I'm not sure if this is a real interview... help? (it's tomorrow!)

[canesfan2011]

I filled out a request for information from the school that's my top choice in a politics program. It's a fairly new program but I don't plan on entering until NEXT fall (2011) and I haven't submitted any application materials whatsoever or taken the GRE. But today, I got an email from the dean asking if since I was in the same city I could have lunch with one of the admissions counselors. I'm pretty new to the grad school application process, but the admissions person emailed me and we set up a lunch meeting for tomorrow and I'm not sure what kind of meeting this is.

Officially it's an "informational" meeting about the program. Should I treat this like an real interview that could weigh into my admissions decision or is this more of a preliminary "we want to make sure no crazy psychos apply to our program and we're really friendly" lunch? Obviously I'll be extremely professional and prepared either way, but I just wasn't sure if this pre-application lunch/meeting was typical or not... can you guys with a little more experience with the admissions process hazard some guesses and maybe give some advice?

[fuzzylogician]

Well, the best advice is (as you've said yourself) to treat this as an interview, whatever it may turn out to be.

At this point in the process, I'd assume that it really is more of an informational meeting than anything else, considering that they don't really know anything about you. Nonetheless, they will might still ask you about your interests and why you think school X is a good match, so have an answer to that question. If the meeting is with an admissions counselor and not with a prospective advisor then you probably won't be asked too many technical questions either. The counselor will likely allow you to ask questions of your own, so you might want to prepare yourself for that. You can browse this forum for good suggestions of what to ask.

You want to make a good impression, both to pass the "I am not a psycho" test and simply to make a good impression. When your name comes up in the adcom discussions, you want someone to remember you and interject on your behalf.

I lived overseas so obviously no one thought they should take me out to lunch .. but I do think it's not uncommon for the DGS or for other professors to meet with prospective students if they happen to be in town in order to tell them about the school and answer their questions about the application process.This invitation means that this school is friendly, which is a good indication.

Good luck!