What was the strangest interview question you got?

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At a school in Texas (which has access to which other schools to which you’ve applied), I was relentlessly hounded about why I applied to Northwestern.... still don’t understand why specifically Northwestern, but whatever.

Edit/update:got accepted there. ha!
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My cousin's first question that he got asked at Mayo was "If you were a cookie, what type of cookie would you be and WHY?" He answered chocolate chip because it was his favorite type of cookie. The interviewer gave a "hmmph" in a nonpositive tone and wrote something down on his notepad. My cousin ended up not getting in.
 
DoctorSnow said:
My cousin's first question that he got asked at Mayo was "If you were a cookie, what type of cookie would you be and WHY?" He answered chocolate chip because it was his favorite type of cookie. The interviewer gave a "hmmph" in a nonpositive tone and wrote something down on his notepad. My cousin ended up not getting in.
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I bet it's because chocolate chip cookie was not interviewer's favorite.
Gotta check the website and read their mission first before coming in for an interview.

On a serious note, it might not be only due to this question, but if he answered just because its my favorite cookie, it wasn't enough. Make sure you elaborate completely even on the simplest questions.
 
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PashaOdesit said:
I bet it's because chocolate chip cookie was not interviewed favorite.
Gotta check the website and read their mission first before coming in for an interview.

On a serious note, it might not be only due to this question, but if he answered just because its my favorite cookie, it wasn't enough. Make sure you elaborate completely even on the simplest questions.
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Personally I told him he answered it wrong because if I was a cookie, I'd want to live long. So I'd be like a stale raisin cookie, which wouldn't get eaten as quick.
 
PashaOdesit said:
I bet it's because chocolate chip cookie was not interviewed favorite.
Gotta check the website and read their mission first before coming in for an interview.

On a serious note, it might not be only due to this question, but if he answered just because its my favorite cookie, it wasn't enough. Make sure you elaborate completely even on the simplest questions.
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Agreed. I would've said hazelnut or something and said it was bc it's an amalgam of different flavors and provides good nutrition for everyone else. Also bc it provides strength etc. then again, it IS a weird question.
 
chemdoctor said:
Agreed. I would've said hazelnut or something and said it was bc it's an amalgam of different flavors and provides good nutrition for everyone else. Also bc it provides strength etc. then again, it IS a weird question.
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I’d say chocolate chip because almost everyone loves chocolate chip cookies, so I can make the most people happy.
 
Questions like that are what's wrong with interviews. Could I be a bull**** artist and say oatmeal raisin and segue to a health and wellness or diabetes soundbite? Sure. Would I rather be a straight shooter and say Subway's white chocolate macadamia-nut. Absolutely. Maybe this is the Pre-II Mayo rejection talking, but screw those guys. When's the last time you saw someone plowing into baked goods in their mayo-wear? Never.
 
BombsAway said:
Questions like that are what's wrong with interviews. Could I be a bull**** artist and say oatmeal raisin and segue to a health and wellness or diabetes soundbite? Sure. Would I rather be a straight shooter and say Subway's white chocolate macadamia-nut. Absolutely. Maybe this is the Pre-II Mayo rejection talking, but screw those guys. When's the last time you saw someone plowing into baked goods in their mayo-wear? Never.
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To be fair, I interviewed there and had no questions like this at all.
 
BombsAway said:
Questions like that are what's wrong with interviews. Could I be a bull**** artist and say oatmeal raisin and segue to a health and wellness or diabetes soundbite? Sure. Would I rather be a straight shooter and say Subway's white chocolate macadamia-nut. Absolutely. Maybe this is the Pre-II Mayo rejection talking, but screw those guys. When's the last time you saw someone plowing into baked goods in their mayo-wear? Never.
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Hehe. You said "plowing"
 
DoctorSnow said:
My cousin's first question that he got asked at Mayo was "If you were a cookie, what type of cookie would you be and WHY?" He answered chocolate chip because it was his favorite type of cookie. The interviewer gave a "hmmph" in a nonpositive tone and wrote something down on his notepad. My cousin ended up not getting in.
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I literally got that exact same question. Without hesitation I said double chocolate cookie, because chocolate is so amazing that it should be included in the cookie as much as possible, and if I were a cookie I would want to have the maximum amount of chocolate.... 🙂😱:dead:
 
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LizzyM said:
I came here to see if anyone thought that one (or more than one) of my questions was weird.
I would ask someone who had only one grade below A about that grade. Mostly to gauge the candidate's perfectionist tendencies.
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Ok I'll bite. Just my $0.02. Sorry for length in advance.

The answer depends on whether applicant is a nontrad. or traditional.

I believe it is a fair question to ask a nontrad for said purposes because that person has graduated, and having worked in the real world, should be aware that sometimes things don't go according to plan. Therefore, being able to/not able to adjust and deal with these "imperfections" can be indicative of how they will handle the stress of medical school and beyond.

