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Worst/Funniest Interview Experiences
Started by monkily_stealth
Pre-med Surgical Internship interview:
Interviewer: "What would you do if you ordered a steak rare and the waiter brought it out well done?"
Me: "Well, I'm a vegetarian so I would probably change the order to a salad."
Rejected.
Interviewer: "What would you do if you ordered a steak rare and the waiter brought it out well done?"
Me: "Well, I'm a vegetarian so I would probably change the order to a salad."
Rejected.
Oh god that first MMI situation sounds horrible and was my worst nightmare when I was prepping for my own MMI.
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D
deleted393595
This is why schools should better screen for people-skills
Yeah I was annoyed at how limited I was with the role I was given in the situation.
Some of my faves from the few pages I read:
An interviewer noted my extensive work with youth and asked me why I "like working with children so much."
The first phrase that flopped out of mouth, almost involuntarily, was "Because they are so fresh and naive."
Now perhaps that's nothing fatal or even very atypical, but I feel like I have to walk on egg shells as a staturesque guy interested in peds, and I instantly thought of:
I'm sure my cheeks flushed. I was so flummoxed/embarrassed by what I'd just said that I couldn't decide whether to acknowledge the weirdness and backtrack or just play it cool... ended up gaping like a fish for a good 5 seconds, which probably didn't help matters. I tried to bury it under a long-winded spiel about "youthful wonderment," "preventable suffering," and "children are our future"- type propaganda, but it remains my single worst interview moment.
Result: Undetermined.
My worst one from last season:
Interviewer: What is the best idea you have ever had?
Me: I can't think of a single thing.
I was unable to come up with any answer whatsoever and the whole rest of the interview was thrown off.
Result: Rejected
Interviewer: What is the best idea you have ever had?
Me: I can't think of a single thing.
I was unable to come up with any answer whatsoever and the whole rest of the interview was thrown off.
Result: Rejected
I'll play. I guess this isn't that bad?
I was in an MMI, and I was trying to explain how something was on a slippery slope. That was the exact phrase I was looking for but I kept blanking on it.
After saying Uh... Uh... Uh... For quite a while, I finally just blurted out "bad things will happen." Not my finest moment.
In fact, that entire round of MMIs I felt very uncertain and uncomfortable with myself. I wish I could share more but it's hard without going into specifics.
Result: accepted.
I was in an MMI, and I was trying to explain how something was on a slippery slope. That was the exact phrase I was looking for but I kept blanking on it.
After saying Uh... Uh... Uh... For quite a while, I finally just blurted out "bad things will happen." Not my finest moment.
In fact, that entire round of MMIs I felt very uncertain and uncomfortable with myself. I wish I could share more but it's hard without going into specifics.
Result: accepted.
I think I would have panicked and said "to apply to this school" or "to propose to my fiance".
interviewer was probably trying to throw her off
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Bump for a story from last cycle. Not so much a poor interview answer, but a poor interview introduction.
*Shake the hand of my first interviewer*
Me: Good morning! Pleasure to meet you -- my name is BeachBlondie.
Him: You're just as pretty as you are in your picture.
Me: 😀 ......
The rest of the interview was rather interesting.
*Shake the hand of my first interviewer*
Me: Good morning! Pleasure to meet you -- my name is BeachBlondie.
Him: You're just as pretty as you are in your picture.
Me: 😀 ......
The rest of the interview was rather interesting.
Bump for a story from last cycle. Not so much a poor interview answer, but a poor interview introduction.
*Shake the hand of my first interviewer*
Me: Good morning! Pleasure to meet you -- my name is BeachBlondie.
Him: You're just as pretty as you are in your picture.
Me: 😀 ......
The rest of the interview was rather interesting.
That sets a really awkward tone for the start of an interview haha. Did you get in? How did the interview go?
Not really an answer but rather an awkward scenario. A friend of mine was interviewing and the physician was leaning back in his chair. Seems a little rude for an interview right? Well anyways the interviewer fell back in his chair and my friend had to use great effort to hold back on laughing. He helped him up, made sure he was ok and continued the interview. When my friend was leaving and got into the hallway he started cracking up really loudly and he was pretty sure the interviewer heard it haha. Ended up getting accepted
I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been able to stop laughing in that situation... Something about people falling out of chairs is so funny to me.
Schadenfreude
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Perhaps :] Though I've laughed when it's happened to me. So... sympathetic schadenfreude.
Interview: He was incredibly sick--nose running down to his wingtips--and, as such, had not pre-read my file. At all. So there was a lot of, "*snnnuuuUUUUUUFFFfff* uhhhh..... *paper shuffle* Tell me about..... *nose drip* *cough*". Poor guy 🙁 Must have been a miserable day.
Result: High Waitlisted. Unfortunately, it was a REALLY strange year, and they accepted less than 10 candidates from the list. Of course. So, I was ultimately rejected.
