unexpected interviewer

[Vivy]

Hi,

My boyfriend is required to do a Skype interview with a professor he didn't mention in his SOP and whose research interests are in another field, weakly related with my bf research area. We can't figure out why!

Have you been in the same situation? Usually, is the interviewer a potential supervisor?

Edited January 18, 2012 by Vivy

[ktel]

Sometimes professors may be interested in you even if you don't show an obvious interest in their field. I was regularly contacted by professors who I didn't specifically mention or previously contact, and my stated research interests were not terribly close to theirs. They just liked my overall resume and wanted to talk to me about their research and see if I was interested

[Vivy]

Sometimes professors may be interested in you even if you don't show an obvious interest in their field. I was regularly contacted by professors who I didn't specifically mention or previously contact, and my stated research interests were not terribly close to theirs. They just liked my overall resume and wanted to talk to me about their research and see if I was interested

thank you!

how do you suggest to behave? if he's totally honest, will this affect his chances of admission? And if he seems interested and he's admitted, is he forced to join this group then? Can someone change his preferences after the admission?

[ktel]

I interviewed with most of the professors who contacted me, largely because I didn't have a very defined area of research interest and therefore was more open to other areas. So I would just be open and honest. I can't answer your other questions because I have no idea how this school works. For my schools you had to choose a professor and the professor has to choose you for you to be admitted. There's really no switching after that.