DarwinAG

I contacted the professors that I had encouraging interactions with to let them know. At the very leasy, youre stored in orospective memory when they go through applications.

Two things. One, feedback and another perspective is always welcome and greatly appreciated, but I disagree with "there's no need to defend your suggestion". As scientist we are encouraged to be active and critical thinkers, and accepting another's position without even actively engaging with it I think goes contrary to that spirit. I think feedback should not just be passively accepted. I have thought about what you said and replied accordingly, and I would expect the same thing in turn. Agreeing with it would still entail the same critical thinking process. I think this is the best way to move a discussion and better understand an issue. With that said, I especially like hearing yours and other people's perspective as I think it enhances my own, but eliciting feedback doesnt make those feedback immune to a critical evaluation.
 
Two, I agree with you that women should be included in the study on social discrimination (although the focus of this study was  ethnic discrimination, which is a minor point I think), but that the researchers should have controlled for things that would significantly impact cortisol levels. It is not uncommon in physhophysiology research to control for variables that would signifincantly impact the physiological DV in question. For example, in some EEG studiess, the sample is often restricted to right-handed people because of relevant brain differences in dominant handedness. Additional examples are controlling for antidepression medication, caffeine intake, and sleep cycles. All of these can impact relevant physiological DVs. I go back to my point that women should be included but controlling for relevant variables that could impact cortisol levels, in this case onset of the menstrual cycle. It wasn't controlled for in this particular study.
 
I actually think she could have designed the study with more stringent controls and still retain important external social validity.

O haha that's just an example from my own experience. I thought I removed that. I committed an academic faux paux when I suggested removing women from a cortisol analysis because there was no data on their menstrual cycle which I thought added noise to the data. Although my point was valid, I should have expressed it more tactfully.

The RA incident was dealing with an assistant who was consistently late.

From my experience, you will usually interview with a host of people that you haven't even considered in your radar. I think they just want to get a you a feel for faculty. I did not really prepare anymore than I would for someone I was interviewing with. Most of these interviews are just to assess what you already know about your research and your ability to think critically and talk about research. If we have gotten to a point where we have an interview, these are skills we already have. Most of my interviews have been very casual and relaxed, even with some of the big names in the field. I've had a lot of fun just talking about different studies. When I don't know about something, I say it. When I think I am confused about something I don't try to hide it. Know your strengths and weaknesses and try not to hide anything imo. It's been working out well for me so far.
 
Of course, you may mean that actually interviewing with someone who you didn't apply to but may want to work with you? In which case, I would just allow them to dictate the conversation.

Hey all,

I thought it would be a good idea to pool our experiences and knowledge regarding how to conduct oneself in an interview (I am sure there are threads like this in a different forum, but I wanted to make this psychology specific).

I imagine everyone else is generating questions for themselves and answering it beforehand, which is probably the most sensible thing to do. But is overprepration detrimental you think?

Also, I have read of stories where applicants are hypervigilant because they are constantly being evaluated, and I have heard of others where it feels casual like getting to know someone for the first time.

Here are a few questions I have:
-Overly professional? or Casual? Happy medium? This applies to what to wear and how to conduct onself.
-Does candidness pay off? For example, telling a particular professor that you are not really interested in one part of their research, but would be excited to work on this part of it?
-What to say if they ask you, are we your top choice?


-Darwin

I still haven't decided if that was full blown sarcasm or at least a hint of sarcasm or a genuine compliment haha. haha I am leaning towards the sarcasm considering I don't think I have a brilliant academic record. I have a really low overall GPA that I really can't make up for.

At any rate, I think my candidness is just a result of being more of a cognitive miser than the average person. In real life or online interactions, I just find it exhausting to be indirect or be constantly vigilant in monitoring social dynamics (interestingly enough, I coordinate a study that examines the origins of indirect speech). I have been told I am a low self-monitor, and admittedly, it has gotten me in trouble a few times. I am making an effort to be more aware of social dynamics and adjust my presentation accordingly.

http://www.src.isr.umich.edu/content.aspx?id=data_resources

O but it's an easy issue to address empirically.

I assume your "film" focus in your profile is fake and that you applied to experimental psychology programs because I am restricting my claim to phd experimental psychology programs (mostly social and cognitive and clinical).

If we define most as a simple "majority of" and we look at the top 50 (or 100) phd experimental programs in psychology, I would best that most require some form of interview.

And we have access to most of the data in these forums in a different thread that posts the interview/recruitment weekends for many universities.

The rest of the data can be obtained easily other ways.

Haha we just need to find someone who wants to do that work because neither one of us Id imagine wants to.

