Stress interviews, when do questions toe the line?

[itdobereallbad]

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About a month ago I interviewed a school where I was stress tested, though one question really got to me. It was regarding my hardship essay and I was put in a position where it was closer to "Just you?" asked regarding the hardship. I answered poorly honestly and revealed information that I wished to remain private under pressure.

For full transparency I did lose composure after revealing this information, however somehow ended the interview on a "better note" after the interviewer had to swoop in and pivot to positive questions before going back to stress testing.

That begs the question, I know everything is fair game on your application, but was it even valid to put me in that position to justify my hardship essay? Or am I just being whiny since I got waitlisted (honestly, I would like to know the truth without any sugarcoating).

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Welcome to the forums.

You admit, you know everything is fair game, so it follows that it is valid to put you in that position. Given how applicants can often embellish their hardships to emotionally leverage themselves to curry sympathy for an interview or offer of admission, I know it happens.

We often press for more details about IA's. We want to know the backstory with your hardships and how you processed its effects on your personal and professional perspectives. There's no way to know whether that one response/outburst shaded the interview evaluation overall, but knowing how you handle stress or bad news is important in the crucible of dental education.