Neuroscience Interview

[njc]

Hi everyone,

I am new here. What has brought me here is that I have an interview with a good Neuroscience program that I'm interested in later this week, and I'm extremely nervous about it. I'm not sure what to expect from it, really. I read in some previous posts that the interview's purpose varies widely among disciplines. Does anyone have any experiences to contribute that are from a discipline similar to Neuroscience?

[ks106]

Ask crustaceangirl, who is pro. of Neuroscience in this forum. Good luck!

[crustaceangirl]

ks106, you make me blush! I'm no expert, but I have been on some neuroscience interviews already.

njc, congratulations on your interview! I was very nervous about my first one (earlier this month) but when I got there it was not bad at all. Everyone was friendly, and while I was intimidated by some of the professors, I found them to be very reasonable in the kinds of questions they asked me. Most of my professor interviews consisted of me talking about my research projects, the prof talking about his/her research projects, and then both of us talking about the school's grad program in general. If you understand the general ideas from projects you've done and classes you've taken, you'll have plenty to talk about. No one really asked me specific science questions, all you have to say is 1) what you did and 2) why you did it, whether you're talking about a research paper for class or a big lab project.

On the days when you don't have interviews you will probably be spending a lot of time hanging out informally with current grad students. They are a great resource -- ask them lots of questions! They can tell you their likes and dislikes about the program, explain why they chose it over other schools, and talk about life in the city where the school is located. These people generally volunteered to meet with the prospective students, so they are friendly, enthusiastic, and easy to talk to.

Keep in mind that you got this far because they liked your application! All you have to do to get an acceptance is to confirm the impression they already have of you based on your GPA, test scores, transcripts, letters of recommendation, and essays. All of those things indicate that you're a great student, so you probably are! Just be yourself, be relaxed, and they'll know they were right to invite you to their school.

[nertperson]

Hello from another neuroscientist. So far I've been through 1 phone interview and 2 interview weekends. The weekends were very similar. Expect a confusing mix of being judged and courted. The interviews will mostly be a process of matching you to a lab, not really about judging your qualifications (they already think you're qualified). If you're a good fit, you're in. If not, better luck elsewhere.

Aside from interviews, you'll probably have a poster session and some tours of the campus and surrounding area. Also, expect a fair amount of free beer, and lots of crappy free food.

The biggest surprise for me was how intimidating the competition was. Everyone you meet will be insanely well-qualified. (Or at least that was my experience. Maybe you're so insanely well-qualified they won't intimidate you!) Either way, best of luck, and enjoy the freebies!

[FastForward]

Hello veterans !

Any words of wisdom on which schools do / don't do interviews ? Insights on Stanford, NYU, Columbia, Harvard and Princeton will be especially appreciated.

[adizzygirl]

So far the interviews I've been to have basically been to make sure you're as good in person as you are on paper. It's important to go in ready to describe your past research experience and be sure you have a good reason for why you're pursuing a PhD, but so far I've had pretty decent experiences and I'm usually super shy. Like crustaceangirl, my interviews have basically been me talking about my research, the professor talking about their research, and then they answer any questions I have about the program in general. The program is (presumably) paying your travel expenses to have you interview, they're already interested in you if they're shelling out the dough to bring you there.

Haha.. the free beer is a big bonus I've had a lot of fun and met a lot of great people, both students and faculty, at the social events so far.

Take notes afterwards if you need to, I've been keeping notes in a notebook and making Word files for each school with the basic statistics (stipend, time to complete degree, etc) and pros/cons so when I finally have to decide which school I want to attend, I have the basics written down somewhere that I can compare them.

The interview is at least as much for you to evaluate them as for them to evaluate you, so be confident and have fun! If you're a good match with the research interests of some of the faculty and you don't, you know, get drunk and make a fool of yourself or something, you'll likely get an admissions offer.

[njc]

Hi again! Thanks for all the great responses. They've helped me feel a little more positive about the upcoming interviews.

I was wondering: for those of you who have done some interviews already, did you send a sort of thank-you to the professor(s) you met with? I suppose that a follow up email would be best?

[crustaceangirl]

njc, I didn't send thank you notes. I've interviewed at 3 places so far and met with 4-6 faculty at each, also members of the admissions committee and deans who didn't do a formal research interview but still helped me out, plus 2 more interviews to go... that's a lot of stationery! I did send a follow-up email to one prof who asked something more specific about my research (I sent her PowerPoint slides with some photos and graphs) after our conversation.

Probably a quick email couldn't hurt... I'll have to do that after this week's interview; good idea!

[casablanca]

I was interviewed by phone several weeks ago but haven't heard a reply yet

Usually, how long after the interviews are official notifications sent?

Is it posible to receive a rejection letter even if the person conducting the interview says that I'll be recommended for admission?

[crustaceangirl]

I heard back from one interview after two days, from other anywhere between 1- 4 weeks. In the case that took the longest, I was actually told that I would be accepted (informally) after about a week but then the long wait came while they were allocating funding -- some special fellowships to be awarded.

Did they tell you during the interview when you could expect a formal decision? I'd say that if you've been waiting more than two weeks after the interview it's fair to call them and follow up. It may be that they're doing several rounds of interviews and are waiting to make admissions decisions after they've talked to everybody, but they should be willing to share that information with you and give you something to go on.

[casablanca]

Yes, they told me during the phone interview that I should be contacted by the graduate office in a few weeks and it's well past a month. The deadline for application of this program is Dec 31...it's a pretty long admission process huh. Would it be impolite to ask them when an official decision will be rendered?

[crustaceangirl]

If it's been past a month, definitely call or email them. It's not impolite to ask what's going on, if they told you that they'd have a decision by now but you haven't heard anything. They may tell you that there will be more delay, but it may be that they already reached a decision and the info didn't get to you!

[casablanca]

I called and they replied me in e-mail that they hope to have a decision for me in the next few days. My god, I thought they've already decided to let me in! More nervous waiting now I guess!

[tnk0001]

Reading this forum has helped me feel a little better about my upcoming interview too.... I really keep thinking they've made a mistake in inviting me when there are so many other well qualified candidates out there.... I've even been going through and making note cards about the faculty so I can bring everything to mind when I meet them. I'm driving myself crazy!

[deianira]

I'm interviewing at Johns Hopkins (pathobiology neuro) and Georgetown (neuro). I had a phone interview with a professor at the NIH-UofMD joint program - he talked a lot about his research, and about other research at NIH and at the school, asked a little bit about my research (nothing that was not in the application), and then it quickly became clear that we were not a good fit, so he recommended a couple of other people to contact, and we politely said goodbyes. My personal method for dealing with stress is to over-prepare, so I've been going over my old professors' and PIs' new publications and reviews, making lists of the schools' professors and their research interests, and looking up some of their publications. If that doesn't calm me down, I can always open up "Principles of Neuroscience"

[crabchicken]

Yes, it is better to read about the professors' research directions and their publicaitons beforehand. It is also crucial to familiarize ourselves with our own research - from how we talk about our research, the interviewers can check our talent and diligence in scientific research.

[Trilly]

Hello to everybody!!

I had a phone interview with the Northwestern Neuroscience program on date Feb 18. They said to me they would take a FEW DAYS to send me information about my application, but I haven't received news yet (I know Feb 18 is only two weeks ago..but I want this admission!!).

I read that someone else had an interview with this program, and I would like to ask how much time after the interview they received an answer.

Thank you very much!!