"tell me about yourself"

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badasshairday

Vascular and Interventional Radiology
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"So tell me a little about yourself."

I hate that one!

My first interview is this wednesday and I feel that I will be able to handle most questions.

BUT

I just don't know where to start when they ask, "Tell me about yourself."

Any suggestions in how to start this and tackle it. I just need a start point.

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...."Well, I like taking bubble baths and long walks on the beach. I don't smoke. I don't drink. I like to read"...

ok sorry for joking this is really serious. i would probably start with why i was interested in medicine then talk about what i did in undergrad to prepare for med school (briefly), starting in freshman yr and up to senior yr. (mind you it would be very brief) then i would say a sentence or two about what I like to do outside of medicine.
 
pretend its a date...you would probably talk about your interests/goals :thumbup:
 
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I just planned to give them a quick mention of where I was born & raised and tell them the major events in the last 5 years of my life with more personal details than are found in AMCAS so it's familiar to them but not a simple recitation of my app. I include a short blurb about what I'm doing now too.

It didn't come up in my first interview, but I think it would've worked alright.
 
Relax...this question isn't as bad as you think.

I grew up there. My family was blah blah. I went to high school here and played on this here sports team or did this here club. I did my undergrad there, and then decided to take a few years off to do research, cure cancer, and save Africa (or whatever you do). I enjoy this and that in my free time....and so on.

Now just substitute the "here's there's blah's etc." with yourself and flesh it out. Or just say it like that and see what the interviewer does.;)
 
When asked this I usually try and highlight things that I would like for them to ask me more about that were either included or not included on my application. In my opinion this is the best question to be asked because you get to lead the direction of the interview. If you can tell them something that you enjoy doing or something interesting that you did and they take interest and want to know more about it then you will have a much better chance of the interview being a "conversational" one.
 
OP, I actually did a search on this before my first interview as well because I felt I really didn't know what to say either. But all my interviews so far have been closed file, and I've gotten asked this a few times. I truly don't think there is a wrong answer to this question, whether you start with your hometown and all that or if you start with college and your interest in medicine. If you get asked this in a closed file interview though, it's a great way to lead your interviewer into asking about the strengths of your application, so keep that in mind. Either way though, make sure you have a general idea of what you want to say before you get in there.
 
Against what everyone else posted, I suggest not telling them your life story in rhetoric or your alone-time hobbies. :rolleyes:

I don't think they care that you like to go fishing or what high school you went to. I suggest just telling them about how you've prepared yourself to become a physician, what college was like, your activities, and then toss in that you enjoy fishing and you like the location of their school because it's a popular fishing area.
 
i eat babies. they're good. why i wanna go into ob/gyn ...etc. don't stress. most interviews are really not as bad as you think they are. :)
 
Against what everyone else posted, I suggest not telling them your life story in rhetoric or your alone-time hobbies. :rolleyes:

I don't think they care that you like to go fishing or what high school you went to. I suggest just telling them about how you've prepared yourself to become a physician, what college was like, your activities, and then toss in that you enjoy fishing and you like the location of their school because it's a popular fishing area.

It's funny, I've had 6 one-on-one interviews so far (3 schools) and at least 3 of them had questions about my high school. I went to a pretty well known one though, so that's probably why...
 
Hmm....

1) Where you grew up.
2) Where you are going/went to college.
3) Why you picked your major
4) Hobbies/ECs you do in your free time
5) First interests in medicine.
6) ECs related to medical exposure
7) Convincing moment of want to go to med school (or when you realize you want to be a doctor for the rest of your life)
7) Why you want to go to their school.

Something like that I'd say. Try not to make it into a life story. I think this question is directed to give a broad survey of your activities where yoru interviewer will ask specific questions. As such, it should to be under.. 4 minutes or so. Your interviewer needs to remember what you said!

Or at least this is what I came up with right now. Give more info about recent stuff.
 
dont sound scripted though...that kills an interview IMHO
 
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Against what everyone else posted, I suggest not telling them your life story in rhetoric or your alone-time hobbies. :rolleyes:

I don't think they care that you like to go fishing or what high school you went to. I suggest just telling them about how you've prepared yourself to become a physician, what college was like, your activities, and then toss in that you enjoy fishing and you like the location of their school because it's a popular fishing area.
I wouldn't do this. The interviewer wants to get to know you as a person, not you as a medical school applicant. So tell them about yourself.

But don't worry about this question, I was worried about it before my first interview, and, sure enough, it was the first question out of his mouth. But it really is just an icebreaker and he'll quickly focus on whatever he wants to talk about. So just say something, anything, and it'll be fine.
 
haha, thanks for the suggestions guys. I think I was way overthinking that question.