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"The Missouri River does pass through Missouri, you know"
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I was talking to my friend and mentioned something about being from the Midwest, and he said: "Isn't your state considered West Coast?" I live East of the Missouri River...
Hahaha whatttt. What is your state???
I had to edit my original post because I misquoted @Goro . Fixed it. It's even more condescending than I remembered hahaha.
Iowa aka about as far from any coast as you can get.
The inside joke here between me and my hopefully future student is that when she was musing in a PM on where I'm located (west of the Missouri River), she didn't think of one particular school in the Show Me state, and I had to remind her of the geography of our longest river.
🙂
Didn't mean for it to be condescending...it's just a NY thing. Remember, we can use the term "F you" as a greeting!
🙂
Didn't mean for it to be condescending...it's just a NY thing. Remember, we can use the term "F you" as a greeting!
So did you in fact apply to @Goro's school?
I have not applied to any DO schools yet. If I do, Goro's will be the first!
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D
deleted393595
ND.
No med school interview yet, but here is one from a clinical job interview:
Interviewer: Btw, we sprinkled some ice-breaker questions throughout to lighten the mood 🙂
Me: Okay, sounds great
Interviewer: So what's your favorite TV show
Me: ................. (omg, i did not expect that, uh, I don't have a favorite. Quick make something up!) 😕
Me: .........Well.......idk........um.......well I don't watch much TV, mostly reality TV shows (NO NO, horrible answer! Now they'll think you're dumb) 😳
Me: but to answer your question, my favorite TV show is.... (Don't say Keeping Up With the Kardashians, don't say KUWTK, don't say KUWTK)
Me: Fashion Police.
(NO NO BAD ANSWER! AWFUL! Why mention an OFFENSIVE SHOW?!)😱
Interviewer: Oh really? Never heard of it, What is it about?
Me: (Thank God.) Oh it's commentary about red carpet style....So what's your favorite TV show?
At end of the interview:
Interviewer: So, do you have any questions for us?
Me: No, I think we covered it all.
Interviewer: Really, I would think that you would ask more questions. [in a tone that suggested I better ask more questions if I knew what was good for me]
Me: [Quickly makes up question]🙄
Got the job.😎
Interviewer: Btw, we sprinkled some ice-breaker questions throughout to lighten the mood 🙂
Me: Okay, sounds great
Interviewer: So what's your favorite TV show
Me: ................. (omg, i did not expect that, uh, I don't have a favorite. Quick make something up!) 😕
Me: .........Well.......idk........um.......well I don't watch much TV, mostly reality TV shows (NO NO, horrible answer! Now they'll think you're dumb) 😳
Me: but to answer your question, my favorite TV show is.... (Don't say Keeping Up With the Kardashians, don't say KUWTK, don't say KUWTK)
Me: Fashion Police.
(NO NO BAD ANSWER! AWFUL! Why mention an OFFENSIVE SHOW?!)😱
Interviewer: Oh really? Never heard of it, What is it about?
Me: (Thank God.) Oh it's commentary about red carpet style....So what's your favorite TV show?
At end of the interview:
Interviewer: So, do you have any questions for us?
Me: No, I think we covered it all.
Interviewer: Really, I would think that you would ask more questions. [in a tone that suggested I better ask more questions if I knew what was good for me]
Me: [Quickly makes up question]🙄
Got the job.😎
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Oh god, the same thing happened to me at the end of my first med school interview...except I was so mortified I couldn't even think of a question on the spot. I made sure to always have 3-4 in my head going into interviews after that one. Even if you already know the answer, or could find it online, or you've already asked someone else about it! It shows interest in the school.
That's a bold move cotton. Let's see if it pays off.
Finally have something to add here:
At a school that relies heavily on PBL, after my interview and tour, the dean comes up and asks:
Dean: "Goldy! How was the tour? What do you think of our school?"
Me: "Its been great! I really love the PBR culture!"
Dean:
I'll let that sink in...
PBR Culture...
EDIT: Accepted 🙂
At a school that relies heavily on PBL, after my interview and tour, the dean comes up and asks:
Dean: "Goldy! How was the tour? What do you think of our school?"
Me: "Its been great! I really love the PBR culture!"
Dean:
I'll let that sink in...
PBR Culture...
EDIT: Accepted 🙂
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Happened a few weeks ago. Interviewer asked me to name five jobs I would and five jobs I wouldn't take if medicine was not an option. And to provide reasons why for each one of my responses...
Me: I wouldn't want to be a lawyer, politician, engineer (giving solid reasons as to why these jobs weren't good fits for me)
*mind suddenly goes blank*
Me: Uhh.. Uhh...
(A minute of dead silence later)
Me: I would not want to be a custodian... Because uh... Uh well I've never shadowed a custodian before.
