Worst/Funniest Interview Experiences

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
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messenger634 said:
well, it was really just a joke.

But if I was ever asked about having 3 people to have dinner with, I'd say Albert Einstein, Michael Jackson, and Jesus.

Because I'd like to meet Albert Einstein, and I think Michael Jackson really needs to meet Jesus.
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This is a really funny joke :laugh::laugh::laugh:
 
Interviewer: Can you please tell me the last book your read and why you did or did not like it?

Me: (paused)... well I just finished a book about a missionary family who runs and orphanage that I worked at in Africa... goes on to explain how inspirational it is... the remembers I shouldn't have brought up religion in an interview like that...

... well the last book that wasn't a Christian inspirational book was "Night" by Elie Wiesel and explained how I liked how descriptive and poetic it was and how young people could read it and get a true taste for the Holocaust yet enjoy the poetic language...

Interviewer- Oh yes the literary style makes the book and we discussed literature for a few more minutes.

I thought I had screwed that one up big time but the interview seemed to like my other answers...

Result: Acceptance 10 days after interview!!!
 
This reminds me:

Wash U Interviewer: Any good books you read recently?

Me: (without even hesitating) No, I don't really read books much.

So, that's why the verbal score is so low?

Ouch
 
I have absolutely fallen in love with this thread. Thank you SDN and its members!
 
So I'm just a high school student, but I had a mildly amusing moment in my Harvard interview a few weeks ago.

Interviewer (trying to joke): Don't be nervous, I secretly think that they don't pay any attention to what I say!
Me: Well, why are we here then?
Interviewer: *stare*

This thread totally made my night.
 
pianola said:
OK, so against my better judgment, I'll be posting again in this thread:

Interviewer: Suppose that you're a doctor and you have just told one of your patients (a woman) that she has [insert terminal illness here]. She has a daughter who has been in prison for seven months and the patient begs you to guarantee her that she will be alive to see her daughter's baby born.

Me: Wow that's a complicated scenario. I would promise to do everything in my power to help her, but I probably couldn't guarantee anything...[blabs for a little bit]...maybe I could ask about prison visits?

Interviewer: 😕😕😕 Gives me a look that says "Are-you-all-right-in-the-head?"

Me: [embarassed] Well, how long did you say she was in prison for?

Interviewer:...I didn't.

Me: I mean, the daughter. How long is she in prison for?

Interviewer:...no one's in prison.

Me: Oh. Ok. [Long, deafening pause] Wonder where I got "in prison" from.

Interviewer:...Thinking, "no idea, sport" Maybe I should read the scenario over again...

Me: Oh no! no! I think I understand now...

***I must have heard "in prison" instead of "pregnant" in the initial scenario. Whoops!

Result: No verdict as of yet.
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I fell out of my seat laughing when I read this!:laugh:
 
Ok...so this isn't an interview story, but it's something that happened to one of my MS1 classmates last month during one of our clinical skills exams. The set-up was that there was a standardized patient in the room who had some eye pain and needed an eye exam...it went something like this:

MS1: So, do you remember what you were doing when your eye started to hurt?

Patient: I was reading.

MS1: (who thought the patient said weeding). Oh, did anything fly into your eye? Were you using a roto-till?

Patient: Um...you don't usually need a roto-till...

MS1: Oh! well, clearly I'm not a gardiner.

Patient: ...

Later, our group got to talk and everything was straightened out, but it was very, very amusing at the time.
 
interviewer: what would you do if you didn't get into med school this year
me: probably a public health masters and some research
interviewer: oh ok...I was wondering if you would be re applying...
me: oh yeah, that too...
decision - rejection

another interview:
interviewer: your student interviewer is missing for some reason..
me: guess we can talk about the students now?
decision - accepted
 
URHere said:
Ok...so this isn't an interview story, but it's something that happened to one of my MS1 classmates last month during one of our clinical skills exams. The set-up was that there was a standardized patient in the room who had some eye pain and needed an eye exam...it went something like this:

MS1: So, do you remember what you were doing when your eye started to hurt?

Patient: I was reading.

MS1: (who thought the patient said weeding). Oh, did anything fly into your eye? Were you using a roto-till?

Patient: Um...you don't usually need a roto-till...

MS1: Oh! well, clearly I'm not a gardiner.

Patient: ...

