Worst/Funniest Interview Experiences

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RedLemond said:
Int: How do you respond to criticism? (gives me the stonewall face)
Me: (starts laughing)
Int: (no change in expression)

I was definitely laughing b/c the question was so canned and I immediately imagined all possible answers, which, no way around it, would also sound canned.

In the next nanosecond I realized that laughter can imply so many things.. not sure how I recovered from that one (if I actually did!).
Click to expand...

Laughter is a great way to respond to criticism.
 
bigdig91 said:
Student Interviewer- If you had an unlimited amount of money and one month what would you do?
Me- Well first I think I would give an "unlimited amount"(with finger quotes) to some charities (pause) then I think I would give some to friends and family, lets make it an unlimited amount (pause) and then I think I would give an unlimited amount to every person in the world...

i was hoping not to get this question but the interviewer ended up laughing hysterically

Result: Accepted
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I would say, keep it a secret from the world. An unlimited amount of money flooding the markets would kill the world economy with inflation!
 
aggieallure said:
Interviewer: "Tell me what you've been doing since you've graduated."

Me: "I am taking some classes because I don't like to work so much."


granted this was in Spanish. I was so nervous about how to explain myself that I didn't realize what came out. I was pretty shocked they accepted me 2 weeks later.
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in spanish?? por que?
 
at one of my interviews, i was asked about my greatest failure. my answer: "i don't know, i haven't really failed at anything... but i guess maybe the mcat the first tiem i took it".

result: waitlisted.
 
Interviewer: So do you have anything else you'd like to tell me?

Me: I'm awesome and you should admit me to ____?

Interviewer: What?

Me: I'm awesome and you should admit me to ____.

Interviewer: .... ok....

Me: ...for the following reasons!!!<insert list here>
 
Myuu said:
Interviewer: So do you have anything else you'd like to tell me?

Me: I'm awesome and you should admit me to ____?

Interviewer: What?

Me: I'm awesome and you should admit me to ____.

Interviewer: .... ok....

Me: ...for the following reasons!!!<insert list here>
Click to expand...

Haha Myuu, you didn't actually say "I'm awesome and you should admit me to ____" and THEN repeat that phrase for emphasis :laugh:
 
Myuu said:
Interviewer: So do you have anything else you'd like to tell me?

Me: I'm awesome and you should admit me to ____?

Interviewer: What?

Me: I'm awesome and you should admit me to ____.

Interviewer: .... ok....

Me: ...for the following reasons!!!<insert list here>
Click to expand...

Haha I have one like that:

Interviewer: Well you know, the admissions process is very long an grueling for the students and the school. We spend a lot of time looking at each applicant..... etc.

Me: Well if it saves you any time you can just write "Accept" on my file with big capital letters!

Result: Accepted


Another one:

The interviewer was a psychologist, asked me what I wanted to specialize in, I said I wanted to keep my options open.

Interviewer: Okay, what DON'T you want to specialize in, then?

Me: [not really prepared for the question] Ob/Gyn. I don't want to spend all day looking at that stuff, and I don't want to ruin the dream.

I then backed off and explained that I could do an Ob/Gyn rotation and that I respected the field.

Result: Accepted


My two most boring, short, non memorable interviews were where I got waitlisted.
 
I had one really bad answer, and one question that was really awkward:

The first is the bad answer to the question: "If I were a friend and I called you from a bookstore looking to buy a good book, what would you recommend?"

My answer: "Uhm...well to tell you the truth, I don't read much. My friend said Middlesex was a good book. I think it's about some transgendered person, and there's lots of gender role issues in the book. I guess I would just pass along that recommendation..." (I hope adcom didn't think I was pushing like some softcore transgendered porn or something)

Result: Waitlist

The second is a really awkward question I got: "Were you a social outcast in high school?"

My answer (paraphrased, it was longer), after getting over in my head, "geez, am I THAT socially awkward that he would need to ask me this?": "I've always had a unique outlook on life, but I wouldn't say that I was an outcast, I had a group of friends"

Result: Admit with scholarships
 
Last edited:
interviewer:

tell me about a book you recently read.

me:

to be honest, I don't really read other than just sometimes doing the reading assignments for science textbooks. A few years ago I read the harry potter though.


yup waitlist too 🙂
 
I was caught off guard by a really really easy question.

Interviewer: "So what kind of TV shows do you watch?"

