Worst/Funniest Interview Experiences

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even with that knowledge, I still stick by what I said. There was no stipulations to evacuate under...when I mentioned helicopters she could have said "what if it's a tornado" or the earthquake could have taken out half of the roads the lead out of the city...the question was just for a plan.
 
Warnerade said:
even with that knowledge, I still stick by what I said. There was no stipulations to evacuate under...when I mentioned helicopters she could have said "what if it's a tornado" or the earthquake could have taken out half of the roads the lead out of the city...the question was just for a plan.
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i'm sure the "you watch too many movies" part did you in rather than the plan itself. being condescending to an interviewer is bad enough. being condescending and factually incorrect? *cringes*
 
I have some horrible answers.... But if adcoms lurk these threads, they will know it's me lol...
 
nemo123 said:
I have some horrible answers.... But if adcoms lurk these threads, they will know it's me lol...
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I would hope that most adcom members have better things to do than comb through the "Worst Interview Answers!!!!" thread looking for familiar applicants...
 
Warnerade said:
for storms, yes but considering I said use helicopters for people in sky scrapers with helipads and she let that one go...there were no stipulations to evacuate under, just a general evacuation plan.

And to my knowledge, earth quakes don't cause tidal waves
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I am assuming that by saying tidal wave they were referring to tsunamis. If so, what do you think causes them?
 
BABSstudent said:
I am assuming that by saying tidal wave they were referring to tsunamis. If so, what do you think causes them?
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image.png
 
that is the stupidest question I have heard.

1. San Fran only gets earthquakes
2. you can't evacuate for an earthquake because unlike a tornado where you know a distinct path its following an earthquake suddenly happens (yes there are scientists monitoring it and they have calculations that can give them an estimate of when to expect a quake, but theyre only estimates and they haven't been very accurate lately)
3. If I were you I would have turned the question back (in a nice way of course, but inside your getting some pay back) "So what would you do in that situation?"
Warnerade said:
I was asked to develop an evacuation plan for San Francisco….

Started out saying the normal routes, then said I would have boats take people out on the coast in an attempt to keep the roads from being too congested…the interviewer interrupts me "what if it's an earthquake and there is a tidal wave?" I replied that she watches too many movies, and continued with my plan.

Result: Rejected.
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medschoolmyname said:
that is the stupidest question I have heard.

1. San Fran only gets earthquakes
2. you can't evacuate for an earthquake because unlike a tornado where you know a distinct path its following an earthquake suddenly happens (yes there are scientists monitoring it and they have calculations that can give them an estimate of when to expect a quake, but theyre only estimates and they haven't been very accurate lately)
3. If I were you I would have turned the question back (in a nice way of course, but inside your getting some pay back) "So what would you do in that situation?"
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Unproductive. Best practice is to come up with a creative answer, smile, and move on, stupidity of the question/interviewer notwithstanding.
 
My second interviewer, Dr. X, had to leave town and rushed our interview into a 10 minute span when it was supposed to take 30. He dropped me back off at the common room the interviewers were all meeting up at afterwards, and it was just me and the director of admissions who had give us the presentation. We chatted and everything went super well. Then she asks me, "So, before Dr. X who did you interview with?"

I had no idea. I started panicking. The interview all went by like a blur - she introduced herself once at the start when I was super nervous, and I didn't remember!

Me: "Before Dr. X?"
Her: "Yes, before Dr. X."
Me: "Um... before John..."
Yes, I just called my interviewer by his first freaking name to the director of admissions.
Her: "Yes... before John..."
Me: "A woman. The one in psychiatry. Yeah. Her."
Her: "Dr. Y???"
Me: "Yeah! That's it!"

I was mortified. I felt so awful, Dr. Y was SO NICE and I had a great time interviewing - I just simply didn't remember. It was horrible.

Result: ACCEPTED! 😎
Dr. Y called to deliver my acceptance. Now I definitely won't forget her name.
 
