[Biomedical Science PhD Applicants (Fall 2021)]

On 1/1/2021 at 3:31 AM, jill1997 said:

Hey everyone,

a quick question about interview

How do you guys think about using some visual aids (like powerpoint slides) when introducing previous research work? Would it be useful for the professor to better understand my previsou work? 

I'm worried that using slides might make my speech longer, but also worried about unable to make my idea clear without some graphs and data.

What's your suggestions? 

so I have said this in another forum but the Hello PhD podcast has an episode (146) that geos over virtual interviews and one of the hosts is part of UNC's admissions committee and the head for Vanderbilt is a guest, they go over what is good and what is too much,  the general advise/ rule of thumb was don't use slides/ images as a crutch, they can tell if you are speaking from a place of genuine knowledge and understanding or not. If you have some figures that support what you are saying then it could help but don't read from it. The PI's are also going to be passionate about their research and might do the same thing, if you show how much you care about what you are doing I think the slides could be a useful asset.

[2021 Biology PhD Admissions Results]

On 12/23/2020 at 10:37 AM, helpert said:

Hi, I also recieved a vandy interview invite yesterday!

I was surprised to see that they are squishing everything into one day. On the Hello PhD podcast about virtual interviews, Beth Bowman (vandy biomed grad director) talked a lot about zoom fatigue, so I expected them to break it up into at least a couple days...guess not!

I LOVE the Hello PHD podcast!! It was definitely the most insight I have been able to find into the process. They have an earlier episode I think 106 that talks about in person interviews and listening to that helps to think about questions to ask PI's and current students. Beth did that episode as well. 

[Virtual interviews, things to think about, what we've heard and resources to prepare]

I am starting this thread to start the discussion of interviews in a Covid world. I have personally scoured the internet and numerous other forums looking for advice and what schools are saying in regards to their interview plans and this is what I have found so far. 

I received this notice from Stanford's Bioscience admissions when I submitted my application "During the week of January 11, 2021, the committees will start to contact applicants who have been selected for an interview.  The selected applicants will be invited to interview via Zoom and participate in programming with faculty and current students. Our interview dates are currently set for Wednesday, March 3 through Saturday, March 6, 2021, but may shift. This is our only interview session. All applicants will be notified of the decision on their application by the end of January."  

I have not seen any of my other programs change their websites yet to reflect how they will be conducting interviews but I assume many will follow suit. 

 

For resources I recommend listening to a Podcast I listen to for many of my Grad school related questions, its called "Hello PhD" their most recent episode 146: Ace your virtual Graduate school interview with Dr. Beth Bowman. This episodes they have a discussion with Dr. Beth Bowman, she is the assistant director of graduate programs at Vanderbilt University. They do go into how time zones would work and how to prepare. Their previous episodes do go into general interview prep as well as a vast amount of other topics. 

As much as I want to be able to meet the professors personally I am glad that schools are thinking about peoples safety. My only thing I do worry about is what it will be like trying to choose a school that maybe we never got to visit and how we can choose where we will be living and working for the next several years. 

[What is everyone expecting for 2021 interviews?]

On 11/18/2020 at 1:43 PM, Schy said:

I hate to take up room and create a new thread, but I actually need to have conversation about this lmao. I'm not sure if any schools have said for sure what they're going to do for interviews, but I think it's safe to suspect that they'll be 100% virtual. How do yall feel about this? Do you think you'll benefit from it? How do you think the structure of interviews will be? I've been to an interview ONCE and it was a whole day process, so I'm wondering how they'll format everything virtually. 

 

I'm really curious about everyone elses thoughts! 

Some of the programs I applied to have sent emails after submitting applications confirming they will be doing virtual interviews as well as programing with the current grad students and professors as they would have in person. I have seen a few schools that seem to be considering in person as well, and the rest haven't updated the interview schedule and details on their sites as of yet.

"The selected applicants will be invited to interview via Zoom and participate in programming with faculty and current students. Our interview dates are currently set for Wednesday, March 3 through Saturday, March 6, 2021, but may shift. This is our only interview session. All applicants will be notified of the decision on their application by the end of January." this was attached to Stanford's  email confirming application submission.

"Applicants who are determined to be among the most qualified will be invited to participate in a Virtual Interview.  These will be held from January through March." this is what UMASS med sent as well.

I feel safer doing virtual interviews with the pandemic but I know I interview better in person and I get wary about connection issues and not being able to see the schools before making a decision of where to attend.