I have been collecting possible interview questions, and I thought it may be useful to share. Please feel free to add some of your own. The more questions we can generate the better off we are. Do note that some of these I lifted from other threads and websites. Some questions are obviously redundant. I also didn't get a chance to thematically group them yet.

-Tell me about yourself
-What are your research interests?
-What are your goals? What are your future plans?
-What do you know about my research? (This seems important)
-How did you get into emotion research?
-What is the most compelling study you have done?(figure this out)
-Tell me about your research background?
-Tell me about this aspect of your CV.
-Tell me about the publication on your CV.
-How did you deal with the revise & resubmits?
-How do you approach the writing process?
-Why do you want to go here?
-Do you have any questions? (generate as many questions as possible)
-Rank the research process you are most comfortable with 1 (not comfortable) and 10 (very comfortable). (Coming up with idea, generating the hypothesis, collecting data, data analysis, and publication).
-Why should we take you and not someone else?
-What do you think are the most important trait for researchers?
-What theories/framework/models about emotion/well-being/stress excite you the most?
-What authors have you read recently?
-How would you manage deadlines?
-If I came to your office what would I find on your desk?
-Why do you have such a low GPA? (flaws in your application)
-Why did it take you so long to graduate?
-Tell me about Project X (be able to explain it in 2-5 sentences).
-What are your strengths?
-What are your weaknesses?
-If you're accepted to graduate school, what are your plans?
-Why did you choose an academic career?
-What do you want to know about our program?
-Why did you choose to apply to our program?
-What other schools are you considering (mention comparative programs)?
-In what ways have your previous experience prepared you for graduate study in our program?
-Any questions?
-What do you believe your greatest challenge will be if you are accepted into this program?
-In college, what courses did you enjoy the most? The least? Why?
-Describe any research project you've worked on. What was the purpose of the project and what was your role in the project?
-How would your professor describe you?
-How will you be able to make a contribution to this field?
-What are your hobbies?
-Explain a situation in which you had a conflict and how you resolved it. What would you do differently? Why? (Job talk and menstrual cycle incident. Handling an RA)
-Describe your greatest accomplishment? What do you feel proud of the most?
-What are your career goals? How will this program help you achieve your goals?
-How do you intend to finance your education?
-What skills do you bring to the program? How will you help your mentor in his or her research?
-Are you motivated? Explain and provide examples?
-Why should we take you and not someone else?
-What do you plan to specialize in?
-What do you do on your spare time?
-What can be determined about an application at an interview?

I was hoping someone would be able to help me understand the distinction between the two. Are they the same event but with different names? Or does a visiting weekend imply that you have an implict offer?
 
 

I think you're focusing on the wrong things. If your POI publishes regularly, that's a huge plus. So what if he isisn't super well known (and google search results is a terrible indicator of that imo), but is he doing good science based on your readings? I think you need to shift your focus to the quality of science he's doing. I highly reccommend shifting your focus, at the very least, away from prestige. It may really negatively color the perception of your visit and you'll miss an oppurtunity to work with incredibly astute, bright, and amazing scientists. I really only applied to places I could end up in regardless of prestige. The people I applied with are all doing amazing work that I'd like to be a part of.

If prestige is something really important to you then the best people to ask are your advisers. They know the people in your field.

To me, a lot of the interest you mentioned falls in the realm of social and i/o psychology (unsurprisingly); however, I would focus less on the area of psychology and focus more on the actual people conducting research on your topics.

Lewin mentioned Dunn.

I actually do work on the relationship between money and happiness (well-being). Here are a few other names:
-Ryan T. Howell (my adviser)
-Tom Gilovich at Cornell
-Peter Caprareillo (I forget where he's at, but he graduated from University of Rochester)
-Amit Kummar at Cornell. Works with Gilovich.
-Travis Carter. Graduated from Cornell
-Leaf Van Boven. Graduated from Cornell. He is now at Boulder, Colorado. He may have moved away from this research but check out Van Boven & Gilovich (2003). If you do a forward literature search of this article you can see who else is doing reserach on this.

In terms of goal-setting research and motivation:
-Edward Deci and Andrew Elliot at Rochester
-Faculty at NYU (I don't remember their names offhand...Gollowitzer I think and someone else).

Now to do research on your own on the topic. I highly reccomend just looking at each field and looking for a review paper or meta anaysis, then start looking at the faculties cited. That is probably the best way to figure out who the people are in your area of interest.

False. Most experimental psychology programs (social, cogntiive, etc) require an interview. It has been a recent trend in the field, but most of the programs that I applied too, with the exception of one, required an interview before an offer or acceptance. Terminal masters psychology programs typically do not require an interview process, but I think it is also moving in the direction of having one before acceptances.

O but it's an easy issue to address empirically.

