Worst/Funniest Interview Experiences

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plumhill said:
Good to know I am not the only one who cannot stand wet socks. I'm known for carrying extra pairs in my backpack on rainy days. Fwiw if I was interviewing you that response would have been beyond amazing 🙂
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I never thought to bring extra pairs before....brilliant!! :highfive:
And thanks! That interview=acceptance :soexcited:thank effin god.
 
The key phrase in the question was "tell me about a time when you've demonstrated ". I think your answer was fine. So don't beat yourself up on that one.

Grady said:
Interviewer: "tell me about a time when you've demonstrated honesty and integrity"
Me: Inner voice: wtf, I'm honest every day...think deeper you idiot...okay got one...
"When I was quarterback in HS my running back was smoking weed. I pulled him aside one day and suggested that he should quit because it is bad for his health, and by smoking weed he is not playing at his maximum ability, it is illegal, and he was breaking the athletic code. 3 weeks later, he got caught and was suspended form the team. Unfortunately now (4 years later), he is in jail for selling narcotics.
Interviewer: "If you could do over, would you tell the AD or Coach first"
me: "No, he was my friend and an 18 year old adult who should make a responsible decision...If I would have told the coach, the outcome would not have changed because he got caught anyway, and is currently in jail"
Interviewer: jotting notes down...."mmhhmmm" "yeah, that's a tough one"....
me: "I hope I answered your question"
Interviewer: Yeah Kind of....
me thinking in my head: my answer had nothing to do with honesty and integrity. %$#@!

1 week later: waitlisted. Me: "why did I make such a simple question into a complicated answer" WOW lol still laughing about it. I can't believe I brought this situation up; I'm usually good thinking on my feet.
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Q: How do you plan on paying for med school?
A: Um.... loans? Pole dancing?


BTW - are you allowed to pole dance to pay for med school? haha
 
Oh man, this thread has me cracking up! Here's mine:

Inter: If I call up your best right now, what weakness will she or he give me about you?
Me: I guess a lot of people call me abrasive. I'm like sandpaper, it hurts but it's good for you. (Did I really just use that analogy??)
Inter: Okay, now a strength.
Me: I stand up for my friends. I'm brutally honest. I help people grow backbones. (OMG, another terrible analogy!!)
(I think I might have sounded very arrogant..not my intention. 🙁 )

Different interviewer, same school.

Inter: What's your favorite thing about medicine?
Me: It's always changing.
Inter: And?
Me: Well you know, its always improving. It will always improve, to save lives.
Inter: What exposure to medicine do you have?
Me: Well, I went on a few health fairs.
Inter: And?
Me: I don't really have much exposure to medicine. (Mind you, I have 100+ hours of shadowing, but I was so nervous because he gave me that "I hate all your answers" look. I swear, he literally asked AND? after EVERY response I gave him.)

It was my first interview. Argh. On the bright side, I have been accepted to one of my top choices so I am happy about that!
 
chillaxbro said:
Q: What is something your friends would want to change about you?
A: I'm too quiet in groups. I listen more than I speak.

School's whole philosophy is team based learning and working in teams

I've been kicking myself for being so honest
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I got this too!
Interviewer: What is something your friends would want to change about you?
Me: Huh. That's a hard one. Hmmmmmmmm. I mean... I don't think my friends would change anything. They're my friends for a reason. I would like to believe they like me for who I am...I mean I just really don't think so.
I: so there's nothing your friends don't like about you?
Me: I mean...they're my friends because they like me...
I: okay, what would you change about yourself
Me: Oh. That's easy. I talk too much. I need to make an effort to listen more. I'm working on that, actually. Listening is important because (insert deep, philosophical reasons listening is the shiz). Hm... I guess maybe that's what they would change about me?
 
One interviewer asked me where I saw myself in 10 years. It's kind of a dumb question in my opinion. Obviously people in a med school interview are going to say "doctor!" So I answered it in a different way, focusing on the more important elements. "It's not so much where I see myself, it's how I see myself. Not fat and not bald. Similar to how I am now." I still don't totally regret that answer.
 
Interview back in October.

I was asked about my opinion on healthcare. Rough summary of my answer: Healthcare is money hungry. Many doctors care about profits and churning out patients. Not much time to get to know patients.

Somewhat true .... but not a great thing to say to a roomful of doctor interviewers. Meant to say that profits were a key point for healthcare in general, not doctors themselves. Gave a much better answer for my next interview ....

Still waiting on a decision ...
 
joonage said:
Interview back in October.

