Hi everyone. Interview questions. Please help

[hin]

Hi everyone,
Can you please let me know if these answers are ok? And, what should I say for the 3rd question? (The adcom already knows about the law school issue, so I can't change that.) Thanks a lot everyone!

Why did you apply to law school if you really wanted to become a doctor? I guess growing up around my brother who was in law school and seeing and speaking with him a lot, I was sort of influenced into just sending in the application b/c I already had LSAT scores. It was a mistake and I wish I had not done it.


Why did you still go to your law school interviews if you knew you wanted to become a doctor?
Yes, that was a mistake. I should not have gone to the interviews.

Why didn't you write the MCAT and apply to US schools?

[covarubious]

is it really a mistake though? sounds a bit negative. theres nothing wronge with exploring your options and keeping an open mind bedor deciding whats the best thing for you

Hi everyone,
Can you please let me know if these answers are ok? And, what should I say for the 3rd question? (The adcom already knows about the law school issue, so I can't change that.) Thanks a lot everyone!

Why did you apply to law school if you really wanted to become a doctor? I guess growing up around my brother who was in law school and seeing and speaking with him a lot, I was sort of influenced into just sending in the application b/c I already had LSAT scores. It was a mistake and I wish I had not done it.


Why did you still go to your law school interviews if you knew you wanted to become a doctor?
Yes, that was a mistake. I should not have gone to the interviews.

Why didn't you write the MCAT and apply to US schools?

[hin]

is it really a mistake though? sounds a bit negative. theres nothing wronge with exploring your options and keeping an open mind bedor deciding whats the best thing for you


But I can't say this to the interviewers if I talk to them though. It would look like I wasn't really committed to medicine. Also, does anyone know what is a good answer for question #3?

Thanks

[KingMo]

These are pretty easy to answer if you're honest. Being pushed into applying is one thing...but you went through the enormous effort of taking the LSAT. And if you applied to law school, you went through considerable more effort there also. So why did you really do it in the first place? If it was because you brother was already a lawyer and you had nothing better to do, fair enough. But then what makes you not want to do it anymore?

What I'm getting at is that if it was so easy for you to just follow someone else and do law and then have no real reason to not do it anymore, what's not to say that you won't just quit medicine the same way? So come up with a real reason why don't want to do it anymore (ie: law wasn't what you thought it initially was), and MORE IMPORTANTLY, come up with a very good reason why you KNOW medicine is what you want to do.

Number 3 is easy. Obviously if you were pursuing law, you didn't consider the MCAT at the time. The real question is, what's your GPA? Do you think it's high enough to get into Saba without an MCAT? If it is, tell them you don't want to wait around another year, that's why no state school. Although if your GPA is high, you should really consider taking the MCAT and applying to a state school.

[Mike77]

Hi everyone,
Can you please let me know if these answers are ok? And, what should I say for the 3rd question? (The adcom already knows about the law school issue, so I can't change that.) Thanks a lot everyone!

Why did you apply to law school if you really wanted to become a doctor? I guess growing up around my brother who was in law school and seeing and speaking with him a lot, I was sort of influenced into just sending in the application b/c I already had LSAT scores. It was a mistake and I wish I had not done it.


Why did you still go to your law school interviews if you knew you wanted to become a doctor?
Yes, that was a mistake. I should not have gone to the interviews.

Why didn't you write the MCAT and apply to US schools?

First, I don't think anyone should give a word for word description of what to say, because it's an interview for a reason... Second, the more you prepare and have pre-thought answers for anticipated questions, the more nervous you'll come off, and the less authentic you will sound.

Be yourself and answer honestly. Why DID you apply to law?

I mentioned in my personal statement that I battled with the idea of being a doctor or a psychologist, and it came up in the interview and I answered 100% HONESTLY, just like i did to every other question. I said that anyone making a career in medicine should consider other jobs, right up to the very end, and if anything, schools should question the people that 'always wanted to be a doctor' more than people that had to really spend years upon years deciding (I didn't mention the fact that a lot of kids that have 'always wanted to be a dr.' were most likely influenced by their parents, although i do believe that to be the case).

If you try to give them 'perfect answers' they'll smell that a mile away. Just be yourself, do some research on medical school in general (USMLE's, etc.), do your research on saba, and be prepared to answer why you chose medicine and why you chose saba. There are going to be questions that you won't see coming, and the last thing you want to do is panic in an interview. Apart from basic research on these topics, do NOT pre-plan any answers, and just be yourself. It is so easy to tell a fake, and it doesn't take years of conducting interviews-- but if anyone could tell, it's them.

Good luck man, i'm sure you'll do fine. Confidence is everything.

-mike

[wolfvgang22]

These are pretty easy to answer if you're honest. Being pushed into applying is one thing...but you went through the enormous effort of taking the LSAT. And if you applied to law school, you went through considerable more effort there also. So why did you really do it in the first place? If it was because you brother was already a lawyer and you had nothing better to do, fair enough. But then what makes you not want to do it anymore?

What I'm getting at is that if it was so easy for you to just follow someone else and do law and then have no real reason to not do it anymore, what's not to say that you won't just quit medicine the same way? So come up with a real reason why don't want to do it anymore (ie: law wasn't what you thought it initially was), and MORE IMPORTANTLY, come up with a very good reason why you KNOW medicine is what you want to do.

Number 3 is easy. Obviously if you were pursuing law, you didn't consider the MCAT at the time. The real question is, what's your GPA? Do you think it's high enough to get into Saba without an MCAT? If it is, tell them you don't want to wait around another year, that's why no state school. Although if your GPA is high, you should really consider taking the MCAT and applying to a state school.
I think that's pretty good advice. It's ok to admit going for law was a mistake, just be able to say why you came to feel it was a mistake and why medicine is a better fit for you. This way you show what you have learned. The road to wisdom is paved, in part, with mistakes.

[covarubious]

just like in a job interview. be honest and admit mistakes but phrase it in a way that it becomes a strength... now that you have the law experience you are much less likely to get part way through school and realise med school is not for you...

I think that's pretty good advice. It's ok to admit going for law was a mistake, just be able to say why you came to feel it was a mistake and why medicine is a better fit for you. This way you show what you have learned. The road to wisdom is paved, in part, with mistakes.

[Mike77]

just like in a job interview. be honest and admit mistakes but phrase it in a way that it becomes a strength... now that you have the law experience you are much less likely to get part way through school and realise med school is not for you...


yea exactly... tell them what you learned from it, and turn it into a positive....