I assume your "film" focus in your profile is fake and that you applied to experimental psychology programs because I am restricting my claim to phd experimental psychology programs (mostly social and cognitive and clinical).

If we define most as a simple "majority of" and we look at the top 50 (or 100) phd experimental programs in psychology, I would best that most require some form of interview.

And we have access to most of the data in these forums in a different thread that posts the interview/recruitment weekends for many universities.

The rest of the data can be obtained easily other ways.

Haha we just need to find someone who wants to do that work because neither one of us Id imagine wants to.

False. Most experimental psychology programs (social, cogntiive, etc) require an interview. It has been a recent trend in the field, but most of the programs that I applied too, with the exception of one, required an interview before an offer or acceptance. Terminal masters psychology programs typically do not require an interview process, but I think it is also moving in the direction of having one before acceptances.

Since interviews are winding down and offers are being made, I thought it may be a good idea to share each other's decision process. I actually would like to know what variable you think is the most important. What's least important? I actually plan to sit down and really think it through. I figured I owe it to myself to really consider my options and not just go with the peripheral route, so that I won't think question my decision in the future. Here are a few things I will consider when making a decision in no particular order:

-Adviser personality fit
-Research fit
-Graduate student culture
-Oppurtunites for collaboration with other faculty/students
-Grant writing training/support
-Mentorship and academic service oppurtunities
-Quality of life
-Availability of kareoke bars and dance clubs
-Oppurtunites to learn new methodology
-Teaching oppurtunities
-Funding

What's on top of your list?

To me, a lot of the interest you mentioned falls in the realm of social and i/o psychology (unsurprisingly); however, I would focus less on the area of psychology and focus more on the actual people conducting research on your topics.

Lewin mentioned Dunn.

I actually do work on the relationship between money and happiness (well-being). Here are a few other names:
-Ryan T. Howell (my adviser)
-Tom Gilovich at Cornell
-Peter Caprareillo (I forget where he's at, but he graduated from University of Rochester)
-Amit Kummar at Cornell. Works with Gilovich.
-Travis Carter. Graduated from Cornell
-Leaf Van Boven. Graduated from Cornell. He is now at Boulder, Colorado. He may have moved away from this research but check out Van Boven & Gilovich (2003). If you do a forward literature search of this article you can see who else is doing reserach on this.

In terms of goal-setting research and motivation:
-Edward Deci and Andrew Elliot at Rochester
-Faculty at NYU (I don't remember their names offhand...Gollowitzer I think and someone else).

Now to do research on your own on the topic. I highly reccomend just looking at each field and looking for a review paper or meta anaysis, then start looking at the faculties cited. That is probably the best way to figure out who the people are in your area of interest.

tldr: Yes
 
http://pps.sagepub.com/content/8/2/208.abstract?etoc
 
The outcome of a graduate student’s hunt for employment is often attributed to the student’s own accomplishments, the reputation of the department, and the reputation of the university. In 2007, a national survey of psychology graduate students was conducted to assess accomplishments and experiences in graduate school, part of which was an assessment of employment after completion of the doctorate (PhD). Five hundred and fifty-one respondents who had applied for employment reported whether they had obtained employment and in what capacity. Survey results were then integrated with the National Research Council’s most recent official ranking system of academic departments. The strongest predictor of employment was department-level rankings even while controlling for individual accomplishments, such as publications, posters, and teaching experience. Equally accomplished applicants for an employment position were not equal, apparently, if they graduated from differently ranked departments. The results also show the degree to which school-level rankings, department-level rankings, and individual accomplishments uniquely predict the various types of employment, including jobs at PhD-granting institutions, master’s-granting institutions, liberal arts colleges, 2-year schools, outside academia, or no employment at all.
 
 
 
Another fun finding is that each publication increases one's chance of getting a job by about 15%.
 

I'm sorry your thread got turned into a debate about interviews when you really wanted specific advice about communication. FWIW I have a great offer from a school that I may not be able to visit because of scheduling conflicts and I am in a similiar predicament with my top choice (still waiting). So, I've been doing the communication dance with a few schools.
 
I think you should continue your correspondence with your POI(s) etc. (I have done this and they have been amazing) and be very honest. These are your future colleagues and you dont want to start off on the wrong foot by burning bridges. I think it would be right to thank them for all of their information and tell them that you are in the process of reviewing the information to ensure that you find the best fit. You can tell them that you are strongly considering their offer and they are on the very top of the schools you are considering. However, you are still waiting on some schools to make sure that you have all of the information that you need to make the best decision possible. Schools know that other schools havent all notified yet. Schools also know that students like to wait until all of their offers come in. It just makes sense and as long as you are diplomatic and honest (the best you can), don't worry too much.
 
