toughest, most nerve-wracking interview

[asama527]

What's your toughest and/or most nerve wracking interview? Also, write down if you're in/out of state. I'm eventually going to turn this into a poll of some sort.

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[hope280]

five interviews and none have bad so far.

 

[Catalyst]

Rochester, hands down. After my first interview, I wanted to leave the school.

 

[josehernandez94]

Without a doubt, UNC (I'm in-state here). Both of my interviewers poked holes in every answer I gave. It got so bad, I felt like if they were to ask me what color the sky was and I said blue, they would have told me why it's actually neon pink and questioned how I could have ever answered blue. One interviewer proceeded to ask me a series of questions, which, in my mind were unique. After 5 or so minutes of his asking these questions and then repeatedly interrupting my answers, he says "NO! You don't understand me. That's not what I'm asking you!!!" Then he proceeds to clearly explain what his question is, I answer it, and he says, "That's a great answer." Basically, he got frustrated with me for not being able to understand his cryptic questioning and to top it off, made me feel like I was stupid. Anyway, largely because of my interview experience, I withdrew my application.

 

[Kashue]

Albany, holy sh|t, they kept shooting ethical, what would you do questions at me. And my 2nd interviewer brought a 3rd year student with him, for a little 2 on one. I was also asked illegal questions(ie. how many schools did you apply/interview/get accepted at). He also had an agenda of questions and whenever I tried to lead the conversation somewhere else, he would know and say "YOU ARE DIVERGING from what We want to ask you." WTF? My first interviewer was also wierd, I think I left him an impression that I would be some type of dictator(don't ask).

I walked out of the interview room literally shaking and the other applicants asked me what happened.

 

[RedHeadKiddo]

Definitely George Washington.

The interviewer recommended that I apply to a med school in Israel - 1. not Jewish, 2. don't speak Hebrew or Arabic, 3. I AM INTERVIEWING AT GW!!! After changing the topic to DC and GW things went much more smoothly. The clincher was at the close of the interview he shook my hand saying in one breathe "You are a great applicant and I will do my best...but you should sincerely consider the school in Israel."

UCK!

 

[umass rower]

Originally posted by Kashue
Albany, holy sh|t, they kept shooting ethical, what would you do questions at me. And my 2nd interviewer brought a 3rd year student with him, for a little 2 on one. I was also asked illegal questions(ie. how many schools did you apply/interview/get accepted at). He also had an agenda of questions and whenever I tried to lead the conversation somewhere else, he would know and say "YOU ARE DIVERGING from what We want to ask you." WTF? My first interviewer was also wierd, I think I left him an impression that I would be some type of dictator(don't ask).

I walked out of the interview room literally shaking and the other applicants asked me what happened.

Just out of curiosity, how should one respond to the illegal questions? I got asked one at my only interview so far, and I told the truth. It was the "How many schools?" one, and I qualified my answer by saying something like "From talking to people I think that it's a pretty average number to apply to." Is there a way to dodge without making it look like we're dodging or being defensive?

 

[smc927]

I'm not at the interview stage yet (hopefully next year), but if I were asked that illegal question (how many schools applied to, etc...) I would probably respond:<br><br>
"I've applied to few schools, and things are going well. But I'm particularly interested in your program here at X school."<br>
<br>Then if they pushed it I would have to go with my gut feeling at the time, but I'd probably say, "That really doesn't matter."

 

[Rendar5]

umm...since when is "how many schools are you applying to" an illegal question. Unless I missed it on my list of illegal questions I got from my school a few months ago.

 

[Kashue]

Originally posted by Rendar5
umm...since when is "how many schools are you applying to" an illegal question. Unless I missed it on my list of illegal questions I got from my school a few months ago.

I thought asking the number of schools was illegal? Also, I tried to answer the question with mainly schools in th east coast, but my interviewer wanted a number.

 

[Rendar5]

I just checked it out, "Interviewers are prohibited from inquiring into your religion, sexual orientation, marital status, family plans, and other personal issues unrelated to your professional credentials."

I also found that questions related to age, health, and interpersonal questions are also illegal.

However, if you (accidentally or purposefully) bring it up in personal statements or in the interview it is fair game.

 

[edik]

The way I look at it, you don't have to answer any of the questions you deem inappropriate. However, they have no obligation to recommend you to the AdCom either.
Chances are, the people who ask these questions have very little to do with the admissions process (probably some docs who were asked to interview). In these cases, the main idea is to project a positive image. Being open will help you a lot more than appearing defensive.

 

[Adapt]

My hardest one was Temple largely because I was really nervous, and it was my first interview.

