Political Science Interview Content

[Pancho Villa]

For those who have had phone/skype meetings or interviews for a political science phd program this cycle or in the past, might you provide a general idea of what to expect? My advisors have all pretty much said these are likely to be casual conversations, generally meant to feel out the seriousness of the candidates and to sell the program, but none of them are actually at institutions that do interviews. Should I be worried about getting drilled on my writing sample or my research plan? And/or, might I be expected to have very sophisticated knowledge of the research of the faculty member I speak with or members of the department with whom I might work? I did some homework on this before writing my SOP, but it's difficult to keep everyone straight with all the craziness of applying. I plan to have a cheat sheet in front of me, but in the case of a Skype interview, it could get weird if I'm looking down a lot. Many thanks for any guidance or advice!

[dagnabbit]

n of 1 here, but the interview that I had a couple years ago was somewhere in between casual and formal. Most questions were just further probings on my interests, works that had inspired my (proposed) research agenda, and so on. I'd recommend that you be as honest as possible when answering questions about your interests, and prepare a few good questions for the interviewer about the program. They certainly won't be testing your knowledge of their program, beyond maybe asking you if you're still interested in working with the faculty that you ID-ed in your SOP. Cheat sheet is probably unnecessary - focus on communicating your interest in the program and having a pleasant conversation.

[Pancho Villa]

5 hours ago, dagnabbit said:

n of 1 here, but the interview that I had a couple years ago was somewhere in between casual and formal. Most questions were just further probings on my interests, works that had inspired my (proposed) research agenda, and so on. I'd recommend that you be as honest as possible when answering questions about your interests, and prepare a few good questions for the interviewer about the program. They certainly won't be testing your knowledge of their program, beyond maybe asking you if you're still interested in working with the faculty that you ID-ed in your SOP. Cheat sheet is probably unnecessary - focus on communicating your interest in the program and having a pleasant conversation.

That's definitely helpful. Thank you!

[nietzsche's moustache]

On 1/10/2019 at 11:12 PM, PonchoVilla said:

For those who have had phone/skype meetings or interviews for a political science phd program this cycle or in the past, might you provide a general idea of what to expect? My advisors have all pretty much said these are likely to be casual conversations, generally meant to feel out the seriousness of the candidates and to sell the program, but none of them are actually at institutions that do interviews. Should I be worried about getting drilled on my writing sample or my research plan? And/or, might I be expected to have very sophisticated knowledge of the research of the faculty member I speak with or members of the department with whom I might work? I did some homework on this before writing my SOP, but it's difficult to keep everyone straight with all the craziness of applying. I plan to have a cheat sheet in front of me, but in the case of a Skype interview, it could get weird if I'm looking down a lot. Many thanks for any guidance or advice!

I was interviewed by UPenn and it was strictly about the content of my research interests and my writing sample. I would describe it as "intense," as they asked a lot of questions and follow ups on my research project, apparently testing my command of the subject matter. Also, they brought up some topics that I did not mention in my SOP, nor was included in my writing sample. I guess they were trying to understand if I have a robust understanding of the field. 

Also, I would suggest to be prepared for the few last minutes in which they would let you ask your own questions. So preparing some questions beforehand would make you look interested. Please write more if you have other questions. 

[deutsch1997bw]

I was asked to describe my current research. That was the easy part. The difficult question was: "Why political science?". 

I was not expecting that question. Isn't it obvious why I'm applying to graduate school in political science and not, for example, anthropology? 

[saudiwin]

They mostly want to know if you're an axe murderer, as it's expensive to admit axe murderers and then deal with all the legal fees.

That's a bit tongue in cheek, but essentially they just want to know if you are who you say you are in your application. If you are, and you don't have any axes, you're fine!