Stress interview or inappropriate?

[tinkertown1919]

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Hi all,

I had an interview last weekend that has been bugging me, but I'm not sure if I am over reacting.

It was a 1:1 interview. For the first minute or so, my interviewer was polite, but the minute she realized I was a non traditional student (in age and in background), she pursued a really aggressive line of questioning. It was a closed file interview.

She said the adcom was going to hate me because of my non-trad status, and then (because it was closed file) she starting trying to guess my MCAT score and GPA. She guessed that I got mostly C's in the pre reqs and scored in the 20th percentile on the MCAT, and said that I would struggle in medical school because I didn't have enough science background. This was without seeing any of my transcripts.

I politely/calmly defended myself, but it was the craziest and most uncomfortable interview experience I've ever had. The tone of the conversation changed drastically when it became apparent I was older than the average student and that I didn't have a biology background. She didn't explicitly say, "I think you are going to do poorly in medical school because of your age," but that's what it felt like she was getting at.

I like the school. This is the person who will be representing me to the admissions committee. Is this normal for a medical school interview? Is this what a stress interview is?

 

[NuclearWhammy]

It's an interview and it's not what it seems like. She was testing how you stand up for yourself and how strong you are.

 

[JessebenBenjamin]

At one of my interviews... my interviewer seemed annoyed by every single one of my answers. Still got in.
Don't worry OP.

 

[FMDoge2020]

"She didnt explicitly said...."
Like the others said, she might just be testing you to make sure you are adamant about the career in medicine.

I got asked about every single flaws in my open file interview. I felt like they hated me and picked on me, but I ended up getting accepted

 

[Moko]

As others have mentioned, the interviewer was likely testing your composure and desire to pursue medicine. She probably is an ass to all applicants, not just you, so I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Still, it sucks to go through an experience like this. The way she tried to guess your GPA and MCAT.. that is just odd and seems like poor form (there are so many other ways to test and challenge an applicant). Personally, if I was in this situation and accepted, I would make sure the culture of the school isn't like this before matriculating. JMT

 

[samac]

It happens. In one of my interviews I got asked where else I applied, I listed a few DO schools and he started attacking me for it.
It was so much fun.

Just gotta shake it off, she was trying to get a reaction from you.

 

[Goro]

I agree. And I suspect that the reason she took this approach was that there was likely something about you (or in the parts of the file she was able to see) that prompted her questions. I don't think that she was actually trying to find out your stats, but to, well, see how you respond to pressure.

As others have mentioned, the interviewer was likely testing your composure and desire to pursue medicine. She probably is an ass to all applicants, not just you, so I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Still, it sucks to go through an experience like this. The way she tried to guess your GPA and MCAT.. that is just odd and seems like poor form (there are so many other ways to test and challenge an applicant). Personally, if I was in this situation and accepted, I would make sure the culture of the school isn't like this before matriculating. JMT

 

[Officer Farva]

.

 

[bumblebee611]

Hi all,

I had an interview last weekend that has been bugging me, but I'm not sure if I am over reacting.

It was a 1:1 interview. For the first minute or so, my interviewer was polite, but the minute she realized I was a non traditional student (in age and in background), she pursued a really aggressive line of questioning. It was a closed file interview.

She said the adcom was going to hate me because of my non-trad status, and then (because it was closed file) she starting trying to guess my MCAT score and GPA. She guessed that I got mostly C's in the pre reqs and scored in the 20th percentile on the MCAT, and said that I would struggle in medical school because I didn't have enough science background. This was without seeing any of my transcripts.

I politely/calmly defended myself, but it was the craziest and most uncomfortable interview experience I've ever had. The tone of the conversation changed drastically when it became apparent I was older than the average student and that I didn't have a biology background. She didn't explicitly say, "I think you are going to do poorly in medical school because of your age," but that's what it felt like she was getting at.

I like the school. This is the person who will be representing me to the admissions committee. Is this normal for a medical school interview? Is this what a stress interview is?

I dunno; I'm going to swim against the tide here and say that I agree this sounds crazy and just maybe this is one of those circumstances where you might politely let someone in the admissions office know about your concerns. For me, the red flags that distinguish it from simply being challenged to defend yourself are (1) you say things shifted dramatically when she learned of your age and your non-trad background, (2) she came out and said the adcom was going to hate you!!--seriously, seems the proper way to "challenge" you might be to ask how you are going to manage the transition or what support systems you have in place or something like that, and (3) she tries to guess your MCAT and GPA (again, rather than ask you questions about your academic qualifications, your confidence that you will be able to succeed despite your non-science major, noting the struggles that some non-science majors have had, or whatever). I guess there is Goro's suggestion that something else in your app must have led to her suspicions or concerns in this regard, but it's tough for me to imagine what information that is available to her would lead to LEGITIMATE concerns in this regard (not concerns that arise out of ageist, racist, sexist, or classist attitudes). I guess maybe if you'd had a terrible employment history with only jobs that require little to no formal education. Even so, if she hadn't seen your grades and MCAT and so on, how would she know -- you could have been a bricklayer for several years and then made your way to college and excelled.

Edited to add: It seems notably different from attacking a candidate who is also applying DO, or asking about things visible in an open file review. In those situations, the interviewer is taking a known piece of information and hammering the candidate about it. In your case, the interviewer is speculating (for reasons unknown and possibly ageist), and attacking you for what she imagines to be a problem.

 

[ifnotnowwren]

Are they supposed to ask about stats in a closed-file interview? I guess I always assumed that the point of closed file was that they would be viewing you more objectively/wouldn't let stats cloud their view in any way.

 

[tinkertown1919]

All my interviewer had to go off of were my colleges/universities up until this point. They had no other info accessible to them.

 

[MerYangBey]

My interviewer flat out asked me what my GPA, MCAT score were. Also asked me about the number of interviews I've had, number of schools I applied to.
It was uncomfortable. I answered honestly but is there a way to avoid answering the number of interviews, schools question? Can your answer hurt your chances? It was my 7th interview but definitely a top choice...