I was asked about my opinion on healthcare. Rough summary of my answer: Healthcare is money hungry. Many doctors care about profits and churning out patients. Not much time to get to know patients.

Somewhat true .... but not a great thing to say to a roomful of doctor interviewers. Meant to say that profits were a key point for healthcare in general, not doctors themselves. Gave a much better answer for my next interview ....

Still waiting on a decision ...
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wVoDSgL.jpg


Their faces after?
 
user12 said:
One interviewer asked me where I saw myself in 10 years. It's kind of a dumb question in my opinion. Obviously people in a med school interview are going to say "doctor!" So I answered it in a different way, focusing on the more important elements. "It's not so much where I see myself, it's how I see myself. Not fat and not bald. Similar to how I am now." I still don't totally regret that answer.
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I think this question is more about your future aspirations. Do you want to be involved in research/service endeavors/global health/teaching/medical administration/anything really in addition to clinical patient care.

But your answer is great!
 
yippiekiyay said:
Interviewer: "Well your MCAT score is a bit low.."

Me: "yes sir."

Interviewer: "You have time, why don't you retake it?"

Me: "Because I'd rather have my nails pulled."
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I would have given you brownie points for being honest. Doctors know all those tests are things you never want to see again.
 
You'd think so right? lol

Sadly, he just looked back blankly at me..at which point I kinda freaked out a bit and rushed headlong into a torrent about how I don't think standardized test are good at demonstrating how well a person can learn, GPAs are better..Blah blah blah..It was pretty painful :inpain:
 
yippiekiyay said:
Interviewer: "Well your MCAT score is a bit low.."

Me: "yes sir."

Interviewer: "You have time, why don't you retake it?"

Me: "Because I'd rather have my nails pulled."
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The only way I would have changed that if it were me would be "Because I'd rather pursue another career than take that test again".
 
snowflakes said:
Not an answer I gave but rather an experience I had:

One of my interviews was in the interviewer's office, in the hospital. Our interview was punctuated by someone right outside continually shrieking/sobbing/wailing/screaming very very loudly about a close relative who had just died during a procedure. It was incredibly difficult/strange to be talking about trivial things like what I like to do for fun when all I could think about was how terrible she must be feeling and how upset I would be if it were my relative.....I felt so unsettled and distressed throughout the whole interview, and both of the interviewer and I were quite (understandably) distracted.
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This was a test, you were supposed to rush out of the room and resuscitate the family member
 
MedBrah said:
This was a test, you were supposed to rush out of the room and resuscitate the family member
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i have to admit, when i read that post, the first thing that hit me was that I would go out there to see what the issue was, and not care about the interview.
 
SOOyC52H1Sof said:
i have to admit, when i read that post, the first thing that hit me was that I would go out there to see what the issue was, and not care about the interview.
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the interviewer went and checked to see if she could do anything and told me to wait in the office.
 
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user12 said:
One interviewer asked me where I saw myself in 10 years. It's kind of a dumb question in my opinion. Obviously people in a med school interview are going to say "doctor!" So I answered it in a different way, focusing on the more important elements. "It's not so much where I see myself, it's how I see myself. Not fat and not bald. Similar to how I am now." I still don't totally regret that answer.
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I was talking to one of the other interviewees about this thread and your post reminded me of a story. She asked an interviewer if s/he had ever rejected someone based on any of their answers and the interviewer's story went something like this:

It was the last interview of the day and it had been going really well up to this point and the interviewer thought the student was a solid candidate.

Interviewer: So where do you see yourself as a physician 10 years from now?

Student: On the back nine working on my short game.

Interviewer looks confused for a few seconds then chuckles: Oh, you're joking...that was pretty good. So where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Student: Actually I was serious. I only want to see patients 3 or maybe 4 days a week and spend my days off golfing. I think golf is my real passion, but I don't think I could make a career out of golf and I think medicine is a good alternative for me.

At this point the interviewer said they were so shocked that someone would actually give that response that they just stared for about 30 seconds.

Interviewer: I think we're done here, have a nice day.

After that the interviewer actually got up and walked out partway through the interview! I've heard of students (rarely) being rejected solely based on an interview answer, but I'd never heard of an interviewer cutting the session short and walking out before this.
 
Stagg737 said:
I was talking to one of the other interviewees about this thread and your post reminded me of a story. She asked an interviewer if s/he had ever rejected someone based on any of their answers and the interviewer's story went something like this:

It was the last interview of the day and it had been going really well up to this point and the interviewer thought the student was a solid candidate.

Interviewer: So where do you see yourself as a physician 10 years from now?

