it's just they want to hear your version. Also, they may grill you on something else (that is not a weak poing for you) to give you a chance to play that up. In all honesty, I very much think they already know whether they want you or not (i.e they have like 5 categories and four of them are already rated when you come to interview, the last one is the interview, but that means it's 80% decided) when they interview you, so just don't be an ass when you're there and everything will be OK.

I agree with you for the most part also, but I also think it really depends on the school. At one school, I was grilled the entire time (straight up question/answer) while they wrote furiously, and at another school, I was not asked a single question between 2 separate 30-minute interviews except, "Do you have any questions for me?" Schools can't take everyone they interview, so there will still be that small percentage that doesn't get in. Assuming that the majority of the interviewees "behave," and have normal interview experiences, I'm curious as to what those small factors are that make adcoms ultimately weed out that final small percentage 😕