Interview with Graduate Students

[HisGlory]

I have an upcoming interview where I will be interviewing with graduate students. Has anyone ever had this type of experience? What was it like, and what kind of questions were asked?

[Pretty_Penny]

Hi,

 

I interviewed with about 5 different grad students at my last interview. They asked about my research interests, my thesis, the basic stuff... Mainly they just want to answer questions about the program and the POIs, so come prepared with questions.

 

Good luck!

[GingerbreadLatte]

Yeah, I did two at UNC. The vibe was conversational. The grad students knew very little about me, so I had to go into a lot more detail about my background than I did in interviews with professors who had read my application.

Expect the question "What do you do for fun?" and say something other than "psychology /is/ my fun."

[PsychGirl1]

I had one interview day where I met with 2 grad students separately.

 

One just talked about her social life the whole time and seemed really uninterested. The other one asked me really hard questions (harder than any other interview so far) and smirked at me the whole time. I loved the POI but the experience made me unsure if I liked the other grad students.

 

I'd just think of questions specific to other grad students (the mentor's style, the social life/community, where they live, the competitiveness vs working together, the program more generally) and just relax and seem interested in them and their experiences. Other than that, it's hard to say how it will go.

[HisGlory]

Thanks so much...i really appreciate all the advice. I will definitely prepare myself for these kind of interactions.

[lewin]

Unless this place is unusual, 'interview' is probably too strong a word. I meet a couple potential grad students every year and it's just getting-to-know-you and answering your questions. The only time I was concerned the conversation went like this:

 

Me: "So what kind of research are you interested in?"

Potential student: "I have no idea."

Me: "I mean, I'm not looking for study ideas here. Like, who do you want to work with? What do you find interesting?"

Potential student: "I'm really still figuring it out."

 

Yeah, that person dropped out by Christmas.

[panda5074]

I had an interview over Skype with several grad students working in the lab of my POI. They asked me questions about my research background as well as my interest in the program/what I would like to do during graduate school. They were nice and let me ask them a lot of questions that I had prepared. I was nervous about the outcome, but I assume things went well because I got invited to come in-person for the interview/visit weekend. Just make sure that you have questions prepared for them, and I'm almost certain that they will answer them honestly. Also, don't be scared to ask them tough questions. You want to show them that you're interested. 

[sdt13]

I had an informal meeting with my top POI's graduate students at a conference. As most others seem to have suggested, you have to be prepared. I think the general idea of talking with current graduate students is to get their perspective of the program and see what kinds of things are going on currently to help you determine whether or not it would be a good fit. When I met with the two graduate students individually, I prepared questions for each (although one graduate student was on her way out and the other was just starting so they had vastly different perspectives and experiences) and both conversations were directed by me and my interests.

Now, I have also heard some crazy experiences from interview weekend this year. I won't get into details as some of these people may frequent these boards, but when you get nervous, try to maintain a filter when you talk. Don't tell any strange or off-putting personal stories to "make conversation". It really just freaks out the graduate students lol

 

[psychdork]

In my case, the "interview" with graduate students was more of a casual conversation.  They asked the candidates a few questions but they were pretty basic, whereas the majority of the time was spent answering any questions the candidates had.  So my advice is to prepare to answer some questions but also have a number of questions for you to ask the graduate students.  These can be along the lines of questions about the specific program to questions about nearby cities.

[HisGlory]

Lol at sdt13, I can only imagine what went down during those interviews. 

 

Thanks all for advice :-)