Telephonic Interviews

[Shashank]

I am an undergrad (mechanical engineering major) and have applied for Masters and PhD in different universities for Fall 2010.

I am expecting results to start coming now.

When you apply for a PhD position professors tend to call you up, to discuss working with them. If it so happens that the professor(who calls you first) was not on your "A list" for that uni, then what do you do ?

I mean does that mean that the ones who were on your "A list" are not interested or have just not emailed you yet?

Do the profs (of a given uni) come to a consensus internally and decide which prof is going to offer a candidate a position ?

Does saying yes to one means that others (within the same uni) would not contact you ?

How can some one say no when he is unsure whether the profs (who were on your "A list" and have not contacted you yet) would have positions to offer or not ?

Should you always say that u'r really interested but need a little time to make up your mind ?

Thanx for replies

[fuzzylogician]

I am an undergrad (mechanical engineering major) and have applied for Masters and PhD in different universities for Fall 2010.

I am expecting results to start coming now.

When you apply for a PhD position professors tend to call you up, to discuss working with them. If it so happens that the professor(who calls you first) was not on your "A list" for that uni, then what do you do ?

I mean does that mean that the ones who were on your "A list" are not interested or have just not emailed you yet?

Do the profs (of a given uni) come to a consensus internally and decide which prof is going to offer a candidate a position ?

Does saying yes to one means that others (within the same uni) would not contact you ?

How can some one say no when he is unsure whether the profs (who were on your "A list" and have not contacted you yet) would have positions to offer or not ?

Should you always say that u'r really interested but need a little time to make up your mind ?

Thanx for replies

You accept the interview invite. It's possible, as you say, that the professors you would rather work with have decided they don't want to work with you. It's also possible that the person who contacted you is simply the person on the adcom who is doing the interviews in your subfield (at least that's possible in my field). There's no reason why talking with one professor should make other professors not want to talk to you. Make a good impression on the professor you are talking with, and for god's sake don't say that they are your second choice! Discuss your shared interests, not how you're a better fit with someone else--unless the person is the adcom representative and is not interviewing you as a potential advisee. I don't know about faking enthusiasm that is not there, I guess it depends on how unexcited you are by this option. However, don't worry about being pressured to decide on the spot. That doesn't normally happen and if it does, it's perfectly fine to say that you can't decide yet because you don't have all the information you need (from that school and others). If after the interview you haven't changed you mind about working with that professor, and other professors from that school don't contact you, then you can always decline any offers you are made.