The worst interview experience ever!

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benyamin

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Hi guys!
I had the worst interview experience yesterday and because I am so angry right now, plz excuse me for not having anything nice to say.
So early in November, I got a confirmation email form this specific school saying that my application is now complete and ready for committee review. Two weeks later, I got an email followed by a call to schedule an interview. One week to the inteview day, I called the school and checked if everything is fine. The lady in office of admissions told me everything is fine and confirmed the date and the time of the interview. One day to the interview I flew to the nearest city,rented a car and got a room in a non-fancy (still expensive for me) Inn. On the day of interview, I arrived there about 45 minutes earlier and waited. The interviewer came 80 minutes later. As every interview goes, we talked about many things, personal life, social life, politics, .... everything! The interviewer was boring and never smiled. After 90 minutes of constant talking, the interviewer pulled out my file and told me, "Now help me fill this form for you". And it was a pre-requisite course form. "Ok, how many general biologys did u take?". I was shocked! I couldn't believe it! They had my file for the past 6 months and they didn't even look at it? ... We filled the form. Finally I was told that I don't fullfill their minimun requirements because a couple of my courses were taken outside the US! The interviewer yawned and continued, "I am sorry. Your DAT score is higher than what we usually get here, so we keep your file open until you take these classes". On the way to parking lot, I was thinking to myself, did I really need to fly here, spend about $300 and talk about my personal life with a stranger to be told something that could have been easily told through a mail or an email? I wasn't upset about their policy. Some schools do accept foreign course work, some schools don't. But the way this school treated me was so unprofessional! I undertand that the number of applicants is very high these days and their seats are like hot cakes, but this doesn't give them the right to humiliate students who have come a long way to get to this point.
 
I'm really sorry that happened to you. Sounds like a place that you wouldn't want to be anyway if they are that unorganized and unprepared. You spent all that money on applying to the school, secondary fees, and cost of travel for NOTHING...not even a shot. What a joke! You should contact the school and request at least your secondary application fee back!
 
Yeah, that's a frustrating oversight - I'm sorry that happened to you. Hopefully you can get some kind of compensation for your unfortunate situation.
 
That does suck...and i sympathize with you on the money thing...i just spent 8k on my last set of applications. I will say tho that you should have called and asked specifically since you knew not every school accepts foreign classes.

The fact that the interviewer didnt review anything isnt surprising...these schools get hundreds of apps...the interviewers have real jobs and cannot be expected to read all that junk.

Lesson learned by you hopefully, take the initiative yourself and make sure youre qualified for each school. Crappy experience but use it to be a better applicant.

BoL
 
I did call them a week a head and checked every thing with them! Also I did recieve an email which was the completion confirmation of all my documents! Fortunately, I have been invited for interviews and I recieved a couple of offers within these past months, but never faced such an inconvenience! After all, it's a grad-school! All that the schools need to show applicants within those 2-3 hours, is to show a little respect! I don't agree that having a job can explain being disorganized and disrespectful at this level.
 
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So sorry about your experience, OP. They should have been able to tell you whether or not you had a shot before going there instead of having you go all that way just to get turned away by some technicality with pre-requisites.

There's other schools out there and I wish you the best of luck.
 
2012IHOPE said:
I'm really sorry that happened to you. Sounds like a place that you wouldn't want to be anyway if they are that unorganized and unprepared. You spent all that money on applying to the school, secondary fees, and cost of travel for NOTHING...not even a shot. What a joke! You should contact the school and request at least your secondary application fee back!
Click to expand...

Exactly
 
Conflagration said:
So sorry about your experience, OP. They should have been able to tell you whether or not you had a shot before going there instead of having you go all that way just to get turned away by some technicality with pre-requisites.

There's other schools out there and I wish you the best of luck.
Click to expand...

Thank you.
 
Berkguy said:
Yeah, that's a frustrating oversight - I'm sorry that happened to you. Hopefully you can get some kind of compensation for your unfortunate situation.
Click to expand...