*Mind racing through list of shows I could actually say out loud...Dexter (no)...Gossip Girl (uh no)...Californication (definitely not)...*

Me: Uuuuummm....I like some shows on HBO...

Interviewer: "Oh do you get HBO? I don't, cable TV is such a waste of money"

Me: *thinking that I couldn't defend myself since I don't have HBO either, since I get my tv shows from other "sources" ummmm I usually go to a friend's house *great that was an outright lie*

Interviewer: ... Do you read any books....

Result: Accepted

Most awkward-for-no-reason interview ever :laugh:
 
franniemeow07 said:
I was caught off guard by a really really easy question.

Interviewer: "So what kind of TV shows do you watch?"

*Mind racing through list of shows I could actually say out loud...Dexter (no)...Gossip Girl (uh no)...Californication (definitely not)...*

Me: Uuuuummm....I like some shows on HBO...

Interviewer: "Oh do you get HBO? I don't, cable TV is such a waste of money"

Me: *thinking that I couldn't defend myself since I don't have HBO either, since I get my tv shows from other "sources" ummmm I usually go to a friend's house *great that was an outright lie*

Interviewer: ... Do you read any books....

Result: Accepted

Most awkward-for-no-reason interview ever :laugh:
Click to expand...

Well, at least it turned out well!👍
 
I totally spent the last like 2 hours reading through the majority of this thread...this is great! It's totally easing my mind about interviews. It's nice to know that I can screw up and still have a chance of getting in!

I may not get interviews if I bomb my Biochem class though. I read this instead of reading my Biochem book for the test I have on Friday 🙁 Oh the joys of cramming...
 
I feel like this thread is like therapy for me....I'm still upset about my 2/10 interview at a university of california med school. Her words hurt ( I wrote them down).

Interviewer: "Your overall MCAT score does not seem competitive for our school. Do you have a reading or learning disability I should know about? I mean you speak English well in person."

Me: Well, tests are my weakness. If you review the rest of my experiences and grades you will see that I have the ability to handle the curriculum.

(What I really wanted to say was, "I'm going to interview at Duke tomorrow, so obviously I'm not stupid, maybe you're stupid for asking me this question." )

She continued to grill me about the test scores and for me to "help her defend me." I was cornered and just repeated my answer. Then I ran off, almost forgetting to shake her hand, after she walked me out of the door, to my next interview with a med student.

Still waiting to hear from this UC. Wait listed at Duke 🙁 ...
 
Anyhow, as I said in my title what I'm about to post I stole from the reapplicants forum in an old thread from 2004 by gitooboy.

Here is his crazy interview story:
Gitooboy's story in 2004
Interviewer: So what would you do if your neighbor brought his kid in because he hurt himself playing but couldn?t pay?
Me: I?d still treat him because it?s the right thing to do.
Interviewer: Okay, but what if it happened again the next week and the next?
Me: I still would treat him because I don?t think I can turn my back on a hurt little kid and do nothing, that?s not why I want to go into medicine.
(Few minutes of similar questioning later)
Interviewer: You know, I keep trying to lead you somewhere and you?re just not getting it. I?m talking about suspected child abuse here, but never mind.
Me: (Thinking ?Oh, F@&$!)

He was waitlisted but eventually got off by writing repeated letters of intent from the thread that was in the other forum.

Its sad because as I read this the first thing I thought of was abuse or something else is going on to be causing the patient to keep on coming back. Maybe Ive just seen what an ugly place the world can be but that was the first thing on my mind when I saw that situation being presented.

I think if I was 21 I'd have made some of the mistakes people make here now but if I were to be asked the questions some of you make now, I'd probably have an answer for almost all of them.

I think this thread is one of the best and its sister thread that was like this started by entropy was also one of the best. It is great to see that things are nerve wrecking not for one person alone but that everyone has understood at some point or another how nerve wrecking it can be.
 
RedLemond said:
Int: How do you respond to criticism? (gives me the stonewall face)
Me: (starts laughing)
Int: (no change in expression)

I was definitely laughing b/c the question was so canned and I immediately imagined all possible answers, which, no way around it, would also sound canned.