Student: On the back nine working on my short game.

Interviewer looks confused for a few seconds then chuckles: Oh, you're joking...that was pretty good. So where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Student: Actually I was serious. I only want to see patients 3 or maybe 4 days a week and spend my days off golfing. I think golf is my real passion, but I don't think I could make a career out of golf and I think medicine is a good alternative for me.

At this point the interviewer said they were so shocked that someone would actually give that response that they just stared for about 30 seconds.

Interviewer: I think we're done here, have a nice day.

After that the interviewer actually got up and walked out partway through the interview! I've heard of students (rarely) being rejected solely based on an interview answer, but I'd never heard of an interviewer cutting the session short and walking out before this.
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Yeah I mean I'm totally kidding if I make any jokes like that during an interview. But here's a good one my advisor told me. She used to be on the admissions committee for a school. She said she was interviewing a kid.... and he stopped her mid sentence and said something ridiculous like "I'm sorry, but I can't stop staring at your beautiful eyes." I was shocked. And she said she ended the interview there. Obviously the kid didn't get in... and I can't imagine WHY he would ever say something like that. Even if my interviewer was a model, I'd be able to control myself from saying anything dumb for potentially the most important 45 minutes of my life. And if I was talking to a model outside an interview setting, I could probably STILL think of something more clever than that.
 
user12 said:
Yeah I mean I'm totally kidding if I make any jokes like that during an interview. But here's a good one my advisor told me. She used to be on the admissions committee for a school. She said she was interviewing a kid.... and he stopped her mid sentence and said something ridiculous like "I'm sorry, but I can't stop staring at your beautiful eyes." I was shocked. And she said she ended the interview there. Obviously the kid didn't get in... and I can't imagine WHY he would ever say something like that. Even if my interviewer was a model, I'd be able to control myself from saying anything dumb for potentially the most important 45 minutes of my life. And if I was talking to a model outside an interview setting, I could probably STILL think of something more clever than that.
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probably took some ****ty advice like "women always love compliments" to heart. or perhaps was just a douche who thought he was so irresistible that his terrible flirtation attempt would win him a med school spot.
 
Do you have any more questions for me? Yeah...you any good at flounder fishing? After the interviewer smiled and concurred, I made him promise me that if I aced his physiology course he would take me flounder fishing with him...we spent time after the interview talking about fishing, awesome! This was East Carolina...got accepted.

Name three items you would take if your building would catch on fire. Me: Um...ok, give me a minute (I have never struggled with a question, the more intense the better). A minute later, I have nothing-he looked at me and said, this isn't difficult, just name at least one thing. Another year passes and I still can't think of anything, so I muster out something sounding like laptop computer and my dog's leashes because I didn't want them running off. The interviewer replies, well how about your dog and your wife that you mentioned. I said because they aren't items-they are what I care most about and I couldn't care less if everything else burned down as long as I got them out safe. I then showed my paranoid side and explained how I had a plan B and C for everything-fire escape, burglary plan, zombie apocalypse-he pressed a bit and I memorized the schematics to the building as I walked in and told him how to get out if there was a fire. VCOM-Got accepted at that school too.

During lunch, went to restroom-both urinals were taken so I went into the only stall. As I walked past one of the men, I noticed it was the president of the school-so naturally I peed as hard as I could to sound manly-no time for a nervous bladder! I wasn't sure whether or not I should delay or finish quickly to speak to him, but sympathetic fight or flight kicked in and caught his attention before walking out. We spent a good fifteen to twenty minutes talking about the institution, osteo vs allopathic approach and my professional background in pharmacy/drugstore management. CUSOM-accepted there too.

The best way to interview is be yourself, make your mistakes and show how you can adjust and have a good time with it. I had fun...nervous before each one but as soon as I entered the room, I owned almost every interview. Those that I felt less comfortable with, I just made sure to do no harm.
 
Interviewer: "What do you do when you get nervous"

I tried to say stop and regroup but it came out:
"Stop and re-Toot. I mean say stuff that comes out wrong! I mean not that I do it that often! No, I mean say weird things not toot. I mean no ummmm I get kind of flustered and blush easily.....?"

*he raises his eyebrows*

*I get extremely red and trail off into silence*

"So tell me about your experience at XYZ"
 
Ashley1989 said:
Interviewer: "What do you do when you get nervous"

I tried to say stop and regroup but it came out:
"Stop and re-Toot. I mean say stuff that comes out wrong! I mean not that I do it that often! No, I mean say weird things not toot. I mean no ummmm I get kind of flustered and blush easily.....?"