Here's another question.

For those of you who have interviewed, or know about this, is it common that they ask you to choose 1 word or 3 words to describe yourself and explain why.
 
What happened in your childhood, what made you want to be a doctor. Just a brief history of your self.
 
haha, thanks for the suggestions guys. I think I was way overthinking that question.

Here's another question.

For those of you who have interviewed, or know about this, is it common that they ask you to choose 1 word or 3 words to describe yourself and explain why.


determined, passionate, and humble.
 
I wouldn't do this. The interviewer wants to get to know you as a person, not you as a medical school applicant. So tell them about yourself.


I was told the opposite by my college's pre-med advisor when I was applying. Her opinion was that what's really meant by "tell me about yourself" is actually "tell me what you're doing sitting in front of me right now." I.e., the interviewer wants to know, briefly, why you're applying to medical school and why you're applying there. My answer to this question was along the lines of "I'm a senior at XYZ university, where I'm a chemistry major and where one of my ECs is working as an EMT on campus. Working as an EMT helped me realize that I wanted to go into medicine. Knowing that, I decided to apply to ABC med school because of ___ program that you offer and because of its reputation." If the interviewer wants to know about hobbies and such, they'll ask (and they usually do, at least in my experience). If I was the interviewer, I don't think that the first thing I'd want to know about someone is their favorite color or that they like to ice skate- I'd rather have a background to add it to. And as an applicant, I'd think that, given the idea that first impressions last, I'd rather have someone remember me as the person who was grounded and confident in their decision to be a doctor, rather than the person who went to Cancun for spring break last year or owns two dogs.
 
I was told the opposite by my college's pre-med advisor when I was applying. Her opinion was that what's really meant by "tell me about yourself" is actually "tell me what you're doing sitting in front of me right now." I.e., the interviewer wants to know, briefly, why you're applying to medical school and why you're applying there. My answer to this question was along the lines of "I'm a senior at XYZ university, where I'm a chemistry major and where one of my ECs is working as an EMT on campus. Working as an EMT helped me realize that I wanted to go into medicine. Knowing that, I decided to apply to ABC med school because of ___ program that you offer and because of its reputation." If the interviewer wants to know about hobbies and such, they'll ask (and they usually do, at least in my experience). If I was the interviewer, I don't think that the first thing I'd want to know about someone is their favorite color or that they like to ice skate- I'd rather have a background to add it to. And as an applicant, I'd think that, given the idea that first impressions last, I'd rather have someone remember me as the person who was grounded and confident in their decision to be a doctor, rather than the person who went to Cancun for spring break last year or owns two dogs.

I agree. It's like taking the job interview approach, but you can also add what your hobbies are if you're so inclined. I guess any approach is fine as long as it stirs some conversation.
 
Describe yourself in three words? What an AWFUL question. Do they follow it up with a Rorschach test?
 
When asked this I usually try and highlight things that I would like for them to ask me more about that were either included or not included on my application. In my opinion this is the best question to be asked because you get to lead the direction of the interview. If you can tell them something that you enjoy doing or something interesting that you did and they take interest and want to know more about it then you will have a much better chance of the interview being a "conversational" one.


I read that book too. You should quote the author if you are going to use his advice.;)
 
Hmm....

1) Where you grew up.
2) Where you are going/went to college.
3) Why you picked your major
4) Hobbies/ECs you do in your free time
5) First interests in medicine.
6) ECs related to medical exposure
7) Convincing moment of want to go to med school (or when you realize you want to be a doctor for the rest of your life)
7) Why you want to go to their school.

Something like that I'd say. Try not to make it into a life story. I think this question is directed to give a broad survey of your activities where yoru interviewer will ask specific questions. As such, it should to be under.. 4 minutes or so. Your interviewer needs to remember what you said!

Or at least this is what I came up with right now. Give more info about recent stuff.

If you did research in college and loved it, what would you say about it in this part of the interview? I'm going to have my name on a publication or two by the time I'm interviewed, and I'm really interested in the stuff we did, so I don't want to just briefly mention it and go on to some other thing because I'm worried the interviewer might get the impression that I don't know or care as much about it as I do.

EDIT: btw, the idea of being a researcher is what first got me interested in going to med school. MDs have more authority and a wider range of abilities than any other degree when it comes to clinical research. Now I'm mainly just interested in being a doctor, but I still had fun doing research and if I ever have an idea in the future, I'll probably take it up again temporarily.
 