In the next nanosecond I realized that laughter can imply so many things.. not sure how I recovered from that one (if I actually did!).
Click to expand...

i kinda chuckled at one interviewer when she asked me the "what would you do if you weren't accepted this cycle." firstly because it's such a stereotypical question. secondly because it was the first interview day at the school and nearly everyone there was probably significantly above the schools average in terms of MCATs and GPAs. most of us were in state too. i kinda joked that i would cry, but then gave her a serious answer about going abroad for a year. i kinda laughed again when i was accepted with the first round of acceptances. it was just... kinda funny.

i think the good interviewers steer away from questions like that in general, just because they aren't really that interesting. you can learn a lot more about a person asking other questions, i think.
 
tig3r said:
Interviewer: Tell me about your research.

Me: Well, I cut up alligator testicles and prepare the slides for immuno staining of testosterone receptors due to the decreasing population of alligators, we're trying to figure out if this is a central or peripheral cause.

Interviewer: (chuckling) Hehehe, you play with alligator testicles. hehehehehe

(Ironically, this was at Harvard)
Click to expand...

THAT gave me the BEST laugh of the day.:laugh:
 
At WashU:

Interviewer: Tell me about your research.

[I had just come from several interviews where I explained my research in such great detail that the interviewers pretty much told me I needed to rephrase what I had just said. Therefore, before WashU, I tried to dumb down my explanation]

Me: Well, I work with these signaling molecules...I don't think you need to know what the gene name is...and they tell this other molecule to do this..

Interviewer: What? What is the gene name? Do you not know?

Me: Oh, sorry--I didn't know what depth you wanted from me

Interviewer: I'm a medical school interviewer, what do you think?

Me: oh @#$%...uhm..well, let me start over then.

*Later in the interview*

Interviewer: This is early in the process. You will get rejected from med schools.

Me: (naively) why is that?

Interviewer: Because you are asian.

lol!

I wasn't as offended as I would have been because he was South Asian, but still..damn!
 
At a school in Boston:

Interviewer: Wow, I don't see many candidates with your qualifications. I'm very impressed. What do you consider your greatest weakness?

Friend: Kryptonite.


Granted this is second hand, but I know him well and I have no trouble believing that he said it.

He had a 3.99, a 43 on the MCAT, and rescued baby dolphins, but still...
 
Pghboy18 said:
At a school in Boston:

Interviewer: Wow, I don't see many candidates with your qualifications. I'm very impressed. What do you consider your greatest weakness?

Friend: Kryptonite.


Granted this is second hand, but I know him and I believe that he said it.

He had a 3.99, a 43 on the MCAT, and rescued baby dolphins, but still...
Click to expand...

:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:Nice!👍
 
Myuu said:
:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:Nice!👍
Click to expand...


Made me laugh, and then think how terribly conceited or stupid that would sound if you didn't bring it off exactly right or had an uptight interviewer.
 
Pghboy18 said:
He had a 3.99, a 43 on the MCAT, and rescued baby dolphins, but still...
Click to expand...

Hmm...please keep my stats on the downlow, k? I don't want them spread all over SDN..

...and that whole baby dolphin thing wasn't a big deal...beating up a couple o' killer whales is easier than you think...
 
Siverhideo1985 said:
Hmm...please keep my stats on the downlow, k? I don't want them spread all over SDN..

...and that whole baby dolphin thing wasn't a big deal...beating up a couple o' killer whales is easier than you think...
Click to expand...

Omg, SilverHideo is Clark Kent!!! Revealing your secret identity in an interview: 👎
 
Myuu said:
Omg, SilverHideo is Clark Kent!!! Revealing your secret identity in an interview: 👎
Click to expand...

Dang it Myuu...and I thought you were my ally!! If you hadn't spilled the beans you could have been the robin to my batman, the boston to my cream pie, the alpha to my omega...

...now, you are just a traitor...now all you can be is the Judas to my Jesus.

I thought I could trust you...:cry:
 
Siverhideo1985 said:
Dang it Myuu...and I thought you were my ally!! If you hadn't spilled the beans you could have been the robin to my batman, the boston to my cream pie, the alpha to my omega...

...now, you are just a traitor...now all you can be is the Judas to my Jesus.

I thought I could trust you...:cry:
Click to expand...

Honey, I voted for Zelda.:laugh:
 
pedsCCU786 said:
I feel like this thread is like therapy for me....I'm still upset about my 2/10 interview at a university of california med school. Her words hurt ( I wrote them down).

