What's the pt of asking "have you been on other interviews?"

[unsung]

So.. during my interview, I was asked either "have you been on other interviews? or "how many other interviews do you have?" Can't remember the exact wording... but I answered "a few"...

Anyway, just wondering what my interviewer does with that information?

I was also asked (different school) "what other schools are you applying to?" At the time, I sort of neglected to answer the question in terms of how I liked *that* particular school (which I was interviewing at) better than some of the other schools I was applying to... I just sort of listed some schools.

What are they trying to assess with these questions? Especially with the # of interviews question? I guess I can sort of understand the which other schools question as a way to assess your interest in that particular school. But what are they trying to get at with have you had other interviews? Would it be better or worse to have a lot of other interviews?

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[billy72583]

If you have to ask whether it is better or worse to have alot of interviews, you should not attend medschool.

 

[fightinI]

So.. during my interview, I was asked either "have you been on other interviews? or "how many other interviews do you have?" Can't remember the exact wording... but I answered "a few"...

Anyway, just wondering what my interviewer does with that information?

I was also asked (different school) "what other schools are you applying to?" At the time, I sort of neglected to answer the question in terms of how I liked *that* particular school (which I was interviewing at) better than some of the other schools I was applying to... I just sort of listed some schools.

What are they trying to assess with these questions? Especially with the # of interviews question? I guess I can sort of understand the which other schools question as a way to assess your interest in that particular school. But what are they trying to get at with have you had other interviews? Would it be better or worse to have a lot of other interviews?

Don't over analyze. Just answer the question and tell the truth... it won't help or hurt you either way in the end.

There maybe several reason why the question is asked. The most substantive being just to lead into a pitch for their school... it happened to me twice: "Sure, Wisconsin is a great school, but do you want to wear red for the next four years? You'd look much more handsome in orange and blue..."

 

[RSAgator]

You'd look much more handsome in orange and blue..."

go gators

I think it's a pretty harmless question, I did the bulk of my interviews in a 1 week stretch and so I just said that I'd just been to schools X and Y. It can potentially open up some more questions. For instance at my Vanderbilt interview the guy spoke about how different nashville is to new york (where most of my other interviews were) which just kind of led into my rationale for applying both places. I don't understand why people get so defensive about the question, but answering "a few" isn't a very great way to carry on a conversation...

 

[chpueblo22]

go gators

I think they were referring to Illinois...

 

[CourageKid]

On my most recent interview, I was asked where I was in my interview process in general. The follow-up question was what have you learned about med school during the process compard to what you expected going into the whole thing.

In the same interview, I was asked whether I had been accepted at other med schools, to which I simply said yes and kept it general. I thought it might go into a sticky situation, but the interviewer actually wanted to know because I was calmer than he expected (He was on call and kept getting up to answer pages and I guess it didn't bother me).

Both times, it was no big deal; just part of the flow of our conversation.