Medical school admissions interviews are intimidating for many premeds, but sometimes things go so off script that it’s just plain funny. I was looking through the forums on Student Doctor and I found a few hilarious stories of interviews gone wrong. These are five of some of the worst interview mistakes I could find, recounted humorously by the interviewee — don’t make these same mistakes!

Mistake #1

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– Me: What residency are you going into?

– Interviewer: Ortho. blah blah blah.

– Me: I have a friend going into ortho, he told me it’s very competitive for residency, he said he’s applying to 50 or so programs.

– Interviewer: (looks at me funny, as if why the hell would I say something like that) Well, not really, only 100 or so people who apply don’t find a spot in a given year.

Mistake #2

– Interviewer: What type of books do you like to read?

– Me: To be honest, I don’t read a lot of books.

Mistake #3

– Interviewer: So why do you think you’ve gotten so many interviews?

– Me: [in a totally joking manner] I hope it’s not because I’m Hispanic.

… and he was waitlisted.

Mistake #4

– Interviewer: What do you like to do in your spare time?

– Me: (without missing a beat) Sleep.

Mistake #5

– Interviewer: Do you have any questions for us?

– Me: Where’s the restroom?

So What Have You Learned?

At the very least, you should take away three things from these unfortunate (but funny) interview moments.

• Don’t talk about something you’re clueless about and don’t BS (the interviewer knows when you do).
• Always pay attention to what the interviewer is saying.
• Don’t make any potentially controversial jokes.

If you’re interested in some more advice on how to ace the medical school admissions interview, I suggest you take a look at my Medical School Interview Video Course which breaks down everything you need to have this most-important step go smoothly.

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