Later, our group got to talk and everything was straightened out, but it was very, very amusing at the time.
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WAY better when the misunderstanding is a standardized patient than an ADCOM who's about to decide whether or not you get admitted to medical school. But I still laughed pretty hard at this story.

I wish we had enough stories to create an "I thought you said..." thread. :laugh:
 
Interviewer: So why are you applying to this school? Is it just another school on the list or are you genuinely interested in our program?

Me: Well I have several friends that go to this school's undergraduate institution and they have nothing but good things to say about the undergrad. program. So the medical school must be even better.

Holy crap I felt like an idiot after saying that. I was accepted at that school though, so maybe the interviewer appreciated my candor 😕
 
amlo86 said:
Interviewer: So why are you applying to this school? Is it just another school on the list or are you genuinely interested in our program?

Me: Well I have several friends that go to this school's undergraduate institution and they have nothing but good things to say about the undergrad. program. So the medical school must be even better.

Holy crap I felt like an idiot after saying that. I was accepted at that school though, so maybe the interviewer appreciated my candor 😕
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It's not that bad of an answer
 
Even though I had to wake up early for an interview today, I read the entire thread last night - trying not to laugh and wake up my student host! Luckily I have nothing to contribute.... yet....
 
I can totally commiserate with you guys. I had an awful experience with my med school interviews. I was nervous at all of them and gave a lot of really pathetic answers to questions.

Its interesting, because all of my residency interviews so far have been absolutely cupcake. Totally the opposite experience. Go figure. 🙄
 
Interview at UTH:

I: What do you think about the financial crisis?
Me: I think that it could have been avoided, but we should look forward to solving the problems of insecure lending, blah blah blah.
I: How would you fix it?
Me: Put greater restrictions upon lending institutions, establish responsibility in the market, blah blah blah
I: What restrictions are there on institutions right now?
Me: I have no idea.

He pushed me on a topic I only knew a light dusting about, and which had nothing to do with medicine. Argh.
 
alehar said:
Interview at UTH:

I: What do you think about the financial crisis?
Me: I think that it could have been avoided, but we should look forward to solving the problems of insecure lending, blah blah blah.
I: How would you fix it?
Me: Put greater restrictions upon lending institutions, establish responsibility in the market, blah blah blah
I: What restrictions are there on institutions right now?
Me: I have no idea.

He pushed me on a topic I only knew a light dusting about, and which had nothing to do with medicine. Argh.
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I hate when that happens...it's so easy to fall into that trap 😳

There's a fine line between the decision to either talk about something you know only a little about or just saying straight off that you don't know. You want to avoid blabbing about something you don't know much about, but you also don't want to look like a total braindead person with no opinions on anything. Ahhh :scared:
 
alehar said:
Interview at UTH:

I: What do you think about the financial crisis?
Me: I think that it could have been avoided, but we should look forward to solving the problems of insecure lending, blah blah blah.
I: How would you fix it?
Me: Put greater restrictions upon lending institutions, establish responsibility in the market, blah blah blah
I: What restrictions are there on institutions right now?
Me: I have no idea.

He pushed me on a topic I only knew a light dusting about, and which had nothing to do with medicine. Argh.
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I wouldn't even worry about it a little bit. I think those are good answers showing that you follow the news and are aware of current situations...I don't think medical schools expect you to have an in depth knowledge of the federal regulations on financial institutions
 
Last year

-Interviewer: So do you have any questions?
-Me: Hmmm... I'm pooped out of questions. (jokingly laughs)
-Interviewer: (No facial expression what so ever)
Waitlisted at school

Accepted this year and made sure to have questions this time.
 
MilkmanAl said:
I think that was probably the idea. Sometimes interviewers want to see if you'll try to BS an answer or if you'll just say you don't know.
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Yes, but the point is that it's sometimes very hard to tell where the line is between the two. Interviews are not like making decisions in medical treatments where you need to admit if you don't know something; they're more conversational and require the applicant to elaborate more on his/her opinions than just "I don't know," just for the sake of keeping the conversation flowing.
 
*sigh* I wasn't suggesting he should say "I don't know" and sit there silently. Geez, people around here take things way too literally. I'm assuming that people will have some sort of social grace and can go with something like "I'm not familiar with governmental regulations, but..."
 
