QUOTED: Interviews

[NotAProgDirector]

Would it be bad to mention other med school interviews during an interview with another school?

I guess the same principle that applies for job interviews would apply in this situation, but I'm not sure. I would like some input from someone else.

As a complete outsider to this process (my only experience was getting into med school myself almost 20 years ago, which was long before Al Gore invented the internet), I would ask you why you would want to do this.

Are you trying to impress one school about another interview? I doubt that would work, and could easily backfire.

One way to do this would be to ask: "I recently interviewed at BMS (Best Medical School) and noticed that they had XYZ experience in their curriculum. Do you have something similar here?" Even with this, I find it somewhat pretentious, and I think it's best avoided.

Let's see what others think.

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[Doodledog]

If an interviewer specifically asks you about other schools you should be honest and indicate where you've been. If they ask you things that sound like they are interested in a comparison of how you see the schools, again you can be honest, but cautious. These are NOT illegal questions. They may be less-than-ideal ones, but they are not "illegal" and are common.

For example, if you are in a state that has a school with an all Problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum, and you are asked if you interviewed there, it's perfectly okay to say "Yes, and I was wondering how [school you are currently interviewing at] integrates PBL into it's curriculum." The interviewer will be aware that you are making the comparison directly, but it will be reasonable to do so since they brought the school up.

Also, be very cautious about asking any questions, which explicitly or implicitly might lead the interviewer to make a put-down of another school. So, if you are in a city with two medical schools, don't ask how the hospitals are "shared" between the schools or anything of that sort. This will make both of you uncomfortable and is best asked after you've been accepted.

In general, there is no reason for an interviewee to ever mention another school unless asked or very directly drawn into such a discussion.