Thank you. Good thing is, now I am even more positive about the school that I chose.
 
benyamin said:
Hi guys!
I had the worst interview experience yesterday and because I am so angry right now, plz excuse me for not having anything nice to say.
So early in November, I got a confirmation email form this specific school saying that my application is now complete and ready for committee review. Two weeks later, I got an email followed by a call to schedule an interview. One week to the inteview day, I called the school and checked if everything is fine. The lady in office of admissions told me everything is fine and confirmed the date and the time of the interview. One day to the interview I flew to the nearest city,rented a car and got a room in a non-fancy (still expensive for me) Inn. On the day of interview, I arrived there about 45 minutes earlier and waited. The interviewer came 80 minutes later. As every interview goes, we talked about many things, personal life, social life, politics, .... everything! The interviewer was boring and never smiled. After 90 minutes of constant talking, the interviewer pulled out my file and told me, "Now help me fill this form for you". And it was a pre-requisite course form. "Ok, how many general biologys did u take?". I was shocked! I couldn't believe it! They had my file for the past 6 months and they didn't even look at it? ... We filled the form. Finally I was told that I don't fullfill their minimun requirements because a couple of my courses were taken outside the US! The interviewer yawned and continued, "I am sorry. Your DAT score is higher than what we usually get here, so we keep your file open until you take these classes". On the way to parking lot, I was thinking to myself, did I really need to fly here, spend about $300 and talk about my personal life with a stranger to be told something that could have been easily told through a mail or an email? I wasn't upset about their policy. Some schools do accept foreign course work, some schools don't. But the way this school treated me was so unprofessional! I undertand that the number of applicants is very high these days and their seats are like hot cakes, but this doesn't give them the right to humiliate students who have come a long way to get to this point.
Click to expand...

I am really curious, also. What school is this?
 
Actually, it wouldn't be too bad of an idea to publicly post the name of the school. SDN has a big impact on school reputations. Hence the constant USC bashing and the constant 'should I go to USC' posts. I wouldn't think too highly of a school that treated their applicants that way. Obviously you don't have to if you're not comfortable with it.
 
The reason I am not sure about revealing the name of the school is that I want everybody to know I have nothing against this school and I respect their policy. But if the school name can prevent this mess to happen to anybody in the future, I will post it.
 
benyamin said:
The reason I am not sure about revealing the name of the school is that I want everybody to know I have nothing against this school and I respect their policy. But if the school name can prevent this mess to happen to anybody in the future, I will post it.
Click to expand...

please do, I have a couple optional interviews coming up that I'm debating whether or to go or not, could save me some money.
 
Is it possible that the interviewer was looking for an excuse to overlook not having had all of your pre requisites done at a US university, but after 90 minutes he found none?
 
@doctoothache: That's still very irresponsible of them. If the OP had to spend hundreds of dollars to attend an interview, he or she should at least have been forewarned that it's a conditional interview with a possible need for him/her to re-take some pre-req courses. Then it would've been the OP's decision to waste money on an interview where the interviewer's evaluating whether to excuse their foreign courses.
 
The more I think about it, the more I think you should call up the school, describe what happened, and ask for an explanation. Maybe your interviewer was confused and misinformed about the prereqs and the DAT score. Maybe that was the policy in the 90s and times have changed. Since your interviewer was bored during an interview, I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't know new policies as well.
 
You should demand reimbursement for your traveling expenses. If not, then sue the bastards lol for unnecessary interview expenses due to negligence on their part.
 
doc toothache said:
Is it possible that the interviewer was looking for an excuse to overlook not having had all of your pre requisites done at a US university, but after 90 minutes he found none?
Click to expand...

Then why did they ask to interview me at the first place if they were looking for an excuse to reject me! I don't know... I still cannot find a good reason for the way they treated me to calm myself down!
 
AwesomeTeeth said:
The more I think about it, the more I think you should call up the school, describe what happened, and ask for an explanation. Maybe your interviewer was confused and misinformed about the prereqs and the DAT score. Maybe that was the policy in the 90s and times have changed. Since your interviewer was bored during an interview, I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't know new policies as well.
Click to expand...

My interviewer was the Associate Dean of the Admissions! How could he not be informed about pre-requisites?!
I don't know maybe the whole thing was a scene!... very disappointing!
 
Please tell which school, I am very curious to see which school has such little respect for their intervuewees time and money(the little that most of us have to work with). Yes, you should have checked if they would accept the credits, but in the end it is ultimately the institutions responsibility to make sure the student would even qualify for admissions...just a rant...
 
nevers said:
@doctoothache: That's still very irresponsible of them. If the OP had to spend hundreds of dollars to attend an interview, he or she should at least have been forewarned that it's a conditional interview with a possible need for him/her to re-take some pre-req courses. Then it would've been the OP's decision to waste money on an interview where the interviewer's evaluating whether to excuse their foreign courses.
Click to expand...

