The value of "vibes and feelings" on interview day

[southpaw3]

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Hi all!
I'm debating between two schools, and a factor that I'm considering is how I felt on each interview day. One of the schools gave me a very warm, fuzzy vibe where I could really visualize myself at the school being happy and thriving, whereas the other school gave me a more cold, distant vibe and I thought I might not be as happy there. How much weight should I give these feelings? I recognize that some schools work hard to make the interview day really special, whereas other schools know that students will want to attend their school so they don't go out of their way to make the day special. In recognizing that, I'm hesitant to trust my feelings from those interview days. Thoughts?

 

[hhap1234]

Impressions from interview vs. how the school actually is

I made this thread a few months ago about a similar topic. I interviewed at a school that I really thought I'd like, but I left interview day with pretty negative vibes. My interviewers seemed distant and disinterested, admissions staff didn't seem particularly excited about us being there, and most of the current students I met, to put it bluntly, kind of annoyed me and I couldn't see myself being close friends with people like them. On the other hand, at a similarly ranked school, I got great vibes and felt like I could end up being friends with people I met on interview day.

I think that going to second look weekends if you're admitted would give you the best impression. Some schools don't try particularly hard to impress on interview day while others pull out all the stops. In comparison, I'd say that pretty much every med school tries to impress applicants when it comes to second looks.

If going to second look isnt an option (I'm not planning to go to any), I'd trust your feelings on interview day. I'm still waiting to hear back about the school I didn't like, but even if I got in, I'm pretty certain I wouldn't choose it over the acceptance I already have. If you go against your gut feeling, there's a chance that confirmation bias will kick in and you'll end up looking for things that you don't like about the school you end up at.

 

[southpaw3]

Impressions from interview vs. how the school actually is

I made this thread a few months ago about a similar topic. I interviewed at a school that I really thought I'd like, but I left interview day with pretty negative vibes. My interviewers seemed distant and disinterested, admissions staff didn't seem particularly excited about us being there, and most of the current students I met, to put it bluntly, kind of annoyed me and I couldn't see myself being close friends with people like them. On the other hand, at a similarly ranked school, I got great vibes and felt like I could end up being friends with people I met on interview day.

I think that going to second look weekends if you're admitted would give you the best impression. Some schools don't try particularly hard to impress on interview day while others pull out all the stops. In comparison, I'd say that pretty much every med school tries to impress applicants when it comes to second looks.

If going to second look isnt an option (I'm not planning to go to any), I'd trust your feelings on interview day. I'm still waiting to hear back about the school I didn't like, but even if I got in, I'm pretty certain I wouldn't choose it over the acceptance I already have. If you go against your gut feeling, there's a chance that confirmation bias will kick in and you'll end up looking for things that you don't like about the school you end up at.

Thanks so much for your response on here and for sharing your prior post concerning this topic. Both were very helpful! I agree that a second look weekend would be immensely helpful, but I don't think the school I'm concerned about does second look weekends :/ I've emailed current students and they all say they love their school, but I'm concerned about why I didn't witness that at my interview day. Thanks for the insight! 🙂

 

[efle]

Interview day - 0% credibility
Second look - 50% credibility

The only thing really reliable would be talking to a good friend who is a current student that will give you the straight truth

 

[southpaw3]

Interview day - 0% credibility
Second look - 50% credibility

The only thing really reliable would be talking to a good friend who is a current student that will give you the straight truth

Thank you! I have multiple friends who had mostly positive things to say about the school, so if your logic holds true, then my interview experience was a fluke. Thanks!

 

[M&L]

Thank you! I have multiple friends who had mostly positive things to say about the school, so if your logic holds true, then my interview experience was a fluke. Thanks!

I had similar situation - very negative vibe from a school . I hated everything - school , ppl , the city ... I am planning to go to Second look to see if this was just a bad day , or if I really feel this way . That being said - trust your intuition . My intuition says “don’t go there”.

 

[southpaw3]

I had similar situation - very negative vibe from a school . I hated everything - school , ppl , the city ... I am planning to go to Second look to see if this was just a bad day , or if I really feel this way . That being said - trust your intuition . My intuition says “don’t go there”.

