What was Your Hardest Interview Question,

[drakkan2001]

It seems to me that most college students are able to answer the simple interview questions so its really hard to figure out who is giving bs and who is honest. I think giving clinical scenario questions is the best format because there are billion different questions you can ask that shows intellectual capacity and not regurgitation. All in all, this year's applicant pool has been pretty amazing from an MS4's standpoint


Question:
How do you compare a 35, 3.9 GPA with a 36, 3.8 with fairly similar applications

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[patekpremed]

How many mammograms are done each year in the U.S.

The proper answer was to come up with a number estimate by using logical reasoning.

Yeah that's not too bad. One of my friends who is an investment banking analyst said all his interview questions were like this.

Just think there's ABOUT 300,000,000 people in the U.S. Half are women=150,000,000. Most don't get regular mammograms until they are ~35-40 so you can probably cut that about in half =75,000,000. They are supposed to get one every 1-2 years, but most probably don't. The number is probably close to 50,000,000. That would be my best guess.

I think that's a good question. The interviewer probably cares very little if you even get close to the right answer, but rather to see how you solve problems.

 

[dally1025]

If you were a fruit, what fruit would you be and why?

The only thing I could think of at the time was a cherry, because I'm mostly sweet with the occasional tart.

Probably not the best answer but it sounded less corny than a the only other thing I could think of (peach because I have a solid core)... They laughed and I was accepted... After I answered, my interviewer told me one of the other students asked why she asked him that and refused to answer.​

 

[Szent]

I walk into the interview, and the first question that the interview asked was:

"So.. do you have any questions?"

In my mind, I was like "Wait... isnt this supposed to go at the end when I can actually have questions?"

 

[Emilysmile]

Interviewer says: If you were an attending and doing a surgical procedure with ME and noticed I had been drinking as the pt was being put under general anethesia what would you do?

-- WHY do we have the national problems with healthcare that we do? (not what are they or what are possible solutions, but why)

 

[216397]

I haven't gotten through all of my interviews yet, but I also got asked a question about having / taking care of children. I noticed there was a discussion about similar questions earlier in this thread, so I thought I might offer my two cents about it. Personally, I found the question obnoxious and rude. Part of that is a response to the way my interviewer phrased the question ("When you have children in medical school, what will you do?"). Really, though, I think the question is incredibly presumptuous in and of itself. Without prior knowledge of my life, nobody would try to make assumptions about my interests or my talents; why is it okay to assume that I have definite plans to have children? Nobody can tell that information based solely upon a person's appearance.

Honestly, the tone of the question made me feel like my interviewer was trying to talk down to me. As a petite girl, I'm used to getting that sort of treatment (sometimes it's in a nice way, like when a guy offers to help me), and usually, it doesn't bother me--after all, it's normal for people to make assumptions based upon a person's appearance; I do it all the time, as everyone does. In the context of a medical school interview, though, I think it's inappropriate. All candidates should be treated as equals in the sense that interviewers shouldn't make assumptions about their personal lives.

 

[Depakote]

Interviewer says: If you were an attending and doing a surgical procedure with ME and noticed I had been drinking as the pt was being put under general anethesia what would you do?

Well obviously I would be offended that you hadn't invited me to partake and would have to put a stop to the procedure because I just can't work with someone that's going to commit that kind of party-foul.

 

[TupacalipseT96]

"What was the most controversial thing you've ever done?"

How do you answer this one without looking like a criminal? I gave up trying to figure that out and just told him about an old hobby of mine that was a bit illegal. *shrugs* He seemed to like the story.

 

[JMiller85]

From the statement, humans are the only species that expose whites (which I was not aware of), so that means that there has to be some function that human eyes have that other species' eyes do not. What is unique about human eyes?

Horses often expose the whites of their eyes. It happens most often when they are afraid, but some horses are just born like that.