goodlist/accepted?? how was your interview

[Guest nina niloofar]

congrats to all who have been accepted, and those who are waiting too... you have all gotten further than I have!!

I didn't think my intervew was that bad to not even be good listed. I just want to know how the successful people's interviews wen; so that I can improve on things for next year.

 

thanks and good luck!!

[Guest Namgalsip]

Hi Nina,

 

Try checking out the thread posted about interview impressions, I think it was titled "interview impression". I'll see if I can bring it back up. As far as I recall, my first impression was good but the more I thought about it, the worse I thought I did. I also remember the student interviewer being asleep.

 

Nams

[Guest nina niloofar]

thanks Nams!

I have come to realize that there is no way of making the interview go your way. And I mean go your way as in an acceptance.

Those who had a great interview, didn't get in, and those who had thought it was the worst experience ever, got offers....

I conclude that no matter how much you prep and have the best interview ever, it doesn't reflect on weather you get in or not.:\

[Guest lsaville]

Nina

 

I have interviewed twice at Ottawa.

 

The first time I thought I went great because I felt that I honestly portrayed myself. I didn't get in...not even on the good waitlist.

 

I thought to myself this year "What can I possibly do to improve on my interview when I was myself?". Nothing would really change. I just gained more knowledge of medicine, current events, and practiced my interview skills. I was still myself this year but I had refined my answers. I thought that I couldn't take anything away from the previous interview experience since there is no feedback, but I was much more calm and controlled this time around. And this time I am on the good waitlist.

 

Just try to be the best of yourself...that's all you can do other than prepare and gain knowledge.

 

Hope that helps.

She D

[Guest Ceeb23]

Nina Niloofar,

 

I can't say that I totally agree with your statement concerning the correlation between interview experience and acceptance/rejection. Yes, it is true that some who think they have a bad interview actually get in, and vice versa, however, I firmly believe that a good interview significantly increases your chances of admission. Those who are absolutely dumbfounded by their admission result may simply have a skewed view of what the interviewers were actually looking for.

 

My understanding was that at Ottawa, the interviewers knew nothing about us besides what was on our one-page autobiographical sketch. Hence, in my opinion, a good interview would highlight all your personal accomplishments, extracurricular involvement, academic abilities, interpersonal skills, etc. If you contrast this interview style with say, Toronto, the interviewers had extensive information on each applicant. Hence, a good interview at that school would most likely have to elaborate and enhance what the interviewers already know about you.

 

For me personally, my interview experiences correlated very strongly with my admission results. I had a good feeling coming out of my Ottawa and Toronto interviews, and wound up getting accepted to both schools. However, I had some problems at Mac and as a result got waitlisted. I think that it's important to note that the admission process is not some random luck of the draw - the people who were accepted evidenced the skills and personality that the school was looking for in future students. It's unfair to simply discredit the interview process and all the work that goes into it, on both the student applicant and faculty sides.

 

Just my $0.02.

[Guest peachy]

Hi Ceeb,

 

I don't think that claiming that there is very little correlation between an applicant's interview experience and the eventual outcome discredits the interview process. It just says that generally applicants have a hard time assessing how the interview actually went in the eyes of the evaluators. This doesn't mean that we have a "skewed view" of what they are looking for, necessarily! Just that it's very, very difficult to tell whether you are getting through to the people on the other side of the table.

 

peachy

[Guest EJL]

I was interviewed twice at Ottawa.

 

The first time, I felt like I'd done a decent job, although, in all fairness, it was my first interview, so I had nothing to compare my performance with.

 

The second time, I was prepped a lot more by friends and physicians. I was told to "take a deep breath, think quickly, and not to babble." I managed to find some connection with the interviewers on different levels, and I talked about my personal experiences, while trying to display my personality, my academic achievements, as well as my personal interests. This time around, I got a first round offer.

 

I know that it's a "system" and really, there's no one good or bad experience. I think that it's just a matter of connecting with the interviewers, while showing them your personality. I was challenged a lot the first time around, and I thought that this was a good thing. The second time around, I was also challenged, but I felt as if I wasn't being pushed in a corner. I also got to talk about me, as opposed to current events and health care. This made a big difference. I don't think that interviewers should waste time asking about current events - I think that by talking to a well-rounded individual for about ten minutes, you can usually figure out if that person knows something about what's going on in the world.

 

In any case, good luck to everyone who is still waiting. You will see that it is a sigh of relief, followed by a feeling of nervousness, once the whole process is complete.

 

EJL