UBC Nursing - Sep. 2012

empathetic gal · Apr 20, 2012

Definitely agree with teeheeuhoh! It was really a lot of fun. The process was intense but incredibly exciting! The interviewers also did such a wonderful job of making us feel welcome and calm.

I remember as soon as I walked into one of my stations, the interviewer immediately said "Relax, smile, breathe. We are just having a conversation, just a conversation..." So sweet of her! :nurse:

I wasn't nervous at all, but I'm sure her saying this to those who were quite scared really helped them get through.

It was really a pleasure going through the process. No matter what the outcome of my admission is, I have to say that I am honestly very glad I had the chance to take the interview because it was such a great experience!

Now the waiting..haha...I'll be overseas when I find out about my admission status. Hopefully the travelling will distract me from my anticipation haha :lol2:

hopingfor2012 · Apr 20, 2012

I'm glad to hear that you guys had a great experience and that some of you felt it was even fun! :)

To be honest with you guys, I'm not sure that I felt the same way. I answered the questions to the best of my abilities, but I can be unusually hard on myself. Post-interview, I have been second guessing my answers and wonderng if I could have said something differently or better. I know that I answered certain questions to my greater satisfaction than others.

I'm very sensitive to the personalities of the people that I talk to, and it was weird walking into one room and receiving a completely different energy than another. I guess that's the whole reason why they make the process "mixed" - to enhance the inter-rater reliability (as they said).

I found some interviewers even nodded their heads at my answers in support, while others remained completely silent, and I found that really really awkward. It made me question myself at points.

In any case, nothing can be done now. Best of luck all!

Now I have to finish studying for my exam!

empathetic gal · Apr 20, 2012

For sure I completely understand what you mean hopingfor2012. Picking up the vibe from an interviewer can really affect your performance.

For example in my last station, the interviewer was much more stern, serious and quiet compared to the other interviewers I had, so I felt a slight shift in gears I suppose. This station was the only one where I felt a bit flustered. And it wasn't even because I thought the question was difficult to answer. It was because the interview atmosphere was so different from the others! Haha! But in the end she just told me "good job, don't worry there were no right or wrong answers" - which was really nice of her.

It's a good thing that they have many different interviewers, as you said, because this reduces bias and at the end of the day, provides the school with more competent students.

It was very interesting to see how the interviewers reacted to responses for sure. In a lot of my stations, the interviewers gave me encouraging word such as "wow you hit the nail right on the head" or "you seem really prepared"...I was at first quite shocked because I thought they weren't supposed to acknowledge your progress during the interview, but I guess sometimes things just slip. Especially when they have to listen to 40 different responses to the same question in one day. :thankya:

Don't be too hard on yourself hopingfor2012. As they say "hindsight is always 20/20!" You did the best you could!

Good luck on finals everyone! For those of you who are done...:w00t:

hopingfor2012 · Apr 21, 2012

For sure I completely understand what you mean hopingfor2012. Picking up the vibe from an interviewer can really affect your performance.
For example in my last station, the interviewer was much more stern, serious and quiet compared to the other interviewers I had, so I felt a slight shift in gears I suppose. This station was the only one where I felt a bit flustered. And it wasn't even because I thought the question was difficult to answer. It was because the interview atmosphere was so different from the others! Haha! But in the end she just told me "good job, don't worry there were no right or wrong answers" - which was really nice of her.
It's a good thing that they have many different interviewers, as you said, because this reduces bias and at the end of the day, provides the school with more competent students.
It was very interesting to see how the interviewers reacted to responses for sure. In a lot of my stations, the interviewers gave me encouraging word such as "wow you hit the nail right on the head" or "you seem really prepared"...I was at first quite shocked because I thought they weren't supposed to acknowledge your progress during the interview, but I guess sometimes things just slip. Especially when they have to listen to 40 different responses to the same question in one day. :thankya:
Don't be too hard on yourself hopingfor2012. As they say "hindsight is always 20/20!" You did the best you could!
Good luck on finals everyone! For those of you who are done...:w00t:

That's awesome! It sounds you feel really good about how you did, and it sounds like you did well!

