why do people dislike telling interviewers where else they have interviewed?

[bannie22]

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i dont understand...

i was at one school, and i told my interviewer straight out where else i had been, and expressed my "amazement" at my interviewer's school despite having interviewed at US News higher-"ranked" schools!

😕

so why do most ppl withhold such information anyway? esp if they ask. my interviewer didnt even ask, but the school was just sooo much better than i had expected.

 

[RySerr21]

i dont understand...

i was at one school, and i told my interviewer straight out where else i had been, and expressed my "amazement" at my interviewer's school despite having interviewed at US News higher-"ranked" schools!

😕

so why do most ppl withhold such information anyway? esp if they ask. my interviewer didnt even ask, but the school was just sooo much better than i had expected.

I hated that question regardless of who asked it. I didnt come to your school to talk to you about other schools I applied to - its irrelevant to the purpose of the meeting. I'm not sure why you would bring it up if it wasnt asked of you.

 

[himself]

^ditto

 

[bravofleet4]

yeah i got asked this once. I answered truthfully but I probably shouldn't have sounded like I was trying to impress that person. It's tricky. You want to seem wanted but at the same time you want them to think you want to go there.

it's like dating? playing hard-to-get but not making them think you're out of their league?

 

[ThatQuestionGuy]

"oh he applied to 20 schools, he'll be fine if we reject him"

 

[greatnt249]

i dont understand...

i was at one school, and i told my interviewer straight out where else i had been, and expressed my "amazement" at my interviewer's school despite having interviewed at US News higher-"ranked" schools!

😕

so why do most ppl withhold such information anyway? esp if they ask. my interviewer didnt even ask, but the school was just sooo much better than i had expected.

Because you never know where the questions will end if you respond in the affirmative to "where else have you interviewed" question. While it may be easy to dodge that question after answering yes, you might get backed into a corner you can't b.s. your way out of easily if the interviewer decides to run with your answer.

It's the equivalent of being asked who else you've dated when you're currently in the middle of a date, especially if your date knows the majority of the other people you've dated.

 

[halekulani]

people dislike the question because
1. it can be used against you when your interviewer presents you to the committee
2. it is not relevant information, IMO, of whether you should be accepted or not.

i interviewed out of state for all of my interviews. if i were asked this question i would be somewhat annoyed considering i just paid 300+ bucks to fly somewhere while taking time off of work (losing more than $100 per day) to interview. i think they should be less worried about other places i've interviewed at.

 

[FluffyRabbit]

If the other schools I have interviewed at are "better", I am afraid they will think I won't attend even if accepted.

If the other schools I have interviewed at are "worse", I am afraid they will think I'm not good enough to attend.

Not to mention, despite what USNews thinks, there isn't actually a total ordering on medical schools in the first place. I just feel like the information shouldn't be relevant.

 

[JJMrK]

i dont understand...

i was at one school, and i told my interviewer straight out where else i had been, and expressed my "amazement" at my interviewer's school despite having interviewed at US News higher-"ranked" schools!

😕

so why do most ppl withhold such information anyway? esp if they ask. my interviewer didnt even ask, but the school was just sooo much better than i had expected.

You're saying you mentioned other places you have interviewed without being asked? 😱

I don't know if there's a tactful way to do that, but I hope you at least tried.

 

[ApoK]

It's too hard to remember and verbally list where I've interviewed. I'm glad I wasn't asked this because it would annoy the hell out of me. I would have said "comparable schools with research opportunities and an integrated curriculum."

 

[flip26]

You're saying you mentioned other places you have interviewed without being asked? 😱

IMO that is crazy. It is bad enough when the interviewer brings it up, but why in hell would the applicant do it?

At one of the "lower" tier schools I interviewed at, the interviewer asked how many interviews I had had...I gave the number, and nothing else was asked...I was prepared to say more, I guess, but I really think that all of these kinds of questions are impertinent, and they make me think less highly of the school, so it seems like a double edged sword for interviewers to ask what seems to be a question arising from an inferiority complex.