Thanks! Let me know how your second look goes!

 

[lalalallala]

I think that vibes matter but only if they're based on substantial info.

For example -

If you feel like your interview day was kind of rushed or you didn't really like the admissions secretary that yall spent a lot of the day with - then I don't think those are huge problems - you have no idea what issues they were dealing with behind the scenes that day. I think going from 'the admissions office that day wasn't very warm and fuzzy' to 'the school doesn't care about their students' is too far of a jump (not saying you said that - just saying that is where some ppl go with that train of thought).

If you met 20 students at a school and didn't felt like you vibed with them at all then that is a legit cause for concern. If you hear bad things about the school or that classmates seem unhappy from people then that is a cause for concern if those are people whose opinions you trust.

If you have friends at a school and they say x, y, or z about the school and they know you well then that is likely important info. Like if they say that your personality wouldn't fit then that would be cause for concern.

In summary: I think fit matters (curriculum, students, city - having your personality line up with all those). I think going to a school where people are excited to help the medical students matters. But I don't think that those things should be judged from how much of an effort the admissions office seems to make. They should be judged from facts about the school and what you hear/see from informed students/faculty

 

[lalalallala]

I would also argue that you maybe shouldn't give too much weight to how much they tried to impress you. I would rather see the good, bad, and the ugly about a school to get an honest impression of how I would do there as opposed to have someone try to convince me everything is perfect.

One poster above mentioned second looks as being more credible. Many other people I have spoken to actually disagree. They aren't saying you shouldn't go - they are just saying that looking at a school when they are pulling out all the stops to impress you can be misleading - they won't be pulling out all the stops all the time during your 4 years there so to some second looks are less than genuine showings of the school

 

[ginsengreset]

I would also argue that you maybe shouldn't give too much weight to how much they tried to impress you. I would rather see the good, bad, and the ugly about a school to get an honest impression of how I would do there as opposed to have someone try to convince me everything is perfect.

One poster above mentioned second looks as being more credible. Many other people I have spoken to actually disagree. They aren't saying you shouldn't go - they are just saying that looking at a school when they are pulling out all the stops to impress you can be misleading - they won't be pulling out all the stops all the time during your 4 years there so to some second looks are less than genuine showings of the school

Yeah, and offhand comments by students (e.g. "Wow this food is 100x better than what we usually get") can clue you in on how your interview/second look experience stacks up to the students' everyday experience.

 

[DokterMom]

Is the 'didn't get a good vibe' school close enough to you that you could just go there some random day and take another look around? Maybe hang out in some of the nearby coffee shops or casual restaurants? Is there an accepted students Facebook page?

If more objective measures favor the 'didn't get a good vibe' school, then it's probably worth giving them a second chance.

But if objective measures tilt the other way or are neutral, and taking a second look isn't easy, why not just trust your gut? Med school is hard enough on your mental heath without having a "should have trusted my gut" hanging over your head...

 

[southpaw3]

I think that vibes matter but only if they're based on substantial info.

For example -

If you feel like your interview day was kind of rushed or you didn't really like the admissions secretary that yall spent a lot of the day with - then I don't think those are huge problems - you have no idea what issues they were dealing with behind the scenes that day. I think going from 'the admissions office that day wasn't very warm and fuzzy' to 'the school doesn't care about their students' is too far of a jump (not saying you said that - just saying that is where some ppl go with that train of thought).

If you met 20 students at a school and didn't felt like you vibed with them at all then that is a legit cause for concern. If you hear bad things about the school or that classmates seem unhappy from people then that is a cause for concern if those are people whose opinions you trust.

If you have friends at a school and they say x, y, or z about the school and they know you well then that is likely important info. Like if they say that your personality wouldn't fit then that would be cause for concern.

In summary: I think fit matters (curriculum, students, city - having your personality line up with all those). I think going to a school where people are excited to help the medical students matters. But I don't think that those things should be judged from how much of an effort the admissions office seems to make. They should be judged from facts about the school and what you hear/see from informed students/faculty

This is a really great point! Unfortunately, I barely got to interact with current students at the school with the cold/distant feel, so I had a pretty small sample size (like 5 people) that I interacted with and didn't get very good vibes from. The other interviewees were really nice and I enjoyed them, so not sure if that matters, but that was the case. My tour guide was super bitter about the school, but I did witness two other tour guides having a great time giving the tour and they seemed genuinely happy and upbeat about the school. That's why I feel I might have just been exposed to a sample size that was having a rough go of it.