Don't be so professional sounding with that question. They say, "Tell me about YOURSELF"...tell them about yourself, not recite your resume. Tell them what you like to do on weekends and what's important to you.

I'd rather have someone remember me as the person who was grounded and confident in their decision to be a doctor, rather than the person who went to Cancun for spring break last year or owns two dogs.
No no no, don't tell them about your last vacation or pets. That's not personal at all. Just tell them about yourself. Don't answer the wrong question....they'll ask you why you want to be a doctor later in the interview.
 
Hmm....

1) Where you grew up.
2) Where you are going/went to college.
3) Why you picked your major
4) Hobbies/ECs you do in your free time
5) First interests in medicine.
6) ECs related to medical exposure
7) Convincing moment of want to go to med school (or when you realize you want to be a doctor for the rest of your life)
7) Why you want to go to their school.

Something like that I'd say. Try not to make it into a life story. I think this question is directed to give a broad survey of your activities where yoru interviewer will ask specific questions. As such, it should to be under.. 4 minutes or so. Your interviewer needs to remember what you said!

Or at least this is what I came up with right now. Give more info about recent stuff.

This is similar to what it says in the book "The Medical School Interview: Secret and a System for Success". Essentially it gives your interview something to discuss for the rest of the interview. This is basically what I said.
 
If you did research in college and loved it, what would you say about it in this part of the interview? I'm going to have my name on a publication or two by the time I'm interviewed, and I'm really interested in the stuff we did, so I don't want to just briefly mention it and go on to some other thing because I'm worried the interviewer might get the impression that I don't know or care as much about it as I do.

EDIT: btw, the idea of being a researcher is what first got me interested in going to med school. MDs have more authority and a wider range of abilities than any other degree when it comes to clinical research. Now I'm mainly just interested in being a doctor, but I still had fun doing research and if I ever have an idea in the future, I'll probably take it up again temporarily.

Oy, I just said that as like a rough template to give some kind of structure. I just wanted to avoid ranting and end the answer by relating back to the school somehow.

Feel free to change whatever you want. Just don't go ranting for 10 minutes!
 
I was rarely asked this. Maybe they detected my blatant narcissism and knew that I would just LOVE to answer that question.
 
I was told the opposite by my college's pre-med advisor when I was applying. Her opinion was that what's really meant by "tell me about yourself" is actually "tell me what you're doing sitting in front of me right now." I.e., the interviewer wants to know, briefly, why you're applying to medical school and why you're applying there. My answer to this question was along the lines of "I'm a senior at XYZ university, where I'm a chemistry major and where one of my ECs is working as an EMT on campus. Working as an EMT helped me realize that I wanted to go into medicine. Knowing that, I decided to apply to ABC med school because of ___ program that you offer and because of its reputation." If the interviewer wants to know about hobbies and such, they'll ask (and they usually do, at least in my experience). If I was the interviewer, I don't think that the first thing I'd want to know about someone is their favorite color or that they like to ice skate- I'd rather have a background to add it to. And as an applicant, I'd think that, given the idea that first impressions last, I'd rather have someone remember me as the person who was grounded and confident in their decision to be a doctor, rather than the person who went to Cancun for spring break last year or owns two dogs.
I didn't say list off your hobbies, but then again I don't take my identity from my hobbies, nor do I see myself as simply a medical school applicant. In my interviews so far, the interviewers have struck me as pretty grounded people who live in the real world, as opposed to pre-med advisors (eck!)
 
I usually start with what I'm currently doing (working at UVa, the research I'm working on, etc.) and then work backwards tying things into what led me to want to become a doctor.

Like someone else said, I think of it almost as a "first date" question. When you first meet someone, they don't really want to know about where you were born, etc., they want to know what makes you tick, what your passions are and why you have them.
 
Oy, I just said that as like a rough template to give some kind of structure. I just wanted to avoid ranting and end the answer by relating back to the school somehow.

Feel free to change whatever you want. Just don't go ranting for 10 minutes!


lol, yeah, that's what I thought; your post just made me realize that I didn't know how much to go into my research if an interviewer asked me to tell them about myself. I'll probably just play it by ear when it happens.
 
I usually start with what I'm currently doing (working at UVa, the research I'm working on, etc.) and then work backwards tying things into what led me to want to become a doctor.

Like someone else said, I think of it almost as a "first date" question. When you first meet someone, they don't really want to know about where you were born, etc., they want to know what makes you tick, what your passions are and why you have them.

My first dates have always been horrible. Very horrible. =/
 
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