Interview Thread!

[bathingintheneon]

Since interviews are just around the corner (and may have already happened!), we can use this thread to talk about how the interview went. Better than expected? Much worse? Was your top choice uncool and your last choice amazing? Do you have an idea of where you'd like to go now?

I just got back from my interview at Delaware, and it was amazing. There is so much collaboration in the department and everyone is super friendly and approachable. Plus, my PI was really excited to meet me, and he had even made a list of different research projects we could do based on my interests. I have four more interviews, but I think other schools are going to have to do a lot to "wow" me like Delaware did.

[ratlab]

I *adored* UDel as well! Definitely one of my top choices now.

Edited February 1, 2014 by ratlab

[iPsych]

I just had my interview at Alfred this past weekend and it definitely went better than I thought it would! The professors and grad students were all very friendly and the program's focus and faculty's research feels like a really great fit for me.  Fingers crossed!

[Socially Awkward]

I interviewed a couple of weeks ago and I thought it went horrible! Well, not because of the program. I was really impressed with the program, however I felt like I had interviewed really poorly. Apparently the interview went really well. I recently received an acceptance, so that was great!

 

Also, I wonder how different a visitation will be considering I was already accepted at a program. No interview or anything, I just received an acceptance and an invite to visit their program. For some reason I thought it would be easier to visit a program that I have been accepted to already, but that is not the case. It definitely feels like I have a lot to live up to now when I visit  

 

Time to read 100 articles and come up with 500 studies before the visitation! 

[bathingintheneon]

Interviewed at UC Davis on Monday. My POI there definitely had a different take on graduate school than I do. The way she sees it, graduate school is a way to receive training in an area, not necessarily to do the research I want to do. Therefore, she seems a lot less flexible in terms of conducting research that I am interested in (even another professor in the department called her inflexible).

I think I would be a better fit for her lab if my research interests were broader, but since they are more narrowed, I'm not don't know how happy I would be in the program.

Plus, she was saying less than nice things about another professor that I had applied to work with at a different university, which rubbed me the wrong way.

[MissData]

I am catching my first flight in the morning to my first interview and I am soooooo nervous. I've read a ton of articles and prepared a lot, but I'm interviewing with 4 different faculty and they make acceptance decisions together, so I feel like I need to impress all of them.

[ldspsych]

Hey! I'm interviewing on the 24th in nova southeastern university for the clinical psych psyd program. Any advice is greatly appreciated! This will be my first interview ever so I have no clue as to what to wear, what to take with me, etcetera...

[SportPsych30]

Two huge interviews coming up on back to back weekends to close out the month. Going to be logging a lot of flight time heading back east for both of them. Really excited, and not nervous surprisingly– although I am anxious.

For one of them, I need to demonstrate teaching proficiency by preparing a 5-10 minute lesson plan. Cake walk for me, as the teaching portion to my desired career will be one of my favorite aspects. 

 

Edited February 11, 2014 by SportPsych30

[iPsych]

Hellooo everyone!

 

This past week I had an interview for Yeshiva's clinical child-school psychology program and it was a little crazy.  They held a lot of interviews in one day (for all of the Ferkauf grad programs) so the lobby was packed and the interviewers seemed tired by the time I got to speak with them.  During the "group interview" the head of the program spent a good amount of time describing the program and talking about it's strengths and (the few) weaknesses.  There wasnt a lot of time for any of us to talk at great length which was probably for the best .  My individual interviewer didn't ask me any questions about myself and I spent the full 30 minutes asking her questions about the program.  It was a little strange.  Luckily we got a chance to speak with current students once the group and individual interviews were over and they had great things to say about the quality of the program and the positive relationships that they have with their faculty! 

 

I also interviewed at Lehigh for their School Psych PhD program.  I stayed with two current students in the program and attended a social function for current students and applicants the night before.  The next day was long and stressful (program overview followed by individual interview with a current student, a tour of campus, lunch with other applicants/faculty/current students, then individual interview with my POI, another faculty member and a current student) but everyone was very friendly and it was obvious that they were happy with their program!  The whole day made me want to go there even more.  Overall, it was a great experience!

[schpsy92]

Hi everyone! I have an interview coming up in 2 weeks, and I will be staying with a friend the night before (who attends that college as a undergrad). Is it acceptable to bring my luggage / a backpack to the interview with me? I plan on catching a train home right after the interview is over. 

