SocialPsycNerd

Heya! 
I got an email from them a week or two back saying that my app was admissible. A few days later, my POI (RN) got in touch with me to schedule a preliminary phone interview

Don't despair those who haven't heard anything! I just got an interview invite last night!

I recommend familiarizing yourself with their work, but don't worry about getting too in-depth (unless it's super interesting!). Most of the people you are interviewing with aren't going to discuss their own research; they want to hear about you! That said, if you choose to go in-depth, it definitely gives you something to talk about

I recommend familiarizing yourself with their work, but don't worry about getting too in-depth (unless it's super interesting!). Most of the people you are interviewing with aren't going to discuss their own research; they want to hear about you! That said, if you choose to go in-depth, it definitely gives you something to talk about

this thread has been pretty quiet; how's everyone doing? how are interviews going? i just got back from an open house last week, and i think it went well but i honestly have no idea what my chances are at this point.
*sigh* the wait continues

Hi,
I was very excited today waking up to see the offer from UC Berkeley! That's definitely my dream program!!! (I applied to Cog Neuroscience area and have worked in my POI's lab for half of the year).
Also waiting for the decision from other two schools but I guess I will most possibly accept Berkeley and withdraw from the others.
Wish all of you best of luck!!!

I'm currently on my second round of applications. While it hasn't been perfect, I have an in-person interview scheduled... so it's not off to a bad start! During my first round, I applied to four schools and had the belief (which was encouraged by faculty at the school I went to undergrad at) that I would definitely get in. Needless to say, I did not.
I... did not take it well. When I found out that I was not being invited for an in-person interview with the only program that I had gotten any contact from, I cried a bit. Fortunately, I work in an understanding lab, and I was able to take the day off. The PI in my lab helped me by providing just the right amount of work to do while I refocused.
My first step was to reach out to one of the researchers I applied to work with. Since we established a positive relationship, she was willing to offer me advice that strengthened my application. I strongly suggest this if it is possible. Rejection sucks, but it offers an opportunity to improve and strengthen your application. I followed these steps to strengthen my application:
 Spent even more time working in labs Sought out opportunities to work on manuscripts (it's fine if they are listed as "in prep"!) and  conference submissions Studied and retook the GREs. My scores weren't bad, but they needed improvement Rewrote my SOP. The SOP that I submitted last cycle wasn't bad, but it definitely needed some work Submitted an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship application. Even if I don't get funding, going through the process is super useful! Refined my research interests  
I'm honestly glad that I didn't get accepted last cycle. If I had, I would have missed a lot of opportunities to make myself a better researcher as well as a lot of life-based opportunities. 
The best method of self-care for me was to allow myself to grieve the loss of the possibilities I saw and then refocus my efforts to be a better candidate next go around (all while allowing myself to live my life). I hope this helps!

I'm trans, but not non-binary. I definitely recommend putting your pronouns in your e-mail signature. This is getting more and more common in Psychology. Further, I would put write "they/them" on name tags (just to be on the safe side). Remember: during the interview process, you are interviewing them as much as they are interviewing you! Assessing campus climate can be an important aspect of that!

I'm trans, but not non-binary. I definitely recommend putting your pronouns in your e-mail signature. This is getting more and more common in Psychology. Further, I would put write "they/them" on name tags (just to be on the safe side). Remember: during the interview process, you are interviewing them as much as they are interviewing you! Assessing campus climate can be an important aspect of that!

I'm currently on my second round of applications. While it hasn't been perfect, I have an in-person interview scheduled... so it's not off to a bad start! During my first round, I applied to four schools and had the belief (which was encouraged by faculty at the school I went to undergrad at) that I would definitely get in. Needless to say, I did not.
I... did not take it well. When I found out that I was not being invited for an in-person interview with the only program that I had gotten any contact from, I cried a bit. Fortunately, I work in an understanding lab, and I was able to take the day off. The PI in my lab helped me by providing just the right amount of work to do while I refocused.
My first step was to reach out to one of the researchers I applied to work with. Since we established a positive relationship, she was willing to offer me advice that strengthened my application. I strongly suggest this if it is possible. Rejection sucks, but it offers an opportunity to improve and strengthen your application. I followed these steps to strengthen my application:
 Spent even more time working in labs Sought out opportunities to work on manuscripts (it's fine if they are listed as "in prep"!) and  conference submissions Studied and retook the GREs. My scores weren't bad, but they needed improvement Rewrote my SOP. The SOP that I submitted last cycle wasn't bad, but it definitely needed some work Submitted an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship application. Even if I don't get funding, going through the process is super useful! Refined my research interests  
I'm honestly glad that I didn't get accepted last cycle. If I had, I would have missed a lot of opportunities to make myself a better researcher as well as a lot of life-based opportunities. 
The best method of self-care for me was to allow myself to grieve the loss of the possibilities I saw and then refocus my efforts to be a better candidate next go around (all while allowing myself to live my life). I hope this helps!