Interviews are not conditional; acceptances are.
benyamin said:
Then why did they ask to interview me at the first place if they were looking for an excuse to reject me! I don't know... I still cannot find a good reason for the way they treated me to calm myself down!
Click to expand...

Your bp is so high it is clouding your reading comprehension. You should re read the post. The person in question was looking for a reason to accept you in spite of the shortcoming, but in the span of 90 minutes you managed to convince him otherwise.

bhagan01 said:
Please tell which school, I am very curious to see which school has such little respect for their intervuewees time and money(the little that most of us have to work with). Yes, you should have checked if they would accept the credits, but in the end it is ultimately the institutions responsibility to make sure the student would even qualify for admissions...just a rant...
Click to expand...
And this particular case, it appears that they did their homework.

Silencio said:
You should demand reimbursement for your traveling expenses. If not, then sue the bastards lol for unnecessary interview expenses due to negligence on their part.
Click to expand...
When things don't work out as planned, send an attorney to look for a sympathetic judge.

benyamin said:
My interviewer was the Associate Dean of the Admissions! How could he not be informed about pre-requisites?!
I don't know maybe the whole thing was a scene!... very disappointing!
Click to expand...

Had the outcome been different, the 80 minutes off waiting, the lack of smiles, the boredom, the yawning would not have mattered in the least.
 
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Seriously. What school is this? We're all dying to know! Some admission officers read through this website, and if you announce the name of the school it might cross their radar, and who knows, something good might come out of this shameful situation on their part.
 
I think it would help everyone if you stated the name of the school. You could save people a lot of time and money and it won't do any harm to you.
 
doc toothache said:
Your bp is so high it is clouding your reading comprehension. You should re read the post. The person in question was looking for a reason to accept you in spite of the shortcoming, but in the span of 90 minutes you managed to convince him otherwise.
Click to expand...

Yes, you are right. That's why I don't want to send an e-mail to the Dean yet!
 
I am very shocked at all the responses. while i do sympathize with your situation, I cant help but feel the "blame" is being misdirected.

The school happens to have a requirement, and it is a requirement you did not meet. To put the blame on them entirely doesnt seem too appropriate. If there is any doubt in your application in any respect, as to whether something is adequate then by all means ask questions and find out.

I feel when putting your money on the line for anything, you should know what you're getting into (especially someone who doesnt have money, myself included!). This is all a huge investment, and to not do research before entering the market is a mistake, and sometimes all the research can be possessed and the market still throws a downswing at your portfolio.'

Once again, don't get me wrong.. I am sorry that you were unfortunate enough to have it happen to you, and like someone else said, at least you earned the chance to be interviewed and considered. And who knows, you may have been or even still now be able to persuade/ influence that decision. I was inadequate on my writing requirement to one school apparently, and had my university adviser write a letter on my behalf. the writing requirement was then fulfilled.
 
crax said:
I am very shocked at all the responses. while i do sympathize with your situation, I cant help but feel the "blame" is being misdirected.

The school happens to have a requirement, and it is a requirement you did not meet. To put the blame on them entirely doesnt seem too appropriate. If there is any doubt in your application in any respect, as to whether something is adequate then by all means ask questions and find out.

I feel when putting your money on the line for anything, you should know what you're getting into (especially someone who doesnt have money, myself included!). This is all a huge investment, and to not do research before entering the market is a mistake, and sometimes all the research can be possessed and the market still throws a downswing at your portfolio.'

Once again, don't get me wrong.. I am sorry that you were unfortunate enough to have it happen to you, and like someone else said, at least you earned the chance to be interviewed and considered. And who knows, you may have been or even still now be able to persuade/ influence that decision. I was inadequate on my writing requirement to one school apparently, and had my university adviser write a letter on my behalf. the writing requirement was then fulfilled.
Click to expand...

I had read their website and it was clearly written there that all pre-requisites should be taken in US in order for the application to be considered by office of admissions*! That is exactly why I called them one week prior to the interview to check everything was fine! Besides, I had recieved an email from them which had everything check-marked including transcripts and pre-requisite sheets! I agree the blame is on me for taking their word for it on the phone!
In general, when inviting for an interview, the assumption is that 90% of the work is done and paper work is over! interview day is when they decide you are eligible (!) to be seen and heard. I don't think anybody has ever got an interview to HELP the dean of admissions fill the paper work!

*I wasn't aware of it when I applied!
 