 

[MeowMix]

Originally posted by Rendar5
I just checked it out, "Interviewers are prohibited from inquiring into your religion, sexual orientation, marital status, family plans, and other personal issues unrelated to your professional credentials."

I also found that questions related to age, health, and interpersonal questions are also illegal.

However, if you (accidentally or purposefully) bring it up in personal statements or in the interview it is fair game.

They are illegal, but you are likely to get them. And they may be very subtle, so that refusing to answer would be a big deal. You should definitely figure out how you are going to respond, and practice doing so.

 

[darkcity998]

i got a question on my political party! and i answered honestly and good thing i chose the same as his.

whew.

 

[velouria]

I got illegal questions at every interview. Some about # schools, # interviews, etc. (but I'm not sure if those are illegal) and some about husband, family plans, age, etc. (which I'm sure are illegal).
I just answered them and moved on. I think it would look much worse to make an issue of it. My $.02.

 

[Megalofyia]

Originally posted by MeowMix
They are illegal, but you are likely to get them. And they may be very subtle, so that refusing to answer would be a big deal. You should definitely figure out how you are going to respond, and practice doing so.

I got point blank asked an illegal question at BU. (no, not a what number of schools are you applying to etc.) I just answered it but largly as a result of this person and the questions I was asked I have decided that BU is not the school for me.

 

[jlee9531]

they ask where ive interviewed most of the time and i dont mind telling them. i only have a small number of interviews so its easy for me talk about them. i point out the aspects i like this school im at right now over the other schools that ive been too and the convo goes smoothly and we move on....

 

[Tbonez]

Seriously. You guys are way too worried about what the interviewers think. Don't you see? By the time, they get to the interview, THEY want YOU just as bad as you want them. At all my interviews, I made them sell ME the school. I didn't act like I wasn't interested, but I didn't feed them any standard questions or answers. I got asked in a couple of my interviews where I had applied. I told them, also told them of my acceptances, and then my questions for them basically boiled down to "Why should I go here over school X?" I found this works great, as it makes you not seem like a kiss-up. This technique has worked great so far, as I have gotten accepted to every school I have interviewed at.

 

[Rendar5]

oh, my toughest interview was Emory. The first 1-on-1 went ok, I tried directing the interview so it was more of a conversation, but I'm not sure the doctor was comfortable answering questions about himself (I was really out of it. I don't normally turn the tables on the interviewer).

The panel interview was tougher. One of the doctors was a stickler almost, asking hard to deal with questions. He asked me what my biggest failing was (it wasn't a "what is your worst trait which would've been a better question" It was definitelyan illegal question that wasn't worded illegally). Anyway, I managed to explain my biggest personal failing without going into specific details. He had a really big smile at the end of the question. I dunno, I guess he appreciated that I had made serious mistakes and done some soul-searching because of it. So I think the toughest question I was ever asked turned out to be my best interview moment, period.

At my U of Michigan interview (second toughest). I got asked why I put academics and research and EC's before community service. I felt like crap having to admit that serving others is simply not my highest priority and I'm becoming a doctor for myself, not for other people. (jeez, I should've worded it like that!). I also got asked what I thoguht about the war in Iraq. Luckily, Mid-East issues is one of my strong areas and I knew what i was talking about.

 

[Jet915]

My hardest was definitely at MCO. The interviewer seemed like he was trying to trip me up on questions about things I did and then asked questions about my character etc...........very uncomfortable and I was getting mad as the interview was going on. In the end, I got into MCO anyways so I guess it was kind of a mute point......

Jetson

 

[beastmaster]

Originally posted by darkcity998
i got a question on my political party! and i answered honestly and good thing i chose the same as his.

I'm curious, what party would that be.

 

[greggth]

My toughest question was what I'd do if I knew a friend of mine was cheating in school or using drugs. The same interviewer said, "everyone has biases. What are yours?" I said I was biased against Republicans.

 

[Jet915]

I got asked about my political affiliation on 3 interviews (although one could tell on all of my open file interviews based on my ec's) and unfortunately on all 3 interviews, my response was not the same as my interviewers political affiliation...........oh well. In the end, I got accepted to one of the schools and rejected/waitlisted from the other two. However, I also interviewed at Creighton (the school I'm at now) and my interviewer was liberal (although I didnt know at the time), I've taken her ethics class and now I can tell..........and I got accepted. I think this just shows that the interviewers generally will have an open mind and just cause they don't agree with you, as long as you can back up your beliefs and be truthful, you should be fine in most cases.

Jetson

 

[Ragzpie]

At my UMD interview, my interviewer asked me who my best friend is. I told her that my mom is my best friend...and she asked in a condescending tone "that's it? don't you have any other friends?"

