accepted while interviews are still going on??

[Marius]

So a program I have yet to even interview at has already started giving out offers. This sort of kills my motivation for the interview since now I basically feel as though I'm maybe interviewing for a spot on the waitlist at best, and just wasting my time at worst. Why would a school do this? Are they just keeping one or two spots for later interviewers or something? It doesn't really seem fair in any case.

[Hillary Emick]

I would not be discouraged. If you are interviewing, they are very interested. Interviews are often about matching you up to the right funding (TA or RA, which project if RA) not just admission. Definitely go.

[MediaMom]

Often times, the interview is really just the final phase of the admission process. They've already decided that they like you on paper and that they basically want you, but before they make the commitment of their time and money they want to actually talk to you and make sure you're all a good fit.

[Marius]

Actually it looks like I was correct. The interviewers made it painfully clear that one of the candidates was already favored for admission and we were just along for the ride. They even had me leave early because once said candidates interviews were over with certain faculty, those faculty suddenly became "busy" and my interview was cut short since I did not get to meet with them.

And omg some of the things they said to this girl. It's like they don't know what subtlety even means. This one guy was commenting on the candidates good looks. Not to mention both I and the other candidate arrived early, but she got to have a half hour discussion with the program adviser while I was asked to sit outside.

Yeah. Talk about getting kicked in the gut. This was a great way to end my interviews and confirm that the neuroscience community is apparently very against the idea of me getting a PhD. Honestly the whole experience has soured my desire to pursue a PhD and do research. I'll either get a real job with my bachelors degree or try for my masters in bio and work in industry. Maybe somebody will appreciate me there. Either way this whole thing has proven to be a very costly and stressful mistake.

Edited February 29, 2012 by Marius

[crazygirl2012]

Wow, I am so sorry to hear that! That's a terrible experience. I don't know what else has happened to you during this process, but I hope you can recognize that this program's behavior is not a reflection on you.

[Marius]

I'm wondering if its worth emailing the program adviser back asking what effect they feel this has on my application and how they intend to objectively weight my application when I wasn't given the same opportunity to interview with as many faculty as every other applicant.

[MarketingPhD2012]

Actually it looks like I was correct. The interviewers made it painfully clear that one of the candidates was already favored for admission and we were just along for the ride. They even had me leave early because once said candidates interviews were over with certain faculty, those faculty suddenly became "busy" and my interview was cut short since I did not get to meet with them.

And omg some of the things they said to this girl. It's like they don't know what subtlety even means. This one guy was commenting on the candidates good looks. Not to mention both I and the other candidate arrived early, but she got to have a half hour discussion with the program adviser while I was asked to sit outside.

Yeah. Talk about getting kicked in the gut. This was a great way to end my interviews and confirm that the neuroscience community is apparently very against the idea of me getting a PhD. Honestly the whole experience has soured my desire to pursue a PhD and do research. I'll either get a real job with my bachelors degree or try for my masters in bio and work in industry. Maybe somebody will appreciate me there. Either way this whole thing has proven to be a very costly and stressful mistake.

WOW! So sorry to hear about what you had to endure. Hope all works out for you!