<p>I was looking at the Student Doctor Network forums, and everyone was saying that for med school interviews, it's BAD to say anything that would give away your political views to the interviewer. Is this the same for college interviews?
Thanks</p>
<p>well no</p>
<p>for my uchicago interview, my interviewer asked me what i thought about the atrocities committed in iraq by us soldiers, and why i thought they would do such things. i dared to say "maybe because they aren't sure why they're in iraq in the first place" and he was like "right! exactly!" and he LOVED me and had me meet my regional rep, so it all depends.</p>
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"maybe because they aren't sure why they're in iraq in the first place" and he was like "right! exactly!" and he LOVED me and had me meet my regional rep, so it all depends.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Wow. Seems to be that there was serious lack of judgement on the part of the soldiers in question and more likely a serious breakdown in the chain of command (how far high? whose to know or say)...</p>
<p>Seems to me that regardless of your political views, we should expect our soldiers in the US armed forces to abide by the US military code of conduct.</p>
<p>Whether one supports the war or is against it, a war crime is a war crime. Period. We would expect (demand) proper treatment of our soldiers held as a POWs / detained or otherwise -- i.e. treated according to rules of engagement / war. If our soldiers don't have the discipline to follow those very rules, how can we expect to receive that kind of quid pro quo if our own soldiers are violating those rules?</p>
<p>But according to you, the atrocities are justified b/c the soldiers don't believe in the war? A horrible answer IMO.</p>
<p>what the hell?</p>
<p>i didnt explain to you the whole situation. the guy asked me, how could they do that?
so i told him, "um, well, people have done terrible things to each other all thru out history...it reminds of my lai in vietnam...it must be the stresses of combat and the kill-em-all mentality of soldiers."
my interviewer was highly political. he asked "you don't think there's anything about this situation in particular?"
so that prompted me to make the comment about iraq.</p>
<p>also, ivy_grad, have you ever seen the Vietnam film Full MEtal Jacket? If so, do you remember the scene in the 2nd half where Private Joker asks Animal in the helicopter "how can you shoot women and children" and Animal says something like "It's easy. Hit em less. Isn't war hell?"
So clearly war does $hit to soldiers' minds and makes them ruthless killers. that's why i hate this war business.</p>
<p>what I really believe is that it's OF COURSE a terrible thing. I never said they were justified by anything. I was just groping for a motivation or a reason behind it. Lol who the hell would justify a war crime</p>
<p>so let me get this straight.</p>
<p>you refute what i wrote by stating that you didn't explain the WHOLE situation - upon which you provide:</p>
<ul>
<li>My Lai massacre as an example of precedence</li>
<li>A scene in Full Metal Jacket where innocent civilians are being slaughtered upon which the perpetrator says something to the effect of "war makes people ruthless killers"</li>
</ul>
<p>To summarize you provide precedence (i.e. its been done before / happens all the time) and rationale (war is hell).</p>
<p>Then you end your post by stating:</p>
<p>"what I REALLY BELIEVE is its a terrible thing." </p>
<p>Of course this statement runs totally counter to anything you wrote in your initial post - the basic message of which was "who cares about the 'politicaly correct' answer as long as your views happen to jibe with your interviewer, you are good as gold."</p>
<p>Man what a cop out. And just when I thought my opinion of you couldn't get any lower...</p>
<p>Settle down kids!</p>
<p>this is exactly why you should try your best to steer interviews away from politics.</p>
<p>lol ivy_grad this is collegeconfidential...u dont even know who i am...chill out haha does it really matter? we all know rumsfeld and the rest of them are immoral and dont mind torturing...</p>
<p>for medical school interviews, they don't care what your opinion is AS LONG AS you state it eloquently. you could tell them that you are a murderer, as long as you have excellent logic backing up your statement. they want to know you can think deep and understand consequences. so everyone--calm down.</p>
<p>i'm very calm.</p>
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you could tell them that you are a murderer, as long as you have excellent logic backing up your statement. they want to know you can think deep and understand consequences.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>you mean something like this:</p>
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we all know rumsfeld and the rest of them are immoral and dont mind torturing...
[/quote]
</p>
<p>huh im confused</p>
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huh im confused
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</p>
<p>That is painfully clear.</p>
<p>Ok...the poster was asking whether or not he or she should ever say anything that might reveal his/her political opinions. Ivy_Grad, why the hell are you examining what jimbob said? This isn't the politics forum..</p>
<p>If you want to debate with him, do it somewhere else.</p>
<p>With all due respect RMERJV, my comments have nothing to do with a desire to "debate" jimbob.</p>
<p>My comments are challenging the notion that "as long as your views jibe with an interviewers, it doesn't matter WHAT your views are".</p>
<p>Clearly, jimbomb has done an inadequate job backing up that notion.</p>
<p>This discussion is VERY RELEVANT to what the OP asked.</p>
<p>Well, whenver I had an interview, and then the time came for me to ask the questions, I would always ask them what is the political scene like on campus. Thus, by asking this I demonstrated that I was both politically active yet appeared neutral since I never revealed what side of the spectrum I turned to.</p>
<p>Also, I think it was unwise for that U Chicago interviewer to ask such a loaded question, it seems unfair for those being interviewed by having to defend something they believe rather then describing who they are, because I think that interviews should avoid specifics on politics and religion, but that's just IMHO.</p>
<p>also, ivy_grad, i am a girl, not a guy</p>
<p>Ok, whoa, I didn't intend for this to become a political debate. I guess I will try to steer away from politics in general unless directly asked because my interviewer might not be able to hide his/her own bias towards my application. In the case where I'm directly asked, I guess I can try to remain neutral, and if necessary, back up and opinions I happen to have. I'll hope that most interviewers will ask about the state of current events and my knowledge of it, rather than my opinions regarding it.</p>
<p>haha you just got firsthand experience in the $hithole that is political debate...don't bring it up :)</p>
<p>hehe yeah I guess I won't. Besides, I probably don't want to have my interviewer "love me" for my political views, I want him/her to love me for my personality/application. I read something on the med forums where a girl said she had her interviewer cracking up, and she feels that she didn't get into that med school because she was too casual with the interviewer. I guess it's a fine line.</p>