I do trust the current students that I contacted after the interview day, and most of them had really good things to say about the program and their classmates, so I have given that a lot of consideration.

 

[southpaw3]

Is the 'didn't get a good vibe' school close enough to you that you could just go there some random day and take another look around? Maybe hang out in some of the nearby coffee shops or casual restaurants? Is there an accepted students Facebook page?

If more objective measures favor the 'didn't get a good vibe' school, then it's probably worth giving them a second chance.

But if objective measures tilt the other way or are neutral, and taking a second look isn't easy, why not just trust your gut? Med school is hard enough on your mental heath without having a "should have trusted my gut" hanging over your head...

Unfortunately the "didn't get a good vibe" school is across the country from where I currently live. There is an accepted students FB page, and I've been writing with current students that are mods in that group. The students are really friendly and they've all been receptive to my questions. They have the typical frustrations about the program that I've heard from other students at different schools, so I'm not too concerned about that. The objective measures certainly weigh in favor of the "didn't get a good vibe" school, so I'm really giving that school a long, hard look.

 

[TeddyBears]

Vibes definitely matter. Had two interview experiences as an undergrad and I was so thankful that I chose the institution I did. Had a couple of friends at the one I rejected and the differences in our experiences were just as I had thought they might be - so glad that I went with my intuition on that one!

 

[siliso]

100% important, unless there’s a huge confounding factor like the place where you felt less warm and fuzzy will be free and the other full price. Assuming both USMD.

 

[DokterMom]

Unfortunately the "didn't get a good vibe" school is across the country from where I currently live. There is an accepted students FB page, and I've been writing with current students that are mods in that group. The students are really friendly and they've all been receptive to my questions. They have the typical frustrations about the program that I've heard from other students at different schools, so I'm not too concerned about that. The objective measures certainly weigh in favor of the "didn't get a good vibe" school, so I'm really giving that school a long, hard look.

Your signature lists 1 acceptance and 2 waitlists. Is that out of date or are you worrying prematurely? If you've only got the one acceptance, then you love that school. Repeat as necessary...

Definitely go to second look weekend, even though it's far away and hence, expensive. The wrong decision would be infinitely more expensive.

On a different channel, if you do have two acceptances but 'distant' school is the more prestigious, why not email the 'warm & fuzzy' school to ask about scholarships? Tell them that you've been accepted to 'distant' school but got such a warm feeling from their school that you're hoping they can make your decision easier. Might just work...

 

[siliso]

If you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with. Wholeheartedly.

 

[M&L]

If you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with. Wholeheartedly.

Hahaha . Perfect

 

[southpaw3]

Your signature lists 1 acceptance and 2 waitlists. Is that out of date or are you worrying prematurely? If you've only got the one acceptance, then you love that school. Repeat as necessary...

Definitely go to second look weekend, even though it's far away and hence, expensive. The wrong decision would be infinitely more expensive.

On a different channel, if you do have two acceptances but 'distant' school is the more prestigious, why not email the 'warm & fuzzy' school to ask about scholarships? Tell them that you've been accepted to 'distant' school but got such a warm feeling from their school that you're hoping they can make your decision easier. Might just work...

Haha, yes, I've been worrying prematurely since I wanted to figure out what my decision would be in the event that I'm offered an acceptance to the other school, and thanks to all the awesome advice from SDNers (and a lot of prayer and consideration), I have decided that my current acceptance IS the school for me and I'm super excited to attend there in the fall!

 

[AsianPersuasion]

The biggest thing is asking yourself if the school you're choosing meet all your goals and needs. And if it doesn't, what are you willing and how far are you willing to sacrifice. And if it's your only acceptance, you shut your mouth, lay low and work hard.

 

[Lawpy]

If you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with. Wholeheartedly.

Good advice, and I @wholeheartedly agree