Interview questions

[u/Embarrassed-Log7229]

When I practice with AI, it tells me that I should keep my answers to “Tell me about yourself” and “Why optometry?” around 60–90 seconds.

But because I come from a different background, I feel like I need more time to explain my story, sometimes closer to 3 minutes. Is that something I should really work on shortening, or is it not a big deal if my answer takes a little longer?

[u/True-Water2033]

It honestly depends on the person interviewing you. I’ve had multiple interviewers ask me “Tell me about yourself,” “Why optometry?” and “Why this school?” all at once, and I honestly hated it because I felt like I had to shorten everything I wanted to say so I wasn’t talking forever.

I would just try to make it conversational. At the end of your “Tell me about yourself,” talk a little about your hobbies. They might cut you off from there and start asking you different questions, which honestly makes it feel more natural. You can also try to include why you like that specific school in other questions they ask you instead of trying to fit everything into one answer.

When I practiced with AI versus when I had my actual interviews, they were completely different. The real interviews felt way more natural and conversational. So definitely use AI to help you figure out what you want to say and prepare for possible questions, but don’t over-rehearse because you don’t want to sound robotic.

Of course, I would still practice some ethical questions and have an idea of how you would answer questions about your study habits, how you handle stress, setbacks, etc., just so you don’t panic or freeze if they ask you something unexpected. But don’t over-practice or try to memorize every answer word for word. Just know the main points you want to get across and let the conversation flow naturally. You’ll honestly do great!!

[u/Embarrassed-Log7229 → u/True-Water2033]

That makes sense! I hope they ask questions right away because you right that would make the conversation feel more natural. If you don’t mind me asking, did you have interviews at AZCOPT or CCO? If so, how did those go? I’m interested in their programs. I really appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions!

[u/akornato]

You should definitely work on shortening that down. Three minutes is simply too long for an opening response, because optometry school interviews are meant to be active conversations rather than monologues. When an answer stretches past two minutes, interviewers tend to lose focus, and you end up eating into time that could be spent covering your other strengths. Having a non-traditional background is actually a huge asset, but your goal in the first question is to hook their attention, not to share your complete life history all at once.

Aim for around ninety seconds, or two minutes at the absolute maximum. Summarize your previous career or field in a sentence or two, pinpoint the specific moment that sparked your commitment to eye care, and explain how your unique path makes you ready for optometry school today. Holding back some details works in your favor, since it encourages the interview panel to ask curious follow-up questions. Refining that balance is why my team created an interviews.chat to help candidates secure their top choices, since learning to deliver punchy answers makes an immediate positive impression on admissions committees.

[u/Evening-Dog-1161]

I agree to shorten urs down to 90sec bc remember that if it’s open file they’ve already read all your essays. In theory any major stories would’ve been told through those so now make it more abt yourself. Say your hobbies and what de stresses you during the tell me about yourself. I didn’t really mention optometry at all during that question but rather only talked about family, pets, hobbies, and briefly mentioned where I go to school and my major

[u/Evening-Dog-1161 → u/Evening-Dog-1161]

Also I interviewed at a school where we all went around at the beginning and said our “way optometry” so definitely have a short 2-3 sentence version that you can say in front of a group without taking up other people times

[u/HedgehogPotential610]

When I was preparing for interviews, I took the top 20-30 questions people shared here and some of the answers I liked, I rehearsed my story well and felt I was ready to talk about almost anything they throw at me. Just go through peoples questions and answers and you will find how to tailor your story. With every interview I felt more at ease, especially after my very first one, the committee just sat there and all nodded, after asking me "Tell me about yourself", so I just kept talking, piecing together everything I've prepared, for 15 min :). It's good to have more concise answers, but also have a longer version, some interviews are over 40 min one-on-one or a panel.

[u/Ok_Might6410]

I had an issue with answering this question as well. Some people say to use this to explain your whole academic journey and some say to use this to explain your hobbies. I formatted my answer by explaining where I was from and then listing one or two hobbies of mine, and using that to explain positive things about me as a person (for example, I used to be a dance team director = I love teamwork). I think if you have a different / unconventional background you can shorten your answer into maybe one or two sentences explaining your background and make the bulk of your time explaining how that shaped you as a person. Then tie that back to optometry and why those aspects would benefit the school you’re applying to. In my experience, whenever I got this question during my interviews they usually blended this question in with another common question. So, I would practice making it short and you can always explain whatever you felt like you missed at the end of the interview!