what are your weaknesses?

[yoyohomieg5432]

How to answer this question? I can think of legit weaknesses but they are things you really wouldn't want to reveal about yourself like being more of an introvert and thigns like that. what are weaknesses that you guys have used that may not necessarily be game changers?

one i can think of is bad with navigation, but do they really want to hear lame things like that?

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[Ismet]

there are a lot of threads already on this topic.

don't say things that are definite deal-breakers, like that you don't like to work in groups. but also don't pick something lame or something that comes off as humblebragging (like "i'm a perfectionist"). and you always want to follow up your weakness with how you have been working to improve.

i usually went with saying i had trouble with time management, and since i was interviewing during my senior year and missing a lot of class for interviews, i talked about how i had developed a schedule and started making to-do lists so i didn't fall behind.

 

[QuantumJ]

There's an article on this site actually that discusses how to answer this question. You're right though that you need to say something meaningful but not too serious. Be sure though to add at the end how you're trying to change or how you've made progress in that area.

 

[kyamh]

one i can think of is bad with navigation, but do they really want to hear lame things like that?

The trick is to turn it around to something you do well. For your example, you could say something like

Well, I have a very bad sense of direction and I used to stress over the idea of having to drive to a new place or over getting lost. Over the last few years I have worked very hard to learn coping strategies to lessen my anxiety associated with navigation. One thing that has worked well is X and I've used this strategy to cope with other situations when I felt over my head like Y.

 

[skab]

How to answer this question? I can think of legit weaknesses but they are things you really wouldn't want to reveal about yourself like being more of an introvert and thigns like that. what are weaknesses that you guys have used that may not necessarily be game changers?

one i can think of is bad with navigation, but do they really want to hear lame things like that?

Don't confuse introversion with shyness; it's not necessarily a bad thing. Try to find something genuine and personal, and don't be evasive. Unless you're seriously directionally challenged, you can come probably up with something a bit more substantial than poor navigation.

 

[yoyohomieg5432]

Don't confuse introversion with shyness; it's not necessarily a bad thing. Try to find something genuine and personal, and don't be evasive. Unless you're seriously directionally challenged, you can come probably up with something a bit more substantial than poor navigation.

thoughts on these?

tend to take my work home with me. on my mind a lot until I solve the problem then I can relax. this is a bit of a concern of mine if I become a physician because it could hurt my home life.

I tend to focus too much on the details. like: in undergrad I would sometimes spend hours trying to understand a proof for something even though it wasn't necessary and I just had to know how to use the equation. this isn't effective studying for med school. thoughts on this one? Idk how I could be working to correct this though other than just learning go not dwell on everything but that could come off as bad

 

[Dogcat1290]

thoughts on these?

tend to take my work home with me. on my mind a lot until I solve the problem then I can relax. this is a bit of a concern of mine if I become a physician because it could hurt my home life.

I tend to focus too much on the details. like: in undergrad I would sometimes spend hours trying to understand a proof for something even though it wasn't necessary and I just had to know how to use the equation. this isn't effective studying for med school. thoughts on this one? Idk how I could be working to correct this though other than just learning go not dwell on everything but that could come off as bad

Maybe before you go home, go to a transition area like a gym or a place of worship. Burn off the extra energy so that you can focus on things more important then get back to your questions when you have a free minute (if that's what you want to do).

 

[BlueCircle]

Easy answer, say "none".

/thread.

 

[CyberMaxx]

I will talk about my debilitating addiction to SDN... 😉

 

[skab]

thoughts on these?

tend to take my work home with me. on my mind a lot until I solve the problem then I can relax. this is a bit of a concern of mine if I become a physician because it could hurt my home life.

I tend to focus too much on the details. like: in undergrad I would sometimes spend hours trying to understand a proof for something even though it wasn't necessary and I just had to know how to use the equation. this isn't effective studying for med school. thoughts on this one? Idk how I could be working to correct this though other than just learning go not dwell on everything but that could come off as bad

I think interviewers/adcoms would understand being overly detail-oriented or fixating on problem solving. Whenever you bring up a potential weakness though, you want to present it in the most positive, diplomatic light. So you don't necessarily need to point out the repercussions of your actions and it'd be great to think of some steps you can take towards improvement.

 

[Aerus]

Perfectionist/workaholic or anything that's really a positive is not a "negative" you want to use when interviewing for anything. The place I work at would automatically reject someone when they hear this because it shows that they either aren't thinking deeply enough or have serious flaws that they don't want to mention.

Also being shy and being introverted are completely different things. Being introverted is not a weakness -- saying that is the same as saying being Asian is a weakness. One can be introverted AND outgoing.

 

[APrioriAporia]

I'm physically small.

 

[Koalafied]

How to answer this question? I can think of legit weaknesses but they are things you really wouldn't want to reveal about yourself like being more of an introvert and thigns like that. what are weaknesses that you guys have used that may not necessarily be game changers?

one i can think of is bad with navigation, but do they really want to hear lame things like that?

Sigh..... me...

 

[GoPelicans]

I am too attractive to ever be a gynecologist 🙁

 

[neekzg]

I've always thought it was a pretty weird question; I've used the answer "I like to sleep too much" LOL as in I've talked about how I wish I could run off 3-5 hours like all the other busy college students but I need my 8 hours to function properly. It's a jocular answer but it's always made my interviewers laugh and they usually say something about how they can relate. I was accepted to the two internships where I used that answer hahah

 

[roundza]

i was asked this by my interviewer who happened to be a psychiatrist. could. not. evade. without. being. sincere. I ended up discussing something that I feel bordered on being too revealing- but I think what these questions aim to do is not to identify your weakness but to see if you have spent some time with introspection. They know nobody is perfect and everybody has things they (should) want to change about themselves. They'd like to see that you have thought deeply about your decision to be a doc and that you are aware of what you'd need to overcome. I wouldn't weasel out of this question with a smartass answer. Be sincere and talk about how working on that weakness will make you a better doc, and map out how you plan to deal with it. Even if you say "I don't like working with groups," you can then explain how you know working with groups is completely valuable and explain how you plan to approach group study in the future. As long as you are being sincere and intelligent, i think what they want to see is maturity and the ability to identify and admit shortcomings, thereby setting the stage to overcome them.

 

[alpharez]

chocolate

 

[circulus vitios]

I sometimes have trouble delegating tasks when I'm a leader in a group setting. I'd rather just do the job myself, so I can be sure the job is done right.

 

[vamp]

If you want it done right, don't do it yourself

 

[supermintyfresh]

I am too attractive to ever be a gynecologist 🙁