I'm currently on my second round of applications. While it hasn't been perfect, I have an in-person interview scheduled... so it's not off to a bad start! During my first round, I applied to four schools and had the belief (which was encouraged by faculty at the school I went to undergrad at) that I would definitely get in. Needless to say, I did not.
I... did not take it well. When I found out that I was not being invited for an in-person interview with the only program that I had gotten any contact from, I cried a bit. Fortunately, I work in an understanding lab, and I was able to take the day off. The PI in my lab helped me by providing just the right amount of work to do while I refocused.
My first step was to reach out to one of the researchers I applied to work with. Since we established a positive relationship, she was willing to offer me advice that strengthened my application. I strongly suggest this if it is possible. Rejection sucks, but it offers an opportunity to improve and strengthen your application. I followed these steps to strengthen my application:
 Spent even more time working in labs Sought out opportunities to work on manuscripts (it's fine if they are listed as "in prep"!) and  conference submissions Studied and retook the GREs. My scores weren't bad, but they needed improvement Rewrote my SOP. The SOP that I submitted last cycle wasn't bad, but it definitely needed some work Submitted an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship application. Even if I don't get funding, going through the process is super useful! Refined my research interests  
I'm honestly glad that I didn't get accepted last cycle. If I had, I would have missed a lot of opportunities to make myself a better researcher as well as a lot of life-based opportunities. 
The best method of self-care for me was to allow myself to grieve the loss of the possibilities I saw and then refocus my efforts to be a better candidate next go around (all while allowing myself to live my life). I hope this helps!

So last season I applied to 10 clinical programs and was extremely fortunate to interview at 7 of them. I presumed I was waitlisted at 5 of the 7, although I got offers from 2 of my top programs (and took the very generous offer from the top program - a very prestigious/competitive program). Like 8BitJourney, I noticed that after attending 2 of the interviews my anxiety went down immensely. Not everyone has the luxury/luck I might have had last season, but here's my general advice:
 
1) Like everyone says, do your homework about your POI. Be familiar with your POIs works from the last 5ish years, and any major pubs in the last decade. If your POI has grant funding, look up the grant on the NIH grant website and read the brief description to think about how your potential dissertation work can fit under your POI's work while being unique enough. If the POI has a good lab website, look over it carefully... from this you can get good information about what other grad students in the lab may be doing, as well as what the lab may like to do socially. (My POI actually mentioned to me a few weeks ago that she still remembers how excited I was about the lab culture and the things that they do -- information I gathered from the website.) 
 
2) Do your homework about the program as a whole. What is the training model like? What can you expect in practicum? If these things aren't clear, ask during the interview to show that you care about your training! Some programs have some kind of weird stuff going on that have pros/cons (like an in-house guaranteed internship: rare), so asking about things like that without sounding presumptuous is important. 
 
3) Re-read your personal statement. People will mention it to you and ask you to tell you your "story." They'll also ask you "why clinical psych (or insert XXXX program here)." This should hopefully be spelled out in your SOP if you wrote a good one, so re-reading it once or twice before an interview (perhaps on the plane ride before or something) is a good idea. 
 
4) The 2 days before you leave for an interview, pack your bag. As silly as it sounds, I almost forgot to do this once between the stress of back-to-back interviews and my undergrad classes and other commitments. Make sure you have a suit ready and some more nice casual attire for the informal dinners/parties. I'd also REALLY recommend getting a thank you card and a small trinket from where you are from for your grad student host (if you are staying with a grad student). The personalized touch can really go a far way in showing you are thankful to them for going out of their way to let you stay in their home. 
 
5) On interview day: don't get into a competition with other applicants, but do be social with them. There is no need to compare experiences. Even if someone appears to be far more qualified, they are not. You are all there for the same reason and on an equal playing field. The important thing is that you focus on doing your best and being yourself around the POI and the program.  
 
6) To your main question: just be ready to have a conversation about their work and be excited about it! Talk about how your interests align with what you've read. Usually nobody is going to ask intense method details unless a background in the methods (e.g., neuroimaging) is essential to the work they do. 
 
Anyways, I hope this helps! Always willing to talk over PM too if you have any questions.
 
Best of luck!
 
-J

@Trillian8 Congrats!