As part of the process of getting a committee letter written, we had to complete an appraisal packet that was composed of questions such as the following:
- What characteristics do you have that will make you good at your chosen profession?
- From what situation, experience or interaction have you learned the most about yourself?
- Describe an example of a time when you showed intellectual curiosity, problem-solving and/or self-directed learning in any area.
Anywhos, my interview is in two days and I'm starting to prepare my responses to common questions I know they'll ask, such as "Why do you want to be a doctor?" and ethical dilemmas, as well as greatest strengths and weaknesses questions.
Most of these answers are pretty straightforward but I'm having a really difficult time thinking up a 5-minute speech on why I want to be a doctor. Mostly, this problem stems from the fact that I have answered this question in my personal essay and in two questions on the self-appraisal packet, so I can't think of anything original to add to that. Obviously I want to bring in some new information so it's not just a regurgitation of the things the interviewers have in front of them, but I went all out on that packet and don't have much more to give, at least not convincingly.
I think the solution is to stick with what I've written previously and just organize my response well. Hopefully I'll think of a few examples that are different enough from my earlier answers that the interviewers get some new ammo for that committee letter. In short, it's time to wrack my brain!
Oh, goodness. The committee letter is always interesting. The school where I did my post-bacc program assigned individual professors to writing it. My assigned professor was a youngish (early 30s) Ph.D. who asked if he could take me out to lunch to get to know me better. I said that would be awesome (free food at a nice restaurant...score!).
ReplyDeleteI got as far as saying, "So, I work right now as a relationship advice columnist," before this professor went off on a 1.5 hour tangent about his two failed marriages and how his current wife was living in their house in PA, but he wanted to just let the bank foreclose on it to teach her a lesson, blah blah. It was kind of an awkward nightmare, and I was 25 myself, so I kept stumbling over calling him "Dr." X. But!- he wrote me an exceptional committee letter and hopefully did the right thing by his ex-wife!
Haha! That is epic. And sounds like you were quite qualified for this lunch get-together/marital problem bouncing board. Mine was pretty tame compared to that, unfortunately. Or not so unfortunately.
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