It will help if you have a good sense whether you want to go there as soon as possible though. If you really don't then you should give them the axe as soon as possible, as diplomatically as possible. Sometimes schools have waitlists and thats not fair to them (mine dont) but also, schools also have to figure out their cohorts as soon as possible. Take as much time as you need, be aware of any deadlines for fellowships that they may have given you(some schools have these... I have a March 1st one thats freaking me out), and be fair and honest. Remember not all schools or offers are tied to the April 15 deadline, so make sure you know all the details about your offers so that you dont lose your fellowship to someone else (if your funding works that way.. funding packages are cobbled together tons of different ways). Best of luck!!!!!! I'm sure you will make a great decision with school.

I was in a similar situation - accepted without an interview to a place that wasn't my top choice, then aggressively recruited.  I totally sympathize with you -- I also felt very overwhelmed and pressured, even after I asked for some time to consider their offer.
 
Ultimately, I declined, even though I might have liked to get more information eventually.  For me, part of the question was how likely this place would be to say or do something that would put them above the other places I have been accepted -- this is the question I would suggest you start by asking yourself.  Consider the places you've gotten in already (I would strongly recommend setting aside places you haven't heard from officially yet, even if you interviewed already, until you hear officially).  Is this place a serious contender?  If, like me, you are simply unsure, you can certainly do more research, but also ask yourself: What could this place say or do that would make a difference?  Focus on those things in your research, and if the answer is really "nothing," take that to heart.  For me, the risk of being wrong about this question -- that is, the risk that there would actually be something that would make this place more appealing (or even equally appealing) -- was not enough to outweigh the peace of mind I got from declining the offer.  From your signature, it looks like you will have some tough decisions to make no matter what. 
 
If this place is a serious contender, then it might be worth making another effort to get them to back off.  Try being totally upfront -- you don't have much to lose.  Tell them that you are waiting to hear back from some other schools, and you would like some time to sort out all of the information you have been given.  But also keep in mind that: (1) you may be learning something valuable about them right now. If they can't respect your desire for time/space/etc., what does that suggest about how it will be to work with them?  Maybe not a lot, but it's worth keeping in mind.  (2) There may be other people who would be really excited about this program that they can move forward with if you decline.  This is, honestly, a minor consideration as long as they are a serious possibility for you, but once you get to the point that they are more "insurance" than anything else, I'd think about it.
 
Good luck to you. This is an overwhelming process, even when it goes very well.

I applied to Harvard (a few years ago) and have two letters from them: The first in March saying they were unable to offer me admission. The second in July saying that there had been a "security breech" of their admissions database and my personal data may have been compromised.

I applied to Harvard and all I got was a lousy year of free credit monitoring services.

O but it's an easy issue to address empirically.

I assume your "film" focus in your profile is fake and that you applied to experimental psychology programs because I am restricting my claim to phd experimental psychology programs (mostly social and cognitive and clinical).

If we define most as a simple "majority of" and we look at the top 50 (or 100) phd experimental programs in psychology, I would best that most require some form of interview.

And we have access to most of the data in these forums in a different thread that posts the interview/recruitment weekends for many universities.

The rest of the data can be obtained easily other ways.

Haha we just need to find someone who wants to do that work because neither one of us Id imagine wants to.

O but it's an easy issue to address empirically.

I assume your "film" focus in your profile is fake and that you applied to experimental psychology programs because I am restricting my claim to phd experimental psychology programs (mostly social and cognitive and clinical).

If we define most as a simple "majority of" and we look at the top 50 (or 100) phd experimental programs in psychology, I would best that most require some form of interview.

And we have access to most of the data in these forums in a different thread that posts the interview/recruitment weekends for many universities.

The rest of the data can be obtained easily other ways.

Haha we just need to find someone who wants to do that work because neither one of us Id imagine wants to.

False. Most experimental psychology programs (social, cogntiive, etc) require an interview. It has been a recent trend in the field, but most of the programs that I applied too, with the exception of one, required an interview before an offer or acceptance. Terminal masters psychology programs typically do not require an interview process, but I think it is also moving in the direction of having one before acceptances.

O but it's an easy issue to address empirically.

I assume your "film" focus in your profile is fake and that you applied to experimental psychology programs because I am restricting my claim to phd experimental psychology programs (mostly social and cognitive and clinical).

If we define most as a simple "majority of" and we look at the top 50 (or 100) phd experimental programs in psychology, I would best that most require some form of interview.

And we have access to most of the data in these forums in a different thread that posts the interview/recruitment weekends for many universities.

The rest of the data can be obtained easily other ways.

Haha we just need to find someone who wants to do that work because neither one of us Id imagine wants to.