Thanks for the support. We'll see how I did in a few weeks.

katniss · Apr 21, 2012

My experience was definitely not as great as empathetic gal.

Some interviewers were surprisingly non responsive, others not too bad.

I felt their facial expression could really affect how the interviewees perform.

I did a lot better in the stations where the interviewers were smiling or

showed some other form of acknowledgement.

I wish I had done well enough to receive those positive feedbacks like emphathetic gal!

If I were you, I would be jumping up and down! :)

hopingfor2012 · Apr 21, 2012

My experience was definitely not as great as empathetic gal.
Some interviewers were surprisingly non responsive, others not too bad.
I felt their facial expression could really affect how the interviewees perform.
I did a lot better in the stations where the interviewers were smiling or
showed some other form of acknowledgement.
I wish I had done well enough to receive those positive feedbacks like emphathetic gal!
If I were you, I would be jumping up and down! :)

Thanks for sharing your experience. I'm kind of relieved that I was not the only person who felt that way. I too, felt that the people who were smiling made me feel more at ease, and helped me feel more confident afterwards.

katniss · Apr 21, 2012

Thank you also for sharing your experience hopingfor2012!

Let's hope and pray we be classmates in September 2012..

teeheeuhoh · Apr 21, 2012

I do agree 2 of the interviewers in my group didn't say anything or even introduce themselves. Didn't really feel like that was appropriate, at least say hi to the people being interviewed.... Also considering that we were told the interviewers would introduce themselves. One person I went in and she didn't even say anything to me. I introduced myself and she just nodded, I had to ask her if she just wants me to start on the scenario or what.. because I was waiting for her to at least say hi or something. But the experience was really fun, like a game, even gave me a bit of an adrenaline rush trying to get to the right stations and keep within the time limits.

I'm pretty positive I got a spot though. I'm pretty confident that I did my interviews well.

empathetic gal · Apr 21, 2012

Hmmm so interesting to hear about everyone's experience! Thank you for also sharing teeheeuhoh and katniss! Just goes to show how much the interviewers persona can affect how we feel. I guess that's part of the process though. It's just so subjective considering that there are so many variables that could affect how your interview went (ie: time of day we were interviewed, what group we were in, what day of the week we were interviewed, the interviewers mood etc.) Don't be too hard on yourself about it, because there are so many variables. Even now I think "I could have said that more concisely and elegantly, used this word instead, blah blah blah" but in the end I'm sure everyone had something they wish they could have done differently.

My interview was in the afternoon at 2pm, and for me the afternoon is when my mind feels the most active and awake..so maybe that's why I had a different experience? To be honest, maybe the encouraging statements my interviewers said to me were just to make conversation? Who knows.

I definitely agree with you guys though. The one station where I felt the interviewer was much more serious and expressionless was the one where I felt a little shaky.

Each day had a separate group of interviewers I am guessing, which again adds to the variability.

Here's hoping we all end up as classmates!

ess_bee · Apr 21, 2012

My overall experience was similar to what hopingfor2012 described, so I, too, am having trouble predicting what the final outcome will be for me.

An immediate outcome, however, was that UBC jumped to the top of my list of programme choices, even though it means a big move. I appreciated the opportunity to present myself and to show my ability to think on my feet. I have applications pending at four other schools and none of them interview. This seems increasingly weird to me.

empathetic gal · Apr 21, 2012

Hey hopingfor2012! I can't yet respond to your personal message because I haven't made 15 posts yet on this site! It won't let me reply until I have done so! :no: But don't worry okay? I'll reply today hopefully, once I reach 15 posts lol! Just letting you know on this message board, didn't want you to think I was ignoring your message hun! =)

pastaenthusiast · Apr 21, 2012

Really interesting to hear everybody's experiences with the interview!

I think that overall it went very well. I also got quite a few words of praise about my answers and found that most of the interviewers seemed very kind. It did seem like they wanted me to do well and would prompt me with questions that would help me show what I knew and my thought process.

Only one went badly- it was my first one and I feel that I did a poor job of answering the question and appeared nervous. I keep reliving it in my mind!! This is one of the reasons I liked the MMI format- I left that room and went on to a brand new question and interviewer.

Overall a positive experience... now we wait!