Posting interview questions

**Percy** · 13-03-2005, 08:37 PM

I didn't state heavily enough at the Open Day on Friday that it is not in your best interests to post the interview questions on this forum following your interview at St George's or Nottingham. You may think that you are doing others a favour but in fact you lowering your own chances of being made an offer.

We will have 330 students to consider for only 100 offers...

Caroline
St George's

**Incandenza** · 22-03-2005, 02:37 PM

Originally Posted by Percy

You may think that you are doing others a favour but in fact you lowering your own chances of being made an offer.

As it happens, these two things are not mutually exclusive.

**anup** · 01-12-2005, 03:04 AM

Originally Posted by Percy

I didn't state heavily enough at the Open Day on Friday that it is not in your best interests to post the interview questions on this forum following your interview at St George's or Nottingham. You may think that you are doing others a favour but in fact you lowering your own chances of being made an offer.

We will have 330 students to consider for only 100 offers...

Caroline
St George's

How can that be the case, if you reject students within a few days?

**Mickijl** · 01-12-2005, 02:45 PM

Originally Posted by anup

How can that be the case, if you reject students within a few days?

Anup

Please note that Percy (as in Caroline Persaud, Assistant Registrar at St George's) is talking about GEP interviews when she is talking about posting questions, not the 5-year course. We do not have 100 places for A100 and we will be interviewing 950 or so candidates, not 300.

**Thirdfox** · 01-12-2005, 02:54 PM

Originally Posted by Percy

I didn't state heavily enough at the Open Day on Friday that it is not in your best interests to post the interview questions on this forum following your interview at St George's or Nottingham. You may think that you are doing others a favour but in fact you lowering your own chances of being made an offer.

We will have 330 students to consider for only 100 offers...

Caroline
St George's

I had been operating on the assumption that this forum was created to provide information to students who are interested in/studying medicine.

When the people who are going to be future doctors become so competitive that they would not help fellow colleagues I believe that would be a dark day for medicine.

In the end, if you are prepared I had assumed you would get the offer.

**mez** · 01-12-2005, 04:30 PM

Originally Posted by Thirdfox

I had been operating on the assumption that this forum was created to provide information to students who are interested in/studying medicine.

When the people who are going to be future doctors become so competitive that they would not help fellow colleagues I believe that would be a dark day for medicine.

In the end, if you are prepared I had assumed you would get the offer.

Helping and supporting fellow applicants is a good thing, I agree. However, it cannot be good to put some applicants at an unfair advantage relative to to others.

Interviews for the GEP are held within a two week period (at least, they were last year). The first people to be interviewed will have no idea what they are going to be asked - they are going to have had to have thought carefully about all aspects of their application and will need to be able to think on their feet. If some of these early interviewees post their interview questions, then people with interviews near the end of the two weeks will have an unfair advantage; they will know what questions to expect - therefore won't need to have (although might have) put as much thought into their application and won't need to think on thier feet.

I also think it is so important that your answers to interview questions aren't staged, but are honestly what you think, feel and believe. Knowing the (exact) questions well in advance of an interview gives you the opportunity to ask other people how you should respond to specific questions, making your answers less likely to reflect your own thoughts - you could give someone else's answer in interview. If admissions wanted this to be the case they would send out all of the questions prior to interview!

It is only fair if all applicants are interviewed on an equal footing. As Percy [Caroline - St. George's admissions] has said, remember that the GEP is fiercely competitive - you may well harm your own chances of being offered a place if you give people an unfair advantage over yourself by posting the questions you are asked.

Sorry to go on for so long, but I think it is extremely important that everyone is given an equal and fair chance to present themselves in interview.

**simac** · 01-12-2005, 04:39 PM

Hey, 950 interviews for the A100, around how many offers will be given out?

**Mickijl** · 01-12-2005, 04:52 PM

St George's is only able to make offers to those that score the highest at interview. An offer purely comes down to your own performance at interview, bearing in mind that you are in competition with all other candidates.

**simac** · 01-12-2005, 04:55 PM

Thanks.

**Thirdfox** · 01-12-2005, 05:06 PM

In response to Mez, I don't believe that if you had prepared for the interviews adequately you will not be selected. People who decide to construct *perfect* answers will be easily spotted.

If you were prepared and then became aware of the area of questions they might ask it would only give you some food for thought (and you would have performed well without that information.)

If on the other hand you hadn't prepared at all and suddenly find the interview questions on this forum you may be able to construct a half-decent answer but I would find it hard to believe that interviewers would not be able to distinguish between these two cases...