The question is a bit unfair to a traditional pre-med because if the student (without real world working experiences) has had access to good info/fair knowledgeable pre-med advising, then she would have been taught that the level of competition is fierce. Getting top grades are Pavlovian conditioned (rightly or wrongly) into them.

May I suggest another question to gauge perfectionist tendencies. Hypothetically, you (male or female cuz 21st century) spend a year planning the perfect marriage proposal to the love of your life. And you hire a photographer to discreetly photograph the exact moment you propose on a cliff, silhouetted against a setting sun. However, the moment you ask the question and the picture is snapped, you slip and the ring accidentally falls over the cliff. You don't get the perfect snap. Regardless, your SO says yes. What is your response when asked about it later?
 
DV-T said:
Ok I'll bite. Just my $0.02. Sorry for length in advance.

The answer depends on whether applicant is a nontrad. or traditional.

I believe it is a fair question to ask a nontrad for said purposes because that person has graduated, and having worked in the real world, should be aware that sometimes things don't go according to plan. Therefore, being able to/not able to adjust and deal with these "imperfections" can be indicative of how they will handle the stress of medical school and beyond.

The question is a bit unfair to a traditional pre-med because if the student (without real world working experiences) has had access to good info/fair knowledgeable pre-med advising, then she would have been taught that the level of competition is fierce. Getting top grades are Pavlovian conditioned (rightly or wrongly) into them.

May I suggest another question to gauge perfectionist tendencies. Hypothetically, you (male or female cuz 21st century) spend a year planning the perfect marriage proposal to the love of your life. And you hire a photographer to discreetly photograph the exact moment you propose on a cliff, silhouetted against a setting sun. However, the moment you ask the question and the picture is snapped, you slip and the ring accidentally falls over the cliff. You don't get the perfect snap. Regardless, your SO says yes. What is your response when asked about it later?
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I’m a little confused. You just lost a really expensive ring and you think the reaction to this has something to do with perfectionistic tendencies? I don’t see the relationship. Maybe you could ask someone how he/she handles, say, the wedding cake being messed up or the flowers not looking right. But the loss of anywhere between $5k and $10k because you dropped a ring is a very different event. I would also trust the judgement of the person who decides to propose that close to a cliff.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
DV-T said:
Ok I'll bite. Just my $0.02. Sorry for length in advance.

The answer depends on whether applicant is a nontrad. or traditional.

I believe it is a fair question to ask a nontrad for said purposes because that person has graduated, and having worked in the real world, should be aware that sometimes things don't go according to plan. Therefore, being able to/not able to adjust and deal with these "imperfections" can be indicative of how they will handle the stress of medical school and beyond.

The question is a bit unfair to a traditional pre-med because if the student (without real world working experiences) has had access to good info/fair knowledgeable pre-med advising, then she would have been taught that the level of competition is fierce. Getting top grades are Pavlovian conditioned (rightly or wrongly) into them.

May I suggest another question to gauge perfectionist tendencies. Hypothetically, you (male or female cuz 21st century) spend a year planning the perfect marriage proposal to the love of your life. And you hire a photographer to discreetly photograph the exact moment you propose on a cliff, silhouetted against a setting sun. However, the moment you ask the question and the picture is snapped, you slip and the ring accidentally falls over the cliff. You don't get the perfect snap. Regardless, your SO says yes. What is your response when asked about it later?
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I like LizzyM's method better.
 
DBC03 said:
I’m a little confused. You just lost a really expensive ring and you think the reaction to this has something to do with perfectionistic tendencies? I don’t see the relationship. Maybe you could ask someone how he/she handles, say, the wedding cake being messed up or the flowers not looking right. But the loss of anywhere between $5k and $10k because you dropped a ring is a very different event. I would also trust the judgement of the person who decides to propose that close to a cliff.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
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As someone who worked their tail off for the engagement ring I bought my wife... if this colors me perfectionistic, then call me Shirley 🙂
 
On the topic of asking someone with a single grade below A about that one "flaw" that ruined what would have been a 4.0 GPA:
DV-T said:
The question is a bit unfair to a traditional pre-med because if the student (without real world working experiences) has had access to good info/fair knowledgeable pre-med advising, then she would have been taught that the level of competition is fierce. Getting top grades are Pavlovian conditioned (rightly or wrongly) into them.
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I still maintain that it is informative to ask an applicant about the single course that ruined what would have been a 4.0. The response tells me quite a bit about how they have handled a real life situation where they had less than a perfect outcome.
 