Not a bad answer, but funny...


At one of my interviews, I was asked how I would explain my research to the interviewer's 10yo son. Because this was an interview in front of a panel of interviewers, I turned immediately to my right (to a different interviewer) and said, "Son, do you know how sometimes you get sick..." This drew a huge laugh as I had this person pretend to be my son. The person I was speaking to was a woman and the associate dean of admissions.

🙂
 
BlackBox said:
Not a bad answer, but funny...


At one of my interviews, I was asked how I would explain my research to the interviewer's 10yo son. Because this was an interview in front of a panel of interviewers, I turned immediately to my right (to a different interviewer) and said, "Son, do you know how sometimes you get sick..." This drew a huge laugh as I had this person pretend to be my son. The person I was speaking to was a woman and the associate dean of admissions.

🙂
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Adcoms love balls.
 
I was asked something about a time where I had faced adversity, and while I was rambling through my answer I accidentally blurted out, "wow, I am really struggling with this one."

I couldn't believe I said that out loud. Result: waitlisted.
 
CanePreMed said:
I was asked something about a time where I had faced adversity, and while I was rambling through my answer I accidentally blurted out, "wow, I am really struggling with this one."

I couldn't believe I said that out loud. Result: waitlisted.
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It's like, I wanna 'like' this story, but I'm afraid it would be rude since you were waitlisted.

GL
 
This was as the interview was finishing up, as a more casual question before I left.
Interviewer: So, have you ever been to (this city)?
Me: No... Wait, yes, I was here earlier this year.
 
CanePreMed said:
I was asked something about a time where I had faced adversity, and while I was rambling through my answer I accidentally blurted out, "wow, I am really struggling with this one."

I couldn't believe I said that out loud. Result: waitlisted.
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If I was interviewing you I would have thought that was clever 🙂. I had a sort of similar experience in one of my interviews...

Interviewer: What has been something that you have struggled with in your journey to medicine?

Cybermaxx12: ... the interviews! ... :smack:

Interviewer: :laugh:
 
Easonred57 said:
Interviewer: "So, could you tell me which profession you would LEAST like to go into, and why?"
Me: "Well, it would probably be a statistician. I've never much enjoyed dealing with numbers and pure math."
Interviewer: "Ah. You know, I graduated from here. My degree was in mathematics." *points to diploma on wall*
Me: *sweat*
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Honestly, if you just straight up facepalmed after he did that you probably both could have had a good laugh and salvaged that interview. I mean, what are the odds of that?


CanePreMed said:
I was asked something about a time where I had faced adversity, and while I was rambling through my answer I accidentally blurted out, "wow, I am really struggling with this one."

I couldn't believe I said that out loud. Result: waitlisted.
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Honestly, if I was the interviewer, I would burst out laughing. How perfect is that response?

I had an interviewer ask, "So how did you prepare for your MCAT?" I responded with, "I studied, and I think my education prepared me well." He just looked at me blankly and asked, "And?" Still not sure why that answer was received so poorly, but interview went downhill after that. :eyebrow:
 
PreMedOrDead said:
I had an interviewer ask, "So how did you prepare for your MCAT?" I responded with, "I studied, and I think my education prepared me well." He just looked at me blankly and asked, "And?" Still not sure why that answer was received so poorly, but interview went downhill after that. :eyebrow:
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You probably should have gone into more detail about specific approaches or techniques. For me, test taking skills and time management during the MCAT were a huge part of my score improvement. The format of the exam doesn't change, so being able to manage the set number of questions, passages, and time with varying difficulty questions and passages is a skill. I also talk about how improving my test taking skills for the MCAT has improved my test-taking ability in classes. I think interviewers are trying to see how introspective applicants are, which is probably viewed as important in medicine.
 