[iphi]

Hi everyone! I have an interview coming up in 2 weeks, and I will be staying with a friend the night before (who attends that college as a undergrad). Is it acceptable to bring my luggage / a backpack to the interview with me? I plan on catching a train home right after the interview is over. 

 

Yes, that's typical. Just ask someone to lock it in an office for you.

[aimlessLady]

Has anybody heard from Carnegie Mellon for Psychology? I haven't seen much on the results board and am anxiously awaiting a response!

[Sighkick]

How much preparing do you all feel is necessary for interviews? I have my first interview this weekend, with four more back to back each weekend after that. I'm starting to overwhelm myself with everything I'd like to have prepared by then. I feel like every time I start, I go down a rabbit hole of googling people and finding more papers to read. 

 

This is what my general plan of attack is in terms of what to prepare:

1. Faculty bios- research interests, educational background (lots of overlapping in many of my POIs across my programs, I feel like I need to be aware of who knows who)

2. POI publications (read several? read a few and skim titles/abstracts of others?)

3.Grad students- find out who my POI's current students are and what they are doing, and try to figure out where their former students ended up

4. Refresh myself on my own previous research (it's been a few years since I was in school)

 

Specifically, how well-versed should you be in each interviewer's research? At one of my programs, you are not matched with a POI but are admitted and then choose a mentor later. At interviews, you interview with all (6) of the faculty members in that concentration. My goal was to read up on each professor's research interests and skim over their recent publications. This has turned into a pretty daunting task since each professor has several graduate students (thus involved in varying topics) and has published numerous papers in the past 3 years. 

 

I'm making a notebook to compile all this information and try to read over it all by Thursday. I think I'm going crazy. 

I've only had one interview so far, but I did all that you did and felt overprepared. We had 30 minute meetings with 4 faculty members, and most of that time was spent talking about current projects, my research experience, and just getting to know one another. 

 

I'd recommend focusing your energy on professor/lab bios and http://projectreporter.nih.gov/reporter.cfm if you weren't already doing a little bit of this.

The site allows you to search by PI and read abstracts for their current grants and see funding history. If you have free time after that and would like to read something they've published, go for it. 

 

Good luck!

[bathingintheneon]

How much preparing do you all feel is necessary for interviews? I have my first interview this weekend, with four more back to back each weekend after that. I'm starting to overwhelm myself with everything I'd like to have prepared by then. I feel like every time I start, I go down a rabbit hole of googling people and finding more papers to read. 

 

This is what my general plan of attack is in terms of what to prepare:

1. Faculty bios- research interests, educational background (lots of overlapping in many of my POIs across my programs, I feel like I need to be aware of who knows who)

2. POI publications (read several? read a few and skim titles/abstracts of others?)

3.Grad students- find out who my POI's current students are and what they are doing, and try to figure out where their former students ended up

4. Refresh myself on my own previous research (it's been a few years since I was in school)

 

Specifically, how well-versed should you be in each interviewer's research? At one of my programs, you are not matched with a POI but are admitted and then choose a mentor later. At interviews, you interview with all (6) of the faculty members in that concentration. My goal was to read up on each professor's research interests and skim over their recent publications. This has turned into a pretty daunting task since each professor has several graduate students (thus involved in varying topics) and has published numerous papers in the past 3 years. 

 

I'm making a notebook to compile all this information and try to read over it all by Thursday. I think I'm going crazy. 

 

I agree with the above post. Most interviews with faculty members are really short (30 minutes) and usually just consist of you asking questions about the programs. I would say just read their bios online to get an idea of what they generally research. Most professors will actually tell you about their research without you even asking! You can read some papers of the professor who you applied to (but you should do that anyway), since you will need to make your case as to why you want to work with them.

[Good-Luck]

I've only had one interview so far, but I did all that you did and felt overprepared. We had 30 minute meetings with 4 faculty members, and most of that time was spent talking about current projects, my research experience, and just getting to know one another. 

 

I'd recommend focusing your energy on professor/lab bios and http://projectreporter.nih.gov/reporter.cfm if you weren't already doing a little bit of this.

The site allows you to search by PI and read abstracts for their current grants and see funding history. If you have free time after that and would like to read something they've published, go for it. 

 

Good luck!

 

For UNC, did you interview on Feb.6 and then got admitted?

[Sighkick]

For UNC, did you interview on Feb.6 and then got admitted?

Yeah, I was there Feb. 6th. OOfficial offer to come next week. Don't stress yet, if you haven't heard anything.

[Socially Awkward]

Judging by the above posts and my own experiences, I'd say that the confidence interval around the components of an interview is really large. 