Interviewer: "Your overall MCAT score does not seem competitive for our school. Do you have a reading or learning disability I should know about? I mean you speak English well in person."

Me: Well, tests are my weakness. If you review the rest of my experiences and grades you will see that I have the ability to handle the curriculum.

(What I really wanted to say was, "I'm going to interview at Duke tomorrow, so obviously I'm not stupid, maybe you're stupid for asking me this question." )

She continued to grill me about the test scores and for me to "help her defend me." I was cornered and just repeated my answer. Then I ran off, almost forgetting to shake her hand, after she walked me out of the door, to my next interview with a med student.

Still waiting to hear from this UC. Wait listed at Duke 🙁 ...
Click to expand...

Similar experience here 😳 although English is actually my 2nd language. While my interviewer (this was @ albany) did ask me abt the low VR score, he also emphasized that my other sections were below the national average, which was completely untrue (they were >= national average)😡. Ironically, the interviewer himself was an Eastern European immigrant (detected from his accent) 👎.
 
Rooni said:
I still spit out watermelon seeds because my older brother used to tell me that if I swallowed them, watermelons would grow in my stomach and I would explode. We have a much better relationship these days. 😛
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HAHA at least i wasnt the only one with an older bro like that!
 
I'm taking a study break and reading these. This thread is great. 👍 If admissions were based on clever/amusing responses.....
I won't be able to contribute for a while, but I'm sure I will have plenty of contributions eventually, as my foot tends to find its way into my mouth pretty easily.
 
drizzt3117 said:
"so what do you like about our school?"

"oh I loved everything... ann arbor seems like such a cool city, and..."

interviewer interrupts, "you're not in ann arbor, you're in pittsburgh."

awkward pause...

"oh that's what i meant..."

...

REJECTED
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you are a d1ck. ever been interviewing back to back days in different parts of the country? its not easy to keep your head on straight let alone fumble with an incorrect word.
 
Shaptown said:
you are a d1ck. ever been interviewing back to back days in different parts of the country? its not easy to keep your head on straight let alone fumble with an incorrect word.
Click to expand...

wow... what? i don't really understand this. drizz clearly was interviewing back to back days in different parts of the country. and he fumbled. what's your problem with that post?
 
Shaptown said:
you are a d1ck. ever been interviewing back to back days in different parts of the country? its not easy to keep your head on straight let alone fumble with an incorrect word.
Click to expand...



Did I just step into the Twilight Zone?
 
Shaptown said:
you are a d1ck. ever been interviewing back to back days in different parts of the country? its not easy to keep your head on straight let alone fumble with an incorrect word.
Click to expand...

On some days, I also find it hard to read?😕
 
Myuu said:
On some days, I also find it hard to read?😕
Click to expand...

Yes, but I don't go around calling other people d1cks, just because I can't read! (Nor do you, I suspect).
 
pianola said:
Yes, but I don't go around calling other people d1cks, just because I can't read! (Nor do you, I suspect).
Click to expand...

That depends on whether or not the nametag is legible at that distance.:laugh::laugh::laugh:
 
Shaptown said:
you are a d1ck. ever been interviewing back to back days in different parts of the country? its not easy to keep your head on straight let alone fumble with an incorrect word.
Click to expand...

😕

It sounds like you are sympathizing with the poster you're quoting while also insulting him for the same thing?
 
Spiker said:
Isnt it a curve where as government tax goes down the tax revenue goes up?
Click to expand...
Its more of a semicircle (parabola maybe?) than anything. If you're on the right side of the curve, lowering taxes would theoretically increase revenue. If you're on the left side, the opposite holds true. In theory, theres a "sweet spot" with the best tax/growth balance.
 
The interviewer and I had a very lively and long discussion about sports, especially tennis which is my favorite sport and also the favorite of the interviewer's son. I was thinking: "Yes, I'm so in. He's associating with his son".

Then we moved on to discussing the various hospitals in various locations that I can go for my clinical years. He asked me if I had any questions about these hospitals. I jokingly asked: "So which area would be most tennis-friendly?" He just sat there with a surprise look and said: "I'd imagine you asking about the hospitals and their programs, not tennis. You're going to medical school."

Uh...I...uh...ARGH. Now he's probably associating me with his irresponsible son who would only play tennis and not do anything with his life.

Result: waitlisted until I learn that school is more important than tennis. 🙁
 
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