 

[bannie22]

yeah, i actually did, i loved my interviewer and we had a really amazing talk, and he taught me alot about my interview skills indirectly too. something like this, you guys are right, if the interviewer wanted to skin me alive he could have asked me questions like where i preferred and the like. but he didnt. or maybe i already gave him that information directly. but either ways, i think i should keep most of this to myself unless asked in the future...

it was just because i was so taken aback at how good the school was! thanks guys!🙂

 

[longhorn09]

Cause it is just morally incorrect to ask.🙁

 

[longhorn09]

i dont understand...

i was at one school, and i told my interviewer straight out where else i had been, and expressed my "amazement" at my interviewer's school despite having interviewed at US News higher-"ranked" schools!

😕

so why do most ppl withhold such information anyway? esp if they ask. my interviewer didnt even ask, but the school was just sooo much better than i had expected.

It made you sound like a jerk.

 

[armybound]

Cause it is just morally incorrect to ask.🙁

there's nothing morally wrong with it, but it can be used against you.

 

[randombetch]

yeah, i actually did, i loved my interviewer and we had a really amazing talk, and he taught me alot about my interview skills indirectly too. something like this, you guys are right, if the interviewer wanted to skin me alive he could have asked me questions like where i preferred and the like. but he didnt. or maybe i already gave him that information directly. but either ways, i think i should keep most of this to myself unless asked in the future...

it was just because i was so taken aback at how good the school was! thanks guys!🙂

From your stats, I'm sure he knew you must have interviewed at top places. It's not going to be like, "oh, I had no idea bannie interviewed at Duke! Now we definitely can't accept bannie."

 

[bannie22]

i wasnt showing off at all, i just really when i went to bed the night before the interview at a student host place, i already had such an amazing time, the cab driver was amazing, my student host was amazing and i went to the school, i loved the place so much more than i had expected. and that was waht i was trying to convey. i dunt think he found me a jerk tho =) he was reallly reallly nice to me, and whether i get in here or not, i learnt so much to take to my other interviews, and also how i look at life AND US NEWS RANKING >_<!!!
really glad 🙂

 

[Hoody]

I used to 😡 Bannie. Now, I 😍Bannie. Bannie should be accepted at all med schools....even ones that weren't applied to.

 

[bannie22]

I used to 😡 Bannie. Now, I 😍Bannie. Bannie should be accepted at all med schools....even ones that weren't applied to.

i dont know if ure serious or not. or whether u are laughing at my own silliness at revealing my other interviews during the interview... but if ure for real

im sorry for making u 😡 previously, and i am really glad that you have nothing against me now.

👍

i hope this was real, because it made my day! i dont like it when ppl dislike me😳


and i really just wanted to be honest to my interviewers.

 

[CalBear2009]

What pisses me off even more are interviewees who feel the need to drop the name of every school they interviewed at to everyone else interviewing that day. Now thats irritating.

 

[FIREitUP]

use it as an opportunity to express your preference for the school you are interviewed at. for instance:
i interviewed recently at suny upstate, they have a really nice updated anatomy lab. at stony brook i said to my interviewer that at upstate they have a big anatomy lab with lots of television screens, but i prefer the smaller, more intimate anatomy lab at stony brook (4 students/cadaver). interviews are all about spin. spin something negative into positive and you're golden.

 

[bannie22]

they had a test. i couldnt go into upstate's anatomy lab. i wished i saw those television screens! yeah its 5-6/ body at upstate.

 

[FIREitUP]

they had a test. i couldnt go into upstate's anatomy lab. i wished i saw those television screens! yeah its 5-6/ body at upstate.

its really cool. the professor was going over the anatomy of the human hand with a severed hand and it was broadcast throughout the lab. cool stuff. but at the same time it seemed like the students were not as engaged as they could have been because its a bit big.

 

[45408]

You guys read into stuff too much. Sometimes, it's just conversation.

 

[bravofleet4]

LoL I should've mentioned at my last interview, my interviewer was pretty laidback until she asked how many schools I applied to. Then she said I'm sure with your grades and GPA you've received interviews elsewhere. I said yeah and listed a few places. After that she pretty much started grilling me....maybe it was b/c she thought that she didn't need to take it easy on me since I already had experience with other interviews. So I would say yeah it can be used against you.