Guest PeterHill0501 Posted March 20, 2002 Report Share Posted March 20, 2002 Whew...I had my interview yesterday. What a pleasurable experience! After reading all the posts about how aggressive interviewers were at Ottawa I was pleasantly surprised. Was the interview challenging? Sure it was. However, the interviewers were extremely respectful, thoughtful and professional. None of the questions I was asked were unexpected...after having browsed this site and interview feedback nothing was a surprise. Personally, I was quite impressed with how well the administrative staff and interviewers organized the day...all was on time and everything went smoothly...quite an elegant orchestration. Current students were extremely helpful and friendly. The atmosphere at U of O seems excellent. Has anybody else had interviews at Ottawa this year? How did they go? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest aa Posted March 20, 2002 Report Share Posted March 20, 2002 Peter, I really am glad for you that you had such a good interview. I think it's crazy that there seems to be so much variation between people...is this fair? I know it has a lot to do with perception but as someone who is extremely outgoing and normal.... and relaxed, I know that I couldn't have instigated their aggressiveness because they were like that from the beginning. Totally agree that the students were extremely friendly and accomodating... i really want to go to Ottawa as it is my first choice and the fact that the interview was not east (i'm not saying i failed, it was just a difficult time) makes me upset. I won't lie, i'm jealous of your experience so good luck. Hope to see you in september... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest PeterHill0501 Posted March 20, 2002 Report Share Posted March 20, 2002 aa, I wouldn't be so hard on yourself. My personal belief, after having talked to people who went through their interviews this year and many friends I have who have been through the program at Ottawa U, is that there is no way of knowing how you were perceived based on reactions you had from the interviewers or your perceptions with respect to how you did. If you were thoughtful, not defensive, honest and well-spoken I would suggest that you have as good a chance as anybody else. Who knows, perhaps my perception of how my interview went was different from that of the interviewers. I personally believe that I gave it my best shot and if I don't get an offer it could be due to one of several factors including: 1) there were a bunch of incredibly brilliant people interviewed...which based on those I talked with on interview day is absolutely true, 2) there are only so many spots available and they can't give one to each and every excellent candidate, 3) evaluating someone's personality/thought patterns and likelihood of success in a medical program based on a 45 minute interview is tough, at best, and is susceptible to human error...they can only do as best as they can given the circumstances 4) my personality type, experiences, thought processes weren't judged as being the best fit for medicine relative to other candidates, etc., etc. The one thing I know is that regardless of whether I get in this year, I will pursue a career in medicine...if it's not this year...then it will be next...or the next. The key is to have a rock solid backup plan....and a clear vision of what you want. I will be leaving a great job if I get accepted...if I don't get an offer then I will still have a great job. I would strongly suggest to any other candidate to have such a backup and then the outcome isn't as critical one way or another. Let's face it, if you're smart, motivated, and all the other characteristics that make a good candidate a good candidate you will eventually get in if you are persistant. Just my two cents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TimmyMax Posted March 20, 2002 Report Share Posted March 20, 2002 Hey Peter, Wow, sounds like you lucked out! I wish I could be so lucky! I mean that in a good way, of course! What could be worse than a panel aggressively questioning your suitability for something even you yourself aren't entirely 100% convinced you're suitable for? Talk about an intimidating prospect! (In terms of the less than 100% convinced, I'm talking about the doubt that each and every one of us has about ourselves when we finally reach the big dance! It varies between people, I'm sure, but it's nonetheless there!) Anyhow, hopefully your good feelings translate into some good news come June! Best of luck the rest of the way and thanks for sharing- you've really helped alleviate some of my concerns! Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest PeterHill0501 Posted March 20, 2002 Report Share Posted March 20, 2002 You're very welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest anne Posted March 21, 2002 Report Share Posted March 21, 2002 Hey there. I just wanted to say to anyone on this message board who is concerned about their interview experience not to despair until the acceptances/rejections are in. I interviewed at Ottawa U last year and I found it to be a very harrowing experience. One of my interviewers was very aggressive and I thought for sure that it went terribly. I was wrong and I ended up getting in. Some people have different interviewing styles and how you perceive their reactions to your answers might be a bit skewed by the fact that you find the experience intimidating. So hang in there and don't fret. Good luck to all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest