"Tell me about yourself" question

[babybop112]

About how long did you spend answering the question "Tell me about yourself" while interviewing for medical school (i.e. about 1 min, 7 min)? Did you all answer the question of "Why medicine?" in this particular question or did you wait until you were specifically asked the question of "why you want to be a doctor" by the interviewer?

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[doc05]

perhaps you should try thinking for yourself.

 

[renox9]

About how long did you spend answering the question "Tell me about yourself" while interviewing for medical school (i.e. about 1 min, 7 min)? Did you all answer the question of "Why medicine?" in this particular question or did you wait until you were specifically asked the question of "why you want to be a doctor" by the interviewer?

I was never actually asked the question "tell me about yourself." That's just so general, you could go any way with an answer. Perhaps that is what the interviewer wants, to see what you'll do with a question like that. What personal qualities come to mind first. Anyways, the questions I was asked were much more specific, so that by the end of the interview they knew all about me without ever having to ask such an open ended question.

 

[ears]

It's a silly question, and one of the marks of a poor interviewer. (That is, good interviewers know what they want to know, and they ask questions designed to elicit that information.) I think it's a question unprepared interviewers ask so they can collect their thoughts while you flail.

However, it's also a gift. Going into an interview season, you should know the three best things about yourself: things you've accomplished that you're proud of, or attributes that you're proud of (but you'd better be prepared to back these up with examples). When the interviewer says, "So, tell me about yourself," be ready with those three things: "Well, I've had a great experience at Liberal Arts College, I had a paper published earlier this year, and I'm a really hard worker." Or something like that. Then you can start to talk about each one a little more in depth. Eventually, they'll pull themselves together and make more of a conversation out of it.

But if you're ready, you can make that conversation about things that make you look good.

Good luck.

 

[lotanna]

About how long did you spend answering the question "Tell me about yourself" while interviewing for medical school (i.e. about 1 min, 7 min)? Did you all answer the question of "Why medicine?" in this particular question or did you wait until you were specifically asked the question of "why you want to be a doctor" by the interviewer?

Pls for "Tell me about urself" dont repeat the "my name is Jane Doe and I've wanted to be a doctor since I was born so I decided to be a bionuclear/chemistry major at Harvard..." They already know that, tell them about the real you, what do u do, ur interests outside of medicine. Say "my name is Jane Doe, and I grew up in ____, I love playing softball, and running..." That kind of stuff. If they arent interested in that, then I'd think u need to recheck their interest in u.

 

[omarsaleh66]

Do what lotanna said and wrap it up in 2 minutes. This question is for u to sell urself. However, have a 2 minute answer planned. More than this, the dude can get bored or he has other questions to ask, Less than this is ok, but i think a 2 minute summary that shows ur strengths, passions, beliefs and goals and what u can offer is a great idea. Practice just in case u get this question so u can shine in ur interview. U dont want to be unprepared and e stuttering and trying to think of what to say when asked this question.

Remember "2 minutes". Before med school, I was a business major in undergrad and did various jobs and this is what we were taught.

Peace

Omar

 

[docmemi]

i agree with the other posters here. first, BE YOURSELF AND BE HONEST. DONT MAKE ANYTHING UP TO SOUND GOOD. BE YOURSELF! second, just tell them about yourself as the question asks: where you are from, what school you went to, your family, your friends/significant other, what you like to do for fun (if its a sport or something like that, relate this to the location of the school, for ex talk about the mountains around the area if you like to bike or hike or ski, etc), what you are passionate about, your goals (once you become a doctor, have a family), special experiences (medical mission, publication, extensive volunteering, a specific passion about a certain community or topic---underserved pop, minorities, the environment, teaching etc.. and finally, set it up so that the interviewer has a lot of things to follow up with you on. so what you can do is make a list of 3-5 things you want to get across during the interview that day. then set up your answer so as to mention those briefly and so that it sounds its very important to you. the rest of the interview will prolly center around those 3-5 things.
GOOD LUCK. AND AGAIN, I REPEAT, BE YOURSELF!!! LET YOUR ANSWER FLOW NATURALLY. DONT MEMORIZE SOMETHING. BE YOURSELF.

also, i really like lotannas answer above.