teres said:
You probably should have gone into more detail about specific approaches or techniques. For me, test taking skills and time management during the MCAT were a huge part of my score improvement. The format of the exam doesn't change, so being able to manage the set number of questions, passages, and time with varying difficulty questions and passages is a skill. I also talk about how improving my test taking skills for the MCAT has improved my test-taking ability in classes. I think interviewers are trying to see how introspective applicants are, which is probably viewed as important in medicine.
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I would disagree that preparing for the MCAT better prepares you for class exams, as class exams tend to reinforce far more memorization than the MCAT does. Bit of a silly question for the interviewer to get upset about though. If you score well on your MCAT you're obviously:

A) Great at standardized testing.
B) Great at time management.
C) Just plain smart.

I understand the value of introspection and self-analysis, but some things are just hurdles that you get over without any degree of personal growth or maturity. I personally don't think that I gained any sort of greater insight into myself during my MCAT prep and I think it would be overly-sycophantic to pretend otherwise when talking to the adcom.

EDIT: Re-read what I said and it sounded a little harsh. I'm not saying that you personally didn't gain anything from prepping for the test, I think it's just silly to pretend that everyone does.
 
cybermaxx12 said:
@PreMedOrDead Just noticed your MDApps ID is 666 ...:scared:
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:flame:

teres said:
You probably should have gone into more detail about specific approaches or techniques. For me, test taking skills and time management during the MCAT were a huge part of my score improvement. The format of the exam doesn't change, so being able to manage the set number of questions, passages, and time with varying difficulty questions and passages is a skill. I also talk about how improving my test taking skills for the MCAT has improved my test-taking ability in classes. I think interviewers are trying to see how introspective applicants are, which is probably viewed as important in medicine.
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Certainly, after he said "And?" I went into more detail. It was just an odd question to see an interview go downhill on. It was a school that was significantly below my MCAT/GPA, though, so I can see how it would come off as condescending to take an excellent score so nonchalant.

Jabbed said:
I would disagree that preparing for the MCAT better prepares you for class exams, as class exams tend to reinforce far more memorization than the MCAT does. Bit of a silly question for the interviewer to get upset about though. If you score well on your MCAT you're obviously:

A) Great at standardized testing.
B) Great at time management.
C) Just plain smart.

I understand the value of introspection and self-analysis, but some things are just hurdles that you get over without any degree of personal growth or maturity. I personally don't think that I gained any sort of greater insight into myself during my MCAT prep and I think it would be overly-sycophantic to pretend otherwise when talking to the adcom.

EDIT: Re-read what I said and it sounded a little harsh. I'm not saying that you personally didn't gain anything from prepping for the test, I think it's just silly to pretend that everyone does.
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An issue I had during my first couple of interviews was being too introspective. I made it a point to be more concise in responses that weren't open-ended, such as this one. I went into more detail when he said "And?" but it seemed to disrupt the flow of the interview. I'd make this one of the more open responses that shows how you can never let your guard down in an interview.
 
Jabbed said:
I would disagree that preparing for the MCAT better prepares you for class exams, as class exams tend to reinforce far more memorization than the MCAT does. Bit of a silly question for the interviewer to get upset about though. If you score well on your MCAT you're obviously:

A) Great at standardized testing.
B) Great at time management.
C) Just plain smart.

I understand the value of introspection and self-analysis, but some things are just hurdles that you get over without any degree of personal growth or maturity. I personally don't think that I gained any sort of greater insight into myself during my MCAT prep and I think it would be overly-sycophantic to pretend otherwise when talking to the adcom.

