Stress Interview or Not???

[jmcnyc]

The first interview i had was terrible!! the doc was hostile and insulting....the entire time questioning my motivation to be a doctor. Is this a common interview technique or should i just be a dentist??

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[MorningLight2100]

Hi jmcnyc,

Please don't be discouraged. . . although I'm sure certain schools are exceptions, in general I don't believe that med schools hold stress interviews in high regard anymore. I've had six interviews, but considering some of them were with two interviewers it adds up to nine independent interview sessions. . . and although I DID have one doozy of a stress interview, all of the others were purely conversational, to the point where I *enjoyed* most of them! And even with my stress interview, it appears that this was an unusual case, as the school at which I interviewed is known for giving relaxed and comfortable sessions.

It's very unfortunate that your first interview was a negative experience; very unsettling, and just bad luck that it had to come first, as I know how anxious it must make you feel! But please believe that yours was not altogether a common example. It will improve; don't give up! Just have faith in who you are and what you know you can do, and you'll shine through with no problem at all.

If it is any consolation, also. . . I was nearly 99.9% positive that I would be rejected from the school at which I had my awful interview, but I received an acceptance letter last week.

Best of luck to you!

 

[jmcnyc]

thanks for the words of encouragement...my stressful experience was at a school that had a rep. for being relaxed as well...just curious where was your stressful interview?

 

[Coalboy]

I just had my first interview, at UAB, and it was pretty low-stress, very chatty. I enjoyed it, for the most part.

 

[MorningLight2100]

jmcnyc,

My stressful interview was at NYU, something I did not anticipate at all, as all of the students...and interviewees who had their sessions before me...said that the experience was one of their best. NOT SO for me...just my dumb luck!

But don't become discouraged, as I said. I noticed you're from NYC as well...where was your interview?

Have a great day.

 

[jmcnyc]

my interview was at downstate...i heard good things about NYU as well, its seems to be a crap shoot like you said...Who knows what to think!!!

 

[rajneel1]

yup, most interviews are not stress interviews. but they do like to badger you about your motivations to become a doctor. the hardest question that i had at a recent interview was about why i wanted to be a doctor. well, he asked it more like, "Soooo, YOU want to be a doctor?" Basically any answer i said would not satisfy him. at another interview, a 4th year was kind of trying to convince me not to go into medicine by telling me how hard it is and how people don't realize how hard it is.

 

[penelope]

My very first interview was a stress interview too...or else the guy just plain disliked me for some reason. He kept demanding why I thought I would fit in at x-y-z Ivy League School after having gone to public school all my life, what made me think I had gotten a good education at a state school, why my SAT scores weren't higher, and other snobby questions. Usually those stress interviews aren't representative of the attitudes of the school, but after a day at that school I decided it just wasn't a good match for me. Don't get discouraged. There will be plenty of people along the way (hmm...rotations?) who will try to make you feel like crap, you just have to keep pushing on.

penelope

 

[jmcnyc]

thanks for the kind words....good luck to you all.