MilkmanAl said:
*sigh* I wasn't suggesting he should say "I don't know" and sit there silently. Geez, people around here take things way too literally. I'm assuming that people will have some sort of social grace and can go with something like "I'm not familiar with governmental regulations, but..."
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Yeah, half of my economic/healthcare questions had answers like "Well, based on what I've read, my understanding is...." That way I'm able to qualify my opinions and explain where I'm coming from.

I honestly don't think any interviewer is going to have a negative opinion of a candidate for not knowing the details of financial institutions and the rules governing them.

However, confusing "in prison" with "pregnant" is a totally different matter 😉 Especially since I never actually got the chance to clarify why I had misunderstood what I misunderstood. I only figured out what happened well after I left the interview 😛.
 
chemnerd89 said:
This question came out of nowhere.

Interviewer: 'Do you have a girlfriend?'.

Me: ' Not currently, no.'

Interviewer: 'Why do you think that is?'

Me: '.............I don't know.'
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Sorry to dig this up, but that was a totally an inappropriate question for them ask.

The best answer to this would be: "what relevance does this have to my application?"
 
Terpskins99 said:
Sorry to dig this up, but that was a totally an inappropriate question for them ask.

The best answer to this would be: "what relevance does this have to my application?"
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I don't disagree that it was inappropriate, but I can sort of see where this line of questioning has the potential to go. What if he said yes, and the next string of questions dealt with the completely consuming nature of the profession and the interviewer just wanted to see how he would balance a personal interests with his professional goals? I could see it heading down that path. Eh, or not. :shrug: Who knows.
 
MilkmanAl said:
*sigh* I wasn't suggesting he should say "I don't know" and sit there silently. Geez, people around here take things way too literally. I'm assuming that people will have some sort of social grace and can go with something like "I'm not familiar with governmental regulations, but..."
Click to expand...

*sigh* I agree that people around here take things way too literally; I wasn't suggesting that it was either all or nothing or, in fact, anything to do with how an interviewee should act. Rather, my point is that the distinction between giving your opinion versus your knowledge of something is hard to make sometimes, especially in the heat of an interview. It's easy to fall into a tangent in the middle of your speech where you realize that you're suddenly out of your range, yet it is sometimes awkward and/or difficult to just suddenly stop midway through your talk when you realize it.

And yes, I am aware of what interviewers are looking for when they ask questions that are likely outside of the knowledge base of the applicant.
 
talking about my research, I pronounced angiogenesis: angiogen(eese)is. f'n a. i know the correct way to pronounce it, its just something I catch myself doing fairly frequently for some reason. my interviewer just laughed and turned his head and pronounced it correctly and I gave a quick "ANGIOGENESIS, right!" haha oops. hopefully it wasn't TOO big of a deal
 
One of my interviewers answered his phone in the middle of my interview..😡
 
DoktorB said:
One of my interviewers answered his phone in the middle of my interview..😡
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Happened to me twice, but considering both times it was a resident asking them what to do about a patient, it was completely understandable. Even though our interview is probably the most important the in the world for us, it probably isn't so much for them 😛
 
GoSpursGo said:
Happened to me twice, but considering both times it was a resident asking them what to do about a patient, it was completely understandable. Even though our interview is probably the most important the in the world for us, it probably isn't so much for them 😛
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Yea my guy was talking about his research, i dont want to go to that school anyway 😎
 
My interviewer refused to answer her phone for 5 minutes while the caller kept trying again and again. She finally picked it up, and it was apparently nothing that important because she told the caller she would just call them back.
 
(After talking about my research experience)

Interviewer: So are you interested in doing more research in your medical career?

Me: Definitely! Yes, maybe.

Interviewer: (laughs) Definitely, yes, maybe, what is that?

Me: (explaining that I'm on the fence about the whole doing-research-as-a-doctor)

I gotta stop saying "definitely" and "exactly" all the time.
A bad habit.


(at the same interview)

Interviewer: Do you like to teach?

Me: Yes.

Interviewer: (writes something on her paper)

Me: ......

Me: I tutored math to some high school kids.

Interviewer: (keeps writing)

Me: And some middle school kids! (dies inside)


Still waiting for the result.
 
DoktorB said:
Yea my guy was talking about his research, i dont want to go to that school anyway 😎
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I had this happen...funny thing was he had a friendly everyday conversation...nothing important that I thought.
 
DoktorB said:
One of my interviewers answered his phone in the middle of my interview..😡
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I'm always amazed when interviewees feel slighted by this. Get over yourselves people!


