Let the games begin already!

As the days go by, my applications are gradually reclaiming their spot somewhere close to the front burner. I'm trying not to allow my still unverified primary applications get to me. It will be officially one month tomorrow since submission. At this time of the year I was expecting to have had some interviews in the bag by now, but so far I have only received four secondaries and expecting at most 16 more. Oh well...I'll just have to be patient and keep praying that AAMC gets its act together sooner than later. Till then though, I am completing the few secondaries I have been blessed with in as little time as possible. Some of them have been nothing short of a joke and others have been a little more involved than the others. One of the Ivy League ones is actually asking me to type out my responses on the paper application they sent me. Helllooo...this is like the 21st century where am I going to find a typewriter? Tsall good though, beggar has no choice.

So in my "free time", I've been casually preparing for the much awaited interviews. First on the to do list is to purchase a suit. Yes even after I realized the need during college I still didn't buy one. They are just too darn expensive and the need hadn't come up again, well, until now. I actually bought one at the beginning of the summer but it's not exactly appropriate. BLUE, with PINK and WHITE pinstripes. It probably sounds ugly but it really is cute. CUTE in a not-for-an-interview kinda way. The only befitting ones I've seen so far are at EXPRESS and they seem to be going for nothing less than $250! If anyone has tips on where to find affordable suits that don't look like home-made halloween costumes, your comments are really welcome. Then there's also the question of whether to get a pant suit or a skirt suit. Again John I-know-it-all says that most of the interviewers are conservative old-school doctors and might not like the idea of a woman wearing the pants in medicine...but the rebel in me wants to do exactly that, just because. When I think of the price of the flight and all the stress of travelling though, I might just have to conform to whatever the good doctor wants!

I've also been mentally planning my interviewing strategies. The way I see it, I have two options. I could go in there, like I don't want the position. You know, not try to suck up. Not try to read my interviewer's mind as to the answers he/she wants for his questions. Just answer truthfully and candidly. Like telling him(I'll just stick to "he" cus chances are it will be a "he") my stand on pro-choice or pro-life varies with the situation because let's face it, it's easier to have an opinion about someone else's life but when it happens to you, that's a whole different story. Or telling him that the only reason I volunteered in the hospital was really because I was required to do so, not from the beauty of my heart. And it's not until after I actually did it that I enjoyed it and not the reverse. Ok this might sound extreme but I used a milder variation of this at my Miu Corp Interview and I still got the job...but that was an internship not med school so it might be a bit different. I think I might try this at a few schools I really don't care much about(depending on how many interviews I have, I might end up having to care about them all) and see if it works before trying it at others.

But let's face it, a school like say...Harvard that everyone applies to, say they interview ~900 people for ~120 positions, which is usually the scenario, you will really need something that makes you stand out. In a good way that is, and giving thesame answers as everyone else will probably not help. Ok again I need your contributions here...whether or not you are currently in medical school, whatever job or position it was that you interviewed for and got, what do you think made you stand out and if you didn't get it, what were those words you wished you never mentioned? Apart from your statistics, etc. Hopefully we can all learn something, if you take all your knowledge to the grave what good will it do you and the bacteria 6 ft under?

Option 2 is obvious...nod at everything the interviewer says, try not to get into a heated argument, look as conservative as possible, etc...cookie cutter candidate, boring!

Perhaps an Option 1.5 might be the best shot...we'll see.

I'm really depending on some feedback on this one, so since the AAMC isn't bringing it on, let our own games begin...