What to say?

[Lebesgue]

Knowing you are accepted to a school already, and during an interview for another school they ask, "what will you do if you don't get in this year?" Do you say,

"Fortunately I won't have to exercise those options."

or

"Well, I suppose if I didn't get in, I would...? as a hypothetical. I feel this is lying, and makes me uncomfortable. I've received various opinions on the matter.

Asked outright, I would have to say I've been accepted somewhere, but does being accepted seal your fate with other schools by them knowing you?re in somewhere else?

Thanks.

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[mikecwru]

Originally posted by Lebesgue
Knowing you are accepted to a school already, and during an interview for another school they ask, "what will you do if you don't get in this year?" Do you say,

"Fortunately I won't have to exercise those options."

or

"Well, I suppose if I didn't get in, I would...? as a hypothetical. I feel this is lying, and makes me uncomfortable. I've received various opinions on the matter.

Asked outright, I would have to say I've been accepted somewhere, but does being accepted seal your fate with other schools by them knowing you?re in somewhere else?

Thanks.

Tell them "Thankfully, I have already been accepted to medical school." If they ask, tell them where. Being admitted somewhere is a bonus and doesn't hurt you. You just have to show them (ie, if it's your state school) that you're not guaranteed to just go there and you're really checking out their school.

mike

 

[Lebesgue]

Thanks mike.

I was also thinking that it could help in fact since "why would I make the trip if I wasn't serious?"

 

[surge]

Also, you could say... "thankfully, I've already been accepted, but if I hadn't...."

At about 50% of my interviews, the first question was where else did you apply and even where I got interviews, acceptances, etc....

Do keep in mind that if a school thinks they're your backup school, they will not take you (overqualified)...

 

[Pickle Salt]

Never, EVER say you've been accepted elsewhere. Keep the focus of the conversation on you and the school at which you're interviewing. AdComs do not know where/if you've been interviewed/accepted. Interviewers want to hear two things:

a) that you will do everything in your power to become a doctor
b) that you will do anything to get into THEIR medical school

take my advice: just say: if i dont get in this year, I am going to continue applying until I get in. my ultimate goal is to become a doctor and i will stop at nothing to reach this goal.

they eat that **** up.

 

[tedstriker]

I agree, but the question is sometimes asked, "What would you do if medicine were simply not an option?" and not "what would you do if you didn't get in this year?"

I think the question, if phrased in this way, is intended to probe whether you've considered other careers. At any rate, as long as you answer honestly I don't see how they can hold it against you...

 

[Jet915]

I was asked the same thing at my interview for SLU. I was honest and told them I got accepted elsewhere and she asked where and I told her (then she made fun of my school but she was joking and made fun of SLU too). I also told her what my plans were gonna be if I didnt get in this year. Unfortunately, I didnt really tell her blatantly, but hopefully she inferred that since I was at the interview I must be interested....

Jetson

 

[Adcadet]

Originally posted by Pickle Salt
Never, EVER say you've been accepted elsewhere. Keep the focus of the conversation on you and the school at which you're interviewing. AdComs do not know where/if you've been interviewed/accepted. Interviewers want to hear two things:

a) that you will do everything in your power to become a doctor
b) that you will do anything to get into THEIR medical school

take my advice: just say: if i dont get in this year, I am going to continue applying until I get in. my ultimate goal is to become a doctor and i will stop at nothing to reach this goal.

they eat that **** up.

Since I've been yanking my app from elsewhere, I will never get to do this in an interview. But it sure seems like it woudl be fun to mention that I've already been accepted elsewhere. However, I've got to agree with Pickle Salt on this one. Focus on the school you're interviewing at, and say that all your backup plans are simply alternate paths into med school.

 

[VienneseWaltz]

I disagree with Pickle Salt. Acceptances say that other schools consider you a desirable applicant, and no school is going to penalize you for being successful. I agree with surge, though--if a school thinks you would never go there, then I don't think the adcom will waste its time. (A friend with offensively high MCATs, excellent GPA at prestigious undergrad school was denied interviews at 2 schools way, way beneath Wash U, the school she now attends--I figure that these 2 schools thought she was out of their league.) Be honest, say that you've been fortunate to get an acceptance already, then guide the conversation back to why you really want an acceptance at THAT school. If they want to hear the hypothetical crap from you, I think they would ask.

 

[Street Philosopher]

Originally posted by Pickle Salt
take my advice: just say: if i dont get in this year, I am going to continue applying until I get in. my ultimate goal is to become a doctor and i will stop at nothing to reach this goal.

they eat that **** up.

sometimes they'll push you and say suppose you don't get in after many tries. if you keep saying you'll apply for the 10th time, then you're a ******* so that answer doesn't "work" all the time.

 

[tBw]

This has come up in quite a few of my interviews. I was just honest - I told them what my plans would have been had I not got in, to show I had made alternative plans, then I told them that fortunately I was already in, and then I told them why I was continuing to interview (ie what specifically about their school was a strength I was looking for). I can't say whether every person received such news well, as some of those schools were non-rolling and have not let me know yet, however the ones that have contacted me have been acceptances - so it's clearly not 'make or break'. Just handle it however you feel comfotable doing so; I think these questions are in reality fair, so don't have a problem answering them, and would rather just go with the truth than have to keep second thinking every response I give in case I give away where else I have interviewed/been accepted etc.

 

[surge]

Keep in mind that unofficially, schools share info about the status of the applicants (I was told this, off record, by a director of an MD/PhD program at a certain school). Not to say that the interviewers will necesserily know, but it's possible.

There is no harm in saying you got accepted, unless you tell an interviewer at Northsouthern Guam State University that you hold an acceptance from Harvard.

Actually, I once used this to my advantage (I won't elaborate, and keep in mind that some things are different when applying to MD/PhD). I told my interviewer straight up that I got accepted to a top school (which I did) and have therefore cancelled all other interviews, EXCEPT that one. I pretty much told them that if they accept me, I would come to them, otherwise, I'm already set.
I'm by no means suggesting anyone do this, as my situation was very specific, but I'm just saying.

 

[tBw]

as you say surge, some things are different regarding MD/PhD and straight MD - it wouldn't surprise me that schools compare notes on mstp apps, but I think there are just too many straight MD apps to actually bother comparing all of them.

 

[VienneseWaltz]

Where you're holding acceptances is public knowledge (to med schools) through AAMC.

 

[cabruen]

According to the AAMC privacy policy your acceptances are not public until May 15th. Until then it is your private business (unless you post it on a website as I have done. )

However, I have seen many suspicious things that make me think this policy is not enforced or followed. For example, UTMB posted on its public website its matchlist. It has full name, and school attended. That seems highly inappropriate.

Nevertheless, my advice to the original poster would be to answer truthfully. Interviewers are excellent at detecting trite bull**** answers.

I would say something like..."I have been privledged to have already been accepted at X, but (school your are interviewing) has such a magnicifent program and is so much a better fit for me because (list some reasons), that I was eager to continue my interviewing season and come here to meet with you."

Best of luck.

 

[Bonds756]

You should definitely not lie. If you have been accepted, it can't hurt you since it shows you must be interested in their school to even show up. But at the same time you should have an answer to the question ready and say you have been accepted but if you weren't you would...