beccamayworth Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 Ten?! Wow! The positive side is that in such a way you should be able to personally meet lots of super interesting people in your field! But I was wondering, what are interviews about? How do they work? What kind of questions do they ask? Should I study for them? Clearly I did study the work of my POIs at each Univerisity, and researched the work of their labs and of the people they collaborate with but...should I be ready to asnwer questions about that? Sorry If I ask silly questions but here in Italy Ph.D admissions don't work this way. We usually have titles' evaluation, then a written exam followed by an oral exam mostly focused on evaluating the candidate research proposal and how strong his/her former academic background is. Since I'm interested in collaborating with other departments, I ended up also interviewing with some faculty in Pysch (which is why I got so many interviews!) I think you already did the most important part - you definitely should know what your POI's work. I would say it's a good idea to familiarize yourself (at least superficially) with everyone you think you might get an interview with, just so that it's easier to make conversation. From my experience, however, they're not really testing how much you know about them; they will mostly ask much more about you - the work you've done so far and the work you want to do during your PhD. They might ask you a few questions such as "why did you do your research this way and not this other way?" or "how do you plan on researching Y?". A really good question they often ask is "why?", as in "why is topic W interesting?" or "why is topic Z worth researching?". The main idea behind the interviews is not assessing if you're a good enough candidate (your application package should take care of that), but mostly if you're a good match to their program. And of course, you should use the interviews to think about the same thing - are they a good match for you? A lot of people change their minds about programs during the interview stage. onzeheures30 1
Tairy Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 My application for MIT is 15 minutes late since I the fee payment server was having errors. I know it's my fault for doing it at the last hour, but I've done every other application that way since I try to make use of all the time I have, and this is the only case where something went wrong. There's no official lateness policy, but I'm sure this won't help. Am I doomed?
onzeheures30 Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 But I was wondering, what are interviews about? How do they work? What kind of questions do they ask? Should I study for them? Clearly I did study the work of my POIs at each Univerisity, and researched the work of their labs and of the people they collaborate with but...should I be ready to asnwer questions about that? I second beccamayworth's post. You definitely should study your POIs' work (primarily for your own sake, you want to know whether they are indeed a good fit for you before even applying), but the questions are going to be about you, not them. In other words, there will be no quiz on the faculty's latest papers, but they will be probing, of course, into how you think you fit with their (current!) interests. This probing might go in different ways; some people will ask you straight-forwardly to elaborate on how your interests fit with theirs, some will just ask you to describe your interests and assess your fit themselves, and some might even lay out their current projects and ask you whether you are interested in any of those. Not everyone will go for the latter option, of course, but don't hesitate to ask them directly about their current projects and plans (you are not supposed to know everything about them, and most certainly you are not supposed to be able to read their minds and know what they are going to focus on in the future, i.e. during the period when you might be their student). Remember that an interview is a two-way street, so take advantage of this opportunity to learn more about the programs =) beccamayworth 1
onzeheures30 Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 My application for MIT is 15 minutes late since I the fee payment server was having errors. I know it's my fault for doing it at the last hour, but I've done every other application that way since I try to make use of all the time I have, and this is the only case where something went wrong. There's no official lateness policy, but I'm sure this won't help. Am I doomed? Did it go through eventually? If yes, then you're probably fine. Also, on a semi-relevant note, if my memory serves, MIT's application system was the only one in my experience that would allow changing things in the application (like reuploading the SOP) after submitting.
Tairy Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 For the sake of easing my neurotic heart I'll believe you. It did go through, yes, and I noticed that as well: I could have paid the fee forever ago and uploaded my documents later on, but that wasn't evident beforehand. Uagh! I'm confident in my application aside from this hiccup, so I'm just hoping the technicality of being officially late won't disqualify me from anything, or get me tossed out prematurely.
aojfifjoaisjaiosdj Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 Did it go through eventually? If yes, then you're probably fine. Also, on a semi-relevant note, if my memory serves, MIT's application system was the only one in my experience that would allow changing things in the application (like reuploading the SOP) after submitting. This is correct.
Garyon Posted January 4, 2015 Posted January 4, 2015 Thank you all! As always, your advice is gold. I feel very lucky and grateful to have found this forum and you are all very kind and helpful!
isilya Posted January 7, 2015 Posted January 7, 2015 Someone from LA just viewed my academia.edu profile...looks like UCLA is starting to review applications!!!! Soleil ت and LinguisticMystic 2
aojfifjoaisjaiosdj Posted January 9, 2015 Posted January 9, 2015 Anyone hear anything from admissions people yet?
wuglife427 Posted January 9, 2015 Posted January 9, 2015 I got an email from my secondary POI at Santa Cruz asking for a phone interview. He said he wants to talk about my research interests to determine if there's a good fit. I'm worried the fit didn't come through in my SOP and that this is one of those "Why did you apply here" interviews...still, I'm glad they think it's worth their time to figure it out. Feeling better about my application overall.
