Were my interview questions weird???

[genie917]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I just interviewed at a school and I'm not sure if the questions were normal or inappropriate. I was asked specific questions about eastern Europe for 10 mintues (ex- Name a country that emerged when Yugoslavia broke up.) Then we moved onto politics. I was asked which candidate I would vote for if I had to vote this second and also which party I agree with more. After that I was so frazzled that it just went downhill.

Both the politics and european questions were not in regard to healthcare, btw. I have no connection to either topic. I'm really interested in this school and I feel like the interview went TERRIBLY b/c it was out of left field. Most of the other interviewees did not interview with this person and had a grand old time with their interviewers. WHAT SHOULD I DO????

😕

 

[Noodleface]

I don't think there is anything you can really do for just weird questions. My advisers said I should report inappropriate questions (mainly stuff like "are you going to have a baby in med school?" which apparently they aren't allowed to ask) that could be construed as racist/sexist.

You may have just had a stress interview. My first one was pretty tough and I felt I completely bombed it, but it's the only school that has accepted me! Everyone says that it's impossible to tell how it went and how it will affect your chances. Some interviewers will try to hide how they feel about you and may stress you out while writing down nice things about you. Try not to worry and just learn from it so next time you get weird questions, you just stay calm and do your best. I think that's all they want.

 

[drizzt3117]

Totally inappropriate, IMO. I mean, its not like you are ever going to have to deal w/ unfamiliar situations or be under stress as a doctor, right?

 

[diosa428]

The interviewer was probably #1 - testing how you react under stress and #2 - determining how well you can think through a question and back up your ideas. I doubt they really cared about your political leanings or were curious as to your random knowledge of European history.

 

[PeepshowJohnny]

Yeah, pretty weird.

 

[Dmizrahi]

Stress interviews are really really interesting; how long was the interview, at any point did you ask questions or have the opportunity to ask questions?

I'd actually like to experience a stress interview, i know that sounds kind of crazy, but its the raw situations like those that i feel i learn the most about myself.

 

[Noodleface]

In case my post wasn't clear, I was saying there's nothing you can do for weird questions since they don't fall into the inappropriate question category. It was probably just to see how you handle stress as the other people said.

I had a friend that had to talk about deep sea scrolls (not actually sure what those are). I had to talk about my "favorite thing to look at". Weird questions can be kinda fun sometimes if you just don't panic. Also, remember it's ok to admit you don't know something, BSing through politics and such is generally a bad idea.

 

[hp540]

50% of one of my interviews was spent chatting about road cycling.

I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not.

 

[Law2Doc]

Weird perhaps, but not "inappropriate". Asking about current events is fair game. Since schools are looking for people with diverse interests and backgrounds, asking questions unrelated to healthcare is not unheard of. Best to read the newspaper now and then during interview season.

 

[genie917]

I guess "inappropriate" was the wrong word to use, more like unfair. Since we were talking about this random stuff for most of the interview, I didn't get to demonstrate my positive attributes. I know other interviewees did. I basically appeared really uninformed, I hope they can somehow see that I'm really not that stupid. I understand the point of the stress interview but I think it was to my detriment since no other interviewee said that they had a similar experience. Oh well, I guess life isn't fair...

 

[brianmartin]

Honesty is the best policy. If you don't know, just admit it. Not many people know specific information about the Bosnian/Croatian conflict. Especially considering most applicants were probably 12 years old when it was happening. That's definitely a stress question, and if you don't know, just say, "Sorry, I wasn't tracking world politics at age 12."

The presidential candidate question is completely fair game. You've got to have some basic knowledge about the parties and candidates, unless there are circumstances beyond your control, like you didn't grow up in US, or moved here very recently. Even if you're not interested in politics, you should at least have some concept of how society works and what the "issues" are.

 

[Disinence2]

I wouldn't want to go to a school that did that to me in an interview.

If thats how there going to treat a "potential" student...then how do they treat their students once there in?

Just a thought.

 

[Despina]

Is it ever appropriate in an interview to just gracefully respond, "I believe politics are a very personal and private matter, so I am going to decline to answer." In the corporate world, I have answered political questions this way, so I don't see what's wrong with answering them at a medical school this way. Or is this a bad idea?

 

[drizzt3117]

Is it ever appropriate in an interview to just gracefully respond, "I believe politics are a very personal and private matter, so I am going to decline to answer." In the corporate world, I have answered political questions this way, so I don't see what's wrong with answering them at a medical school this way. Or is this a bad idea?

You can answer questions however you want, however I believe that it's possible that the interviewer is trying to determine how knowledgeable you are about current events, and answering in such a way might hurt your chances.

 

[167649]

I wouldn't want to go to a school that did that to me in an interview.

If thats how there going to treat a "potential" student...then how do they treat their students once there in?

Just a thought.

I hope in that case you would have the luxury to choose!

But schools don't give a s*** if you don't like them. There are 3,000 other applicants who would kill for a seat. Medical school is, for a lot of people, take what you get and run with it.

 

[167649]

Is it ever appropriate in an interview to just gracefully respond, "I believe politics are a very personal and private matter, so I am going to decline to answer." In the corporate world, I have answered political questions this way, so I don't see what's wrong with answering them at a medical school this way. Or is this a bad idea?

I would not say "you decline to answer." It is almost like you are just looking for an easy way out. It would look better to say you don't know, or to be honest.

And with this specific question, unless you were yugoslavian the query is hardly personal or private.

 

[NFiasco]

Wow, I don't even know how to bull**** a response to that question. Seriously messed up question.

 

[Inuranic]

With weird questions like that, I default to spouting off anything I know about that subject in an intelligible manner (i.e. recognize issues, state facts, etc.) then admit my ignorance as to the complete picture/problem/idea, state I wish I could answer it further, then look at the interviewer with eyes that say "I'm not giving you anymore BS to run with, carry on at your leisure".

Bottom line - admit you don't know a solid answer, AND DON'T TALK YOURSELF INTO A CORNER.

 

[genie917]

See that was the weird thing, I said that I wasn't familiar with what we were talking about (numerous times.) They kept prodding for like 15 min. I had to keep talking- my shoulders were tired from shrugging so much.

 

[neuro1617]

Wow I hope I don't have any questions about politics/history/geography b/c I'm totally clueless. Probably b/c I haven't had any of it since HS and have been immersed in bio, chem & physics for 3 yrs. With a bit of foreign language, ethics & other humanities. But I can't stand politics or history...

 

[jochi1543]

Hmmm, who can answer without Google? I'm gonna say Yugoslavia broke up into Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia, and Montenegro, but I think there were more.

 

[drizzt3117]

Bosnia and Slovenia too. I spent a couple weeks in Croatia when I lived in Europe, awesome place.

 

[BrokenGlass]

See that was the weird thing, I said that I wasn't familiar with what we were talking about (numerous times.) They kept prodding for like 15 min. I had to keep talking- my shoulders were tired from shrugging so much.

They? Aren't interviews one on one?

 

[cyclingmo]

I only have on interview, and I pray that it goes well. But I wouldn't mind a crazy a$$ interview like the OP had. It's good to feel the heat and see what you're made of.