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

– 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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