LizzyM said:
On the topic of asking someone with a single grade below A about that one "flaw" that ruined what would have been a 4.0 GPA:


I still maintain that it is informative to ask an applicant about the single course that ruined what would have been a 4.0. The response tells me quite a bit about how they have handled a real life situation where they had less than a perfect outcome.
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I regularly encourage my friends with 4.0s to make a B+ and enjoy some sunshine 🙂
 
DJ Khaled's Pet Tiger said:
I regularly encourage my friends with 4.0s to make a B+ and enjoy some sunshine 🙂
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I made that decision this semester, and it's been great.

Also, idk who these Mayo interviewers are, but neither of mine asked anything "fun" like that—it was all straight behavioral questions... still a very relaxed interview, just nothing like what type of cookie I wanna be :/
 
DBC03 said:
I’m a little confused. You just lost a really expensive ring and you think the reaction to this has something to do with perfectionistic tendencies? I don’t see the relationship. Maybe you could ask someone how he/she handles, say, the wedding cake being messed up or the flowers not looking right. But the loss of anywhere between $5k and $10k because you dropped a ring is a very different event. I would also trust the judgement of the person who decides to propose that close to a cliff.
Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
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Let me elaborate a bit more. If the response to the question was to laugh about the experience, know that the ring was just a thing that can be replaced, and that the goal of getting the "yes" was attained then they handled it well and expect that sometimes life gets in the way of perfectly planned things. However, if the response was to focus on complaining about not getting that perfect/movie-like shot then this individual may not be able to handle things that don't go as planned well.

This was my inspiration:

 
Had a prominent guy from a good school pull a [random office supply] from his pocket and tell me to make stuff out of it, using only it.
 
DoctorSnow said:
My cousin's first question that he got asked at Mayo was "If you were a cookie, what type of cookie would you be and WHY?" He answered chocolate chip because it was his favorite type of cookie. The interviewer gave a "hmmph" in a nonpositive tone and wrote something down on his notepad. My cousin ended up not getting in.
Click to expand...

Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
I’d say chocolate chip because almost everyone loves chocolate chip cookies, so I can make the most people happy.
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BombsAway said:
Questions like that are what's wrong with interviews. Could I be a bull**** artist and say oatmeal raisin and segue to a health and wellness or diabetes soundbite? Sure. Would I rather be a straight shooter and say Subway's white chocolate macadamia-nut. Absolutely. Maybe this is the Pre-II Mayo rejection talking, but screw those guys. When's the last time you saw someone plowing into baked goods in their mayo-wear? Never.
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The only acceptable answer to the "what kind of cookie would you be" question is "a smart one."
 
Goro said:
This has happened once with us. Auto rject. The person was quite pathological
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What if they had to use the restroom, had an incredibly important phone call, or something along those lines?
 
BombsAway said:
Questions like that are what's wrong with interviews. Could I be a bull**** artist and say oatmeal raisin and segue to a health and wellness or diabetes soundbite? Sure. Would I rather be a straight shooter and say Subway's white chocolate macadamia-nut. Absolutely. Maybe this is the Pre-II Mayo rejection talking, but screw those guys. When's the last time you saw someone plowing into baked goods in their mayo-wear? Never.
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These questions tell us how well you can think on your feet.

Having an auto segue into something health related is not alway a good thing either.

Interviews help us weed out those who can only think in black and white terms.
 
Goro said:
They would have said so. But who has to make a phone call during interviews?????
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So there are occasions there they can leave the room and not be autorejected?

Maybe their wife is having a baby!
 
LizzyM said:
On the topic of asking someone with a single grade below A about that one "flaw" that ruined what would have been a 4.0 GPA:


I still maintain that it is informative to ask an applicant about the single course that ruined what would have been a 4.0. The response tells me quite a bit about how they have handled a real life situation where they had less than a perfect outcome.
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I can see how it could be an informative question. Other interviewers have asked about perfectionism in similar ways, which has led to some interesting discussions.

In retrospect, it's possible my interviewer was just goading me and it went over my head 😀. They were quite persistent in questioning what I was struggling with in my life at the time, since something must've gone wrong to cause me to "break" my GPA... 😵 It was a weirdly dramatic implication.
 
Robin-jay said:
So there are occasions there they can leave the room and not be autorejected?

Maybe their wife is having a baby!
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most likely would reschedule if having baby these days. That would be a good reason to have interview on a different day.

Interviews are 15-30 minutes, most emergencies can wait especially that you are in a different state. If you are in the middle of an interview your phone is off, how can you know who is calling or if it is an emergency? You won't just pull your phone out.
As for the restroom, there is time given to use a restroom before your actual interview.
 
PashaOdesit said:
most likely would reschedule if having baby these days. That would be a good reason to have interview on a different day.

Interviews are 15-30 minutes, most emergencies can wait especially that you are in a different state. If you are in the middle of an interview your phone is off, how can you know who is calling or if it is an emergency? You won't just pull your phone out.
As for the restroom, there is time given to use a restroom before your actual interview.
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just hypothetical probing.