Seems like quite a few people want to know the name of the school...
 
crax said:
I am very shocked at all the responses. while i do sympathize with your situation, I cant help but feel the "blame" is being misdirected.

The school happens to have a requirement, and it is a requirement you did not meet. To put the blame on them entirely doesnt seem too appropriate. If there is any doubt in your application in any respect, as to whether something is adequate then by all means ask questions and find out.

I feel when putting your money on the line for anything, you should know what you're getting into (especially someone who doesnt have money, myself included!). This is all a huge investment, and to not do research before entering the market is a mistake, and sometimes all the research can be possessed and the market still throws a downswing at your portfolio.'

Once again, don't get me wrong.. I am sorry that you were unfortunate enough to have it happen to you, and like someone else said, at least you earned the chance to be interviewed and considered. And who knows, you may have been or even still now be able to persuade/ influence that decision. I was inadequate on my writing requirement to one school apparently, and had my university adviser write a letter on my behalf. the writing requirement was then fulfilled.
Click to expand...

I completely agree with this post. It is ultimately up to you to make sure everything is completed. When you the admin office and ask the receptionist if everything is "ok", that person will simply look at the checklist in her file. They deal with hundreds of calls each day and can't be overly thorough.
Furthermore, there are plenty of other people who go to interviews and are told "we are putting you on hold until you finish your requirements", which is essentially what happened to you. Not to mention plenty of people fly all the way across the country, have all the requirements met and still don't get accepted. It is up to the school to decide who they accept or not. I think you're placing too much blame on them. Frankly, you should have finished your US requirements before applying to schools that had them. Being a dental student and a dentist means you have to start taking responsbility for your own actions. Not everything in this world happens the way you want it. Learning how to deal with it is what will make you sink or swim.
Lastly, not everything is entirely apparent on the AADSAS application. I didn't realize it until my 3rd interview, but it really wasn't very evident on my application that I studied abroad. No where on it did it really say, other than in the column that listed where the class was taken. It was just a small detail and I"m sure when they go thru hundreds of apps a day it can get overlooked.
 
NOLAdentist2016 said:
I completely agree with this post. It is ultimately up to you to make sure everything is completed. When you the admin office and ask the receptionist if everything is "ok", that person will simply look at the checklist in her file. They deal with hundreds of calls each day and can't be overly thorough.
Furthermore, there are plenty of other people who go to interviews and are told "we are putting you on hold until you finish your requirements", which is essentially what happened to you. Not to mention plenty of people fly all the way across the country, have all the requirements met and still don't get accepted. It is up to the school to decide who they accept or not. I think you're placing too much blame on them. Frankly, you should have finished your US requirements before applying to schools that had them. Being a dental student and a dentist means you have to start taking responsbility for your own actions. Not everything in this world happens the way you want it. Learning how to deal with it is what will make you sink or swim.
Lastly, not everything is entirely apparent on the AADSAS application. I didn't realize it until my 3rd interview, but it really wasn't very evident on my application that I studied abroad. No where on it did it really say, other than in the column that listed where the class was taken. It was just a small detail and I"m sure when they go thru hundreds of apps a day it can get overlooked.
Click to expand...

...! I don't know what else to say! It was not my intension to blame them because of their policy! And that was why I didn't mention anything about the school! The blame is on the way they treated me! very unprofessionally! 👎
I took the responsibility! It was better if they also would accept theirs and sent me an email saying that I didn't meet their minimum requirements. Easier nah?
 
Seriously though, the school is to blame for the bombshell they dropped on him.

They confirmed all his documents were in order.
They requested the interview.
He called to confirm that his documents were in order.
If they knew he would have to retake pre reqs and they also knew he didn't intend to retake them per the AADSAS application they should have let him know beforehand.
It was irresponsible on their part, end of story.
 
SoulPower said:
Seriously though, the school is to blame for the bombshell they dropped on him.

They confirmed all his documents were in order.
They requested the interview.
He called to confirm that his documents were in order.
If they knew he would have to retake pre reqs and they also knew he didn't intend to retake them per the AADSAS application they should have let him know beforehand.
It was irresponsible on their part, end of story.
Click to expand...

Like! 👍
 
SoulPower said:
Seriously though, the school is to blame for the bombshell they dropped on him.

They confirmed all his documents were in order.
They requested the interview.
He called to confirm that his documents were in order.
If they knew he would have to retake pre reqs and they also knew he didn't intend to retake them per the AADSAS application they should have let him know beforehand.
It was irresponsible on their part, end of story.
Click to expand...

