POI not mentioned in interview email?

[FeministPsychologist]

Hi all,

I had a quick question for anyone who has been invited to interviews. I recently got invited to an interview by the assistant of a counseling psychology program. The invite email was super generic, and my POI wasn’t even mentioned (even though the email was specifically for me). I haven’t had any contact with the POI since applying either. Is this normal? Am I just stressing out for no reason? 

Thanks in advance! 

[oddity]

You're stressing out for no reason! Four of my interview invites came from the department rather than the POI. I responded promptly to the department, but in most cases (but not all) I ended up also reaching out to the POI directly to thank them for the opportunity and let them know I would be attending or very interested in visiting on alternative dates. I don't think that reaching out to the POI directly is required, but in my experience, it seems to have been very appreciated and helps to establish a more personal relationship with them. Congrats on the interview and best of luck!

[FeministPsychologist]

8 minutes ago, oddity said:

You're stressing out for no reason! Four of my interview invites came from the department rather than the POI. I responded promptly to the department, but in most cases (but not all) I ended up also reaching out to the POI directly to thank them for the opportunity and let them know I would be attending or very interested in visiting on alternative dates. I don't think that reaching out to the POI directly is required, but in my experience, it seems to have been very appreciated and helps to establish a more personal relationship with them. Congrats on the interview and best of luck!

Thank you, that definitely helps! The email I got didn't even mention my POI though. Do you still think it's okay to reach out to my POI? I don't want to appear presumptuous because on the program's website it says that the faculty collectively decides who is invited to interview day. 

Thanks, and congrats on all of your interviews as well!!

[oddity]

3 minutes ago, FeministPsychologist said:

Thank you, that definitely helps! The email I got didn't even mention my POI though. Do you still think it's okay to reach out to my POI? I don't want to appear presumptuous because on the program's website it says that the faculty collectively decides who is invited to interview day. 

Thanks, and congrats on all of your interviews as well!!

My emails didn't mention my POI either. I think it was just a form email that went out to all interviewees in the department (not just one POI). From speaking with faculty, I get the sense that it is often a collective agreement, but ultimately your POI has the final say and I think it would certainly be appropriate to reach out and thank them directly. They probably had a meeting to discuss potential candidates and your POI likely vouched for you. I think sometimes the department will say that it's a collective agreement, in some cases to deflect any awkwardness if they reject someone and the POI has a close connection to that candidate. If you want to DM me, I can send you the email that I sent to a POI. It's really short and to the point, but she ended up giving me some more details and advice for the interview that I didn't receive from the department email. 

[FeministPsychologist]

45 minutes ago, oddity said:

My emails didn't mention my POI either. I think it was just a form email that went out to all interviewees in the department (not just one POI). From speaking with faculty, I get the sense that it is often a collective agreement, but ultimately your POI has the final say and I think it would certainly be appropriate to reach out and thank them directly. They probably had a meeting to discuss potential candidates and your POI likely vouched for you. I think sometimes the department will say that it's a collective agreement, in some cases to deflect any awkwardness if they reject someone and the POI has a close connection to that candidate. If you want to DM me, I can send you the email that I sent to a POI. It's really short and to the point, but she ended up giving me some more details and advice for the interview that I didn't receive from the department email. 

Gotcha! Thanks so much for all of your help