Addressing Mediocre Board Scores during Interviews

Dr. William James (University of Pennsylvania)…

I think there are people that have a pretty darn good record, and unfortunately they say things like “Well, my boards could have been better, but you know I had this happen in my personal life.” Basically, they’re apologizing. They may have gotten 80% honors grades and yet they’re apologizing for this one rotation that they didn’t honor, and trying to come up with a reason or excuse. That’s just not a good way to approach an interview.

The way to approach an interview is to be self-confident and to accentuate the positives. They’re clearly there, because if you’re interviewing for a program, you must have a lot of positives. We don’t just interview anybody. You’ve got a good record, so you want to go in and be self-confident about that. You want to look good, and you want to come in sharp and enthusiastic.

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