Your Interviewers last words..and what they mean

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PagingDrP

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Hey guys...so I was recently going over in my head interviews I've had at some of my top choice schools (because I'm a neurotic applicant who likes to engage in self-destructive behavior) and pulling out questions I really messed up on.

Then I got to thinking about what each interviewer said as I was getting ready to leave. No doubt, I thought about it immediately after the interview as well, but I was wondering if people had input. I've had an interviewer tell me he thinks I'm a great fit for the school and that he hopes I'll be recruited but the admissions process can get random. I also had one say something like "I hope you will give us serious consideration." And then I've had plenty that simply say, nice meeting you, thanks for coming, blah blah blah. So what do these things mean? Are these good signs, or am I just giving myself false hope? :confused:
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I've had one interview so far (at my first choice school!). My first interviewer, who was a student, said "it was great meeting you, I really enjoyed this interview." My second interviewer told me a couple of times during the interview that I was a strong applicant for medical school, and that after I had been to other schools for interviews I would have a decision to make, and that I would be more than welcome to come back to give the school another look if I needed more information to make my decision. Like you, I have no idea what to make of these last words! :eek:
 
i had a guy that started the interview with "dont worry, youll get in" and then proceeded to talk about random stuff that had nothing to do with the school or medicine. ended it with "well it's been a pleasure talking to you and dont worry about the debt. when youre into your career in medicine, youll laugh at it" i got in about a week and a half later.

all my other interviews ended with the standard "good luck, nice talking to you" w/ variations consisting of "pleasure talking to you" "good luck at your other interviews" etc

summary: just do the best you can, dont worry about what you said or what they said and occupy your time doing something else while waiting.
 
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I think it's been mentioned like a 100 times on this forum...it doesn't really matter what your interviewers tell you, they are not the only ones who make the final decision... so i really wouldn't worry about their last words. I generally have an overall impression of how the interview went, but I consider myself a good psychologist and like to think that I can read into people's minds...interview is essentially a game, you have to sell yourself while they try to sell the school... anyway, analyzing the last words of your interviewer is like analyzing the last few pages of a book, unless you read and analyze it all, those few last pages don't make much sense.
 
your interviewers can say a bunch of nice things about you and you still might not get accepted. interviews are part of the equation but not all of it.
 
One of my interviews ended with the person saying: "You had a really good interview". Result - Rejected
Another interview ended with: "I really enjoyed meeting you and hope to talk to you again at another point in time" Result -Recurring hold.
 
Yeah, I got, "you will definitely get in somewhere." Wasn't sure what to make of that one...
 
I was told by one interviewer "I think you can/will (I can't remember exactly which word he used but it seems to me like a very important distinction) have a lot of fun here". The interview was great and the school is now my top choice. As for the result I should know next week, I'll let you know. When I think back on my interviews and obsessively try to dissect them the last words of the interviewer always stand out in my mind.

I also think it is important to remember who you are interviewing with. If it was the dean of admissions and he/she says you are going to get in I would take their word for it. If it is someone who is just going to write about you or present you to a committee and who is not very involved in admissions I would be more incredulous.
 
Interviewers tell everybody they interview the exact same nice thing, so I wldnt put my money on it.
 
My least favorite: "I have what I need from you" :thumbdown:
 
I got an unqualified "congratulations", still waiting on the decision for that one.
 
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I got a goodbye, and basically it told me that the interview was over.:smuggrin:
 
Don't read too much into it. You have to remember that interviews are only one piece of the pie, so to speak. You interviewer could be absolutely genuine with what he/she is saying to you, and could have truly enjoying your application and recommend you for admission. But, the committee as a whole may disagree; they of course might just very well agree with him as well. It's not completely random, but there is certainly some chaos involved.

That being said, I can give a little anecdotal evidence that it MAY be a good sign.
-Interview at Vanderbilt: Interviewer told me he really enjoyed our conversation and that he would highly recommend me for admission..and hoped I would consider coming to Vanderbilt and perhaps doing my emphasis project with him. Result, accepted one month later.

-Interview at Case: Interviewer told me she thought I was a perfect fit for Case, and that hopefully Case was a perfect fit for me. Result, accepted two weeks later.
​
Of course, who knows whether or not they say that to each applicant..I know I don't. But, I think we can assume it certainly seemed they at least enjoyed interviewing you.
 
My advice is to try and not read into little nuances like what the interviewer said as you're leaving. People's mannerisms vary greatly (some people will be harsh to everyone, some will be extra nice, etc.). I know it's hard from some of the SDNers out there to relax, but if you don't the neuroticism will eat you alive.

I feel bad for some people's arteries -- their blood pressure must be killing them.
 
My interviewer's last words:

"It was... Colonel... Mustard... in the elevator... with... blarrggh"
 
Here are the last words my interviewers have said and the result

School 1. Please give us serious consideration. <--accepted
School 2. Any school would be lucky to have you <--accepted
School 3. I can't wait to share you with the committee <--accepted
School 4. okay well here is where I drop you off <--Accepted


I think it really depends on the person interviewing you. At school #4 I had an anti-social guy interviewing me that never looked me in the eye, so I did not expect him to say anything other than "okay...bye".
At school 3, my interviewer talked the majority of the time and was enthusiastic about everything so if she did not say what she did I would have known it was a rejection.


