What if I'm interviewed by someone I know?

[deleted968861]

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Hey guys, so one of my frat brothers is a 3rd year going on 4th year med student at a med school I want to get into. I'm not sure if he likes me.... We had some rough times. He's on the admission committee at the med school, and I'm afraid he will be picked to interview me this coming cycle.

We went to the same undergrad, so does the med school committee screen for this when they ask med students to interview incoming students? Does this matter? I'm afraid he's biased against me and will purposefully ruin my perception at this school.

 

[GreenDuck12]

If the student knows you he would likely be recused from deliberations about your application. If you are assigned to him as an interviewer, you can notify someone in the admissions office and they would make an adjustment. This is not an uncommon occurrence given how insular the medical community can be. At my interview they explicitly laid out the protocol for if we are in that situation and made it clear that they take conflicts of interest or perceived bias very seriously. I wouldn’t stress over it.

 

[LizzyM]

At my school, we get the list of applicants we are interviewing a little bit in advance of the interview day so there is an opportunity to report that and for the powers that be to change things around if we are scheduled to interview someone we know.

If you get the interview schedule and see that you are assigned to interview with someone you know, you should tell someone "in charge" immediately with the hope that they can readjust the schedule (most likely swap your interview slot with someone interviewing with a different student interviewer).

 

[readmypostsMD]

At my school, we get the list of applicants we are interviewing a little bit in advance of the interview day so there is an opportunity to report that and for the powers that be to change things around if we are scheduled to interview someone we know.

If you get the interview schedule and see that you are assigned to interview with someone you know, you should tell someone "in charge" immediately with the hope that they can readjust the schedule (most likely swap your interview slot with someone interviewing with a different student interviewer).

What if it’s someone you have crossed paths with (eg someone who went to your undergrad), but have never actually directly interacted with or talked to? Like so you guys know of each others mere existence, but no more

 

[GreenDuck12]

What if it’s someone you have crossed paths with (eg someone who went to your undergrad), but have never actually directly interacted with or talked to?

policies may differ but just attending the same college is unlikely to be a conflict of interest. It would be a huge problem for schools that draw large number of applicants from certain programs (think state medical schools with large numbers of applicants from within the state).

 

[deleted688779]

What if your interviewer personally knows your PI and grills you extra hard and frankly said he will give you a hard time because he looks up to your PI and thinks you should live up to being in his lab 🤔 🤔 🤔

 

[LizzyM]

What if it’s someone you have crossed paths with (eg someone who went to your undergrad), but have never actually directly interacted with or talked to? Like so you guys know of each others mere existence, but no more

Then that is not someone you know.

 

[Goro]

What if your interviewer personally knows your PI and grills you extra hard and frankly said he will give you a hard time because he looks up to your PI and thinks you should live up to being in his lab 🤔 🤔 🤔

What if we flap our arms and fly to the moon?

Sorry, but you're starting to sound like my 17 year old