THIS.

You've put it so much more eloquently than I could have.

They should've known from his/her AADSAS that he/she had no intention of re-taking those pre-reqs.
 
Can you please just tell us the name of the school? Especially for those who have taken courses outside of the U.S., this information would be really helpful in saving time and money. You would be helping out a lot more people than you think. thanks
 
benyamin said:
I had read their website and it was clearly written there that all pre-requisites should be taken in US in order for the application to be considered by office of admissions*! That is exactly why I called them one week prior to the interview to check everything was fine! Besides, I had recieved an email from them which had everything check-marked including transcripts and pre-requisite sheets! I agree the blame is on me for taking their word for it on the phone!
In general, when inviting for an interview, the assumption is that 90% of the work is done and paper work is over! interview day is when they decide you are eligible (!) to be seen and heard. I don't think anybody has ever got an interview to HELP the dean of admissions fill the paper work!

*I wasn't aware of it when I applied!
Click to expand...

This wasnt really directed as an attack at you, more of slight defense against those who "blamed" the school. However, i know this is all retrospect, but did your phone call to the school to" check if everything is fine " clearly adress the fact that you knew "it was clearly written there that all pre-requisites should be taken in US in order for the application to be considered by office of admissions". Very honest of you to concede you didnt check this applying, but even after how sure were you that you were in good standing based on this? (just wondering)

SoulPower said:
Seriously though, the school is to blame for the bombshell they dropped on him.

They confirmed all his documents were in order. "in order", he didn't state whether his pre-reqs were actually acceptable.
They requested the interview.
He called to confirm that his documents were in order. same as above
If they knew he would have to retake pre reqs and they also knew he didn't intend to retake them per the AADSAS application they should have let him know beforehand. they didnt know, otherwise they would have told him they werent in order
It was irresponsible on their part, end of story.
Click to expand...
 
crax said:
This wasnt really directed as an attack at you, more of slight defense against those who "blamed" the school. However, i know this is all retrospect, but did your phone call to the school to" check if everything is fine " clearly adress the fact that you knew "it was clearly written there that all pre-requisites should be taken in US in order for the application to be considered by office of admissions". Very honest of you to concede you didnt check this applying, but even after how sure were you that you were in good standing based on this? (just wondering)
Click to expand...

I wasn't sure at all and actually I was expecting a letter or email regarding denying my application! Instead I got the interview! after that, I expect the office of admissions to know their job. There is no need to remind them of their rules! I thought if they have invited me for the interview, they knew what they were doing! ... well, apparently in their office of admissions they have other important task to do rather than reviewing the applications!
 
crax said:
This wasnt really directed as an attack at you, more of slight defense against those who "blamed" the school. However, i know this is all retrospect, but did your phone call to the school to" check if everything is fine " clearly adress the fact that you knew "it was clearly written there that all pre-requisites should be taken in US in order for the application to be considered by office of admissions". Very honest of you to concede you didnt check this applying, but even after how sure were you that you were in good standing based on this? (just wondering)
Click to expand...

The point is they should have known. They obviously somehow figured this out during the interview. They probably already knew.

And the admissions department sole reason for being there is to keep all files orderly and make sure students meet their requirements so they can be interviewed and subsequently accepted or denied.

This is like saying they don't accept people under a 3.25 gpa. Yet they invite him for the interview and after the interview they say; sorry we don't accept people w/ a 3.15. Sorry.
 
Don't get mad at the OP for not saying the name of the school.....he actually DID in a reply post.

USC
 
USC will probably dismiss me at the interview too for not having my DAT scores in...... their fault. I already booked flights/hotel so i'm pretty curious to see what they'll say
 
Since ds make the "rules" regarding admission, they can just as easily ignore them. It is apparent that by the time the interviewer showed up, the OP was fuming. Most interviews do not last beyond 30 minutes and it is uncommon for a decision to be made on the spot regarding admission/rejection. The Dean apparently had enough and used a very convenient excuse for the on the spot rejection.
 
doc toothache said:
Since ds make the "rules" regarding admission, they can just as easily ignore them. It is apparent that by the time the interviewer showed up, the OP was fuming. Most interviews do not last beyond 30 minutes and it is uncommon for a decision to be made on the spot regarding admission/rejection. The Dean apparently had enough and used a very convenient excuse for the on the spot rejection.
Click to expand...

Perhaps.
 
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