(Interviewer chuckles)
Me: I wouldn't want to be a lawyer, politician, engineer (giving solid reasons as to why these jobs weren't good fits for me)
*mind suddenly goes blank*
Me: Uhh.. Uhh...
(A minute of dead silence later)
Me: I would not want to be a custodian... Because uh... Uh well I've never shadowed a custodian before.
(Interviewer chuckles)
6
625233
These interviews sound really uncomfortable.
Can't wait.
Can't wait.
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If it makes you feel any better, both of the interviews I've been on so far have been extremely conversational and stress-free.
So are these more isolated instances within otherwise pleasant interviews or is it just like for certain interviews you just have kind of a bad vibe going from start to finish?
I have yet to have an interview that had any uncomfortable moments. I was just posting to let you know that not everyone's experiences are riddled with discomfort.
man that's a lot of jobs. idk if i could even think of 10 different jobs during an interview
Realistically I'd probably only have thought of like....lawyer, accountant, fireman, policeman, garbage man....mailman (this would be cool).
At lunch after interviews for an 8-year combined baccalaureate/MD program. There sat a super-gunner who earlier in the day shared with us other interviewees his ACT was 36, his hsGPA was 4.8 and he hoped he was competitive enough for this program. Several adcom members, me & a couple other interviewees and some ancillary staff were at the lunch table. They asked us when we knew we wanted to become doctors. Super-gunner proceeds to go into detail how at age 5 he developed a passion for gynecology and how he has pursued a career in gynecology diligently ever since. Me and the other interviewees looked at each other like 
At lunch after interviews for an 8-year combined baccalaureate/MD program. There sat a super-gunner who earlier in the day shared with us other interviewees his ACT was 36, his hsGPA was 4.8 and he hoped he was competitive enough for this program. Several adcom members, me & a couple other interviewees and some ancillary staff were at the lunch table. They asked us when we knew we wanted to become doctors. Super-gunner proceeds to go into detail how at age 5 he developed a passion for gynecology and how he has pursued a career in gynecology diligently ever since. Me and the other interviewees looked at each other like
Damn....
At least say 'neurology' or something. It would make him look 1 shade less bizarre.
Not as bad as some I've seen in the thread, but these were all in the same 30-min interview with the chair of the admissions committee
Interviewer: Something to the effect of "How would you describe yourself?"
Me: "Sarcastic"...(pause and try to recover as I realize what I've just said with)..."but mostly just to get other people to laugh"
Interviewer: ...writes down 'Sarcastic' in large letters and loudly underlines it
Interviewer: "What's one thing you would change about yourself?"
Me: "I don't know, I like me."
Interviewer: ...blank stare, not buying it
Me: ...make a joke about getting nervous when getting interviewed. Got him to at least force a chuckle from this response
Interviewer: ...asks me about my 2 brothers (I don't have 2 brothers and tell him this, but for some reason feel it's a great time to bring up the untimely death of my only sibling)
Me: ....please don't ask a follow up question, please don't ask a follow up question
Interviewer: "When did your sibling die?"
Me: "Ugh, I hate talking about this"
I brought that last one on myself, I know. Laughing about the whole thing now though.
Interviewer: Something to the effect of "How would you describe yourself?"
Me: "Sarcastic"...(pause and try to recover as I realize what I've just said with)..."but mostly just to get other people to laugh"
Interviewer: ...writes down 'Sarcastic' in large letters and loudly underlines it
Interviewer: "What's one thing you would change about yourself?"
Me: "I don't know, I like me."
Interviewer: ...blank stare, not buying it
Me: ...make a joke about getting nervous when getting interviewed. Got him to at least force a chuckle from this response
Interviewer: ...asks me about my 2 brothers (I don't have 2 brothers and tell him this, but for some reason feel it's a great time to bring up the untimely death of my only sibling)
Me: ....please don't ask a follow up question, please don't ask a follow up question
Interviewer: "When did your sibling die?"
Me: "Ugh, I hate talking about this"
I brought that last one on myself, I know. Laughing about the whole thing now though.
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Interviewer: " So, let's say you come to our school, and on your orientation day you overhear a peer saying racist comments about another peer. What do you do?"
Me: "...how severe is it?"
Interviewer: "...I don't know"
Me: "Oh, ok. I would confront the person and say, 'hey man, that's not cool!'"
Interviewer: *blank stare*
Me: "...yeah, cuz unless you walk a mile in someone's shoes you can't judge them."
Interviewer: *writes down something*
Me: (internally) "F***!!"
Open mouth, insert foot.
Me: "...how severe is it?"
Interviewer: "...I don't know"
Me: "Oh, ok. I would confront the person and say, 'hey man, that's not cool!'"
Interviewer: *blank stare*
Me: "...yeah, cuz unless you walk a mile in someone's shoes you can't judge them."
Interviewer: *writes down something*
Me: (internally) "F***!!"
Open mouth, insert foot.
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