Interview

[Shkelo]

I have an interview in Ottawa on April 19th. Any last minute tips? I'm coming from out of province.

[James Wong]

Hi,
had my interview today. The best advice I can give is to know yourself better than anything. It is less important to know what is going in the world than knowing what motivates you, who you are, why you do what it is you do. I spent way too much time reading the paper and staying up to date with just about every issue in world politics and ethics when what I felt they really cared about was "who is this guy and why should we want him here?" Fortunately, I have done quite a bit of introspection and am proud to say that I do know myself very well.

Get there plenty early. I was planning on being there 1/2 before my interview but I'm glad I got there even earlier. I was able to talk to the other people there and to the med students, whom by the way are extremely cool. It'll settle your nerves. Make friends, share experiences and enjoy your interview. I did. I know it's easier said than done, but always keep that in the back of your mind.

Best of luck!!! Enjoy Ottawa, it's a beautiful city.

[heyheyhey]

My interview was opposite. ALLLLLLLLLLL current events. Nothing about me. 6 current event questions AND ethics. It is werid that two people can have such different interviews. Good luck.

[hmsdread]

Yeah, my interview was a lot of current events too... thank God I stayed current (and my best friend is Palestinian) because my faculty member drilled me on Isreali-Palestinian relations/propaganda/policy for about 12 minutes. (I didn't bring it up, he did). We touched on the ban of foreign media, why the US supports Israel... holy schmoly, the more I think about it, the harder it is to believe the questions I got... then we got into historical examples of Canadian propaganda (where a history of WWI course came in REALLY handy) and finally current examples of Canadian propaganda, where my well of answers ran dry... so I just said "I'm sorry, I really can't think of anything off the top of my head." And the doc said, with an evil looking smirk, "Oh, so Canada doesn't use propaganda? Ok. Let's move on."

SO, there is some benefit to be had by staying current!!! You never know what you're gonna get. Good luck, and I pray no one has to suffer the barrage of questions I took for 45 minutes.

hmsdread

[JSS02]

I had 1 ethical situation (involving role playing) and we also discussed the Israeli/Palestinian conflict for a few minutes. Although there were quite a few follow-up questions, my interviewers were all friendly and at no point did I feel that they were trying to "mess with me" or anything like that.

For current events, I would recommend keeping up with something so that you have stuff to talk about. Often they'll just ask you to discuss something you've heard or read about in the news. It's probably just to show that you are trying to keep up (just in general) with what's happening in the world. They don't expect you to know about everything that's out there...

[James Wong]

Wow, that's kinda weird that we had such different interviews. Now that I think about it, most of my questions were out of my auto bio sketch. The med student (very nice person) had high lighted a few points on the sketch so I presume that's were her questions came from.

I, too, was asked about Isreali/Palestinian affairs, but it was brief. My friend said that his interviewers wanted anything in the news EXCEPT that. (guess they were sick of it that day). I purposely tried to avoid that topic so as not to bore them yet again with this issue, but they brought it up with me.

There are varying styles as it would seem at the U of O. I think that *most* would say that it was pretty laid back. At least most who interviewed today would agree with that.

Hopefully, you'll find the same on Friday. Good luck! I should be studying for my bioethics final tomorrow morning!

Ciao

[AniyaSG]

My interview at Ottawa this year was much more laid back then last year. And I got almost all ethical questions. I think 5-6 different scenarios. 1 question on 'a news story I was following internationally' but they didn't dwell on it. 1 question asking me about a book I'd read recently. No big surprises. Although one of the interviewers was one of my profs and works in the same building I did my MSc in! whether that's a good or bad thing is debatable I suppose... I still find the way they receive people for interviews kinda off-putting, but I guess that's what comes from having interviews spread over several weeks. It's not as surprising the 2nd time at least :)

Good luck and enjoy the city :)

[shkelo]

Thanks for the advice everyone. My interview went well and there were no surprising questions (except for that 5 min detour on golfing and the Ottawa weather; I'm an avid golfer.) One of the members on the panel was Dr. Hebert himself, the Admissions Dean at U of O. I don't really know if that's a good thing or not, but at least I didn't feel intimidated. Oh - my international favour question was on the Kandahar incident that just happened yesterday. Luckily, I read about it on the plane ride to Ottawa. Thank goodness for the National Post and the Globe and Mail. BTW, Great weather in Ottawa - makes me jealous. I think there's still a few inches of snow on the ground back in Edmonton (or at least there was when I left).

[PeterHill0501]

Good for you Shkelo...I also had Dr. Hebert as an interviewer...I found him challenging, respectful and professional...

Isn't it nice to be done?

Peter

[James Wong]

Well, that's it for the University of Ottawa interviews. It finished Friday! Now, all that can be done is sit back, relax (after exams) and enjoy the month long wait!
Don't pull your hair out!