For an actual bad interview answer:


Interviewer: "What's your handicap?"

Interviewee (forgetting that she wrote at length about golfing as an extracurricular): "Well,... my right leg is a half-inch shorter than my left, I suffer from carpal tunnel, and I have low-grade narcolepsy."

Interviewer laughs hysterically.
 
armybound said:
Maybe I'm not really as funny as I think I am..

Interviewer: So, have you always wanted to be a doctor?
Me: No, when I was little I saw my future much differently.
Interviewer: Yeah? How so?
Me: Well, up until I was about 9 or so, I wanted to be a ninja.
Interviewer: . . .
Me: Yeah.. but then I realized there isn't much job security in that line of work..
Interviewer: . . .
Me: . . .
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r o f l
hahahha
 
Univ of Michigan

Interviewer: What's your top choice?

Me: What I say will prob hurt me right?

Interviewer: Being Honest will never hurt you.

Me: (another school)

Accepted the next week.

Shows you how kick ass UMich is!!!!:meanie::meanie::meanie:
 
Wow this thread is great therapy as I prepare for my interview tomorrow...

Here's my horror story from a few weeks ago. The interview was generally pretty uncomfortable. I was self aware the whole time, and the guy was hard to talk to until we hit the right topics. He was asking very straightforward questions, then had zero reaction to everything I said (imagine a sea of blank stares).

This one in particular sucked bigtime...

Him: dfsflskdfnssdfsdfsdfdsf goal sdf sdf ovsdfr er come dsf sdf? (foreign accent)

Me: Hm, I think I'd really like to (start talking)

Him: No no. That is not what I was asking.

Me: Oh, I'm sorry, I must have misunderstood.

Him: Do you sdfkjsdfsfjskfhsdfnsdfsdf?

Me: ?

Him: ?

Me: I'm sorry, I just don't understand what you're asking.

Him (smiling in a way that made me uncomfortable): Forget it. Let's move on.

Anyway the interview lasted nearly an hour. He was tough, but we broke cordially and with a general lightheartedness, so we'll see. Haven't heard back yet, but I'd be a lot more confident if not for that interview!!
 
stephentyler20 said:
Wow this thread is great therapy as I prepare for my interview tomorrow...

Here's my horror story from a few weeks ago. The interview was generally pretty uncomfortable. I was self aware the whole time, and the guy was hard to talk to until we hit the right topics. He was asking very straightforward questions, then had zero reaction to everything I said (imagine a sea of blank stares).

This one in particular sucked bigtime...

Him: dfsflskdfnssdfsdfsdfdsf goal sdf sdf ovsdfr er come dsf sdf? (foreign accent)

Me: Hm, I think I'd really like to (start talking)

Him: No no. That is not what I was asking.

Me: Oh, I'm sorry, I must have misunderstood.

Him: Do you sdfkjsdfsfjskfhsdfnsdfsdf?

Me: ?

Him: ?

Me: I'm sorry, I just don't understand what you're asking.

Him (smiling in a way that made me uncomfortable): Forget it. Let's move on.

Anyway the interview lasted nearly an hour. He was tough, but we broke cordially and with a general lightheartedness, so we'll see. Haven't heard back yet, but I'd be a lot more confident if not for that interview!!
Click to expand...

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2yv8aT0UFc[/YOUTUBE]
 
stephentyler20 said:
Wow this thread is great therapy as I prepare for my interview tomorrow...

Here's my horror story from a few weeks ago. The interview was generally pretty uncomfortable. I was self aware the whole time, and the guy was hard to talk to until we hit the right topics. He was asking very straightforward questions, then had zero reaction to everything I said (imagine a sea of blank stares).

This one in particular sucked bigtime...

Him: dfsflskdfnssdfsdfsdfdsf goal sdf sdf ovsdfr er come dsf sdf? (foreign accent)

Me: Hm, I think I'd really like to (start talking)

Him: No no. That is not what I was asking.

Me: Oh, I'm sorry, I must have misunderstood.

Him: Do you sdfkjsdfsfjskfhsdfnsdfsdf?

Me: ?

Him: ?

Me: I'm sorry, I just don't understand what you're asking.

Him (smiling in a way that made me uncomfortable): Forget it. Let's move on.

