In person vs Skype Interview

[SLP97]

Hey. I was wondering if anyone had any insight on in-person vs Skype interviews. I was originally leaning towards Skype, but the more I think about it I feel like in person is a lot better. Please help! 

[BioCook]

13 minutes ago, SLP97 said:

Hey. I was wondering if anyone had any insight on in-person vs Skype interviews. I was originally leaning towards Skype, but the more I think about it I feel like in person is a lot better. Please help! 

Hi! Did the school offer the option to do a Skype interview due to travel reasons? If it becomes too great a financial burden to travel to a school for a short interview, you're better off doing the interview via Skype. However, if you are able to make travel arrangements financially (and, of course, with timing in mind), I highly suggest going for an in person interview! Here are my thoughts...

• I have some schools on my list that I have never visited before so if I had a chance to interview, I would love to go travel to the school and see the surrounding area. While you spend a lot of time doing school work, I think the environment of the school (and surrounding area) are super important. If you have time to spend a long weekend, etc. in an area, you can think of it as a mini adventure!
• Interviewing in person helps truly put a face to the name. You may run into internet issues that may make the Skype interview fairly difficult. While that shouldn't be a real reason, I do believe that being able to shake a person's hand and presenting confident body language helps!
• It shows your commitment/excitement! Again, schools understand that some applicants (1) travel from very far away or (2) cannot afford the means to travel. While I have had local interviews on the east coast, I know that I cannot dedicate time to travel all the way to the west coast. In BU's email invite, they highly suggested the in person interview (maybe because they also include a tour and a chance for us to speak to current students) but do make accommodations.

Phew! I didn't expect my response to be that long.

[SLP97]

3 hours ago, BioCook said:

Hi! Did the school offer the option to do a Skype interview due to travel reasons? If it becomes too great a financial burden to travel to a school for a short interview, you're better off doing the interview via Skype. However, if you are able to make travel arrangements financially (and, of course, with timing in mind), I highly suggest going for an in person interview! Here are my thoughts...

• I have some schools on my list that I have never visited before so if I had a chance to interview, I would love to go travel to the school and see the surrounding area. While you spend a lot of time doing school work, I think the environment of the school (and surrounding area) are super important. If you have time to spend a long weekend, etc. in an area, you can think of it as a mini adventure!
• Interviewing in person helps truly put a face to the name. You may run into internet issues that may make the Skype interview fairly difficult. While that shouldn't be a real reason, I do believe that being able to shake a person's hand and presenting confident body language helps!
• It shows your commitment/excitement! Again, schools understand that some applicants (1) travel from very far away or (2) cannot afford the means to travel. While I have had local interviews on the east coast, I know that I cannot dedicate time to travel all the way to the west coast. In BU's email invite, they highly suggested the in person interview (maybe because they also include a tour and a chance for us to speak to current students) but do make accommodations.

Phew! I didn't expect my response to be that long.

Wow, this actually helped so much. Thank you!

[AlwaysaFalcon]

I had both a skype interview and two in person interviews for programs. The program I am in now had the option of doing a skype interview which I appreciated because for financial reasons I could not go out to the university because I lived far away. The only downside was I was not able to see the university and explore the area but I figured that for graduate school it was less important to me. I don't think as far as impression goes it made a difference on my behave since I was admitted.