 

For example, while reading the bios and work of every professor in the field may seem like overkill, it definitely helps. In one of my interviews (with my POI) he would mention names of other faculty at that institution and talk about them briefly. I got the feeling that he expected me to know at least what they were generally working on as he wanted feedback on whether I was also interested in them. The only reason for this that I could come up with is to see if you are generally interested in the program and to gauge who you would be most willing to collaborate with if you did attend that school.

Although many schools and our perceptions of how they work tend to rest on one MAIN POI and then maybe collaborate later on, I get the feeling from my interviews that many schools are moving to the two or several adviser way of things. 

 

Also, my interviews all stated that we would be talking for about 30 minutes, but so far all have lasted about an hour or more.

 

So, while some interviews are less formal in terms of content, there is definitely the potential for a more vigorous interview. I would say definitely read up on other professor bios, or at least know a few other people you may be interested in collaborating with later on. 

 

 

PS YES! Definitely have a few buffer questions for interviews with faculty you don't know and for those interviews that may go on a bit longer than expected. I've found myself out of questions and wound up asking these really random-ass questions. 

[housemousee]

Does anyone have any suggestions on the kinds of questions to ask? Aside from more research specific questions, I have a lot of program/university related questions. Here's my list, please add to it! I have an interview this weekend and I felt like I ran out of questions at my last one!

 

• Program overview and requirements
• Can you explain the typical track? Especially the first year.
• Does this program do a lot of collaboration with other labs and departments?
• How active is the program/department in attending conferences? (& funding)
• Brown Bags?
• Journal clubs?
• Funding: how much funding is guaranteed and for how long?
• How much teaching are graduate students involved with?
• How might I fit in, having more interest in basic behavioral processes?
• How long does it usually take students to finish their degree?

[EastCoasting]

Ask about your POIs mentoring style, both directly to the POI, and to the POI's students when you are with them off campus. Also ask students (again, preferably off campus) what they would change about the POI and program if they could. Ask people why they chose that program, and if there were any unexpected good and bad surprises after starting. Ask about collaborating with other faculty you are interested in, and how supportive students are of each other. Also ask about the competence and warmth of the grad advisor and coordinator.

[housemousee]

Ask about your POIs mentoring style, both directly to the POI, and to the POI's students when you are with them off campus. Also ask students (again, preferably off campus) what they would change about the POI and program if they could. Ask people why they chose that program, and if there were any unexpected good and bad surprises after starting. Ask about collaborating with other faculty you are interested in, and how supportive students are of each other. Also ask about the competence and warmth of the grad advisor and coordinator.

thank you! those are good ideas

 

I feel like i need more questions for professors  also.

Edited February 19, 2014 by housemousee

[housemousee]

Also for anyone who needs ideas on what to ask your graduate student hosts, heres my list of questions for them:

 

• Advisor’s mentoring style: hands on vs. independent
• Do you feel supported by your advisor
• Why did you choose this program?
• What would you change about the program/advisor if you could
• Any unexpected surprises when you first started
• Conferences
• Journal clubs
• What do you do for fun?
• Things you like about _____ [insert city]
• How do you feel about the communication in the lab

[boogidywoogidy]

I am honestly starting to wonder if Yeshiva just interviewed everyone for the PhD program.  I just have seen so many people on grad cafe say they had an interview.  Also, I had my interview on the 12th and there are still people just hearing this week that they have been offered an interview for the 26th!  I don't understand the process at all.  It is not likely alphabetical…unless it is by first name actually….hmm

[jakem]

For professors, you need to ask them lots of questions about their research! Since this is the reason you are going to grad school, and the main thing you will be doing for 5 years, you need to seem very excited about their research. Things I asked on my interviews:

 

"Where do you see the lab going in the next 5 years?"
"What recent dissertations have come out of the lab?"
"How do you view the process of picking a dissertation topic?"

[kaister]

Under what circumstance do you all think it's okay to refuse a Skype interview and push for a phone interview? Does that show any red flags? Particularly if there is no on-campus visit? 

[iPsych]

I am honestly starting to wonder if Yeshiva just interviewed everyone for the PhD program.  I just have seen so many people on grad cafe say they had an interview.  Also, I had my interview on the 12th and there are still people just hearing this week that they have been offered an interview for the 26th!  I don't understand the process at all.  It is not likely alphabetical…unless it is by first name actually….hmm

 

It seems to me they do everything on a rolling basis. I saw two people post acceptances then two more people post interviews so I guess they just process everyone as they come in?