EDIT: Re-read what I said and it sounded a little harsh. I'm not saying that you personally didn't gain anything from prepping for the test, I think it's just silly to pretend that everyone does.
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You seem to have missed the point of my post. I'm not saying that the other poster gained what I did from the experience of preparing for and taking the MCAT, and that isn't even what the question is asking for. I don't believe it is "overly-sycophantic" to explain your thought process for preparing for and taking the MCAT. It is much like asking how you studied during your undergraduate courses, in my opinion.
 
teres said:
You seem to have missed the point of my post. I'm not saying that the other poster gained what I did from the experience of preparing for and taking the MCAT, and that isn't even what the question is asking for. I don't believe it is "overly-sycophantic" to explain your thought process for preparing for and taking the MCAT. It is much like asking how you studied during your undergraduate courses, in my opinion.
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I think we're in all agreement. The question isn't traditionally open-ended, but my particular interviewer wanted a detailed response in this scenario. I did not entertain that initially because I had difficulty avoiding over-analysis in the past, but responded appropriately following his inquiry for more detail. It was simply unfortunate he took it as dismissive.

More than anything, this is a warning to avoid coming off as condescending at all costs. An interviewer isn't looking for a "Yes" or "No" answer any more than he is expecting a 5 paragraph essay in response.
 
BABSstudent said:
You would definitely report it. But you would say that you suspected that the person cheated and let the administration take care of it. They will need to find evidence of cheating and it's out of your hands.

At my school, if you don't report cheating and it turns out you knew something you can get the same punishment as the cheater. So definitely reporting it is a good thing.

We actually had a case of cheating on our first test. It wasn't a med student, but a dental student that we shared a class with.
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you know, i think all of these are pretty reductive ways of approaching this situation. surely self-policing of standards is a central feature of professionalism, whether we're talking about medical practice or just medical school. but the harm done by a cheating student pales in comparison to that of a physician practicing unethically, and the response of a peer can be calibrated with this in mind. i suspect what the interviewer is looking for here is some sort of expression of empathy: why is this student cheating? is just struggling with the material? is something going on in his personal life? maybe the best first approach would be to bring this up with the cheating student himself, and see if there is a way to offer help, maybe in the form of tutoring, or whatever; we're all going to be doctors in the not-too-distant future, so it's important that we all have a good handle on whatever material it is the person is struggling with. i disagree that going directly to administration, regardless of circumstances, is the most ethical course, and i would welcome discussing this with whoever in the administration thinks that punishing me for thinking this way is in the best interests of the school
 
Vain Brother said:
maybe the best first approach would be to bring this up with the cheating student himself, and see if there is a way to offer help, maybe in the form of tutoring, or whatever; we're all going to be doctors in the not-too-distant future, so it's important that we all have a good handle on whatever material it is the person is struggling with. i disagree that going directly to administration, regardless of circumstances, is the most ethical course, and i would welcome discussing this with whoever in the administration thinks that punishing me for thinking this way is in the best interests of the school
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I'm pretty sure this is administration's job, not yours. Saying that the student was undoubtedly cheating is probably excessive, but take care of yourself first. If you think there may be a challenge of academic integrity, it is within your ethical obligation to report that possibility. It's not your job or moral standard to console* the individual before doing so, and could actually end up getting yourself in trouble (e.g. the student panics and reports you for cheating to discredit you).
 
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Here is not so much a "worst" answer so much as something which caught me off guard.

So currently I am shadowing a physician as part of a program and I have little experience prior to this (except some EMS stuff but that was senior year of high school). We get to the point of the interview where we discuss clinical experience.

Interviewer: So it is a common belief amongst premed students, faculty members, and physicians that in order to become a doctor, it is important to shadow a physician, to walk in their footsteps. You don't really have that. In other words, bulls*it.
Me: *awkward chuckle and silence* wait, what?