But ya, there should almost be no reason to leave the interview room of course.
 
PashaOdesit said:
most likely would reschedule if having baby these days. That would be a good reason to have interview on a different day.

Interviews are 15-30 minutes, most emergencies can wait especially that you are in a different state. If you are in the middle of an interview your phone is off, how can you know who is calling or if it is an emergency? You won't just pull your phone out.
As for the restroom, there is time given to use a restroom before your actual interview.
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Also most labors take hours, not minutes. The mean labor time for first time moms is 14 hours, with a mean of 8 hours for multiparous moms. If your wife’s having a baby, she’s probably not going into labor and squeezing junior out in the 45 minutes you’re unavailable.
 
Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
Also most labors take hours, not minutes. The mean labor time for first time moms is 14 hours, with a mean of 8 hours for multiparous moms. If your wife’s having a baby, she’s probably not going into labor and squeezing junior out in the 45 minutes you’re unavailable.
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what's your point?
 
PashaOdesit said:
what's your point?
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If you can’t see how stating that the average labor is on the order of several hours relates to the post you quoted (which said, “maybe their wife is having a baby!”), and how it supports your response, I’m not sure what to tell you.
 
Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
If you can’t see how stating that the average labor is on the order of several hours relates to the post you quoted (which said, “maybe their wife is having a baby!”), and how it supports your response, I’m not sure what to tell you.
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Based on their post history I don't think english is their first language.
 
twentyeightmiles said:
I can see how it could be an informative question. Other interviewers have asked about perfectionism in similar ways, which has led to some interesting discussions.

In retrospect, it's possible my interviewer was just goading me and it went over my head 😀. They were quite persistent in questioning what I was struggling with in my life at the time, since something must've gone wrong to cause me to "break" my GPA... 😵 It was a weirdly dramatic implication.
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I’m sure you passed with flying colors!


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
Also an upperclassman said the first question he was asked at our state school was somewhat along the lines of:

"What are your views on abortion and try to convince me to be for it or against it." He didn't know if it was a trap or not because the interviewer had his file open and he was the president of the Republican's Club for 3 years.
 
Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
If you can’t see how stating that the average labor is on the order of several hours relates to the post you quoted (which said, “maybe their wife is having a baby!”), and how it supports your response, I’m not sure what to tell you.
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I have been in 2 labors with my wife and third one is coming in couple weeks. I know how long labors go.

I never said labors take minutes. I said that it is best is to reschedule your interview if your due date falls close to that interview. I was just responding to the post about if wife is in the labor. It's not like it is a surprise. Most labors fall within 2 weeks of a due date.

As far as 15-30 minutes, I said that even if someone calls you in the middle of an interview they can wait at least 15 minutes. It's not like you will be able to help anyways being in a different state.
 
PashaOdesit said:
you are right, English is my 4th language. But that does not make me more stupid.
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If it makes you feel any better, you write with it pretty well. You don’t write like it’s a foreign language to you. But I’m struggling to learn Spanish, and have mad respect for your capability with the language/languages in general.
 
PashaOdesit said:
I have been in 2 labors with my wife and third one is coming in couple weeks. I know how long labors go.

I never said labors take minutes. I said that it is best is to reschedule your interview if your due date falls close to that interview. I was just responding to the post about if wife is in the labor. It's not like it is a surprise. Most labors fall within 2 weeks of a due date.

As far as 15-30 minutes, I said that even if someone calls you in the middle of an interview they can wait at least 15 minutes. It's not like you will be able to help anyways being in a different state.
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You write pretty well. I’ll clarify. I was supporting your position that the relatively short length of an interview and the fact that most labors last hours means there aren’t many reasons why someone would have to leave abruptly in an interview. I quoted your post and said “also...” because I was agreeing with you. Nothing in my posts contradicted what you said.

Also, I didn’t call you stupid. If anything, it’s a compliment because your written English in the few threads I’ve seen of yours have been good enough to make me think it was either your first language or a language you’ve been speaking for a while.
 
Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
You write pretty well. I’ll clarify. I was supporting your position that the relatively short length of an interview and the fact that most labors last hours means there aren’t many reasons why someone would have to leave abruptly in an interview. I quoted your post and said “also...” because I was agreeing with you. Nothing in my posts contradicted what you said.

Also, I didn’t call you stupid. If anything, it’s a compliment because your written English in the few threads I’ve seen of yours have been good enough to make me think it was either your first language or a language you’ve been speaking for a while.
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Sorry for misunderstanding. That's why I asked if you could clarify your point.
Thank you.

I know my English is not the best, but it's not something I would feel ashamed or embarrassed about. I take steps to improve it all the time. It is a skill that I am working on and for the most part I understand people and they understand me.
I am thankful to God that I am here and have ability to learn another language.
 
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