I have applied to osteopathic and allopathic medical schools, and have recently recieved an interview with an osteopathic school. My question is that I was convicted of an OVI (my states equivalent of a DUI), just over 3 years ago, I reported it on my aacomas/aamcas and all secondaries of course. I am currently trying to get ready for my interview and am wondering how this topic is typically addressed during an interview. If anyone has any insight into this I would be grateful.
What to expect during interview with criminal record?
- Thread starter Spfld84
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Depends. If it's closed file, don't think it will come up, if it is open file, be reallly prepared to explain yourself. Put it this way, the fact that they are interviewing you means they are interested, so it's not like they are inviting you to an inquisition and will reject you right after. Show remorse, show that you owned up to the situation, sought a solution to the problem, and demonstrate that it was a one time mistake that will NEVER happen again. Put it this way, you know what it says in your criminal record and what you put on the app, so be ready to explain that situation.
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I was asked during my nova interview if there is anything that you need to tell us that we don't already know ( I didn't have anything to hide from them, so thats what I told them. My point is that if you are asked such a question be prepared to explain yourself. If they don't ask you then do not worry about it. Good luck on your interview
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This is a tough call, in my opinion. They could be seeing if you are willing to own up to it. At my KCOM interview I brought up a C of mine in my Senior year, because I wanted my interviewer to be able to explain it to the admissions council. If I had no brought it up, and it was brought up at the admissions meeting, I have no clue what would have happened.
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Do not bring up your criminal record unless asked, which I am 99.99% sure they will ask you. Take full responsibility, don't make ANY excuses and explain how you have changed since the event and you should be fine... after all the adcom knows about your record and they still want to interview you... so act human 
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The 'is there anything else you'd like us to know' is Russian Roulette in my opinion. Tell too much and you could bring up things they may not have noticed. Don't say anything and you risk something being picked apart without an explanation. It's seriously all up to you. If there is something obvious ( a DUI you explained on AACOMAS) bring it up, but I don't know about individual grades, for example, unless it's like one of the 'F + family crisis situations.'
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OP, check ur PMs
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How is this the same as a criminal record?
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JaggerPlate is correct in my opinion. Be open and honest, show remorse and make no excuses. Tell them that you learned from your youthful stupidity and it will NEVER happen again.
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Is this a serious question? I never said that they were the same thing, I just expanded my experience to give advice to the OP.
Both are examples of deciding whether or not to bring up a negative aspect of your application if you are not directly questioned about it.
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Do not bring up your criminal record unless asked, which I am 99.99% sure they will ask you. Take full responsibility, don't make ANY excuses and explain how you have changed since the event and you should be fine... after all the adcom knows about your record and they still want to interview you... so act human
I have a criminal record which I included in my AACOMAS and any secondaries that required it. It has not been brought up at any interviews. I would strongly encourage the OP to follow the quoted advice though. Be honest in your application/secondaries but recognize that if they don't make an issue out of it, neither should you.
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This wasn't clear in your original post. But more importantly, why would anyone, being the interviewee, bring up anything negative on the application. Its all there in black and white. These interviews are short enough as it is--use the time to make a great impression. If you have an interview, wow the heck out of them and let them draw their conclusions. Bringing up a criminal event, a bad grade, or a string of Ws as is my situation is wasting time.
If they bring it up, address it, share the lesson you learned, put a positive twist on it and MOVE ON! You have been accepted to several schools, so your mentioning the bad grade obviously did not have a negative impact, but why risk bringing the interview down?
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Quite simple, and I feel like it was clear. The admissions committee might ask a question about it. I want the interviewer to be able to be my ambassador about anything on my file, not just the things they bring up in the interview.
As you say, it is all there in black and white. I would rather them know what was really going on with the negative aspects than to assume the worst. I feel like this is even more true for the OP than for me.
Imagine the committee meeting. "what did spfld84 have to say about his incident with the law?" Then the interviewer responds
"Oh, I didn't even notice that. We didn't get the chance to talk about it."
Too me, this is much, much worse than discussing it openly.
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This isn't an interview question to get you to confess your sins by the way. This question is designed to let you boast about yourself more incase you didn't talk about all of your achievements/accomplishments/things that make you awesome, during your interview. Traditional wisdom is don't bring up negative things when you are trying to sell yourself. Stay positive and if they bring it up something negative from your past whether it be a grade or a dui, absolutely own up to it and show them how you have moved beyond that.
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If a C is the only black mark on your app then you need to calm down.
OP- Like said above don't pull the- "well it really wasn't my fault"
OP- Like said above don't pull the- "well it really wasn't my fault"
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I brought up a C that occurred in my Senior year after a strong upward trend. Not even close to the worst grade on my application, but it was the worst in the last 4 years. I have no idea why I am getting called out so much in this thread, and have been nothing but calm the entire time.
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It is because you are relating bringing up one C on your record to a criminal conviction. =/=
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Unequivocally? What if the interviewer asks you the following?
paraphrase: "It is my job to be able to present your application to the admissions committee. Is there anything else you would like to discuss that we have not already, and you feel might brought up when I present your file?"
This is not directly asking about something, and made me very much inclined to discuss my grade, as it was an upper-level biology class in my most recent semester. If none of you would have brought it up, that is fine with me. My interview result was an acceptance.
My point in giving my example was to show a situation where I chose to talk about something that is not nearly as "make or break" as the OP's situation. I misunderestimated the extrapolation powers of the SDN community.
Anyone care to comment on the risk that his/her conviction will be brought up at the adcom meeting, and the interviewer will not be able to give an explanation. Do you think this could prevent an acceptance? What if the interviewer walks out of the interview, and says to him/herself, "I cannot believe I forgot to ask about the criminal record." You all act like this could never happen. The interviewers are only part of the decision process, there are plenty of other people on the board.
And alecksxxx, experiences do not have to be equal to be able to relate them and learn from them.
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I think you're taking this too personally. "Conventional wisdom" doesn't mean that everyone actually agrees with it, which is obviously the case here. One of the other posters said he was asked if there was anything they (the interviewers) DIDN'T ALREADY KNOW that he wanted to share with them. If it is on the application, they know it.
I think you are not giving adcoms enough credit. They see a variety of grade patterns from applicants year in and year out. If it is something really glaring, like a DUI might be, they would ask about it. I don't think something small like one bad grade or a few Ws is warrant enough for any school to dismiss you from consideration.
Again, I submit that if asked such a question as mentioned above, use the time to remind them of your committment as a student, dedication to their philosophies, your excellent community service experiences, etc. However, if you feel you must bring something up that you think may be a stumbling block to the adcom, mention it if it makes you feel better.
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I suppose you are right, I am taking this too personally. I had a stressful day at my first allopathic interview today, and think I need to realx and get the heck of SDN.
This is definitely one of those things that different people feel different ways, and I definitely believe that making negative aspects of your application the focal point of the interview is a grievous error. Chances are pretty dang good that the OP's situation will be brought up, and I submit that it is most likely that me bringing up my grade did not matter in the slightest.
I also agree, that the wording of "didn't already know" is completely different than the way my question was phrased, and would not respond to this question with anything negative.
I suppose I am guilty of making too close of an association between the final question the interviewer asked me, and the question presented above. The different wordings prompt completely different responses.
Sorry for getting testy, the sun has not been out in Kansas for over a week now.