*he raises his eyebrows*

*I get extremely red and trail off into silence*

"So tell me about your experience at XYZ"
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:whoa:
 
Agent B said:
:whoa:
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It wasn't for medical school, it was for something else but I was accepted in the end. I think the fact that I turned all red and was clearly flustered may have helped me a little. People often say that my tendency to have "transparent emotions" actually makes me more personable and endearing. Whatever works lol.
 
Ashley1989 said:
It wasn't for medical school, it was for something else but I was accepted in the end. I think the fact that I turned all red and was clearly flustered may have helped me a little. People often say that my tendency to have "transparent emotions" actually makes me more personable and endearing. Whatever works lol.
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... oh.. I thought you were a MS2er... never mind.
 
mhord said:
During lunch, went to restroom-both urinals were taken so I went into the only stall. As I walked past one of the men, I noticed it was the president of the school-so naturally I peed as hard as I could to sound manly-no time for a nervous bladder!
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:whoa:Manly?

You were kidding, right?
 
DokterMom said:
:whoa:Manly?

You were kidding, right?
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Lol yeah-just adding a little humor to my situation...I say such silly things mostly because I'm nothing like that-just took advantage of an opportunity the only way in which I know how, in the most awkward situation possible.
 
At my first and only interview, after talking about how the physician-patient relationship was one of the many draws for me to medicine:

Q: If you couldn't ever get into medicine, what would you do (essentially, what is plan B)? -- a question that I've seen all over the place on SDN for common interview questions.
A: Probably CLS.
Q: Oh, really? (Sounding genuinely surprised.)

That was actually one of the career options that I had considered before choosing to pursue medicine, so I defaulted to that answer. I hadn't really thought seriously about alternative career paths since then, other than for the purpose of knowing why I would prefer medicine. Of course, it was followed up by the interviewer explaining how there are a lot of other health professions that involve patient care, and then he quickly switched gears. At worst, it may have looked like I was underinformed or hadn't adequately explored other options. Hopefully he gave me the benefit of the doubt and understood that I just can't really see myself in any of the other careers/fields.

At any rate, I was kicking myself over that answer. It's a simple and common enough question.
 
stec said:
At my first and only interview, after talking about how the physician-patient relationship was one of the many draws for me to medicine:

Q: If you couldn't ever get into medicine, what would you do (essentially, what is plan B)? -- a question that I've seen all over the place on SDN for common interview questions.
A: Probably CLS.
Q: Oh, really? (Sounding genuinely surprised.)

That was actually one of the career options that I had considered before choosing to pursue medicine, so I defaulted to that answer. I hadn't really thought seriously about alternative career paths since then, other than for the purpose of knowing why I would prefer medicine. Of course, it was followed up by the interviewer explaining how there are a lot of other health professions that involve patient care, and then he quickly switched gears. At worst, it may have looked like I was underinformed or hadn't adequately explored other options. Hopefully he gave me the benefit of the doubt and understood that I just can't really see myself in any of the other careers/fields.

At any rate, I was kicking myself over that answer. It's a simple and common enough question.
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I hear interviewers want to hear an answer that's medically related.
However, I usually answer it honestly and say research or something with computers.
I hope it's not held too strongly against you
 
stec said:
At my first and only interview, after talking about how the physician-patient relationship was one of the many draws for me to medicine:

Q: If you couldn't ever get into medicine, what would you do (essentially, what is plan B)? -- a question that I've seen all over the place on SDN for common interview questions.
A: Probably CLS.
Q: Oh, really? (Sounding genuinely surprised.)

That was actually one of the career options that I had considered before choosing to pursue medicine, so I defaulted to that answer. I hadn't really thought seriously about alternative career paths since then, other than for the purpose of knowing why I would prefer medicine. Of course, it was followed up by the interviewer explaining how there are a lot of other health professions that involve patient care, and then he quickly switched gears. At worst, it may have looked like I was underinformed or hadn't adequately explored other options. Hopefully he gave me the benefit of the doubt and understood that I just can't really see myself in any of the other careers/fields.

At any rate, I was kicking myself over that answer. It's a simple and common enough question.
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Whats CLS? clinical lab science or clown school? bc if you said you wanted to go to clown college and be like patch adams, i would say good for you.
 
Unfortunately not clown school, but maybe that would've been a better answer. Improving patient outcomes with smiles and laughter: a noble cause.

CLS falls under the allied health umbrella, so it's not hugely unrelated. It just doesn't have patient interaction and direct patient care, though it is an integral part of the health care team.
 
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