What if u teared up/slightly cried during your interview?

[Mrbubbles]

I had an interview recently at Columbia, and everything was GREAT! no stuttering, no rambling, perfect. then the question that hit me (and i have NO clue why):

"discuss a particular time in your life where u experienced a difficult event, and how did u over come it?"

i paused, and i started to tear up (i won't tell u my answer for anonymous reasons) but i managed to say what the event was (the interviewer simply nodded). it took me like 30 secs to stop my eyes from watering (i wasn't hyperventilating)..but after that, we continue with another set of questions..

is that bad?? i am so embaraased..im usually VERY VERY strong but i dunno, think i screwed up my chances??

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[Mrbubbles]

anyone?

 

[sunshine222]

I'm sure you're not the first person who's teared up in an interview - it's a really stressful situation, and I think it's perfectly natural to have a more emotional response than you would otherwise. If you'd broken down and sobbed that would be a different story, but IMO getting a little teary-eyed over that question isn't a big deal at all.

 

[Chesnok]

Don't worry you have other schools where you didn't tear up, even if it'll affect you at Columbia.

 

[left high n dry]

yea i wouldn't worry too much, i mean we are all human with feelings, and if i was the interviewer, i would think you would be a very passionate person.

 

[streptmutan]

Its okay. I had this same experience, although it did not happen at my actual interview, it happened during pre-mock interviews. It is a hard thing to openly discuss dificult times in your life and sometimes when you think about how you have overcame those obstacles, you cant help but to get all-teary eyed! Its okay. the admissions committees are human too and understand that people experience tragedy. Its what makes us who we are ! dont worry about. Im sure they were sensitive to your situation.
good luck

 

[Albuterol]

you are human after all right? its ok to tear up if it was an emotional time, i guess it would maybe look bad if u were hysterically crying and used up all of their tissues.

 

[Stephie3]

when i interviewed at a school, my INTERVIEWER started to cry! she had asked me who my source of strength was and I said my mother. Then she started talking about her children and how she loved them, etc and she started to tear up.

i interviewed at five schools and i have to say out of all the people who interviewed me, she stood out as my favorite interviewer. she was really pretty too and i could tell that she was a sincerely, caring person.

so hey...my interviewer started to cry and i remember her as being my favorite and coolest interviewer, so don't worry about it

 

[Stephie3]

p.s. i forgot to mention that i got accepted to that school. you can also check out my thread "don't stress too much about interviews."

 

[FLpk1girl86]

anyone?

The only negative might be that it would show you're kind of emotionally unstable and maybe can't handle bad news, but it shouldn't be a big deal for dentistry because it's not like your patients are going to have life threatening diseases

 

[achilles2]

Depends on the interviewer and the degree of the event...

If your cat got hit by a car and you cried about that you dead in the water....if you watched your brother or parent slowely waste away from a horrible disease and die a slow brutal death despite massive medical intervention then you might be in the clear.

 

[who knows...]

I know EXACTLY how you feel...my interview seemed to be going ok...and then, near the very end, my interviewer (who was truly amazing by the way) said something that really touched me...and it seemed so sincere...and I started to tear up and had to pause...and tears really rolled down my cheeks for a bit...(I'm getting teary remembering it!!) and then he said that he was getting teary too...then I smiled and wiped my tears away...the whole time I was thinking, that's it...I blew it...who cries at their interview...but thanks to God it worked out and I am super excited...and if I end up going to that school, I will definitely look for my interviewer to thank him personally...


i remember, when I saw my parents after the interview...I kept hugging them and then when they asked me how it went...I told them I cried...they almost went nuts lol...for the past two months...I have been analyzing and re-analyzing my interview...*sigh*

 

[vivaciousleo]

I don't think tearing up at your interview is a bad thing. If I remember correctly, my interviewer asked me a question pertaining to why I wanted to be a dentist. I think I remember tearing up when I mentioned the lack of dental care back home and how people are too poor to afford it and how I wanted to move back to help alleviate some of that.

I got in on Dec. 1st!

 

[brushhh]

awwww, it's okay.

 

[Jake8]

Hmm lets see they asked you about a difficult time in life and you got a little teary eyed, seems normal to me. If it was a difficult time then it was probably an emotional time too. What I see is that you are not afraid to show some emotion and someone who has emotions will be able to empathize with patients better and overall be a better dentist than someone who is always stoic.

 

[excusezmoi]

OH this happened to me when I interviewed in UCSF last year. The interviewer digged something traumatic in my life and how was I able to recovered from it. I really barely talked about it to anyone not even my family. I kept everything to myself. And when that question was brought up it was kinda teary or really hard to talk about it. But then I didn't get it.

Midwestern too..was kinda teary...since I kinda recalled how I really felt happy helping someone who had her dentures. It sounds weak to be teary about it but there was a story behind it that made me really teary.

In my opinion, that means you were not b.sing your interview everything is straight from your heart. It's not a drama audition!

 

[DrftKng]

I feel that your interviewers simply want to know whether the interviewees are honest and upfront about their answers to their questions. I was asked the same question at NYU and I told him that to be honest, I am one of those fortunate individuals whose parents are always available for support whenever necessary, so I said I have never experienced any real difficulty in my life. The guy smiled and said "so you like sports cars?" and moved on.

 

[Mrbubbles]

wow, i'm surprised that many of u may have experienced a similar situation. after reading everyone's responses' i feel a lot better now =).

and thank u Drtking for giving us another perspective that not all EVERYONE has a difficult moment in their life and i liked ur reasoning for it too.

good luck everyoine, and hopefully i will hear something soon.

 

[mena22787]

.

 

[DrftKng]

wow, i'm surprised that many of u may have experienced a similar situation. after reading everyone's responses' i feel a lot better now =).

and thank u Drtking for giving us another perspective that not all EVERYONE has a difficult moment in their life and i liked ur reasoning for it too.

good luck everyone, and hopefully i will hear something soon.

I feel that if one wants to enter a profession, he should be himself 100%. Because you are going to go through such career for your whole life, you will only be hurting yourself for lying.

For example, you might be asked:

"Why dentistry over medicine?"
Possible answer: I volunteered at a hospital, and I realized that the hospital setting isn't my cup of tea. But when I was shadowing my dentist, I find it very comfortable and pleasant to work in such setting.

"Why did your GPA decline during your 3rd and 4th year?"
Possible answer: During my 1st and 2nd year, I devoted most of my time into academic work (plus, most of us take intro classes during the beginning, so talking about that won't hurt), but during my 3rd and 4th year, I began to take more challenging courses AND I began to have more social life. Balancing the two certainly affected my grades, but I believe I could've done better if I put more effort into it.

Stuffs like that, just be upfront and frank, and your interviewer will like that. The last thing we want is getting a counter question to a fabricated answer and then stuttering when you have trouble telling a story to make up a lie.


Peace.

 

[enfuego]

If you went through a difficult event and were asked to talk about it, I think I might be more concerned if you didn't show any emotional response. We're all humans and we all have had experiences that move us - it's only natural to show emotion. But I agree, a few tears is okay, but it doesn't look good to cry and sob uncontrollably.

I feel that if one wants to enter a profession, he should be himself 100%. Because you are going to go through such career for your whole life, you will only be hurting yourself for lying.

I agree. I've been having a hard semester and had to take a W in a science course. I could make up excuses or even straight up lie, but I think it'd be better for me to be honest and admit that I really wasn't prepared for the workload. And luckily I have 3 more semesters until I apply, so in that time I just have to work hard and show that I can handle the workload. Everyone makes mistakes and has flaws - I think it's much more upstanding to be honset about it than to lie and pretend you're something different than who you are.