Garyon Posted January 9, 2015 Posted January 9, 2015 I got an email from my secondary POI at Santa Cruz asking for a phone interview. He said he wants to talk about my research interests to determine if there's a good fit. I'm worried the fit didn't come through in my SOP and that this is one of those "Why did you apply here" interviews...still, I'm glad they think it's worth their time to figure it out. Feeling better about my application overall. Good Luck!!
isilya Posted January 9, 2015 Posted January 9, 2015 I got an email from my secondary POI at Santa Cruz asking for a phone interview. He said he wants to talk about my research interests to determine if there's a good fit. I'm worried the fit didn't come through in my SOP and that this is one of those "Why did you apply here" interviews...still, I'm glad they think it's worth their time to figure it out. Feeling better about my application overall. Good luck, you got this! I haven't heard anything back from ling programs but I think I only have a chance with one of them so it's just as well
wuglife427 Posted January 9, 2015 Posted January 9, 2015 Thank you both!! It's still early, I'm sure you'll hear back from your programs
aojfifjoaisjaiosdj Posted January 9, 2015 Posted January 9, 2015 (edited) Thank you both!! It's still early, I'm sure you'll hear back from your programs I sure hope so. T_T Successful applicants from previous years, do you remember the date you got contacted for the first time? Edited January 9, 2015 by Chiki
Garyon Posted January 9, 2015 Posted January 9, 2015 Chiki, you are even more anxious than me! I feel relieved to be in such good company in my madness
onzeheures30 Posted January 10, 2015 Posted January 10, 2015 Successful applicants from previous years, do you remember the date you got contacted for the first time? I've just looked it up in my email. I was first contacted by Maryland (for a Skype interview) on Jan 17.
fuzzylogician Posted January 10, 2015 Posted January 10, 2015 The LSA is happening this week. Lots of people are here. I think it's unlikely that a lot of committee work is taking place right now, but starting next week things might pick back up again.
aojfifjoaisjaiosdj Posted January 10, 2015 Posted January 10, 2015 (edited) Chiki, you are even more anxious than me! I feel relieved to be in such good company in my madness It comes and goes. I spend most of my free time playing video games or watching anime, so that helps. I was supposed to study modality (Kratzer got me into it) but I can't even look at a linguistics book without getting stressed out tbh, let alone open it. I've just looked it up in my email. I was first contacted by Maryland (for a Skype interview) on Jan 17. The LSA is happening this week. Lots of people are here. I think it's unlikely that a lot of committee work is taking place right now, but starting next week things might pick back up again. Thanks. >_< Edited January 10, 2015 by Chiki
juzaib Posted January 12, 2015 Posted January 12, 2015 Someone from LA just viewed my academia.edu profile...looks like UCLA is starting to review applications!!!! Cool! I received one visitor from Philadelphia in my personal website last week: it's probably someone from UPenn. They only stayed for 36 seconds, though... Someone from NY also visited my Academia.edu profile. I guess it's someone from CUNY. I also had someone from Berkeley visiting me there. It must be...oh wait, I didn't even apply for UC Berkeley!! hahaha =P
isilya Posted January 12, 2015 Posted January 12, 2015 I also had someone from Berkeley visiting me there. It must be...oh wait, I didn't even apply for UC Berkeley!! hahaha =P Haha this makes me think that the person in LA who viewed my profile isn't even from UCLA, just some random person
aojfifjoaisjaiosdj Posted January 12, 2015 Posted January 12, 2015 Cool! I received one visitor from Philadelphia in my personal website last week: it's probably someone from UPenn. They only stayed for 36 seconds, though... Someone from NY also visited my Academia.edu profile. I guess it's someone from CUNY. I also had someone from Berkeley visiting me there. It must be...oh wait, I didn't even apply for UC Berkeley!! hahaha =P I applied to UPenn, but no one looked at my Academia profile. :<
Garyon Posted January 12, 2015 Posted January 12, 2015 I applied to UPenn, but no one looked at my Academia profile. :< If it can make you feel any better, I applied both to CUNY and Upenn, and no one looked at my profile either. Thinking about CUNY and Upenn, their deadline was Dec 15th, wasn't it?! What are they doing?!? (yeah, freaking out mode on) aojfifjoaisjaiosdj 1
aojfifjoaisjaiosdj Posted January 12, 2015 Posted January 12, 2015 (edited) If it can make you feel any better, I applied both to CUNY and Upenn, and no one looked at my profile either. Thinking about CUNY and Upenn, their deadline was Dec 15th, wasn't it?! What are they doing?!? (yeah, freaking out mode on) Thank you. Probably a longshot, but I wonder if they go by alphabetical order or something. My last name's towards the end of the alphabet so that could be why? Probably not. Edited January 12, 2015 by Chiki
Garyon Posted January 12, 2015 Posted January 12, 2015 (edited) Thank you. Probably a longshot, but I wonder if they go by alphabetical order or something. My last name's towards the end of the alphabet so that could be why? Probably not. Your welcome! Your anxiety is my anxiety Umm wouldn't something like a "First In First Out / Last In First Out" order be more likely? They assigned us a numerical ID after all... Probably they liked our SOP so much they didn't even need to check us up on external sources Edited January 12, 2015 by Garyon Omnium and wuglife427 2
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