Thankfully he went on to talk about how he thinks shadowing is sort of stupid and how when he was applying to medical school, no one ever had shadowing. As relieved as I am and how fortunate I feel to have had this guy interview me, this one caught me off guard haha.
 
i strongly disagree, and i think i was clear in my post why. but please, do the rest of us a favor and say things like "take care of yourself first" during medical school interviews
 
Vain Brother said:
you know, i think all of these are pretty reductive ways of approaching this situation. surely self-policing of standards is a central feature of professionalism, whether we're talking about medical practice or just medical school. but the harm done by a cheating student pales in comparison to that of a physician practicing unethically, and the response of a peer can be calibrated with this in mind. i suspect what the interviewer is looking for here is some sort of expression of empathy: why is this student cheating? is just struggling with the material? is something going on in his personal life? maybe the best first approach would be to bring this up with the cheating student himself, and see if there is a way to offer help, maybe in the form of tutoring, or whatever; we're all going to be doctors in the not-too-distant future, so it's important that we all have a good handle on whatever material it is the person is struggling with. i disagree that going directly to administration, regardless of circumstances, is the most ethical course, and i would welcome discussing this with whoever in the administration thinks that punishing me for thinking this way is in the best interests of the school
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The cheating this is no different from your scenario.

You don't blatantly say this person is unfit but you suggest someone higher up looks more into it because you are concerned for patient safety. You don't have the ability to fix their problems, nor can you stop them. It would be way too difficult to go address the person. That's why these things exist. You really are doing a disservice to the patients if you do nothing which is what a majority of doctors do.

It's not up to you to confront the cheater. You don't have the skill set needed to adequately address their issues nor should you care why they cheated. The administration does and will likely have the person talk to counselors, education advisors and then retake the test. In reality, it's better to report a suspected cheater and get them these resources (that they didn't take advantage of in the first place) than to try to handle it yourself. All you can do is have suspicions but the administration will also do their own investigation to find out if the person really did cheat.
 
Vain Brother said:
i strongly disagree, and i think i was clear in my post why.
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By not going to administration first, you are just as liable as the other student is for the academic integrity violation. What are you, as a student, going to do better than administration?

Vain Brother said:
but please, do the rest of us a favor and say things like "take care of yourself first" during medical school interviews
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Wow, you're really good at taking quotes out of context to make this personal. I am actually home for a holiday break during MS1, and answered several ethical questions without an issue on the interview trail, but thank you. Having interviewed people myself, if someone suggested handling an academic integrity case on their own I would have serious questions as to the person's (1) Concept of power - do they honestly think they can handle such a serious issue on their own and counsel an individual who has already forgone ethical principles? (2) Concept of ethics - do they not understand that they are endangering their own future as well as the future of this individual's patients if he's not counseled by professionals? (3) Concepts of knowledge and responsibility - does the individual not know the basic procedure involving academic integrity violations, which immediately places those in the know of violations at fault if they do not report instances immediately?

There are many moral and ethical situations in which you should take care of yourself first. When someone else is violating academic integrity and could potentially project that onto you, it is perfectly okay to do the right thing and go to administration, thereby 'taking care of yourself first.' Reporting the student, rather than taking the situation into your own hands, allows administration to investigate, you to remain anonymous, and the student to receive help from the school itself for whatever issue is causing them the cheat. This is the same idea as to why you put the oxygen mask on yourself in an airplane first. Certainly, your child struggling with the mask could pass out before their mask is placed on. But it is better that you do not pass out so that you can aid your child once you are safe, ultimate such that you may both survive.
 
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so i think it depends, obviously -- reporting this hypothetical person to the hypothetical administration is of course not out of the question. if the "cheating" was the person like, substituting an answer key wholesale for his exam, or doing something in a clinical situation that clearly had the potential to cause a patient harm, there would be no choice: of course you must report them. but if the "cheating" is something like, you catch them peeking at another student's test during an exam, or they're copying a homework from another student, i think the answer is less clear-cut. and i think putting some thought into this answer and taking an empathetic approach is preferable to using vague buzzwords like "patient safety" when no such immediate concern exists, and i think an interviewer understands this. again i think my original post was clear
 
Vain Brother said:
and i think an interviewer understands this. again i think my original post was clear
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That's where I think you are wrong. As someone who has interviewed and knows you cannot assume you're getting your point across on such controversial topics, if you do not clarify you would notify administration first I'm going to jump the fence on your app. If an interviewer is asking about a student cheating, I highly doubt it's cheating in the sense of them glancing at other people taking an exam, so unless specified, address it in a more serious manner.
 
