PSA: Interviews and my opinion (read if you’re struggling)

I have seen SO MANY POSTS on here and the FB group regarding interviews. Here’s my take and things to consider:

1. If you interview and get waitlisted after, then that’s not a rejection. Some schools wait until they conduct all of their interviews before they start filling seats. And other schools will send out a few acceptances here and there, but will predominantly tell everyone else their fate at a later date (ex. UF does this).

2. If you get waitlisted, then you clearly did something right to be kept around. If it was your interviewing skills (or lack there of), then you probably would’ve gotten rejected afterward. So it’s more likely that you’re a good candidate, but others may be better in terms of GPA and stats. Hang in there!

3. Yes, people come off the waitlist on here ALL the time! It’s not a rejection. Some schools go through their entire waitlist as the cycle goes on as people surrender their seat for another school. This entire process is a game of business, and schools and applicants are just trying to make the best deal out there.

4. Saw someone earlier had 5 waitlists post-interview. That’s still 5 open acceptances, and that individual still has a very good chance imo.

5. If you’re being rejected directly after interviews over and over again, then it’s probably your interviewing skills or something you said. One of the schools I was rejected from told me I didn’t go into enough depth when speaking about why I wanted to go there. And honestly, I wasn’t really thrilled about the school itself, so my passion was lacking and I’m sure they saw it. If you keep getting rejected, then please reach out to people on here so we can help you! I’ve offered to help people work on interviews via zoom over in the FB group. People are constantly offering their help for free.

Which brings me to my last point: don’t pay any of these PA applicants a dime to help you. You got an interview, so your app is fine. Again, it’s either your interview skills or your competitiveness in your stats.

Thank you for listening to my TED talk.