After that question and her repeatedly forgetting I decided to pursue medicine after working for a few years. In fact, she repeatedly asked about my "time off" after college...I just wanted to get up scream "time off from what?!"

I was frustrated and insulted and the interview just went down hill after that...

 

[Auricae]

I think the NU panel interview was pretty intimidating. We had one old interviewer who frequently asks questions such as, "who is your favorite president?" and, "how do you feel about the bombing of Hiroshima?" Beware the old interviewer for those interviewing at NU in the near future!

P.S. In case you were wondering, his favorite is good ol' Frankie Roosevelt.

 

[Anka]

At New Jersey Medical School (Newark) my interviewer was *way* interested in filling in the blanks on the form he had. He started out by saying, in a somewhat frenetic sort of way, "Okay, we've got this form. It has blanks. we have to fill them in." Then, he started asking questions from the form. Everytime I started to answer, however, he'd interrupt and say, "Wow, that would go great in *this* blank!" and then he'd write it there, even if that wasn't the answer. For instance, he wanted to know my previous experiences with doctors, so I went down a chronological list starting with getting run over by a truck when I was a kid. He said, "Wait, that would be GREAT in this [other] blank, where it asks why you want to be a doctor." And then he wrote it down there... even though my desire to be a doctor had absolutely no relation to that incident. At first I was interrupting him to correct him, but there was just no way to correct everything. Another time he asked me whether I was going to be a neurologist (I had worked in a neurology lab), and I said, no, I was planning on surgery (I currently work in a CT surgery lab). The he said, "Oh! Right! You're going to be a cardio vascular... vascular? thoracic? I think cardiovascular. You're going to be a cardiovascular surgeon [wrote it down in the blank]. So, do you understand the training commitment that invovles?" I wanted to scream by the end of it "DUDE I DO NOT WANT TO BE A CARDIOVASCULAR SURGEON!!!".

Anyway, a couple of weeks later I get a letter asking me to come up for another interview as the admissions committee had some questions that remained unanswered.

Just in case anyone is going to interview there -- evidently my experience is extremely rare. The other interviewers all were really nice; I even saw one interviewer walk a student back to the admissions office telling her that he would like to see her back next year, even though her stats weren't the best.

 

[Kashue]

Originally posted by Anka
At New Jersey Medical School (Newark) my interviewer was *way* interested in filling in the blanks on the form he had. He started out by saying, in a somewhat frenetic sort of way, "Okay, we've got this form. It has blanks. we have to fill them in." Then, he started asking questions from the form. Everytime I started to answer, however, he'd interrupt and say, "Wow, that would go great in *this* blank!" and then he'd write it there, even if that wasn't the answer. For instance, he wanted to know my previous experiences with doctors, so I went down a chronological list starting with getting run over by a truck when I was a kid. He said, "Wait, that would be GREAT in this [other] blank, where it asks why you want to be a doctor." And then he wrote it down there... even though my desire to be a doctor had absolutely no relation to that incident. At first I was interrupting him to correct him, but there was just no way to correct everything. Another time he asked me whether I was going to be a neurologist (I had worked in a neurology lab), and I said, no, I was planning on surgery (I currently work in a CT surgery lab). The he said, "Oh! Right! You're going to be a cardio vascular... vascular? thoracic? I think cardiovascular. You're going to be a cardiovascular surgeon [wrote it down in the blank]. So, do you understand the training commitment that invovles?" I wanted to scream by the end of it "DUDE I DO NOT WANT TO BE A CARDIOVASCULAR SURGEON!!!".

Anyway, a couple of weeks later I get a letter asking me to come up for another interview as the admissions committee had some questions that remained unanswered.

Just in case anyone is going to interview there -- evidently my experience is extremely rare. The other interviewers all were really nice; I even saw one interviewer walk a student back to the admissions office telling her that he would like to see her back next year, even though her stats weren't the best.

Ouch dude.

 

[greggth]

Originally posted by Anka
At New Jersey Medical School (Newark) my interviewer was *way* interested in filling in the blanks on the form he had. He started out by saying, in a somewhat frenetic sort of way, "Okay, we've got this form. It has blanks. we have to fill them in." Then, he started asking questions from the form. Everytime I started to answer, however, he'd interrupt and say, "Wow, that would go great in *this* blank!" and then he'd write it there, even if that wasn't the answer.

lol! He sounds like quite a character.

 

[Anka]

Yeah, you gotta laugh.

I'm going to the extra interview. I really liked the place. I mean, you can't really choose your medical school based on how an interviewer acted (and the guy wasn't malignant or anything; he was just out there).

Anka