i don't have anything else to say; i think i've made myself rather clear. if the answer a medical school interviewer is looking for is "i would definitely report this person, because patient safety!!", then lol
 
Vain Brother said:
i don't have anything else to say; i think i've made myself rather clear. if the answer a medical school interviewer is looking for is "i would definitely report this person, because patient safety!!", then lol
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I never said patient safety was the primary concern, but go ahead and be condescending. It's a relatively straightforward ethical question, as opposed to more open-ended ones, but go ahead and open up the can of worms that is handling such a situation on your own. It only jeopardizes yourself.
 
Vain Brother said:
i don't have anything else to say; i think i've made myself rather clear. if the answer a medical school interviewer is looking for is "i would definitely report this person, because patient safety!!", then lol
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It's not about patient safety, it's about getting the person the help they need to succeed in medical school. I said it before, but it needs repeating. You don't have the skill set needed to help the person. The administration has academic advisors, counselors, tutors, professors, etc. that are ready to be given to those who ask for it or need it. Saying you suspected a person cheated will automatically dispatch these people to the cheater to help them. The problem can be identified and resolved so future occurrences of academic dishonesty will not happen again.

If the person really didn't cheat, the administration will find that out and the person doesn't need to use the resources.

It's that simple.
 
BABSstudent said:
It's not about patient safety, it's about getting the person the help they need to succeed in medical school. I said it before, but it needs repeating. You don't have the skill set needed to help the person. The administration has academic advisors, counselors, tutors, professors, etc. that are ready to be given to those who ask for it or need it. Saying you suspected a person cheated will automatically dispatch these people to the cheater to help them. The problem can be identified and resolved so future occurrences of academic dishonesty will not happen again.

If the person really didn't cheat, the administration will find that out and the person doesn't need to use the resources.

It's that simple.
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But I'm a fixer, BABS, that's why I went into medicine. I want to help and fix people on my own, even if I'm not qualified!

Queue Coldplay - Fix You

 
Vain Brother said:
i don't have anything else to say; i think i've made myself rather clear. if the answer a medical school interviewer is looking for is "i would definitely report this person, because patient safety!!", then lol
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I think the key is to realize that the situation depends on context. I think an acceptable answer is to say if it is something more limited (e.g. copying lab work) that speaking to the student directly first is acceptable. However, if it something more serious like plagiarism it needs to be addressed by the administration since it carries serious consequences for the student and school. You need to demonstrate both empathy and an understanding of the severity of actions. That's why it is hard to answer the original question w/o context, since honestly either approach could be correct.

Also, this is a pretty decent parallel for dealing with issues in hospitals later on. If you see the surgeon who has not been performing well recently you would most likely speak to him personally before talking to a supervisor. However, if you catch him drinking alcohol before surgery then you MUST report him right away.
 
Chir0nex said:
I think the key is to realize that the situation depends on context. I think an acceptable answer is to say if it is something more limited (e.g. copying lab work) that speaking to the student directly first is acceptable. However, if it something more serious like plagiarism it needs to be addressed by the administration since it carries serious consequences for the student and school. You need to demonstrate both empathy and an understanding of the severity of actions. That's why it is hard to answer the original question w/o context, since honestly either approach could be correct.

Also, this is a pretty decent parallel for dealing with issues in hospitals later on. If you see the surgeon who has not been performing well recently you would most likely speak to him personally before talking to a supervisor. However, if you catch him drinking alcohol before surgery then you MUST report him right away.
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i think a lot of people would consider copying someone elses homework as a form of plagiarism...
 
Not really an answer but still funny.

I have a REAALLLY common name, and out of like 20 interviewers, there were actually TWO other people with the exact same name. When the first one of us was called to interview it was like:
1ON97CJ.gif
 
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