My opinion: it is just the vibe that you pick up from the interview that will tell you if you get accepted or not.
 
fizzle said:
My interviewer's last words:

"It was... Colonel... Mustard... in the elevator... with... blarrggh"
Click to expand...

Lol, FTW. My money's on the candlestick.
 
fizzle said:
My interviewer's last words:

"It was... Colonel... Mustard... in the elevator... with... blarrggh"
Click to expand...

I had the same reaction to the title of this thread... What are these people doing to their interviewers?
 
Don't obsess about what interviewers say.
Sometimes they don't know who is going to get in. If they say they'd like to get you in, that's probably a good sign b/c it probably means they'll recommend to admit you, but remember there are other people involved in the process. The best thing to do is forget about each interview after it's done...treat each one with each different person as a new opportunity.
 
I think that, as long as the interviewer doesn't say "Look, this is a formality because I can't imagine them letting you in here, chump," then there's not much you can read into it.

Though I did have the director of admissions say that he and the associate dean had talked about my application pretty thoroughly. I wasn't sure what to make of that. I'll just assume it was good. :)
 
Yeah, I can't really make too much of it. There was one interview where I was all but told that I'd get in, but other than that I couldn't really tell anything from the interview. There was even one interview where we literally spent the last ten minutes with my interviewer just extolling the virtues of the school to me, and I haven't gotten in there.

I never left a single one of my interviews feeling like I'd left anything but a good impression, but obviously I haven't been accepted at all of my schools. So you can analyze your interviews all day if you like, but you're not going to get anything meaningful out of it.
 
Honestly, your interviewer does not analyze what they are going to say to you when they are saying goodbye, so neither should you. If they say something that indicates that you had a terrible interview, then I'd take it as a bad sign, but my guess is that you'd know the interview was going south before that point. If they say something nice, well... who knows. Like someone already mentioned, it's only one piece of the pie. Also, some interviewers hold more weight than others and you usually have no idea who you got (unless it's the dean of admissions).
 
diosa428 said:
Honestly, your interviewer does not analyze what they are going to say to you when they are saying goodbye, so neither should you. If they say something that indicates that you had a terrible interview, then I'd take it as a bad sign, but my guess is that you'd know the interview was going south before that point. If they say something nice, well... who knows. Like someone already mentioned, it's only one piece of the pie. Also, some interviewers hold more weight than others and you usually have no idea who you got (unless it's the dean of admissions).
Click to expand...

This is an excellent point. At at least one of my schools, the interviewers are actually non-voting members of the adcom, so sometimes it actually means literally almost NOTHING what they think of you; unless they hated you and actively tell the adcom to not let you in, they don't have any way to help you actually get in.
 
Yeah I wouldnt weigh into it much. At my state school i interviewed with the Dean of Admissions and he basically told me how great of a doctor i will be one day and i havent heard anything back yet but ppl who interviewed after me have.
 
ChubbyChaser said:
Yeah I wouldnt weigh into it much. At my state school i interviewed with the Dean of Admissions and he basically told me how great of a doctor i will be one day and i havent heard anything back yet but ppl who interviewed after me have.
Click to expand...

I actually think sometimes they butter you up just to see what you're like after you've let your guard down a little.

Also, I think it's entirely possible that they could genuinely see you being an excellent doctor someday, but just not an ideal fit for the mission of their school.
 
I think interviewers want to leave you with a good impression as well, as a way to cover all their bases. If the school decides to accept you, the role can kind of reverse to the point that THEY now want you to strongly consider attending their school over any others. It's a mutual thing.
 
the last words were

"what are you willing to do to get into med schoo?" then there was a ;). the rest i cant disclose in this forum.
 
"You're going to get a lot of acceptances, and when you do, I hope you strongly consider coming to Georgetown."

Result?

Waitlist. :mad:
 
Interviewer 1: You have anymore questions for him?

Interviewer 2: I've heard all I need to hear (while staring at me and smirking)


It was a little awkward
 
Last edited:
Retsage said:
"You're going to get a lot of acceptances, and when you do, I hope you strongly consider coming to Georgetown."

Result?

Waitlist. :mad:
Click to expand...

Ouch! Thats rough.
 
What's done is done. Enjoy life rather than worrying about it.
:luck: all
 
If I were an interviewer, I would say basically the same thing to everybody, except for those who I really enjoyed talking to/was impressed with. With them, I probably would say something along the lines of "You had a great interview. I'll let the committee know about how much I enjoyed getting to know you." And then I'd wink. Maybe. ;)

I don't know; I feel like you can kind of read these interviewers and tell whether you're getting the same ol' same ol' or they're saying something really special to you. From my limited interviewing experience, I've been right about these "vibes" so far.
 
I am not sure whether or not you will be offered a position at X, but good luck.

Waiting on results, but pretty painful last words if you ask me.
 
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