Anyway the interview lasted nearly an hour. He was tough, but we broke cordially and with a general lightheartedness, so we'll see. Haven't heard back yet, but I'd be a lot more confident if not for that interview!!
Click to expand...

Which one of the guys were you? PM me and let me know.
 
Last edited:
A girl I interviewed wih felt like an ass after this exchange:

Interviewer: What do you like to read?

Girl: I love Hemmingway. My favorites are The Pearl, The Old Man and the Sea, Cannery Row,...
 
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goldenwest said:
This is a straight up lie. Not saying that you shouldn't be honest, but it will often hurt you.
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I guess it ultimately depends on who you're talking to too. After the interview I thought I literally wasted the airplane ticket and hotel fees down the drain. That said the doctor I was talking to was quite amazing (down to earth and extremely pleasant)
 
DoktorB said:
Yea my guy was talking about his research, i dont want to go to that school anyway 😎
Click to expand...

Exact same thing happened to me and I feel the same way about the school. I wonder if it was the same one...
 
Not as funny as the others, but here goes:

Interviewer: What would you do if ______ (sticky ethical question)

Me: (Thinks about it for ~20 seconds, gave a really well thought-out answer that I thought I totally nailed. I thought out every possible scenario and my answer was the absolute best that I could think of. )

Interviewer: Have you taken an ethics class?

Me: No (Thinking a complement was coming)

Interviewer: Well you should take an ethics class. I'd recommend that you take an ethics class.

Me: (Very confused and humbled) Ok, I'll look into that.

Interviewer: ____ (another ethical question).

This keeps repeating over and over for about 30 minutes, with my dreams being shattered a little bit more each time he tells me to take an ethics class.
 
DoctorDeMan said:
Not as funny as the others, but here goes:

Interviewer: What would you do if ______ (sticky ethical question)

Me: (Thinks about it for ~20 seconds, gave a really well thought-out answer that I thought I totally nailed. I thought out every possible scenario and my answer was the absolute best that I could think of. )

Interviewer: Have you taken an ethics class?

Me: No (Thinking a complement was coming)

Interviewer: Well you should take an ethics class. I'd recommend that you take an ethics class.

Me: (Very confused and humbled) Ok, I'll look into that.

Interviewer: ____ (another ethical question).

This keeps repeating over and over for about 30 minutes, with my dreams being shattered a little bit more each time he tells me to take an ethics class.
Click to expand...

That's pretty cold, but on the other hand maybe he was just really into ethics and likes debating ethical scenarios all day. In that case his suggestion might have been more benign than you thought.
 
DoctorDeMan said:
Not as funny as the others, but here goes:

Interviewer: What would you do if ______ (sticky ethical question)

Me: (Thinks about it for ~20 seconds, gave a really well thought-out answer that I thought I totally nailed. I thought out every possible scenario and my answer was the absolute best that I could think of. )

Interviewer: Have you taken an ethics class?

Me: No (Thinking a complement was coming)

Interviewer: Well you should take an ethics class. I'd recommend that you take an ethics class.

Me: (Very confused and humbled) Ok, I'll look into that.

Interviewer: ____ (another ethical question).

This keeps repeating over and over for about 30 minutes, with my dreams being shattered a little bit more each time he tells me to take an ethics class.
Click to expand...

I actually read that as him either A) just screwing with you, despite your strong answer, to see how you respond, or B) he WAS impressed by your answer and suggested an ethics class thinking you would enjoy it. Seeing it as a critique of your answer is possible, but far from the only interpretation, I think 🙂
 
GoSpursGo said:
I actually read that as him either A) just screwing with you, despite your strong answer, to see how you respond, or B) he WAS impressed by your answer and suggested an ethics class thinking you would enjoy it. Seeing it as a critique of your answer is possible, but far from the only interpretation, I think 🙂
Click to expand...
I thought about that also. I'm not too worried, just thought it was an interesting story to share. It is possible that he liked my answer, or maybe I am just terrible at ethics. Hard to say, though I did get the feeling he was messing with me to gauge a reaction through most of the interview.

I got into a school I would much rather attend anyway, so I withdrew post interview before they had decided on my application.
 
iduwanna said:
A girl I interviewed wih felt like an ass after this exchange:

Interviewer: What do you like to read?

Girl: I love Hemmingway. My favorites are The Pearl, The Old Man and the Sea, Cannery Row,...
Click to expand...


Hahaha!
 
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