maxwell Posted March 22, 2002 Report Share Posted March 22, 2002 I had my interview on March 19th too, and I must say that I was impressed by the school and the people there. Luckily, I did not have difficult interviewers, but one really never knows. It depends on the candidate pool, against whom who are competing.... What I really would like to know (if anybody knows this here) is whether, right now, I have the same chance of getting in irrespective of my place of residency, or am I still considered an out-of-province student and have to compete for a very limited number of spots? Also, does anyone know what it means when they write on their evaluation forms (is that an indication of something good you said)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest msmilingbear Posted March 22, 2002 Report Share Posted March 22, 2002 I just had my interview today. I think I did a lousy job, didn't show them that I was thinking when I answered ethical questions, and they bombarded me with political questions which I had to admit that I don't know. I guess it's all my fault, I don't think I was well prepared, although I think there were good things about me that they were really interested. I think the interviewers were trying to be nice, although one of them admitted that he is a bad guy, that he would interrupt etc. I had a little bit of a problem listening to the other interviewer too. His voice was real low and he was mumbling and was speaking soooo fast. Sorry guys, I just want to say out my feelings so I'll feel less worried. I guess you guys are right, there's no way I can tell how they think about you. HOpefully the good things that I had said would help on the other parts. Oh well, I'm glad that it's over. Good luck to you all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest msmilingbear Posted March 22, 2002 Report Share Posted March 22, 2002 Oh, these stats that I got were from the information session after my interview today. Hopefully it helps to those who want to know but didn't manage to find the info. Number of applicants: around 2000 (I forgot the exact #) Number of interviewees they invited: 496 Number of first year spots: 123 First 200 waiting list ppl will have a good chance of getting in I don't think I'll be in the first 123 ppl...but hopefully I'll be in a good spot on the wait list Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest PeterHill0501 Posted March 22, 2002 Report Share Posted March 22, 2002 msmilingbear, Thanks for the post...I've got the exact figure...it was a total of 2039 people who applied to the University of Ottawa this year. Also, I seem to remember that they said the first 200-250 ppl should consider themselves "well placed" and likely to get an acceptance letter or waiting list letter, whereas the lower 200-250 on the list should consider that their chances are slight or minimal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest aa Posted March 22, 2002 Report Share Posted March 22, 2002 i had that same interviewer that spoke SO fast!!! He mumbled like crazy too and i had to ask him to repeat himself on 3 occasions......that really sucked! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest heyheyhey Posted March 22, 2002 Report Share Posted March 22, 2002 Hey what does it mean when they ALL at the same time write down something. I remember I gave an answer to a question and simultaneously they all wrote down something. It was creepy, I dont even remember what I said. Does anyone have any opinons on what this could mean? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest msmilingbear Posted March 23, 2002 Report Share Posted March 23, 2002 Your info. makes more sense compared to what I heard. But I'm pretty sure that the lady who presented the info. session told us that "number 1-200 on the waiting list have a good chance of getting in". So it sounds like she meant the first 200 waitlisters, not the first 200 ppl on the ranking list. Although this would mean most ppl who got accepted to Ottawa declined the offer, which doesn't seem to make good sense. I really don't know then. What did ppl hear? I know, I had to pardon a couple of times, soo bad. Do you guys think that my mistakes on the interview will seriously affect my performance? Sigh. Heyheyhey, I think they just made notes of what u said so they could rmber you better? I don't know. It doesn't seem to have any particular correlation with your performance I think. I rmbered during my interview they wrote down what I said simultaneously too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest PeterHill0501 Posted March 23, 2002 Report Share Posted March 23, 2002 msmilingbear, I think that we are saying the same thing with respect to how many people "are in good standing" on the list. It sounds like everybody is ranked on a single list...first based on interview score (i.e., 4, 3.75, etc.) then all the 4's are ranked according to the score they were given prior to interview based on academics, autobiographical sketch and letters of reference. The first 200-250 people on the entire list have a good chance of getting an offer...after that, they said, you would likely have little or no chance... Hope this helps clarify my earlier post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tanya23 Posted June 30, 2002 Report Share Posted June 30, 2002 Does anyone know exactly HOW our interviews are evaluated? Numerical score? Checklist? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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