lab ratta-tat-tat Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 On the polar opposite end of the spectrum- I saw a girl last year who wore the nicest athleta yoga pants and top ever interview at our school. The girl said she was more comfortable in those clothes trekking around the campus and was warm. That girl kicked ass and was accepted into the program and does really good research. Just goes to show you comfort matters and being qualified is not synonymous with "dressing fancy". Additionally I know a faculty member who wears socks and chaco sandals all year round, no joke, and the same break away columbia pants. Clothes aren't something to get hung up on or obsessed over. just be comfortable and your accomplishments will speak for them selves. @ pastel tomato- when you are finished with the interview with the PI a graduate student is waiting for you in the room outside the PI's office or the PI will walk you to the common area where the student is waiting to take you to the next interview. No need to worry about getting lost, the adcom understands how stressful this time is and they do their best to eliminate little hiccups.
MadameD Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 Thanks everyone! That makes me feel a lot better! I think everyone is right with the cold thing, I guess I hadn't thought about that. I usually feel more comfortable over-dressed than under-dressed, so I'll try to keep it in mind. I'm so ready to get more information for my interview! So far, I know I have an interview... and that's about it.
ghostoverground Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 EDIT: I have another question, too. So, I have heard that April 15th is the deadline for accepting an offer of admission. However, I have also heard that some schools will give you a decision shortly after you interview and want to hear from you within a week. How are you supposed to handle this if you have more interviews planned? This.
blinchik Posted January 4, 2015 Posted January 4, 2015 @pasteltomato, when I say flat boots, I mean calf-high suede boots that are very nice and fairly pricey - I can inbox you a picture when I get home if you are interested.
notsaxophones Posted January 4, 2015 Posted January 4, 2015 EDIT: I have another question, too. So, I have heard that April 15th is the deadline for accepting an offer of admission. However, I have also heard that some schools will give you a decision shortly after you interview and want to hear from you within a week. How are you supposed to handle this if you have more interviews planned? Oh no. I hadn't heard that. I have almost three weeks between two of my interviews.
tuckbro Posted January 4, 2015 Posted January 4, 2015 Oh no. I hadn't heard that. I have almost three weeks between two of my interviews. None of my schools wanted a decision before April 15th.
Vene Posted January 4, 2015 Posted January 4, 2015 EDIT: I have another question, too. So, I have heard that April 15th is the deadline for accepting an offer of admission. However, I have also heard that some schools will give you a decision shortly after you interview and want to hear from you within a week. How are you supposed to handle this if you have more interviews planned? This is where the April 15 deadline is from: https://www.cgsnet.org/ckfinder/userfiles/files/CGS_Resolution.pdf If you're applying for a funded PhD and your university is on that list they can't really force you to decide prior to April 15th. I wouldn't really list this as a reasonable concern. Now, without funding (rare in biology) or as a MS applicant all bets are off. blinchik and notsaxophones 2
gliaful Posted January 4, 2015 Author Posted January 4, 2015 (edited) This is where the April 15 deadline is from: https://www.cgsnet.org/ckfinder/userfiles/files/CGS_Resolution.pdf If you're applying for a funded PhD and your university is on that list they can't really force you to decide prior to April 15th. I wouldn't really list this as a reasonable concern. Now, without funding (rare in biology) or as a MS applicant all bets are off. I think I probably got some hearsay mixed up. Thinking about it now, I remember reading on the survey results for OHSU that an "Accepted" reporter commented that OHSU wanted a "decision within a week so that they could make more offers." Could this have actually been for an interview? It's been messing with me. EDIT: OHSU isn't on the list! So maybe OHSU will pull this, but at least they're one of my last interviews. Edited January 4, 2015 by pasteltomato
Page228 Posted January 4, 2015 Posted January 4, 2015 FWIW, an acquaintance of mine just recently told me a similar story about OHSU from when she was admitted to their PhD program years ago. She was able to get an extension, but even then they still wanted an answer before April 15. gliaful 1
Vene Posted January 4, 2015 Posted January 4, 2015 EDIT: OHSU isn't on the list! So maybe OHSU will pull this, but at least they're one of my last interviews. That very much would explain it. And it is lucky that they're one of the last interviews so you'll have an idea of where you stand with other universities at that point. If they rush, you might get an unofficial acceptance prior to your interview at Iowa, but you should have enough time to at least get a response from every university. gliaful 1
peachypie Posted January 4, 2015 Posted January 4, 2015 If a school wants to pressure you to make a response to them prior the april 15th deadline I'd highly question their motive. For many of my interviews (even the ones that had multiple weekends) I received an offer of acceptance within maybe 1-2 weeks. i waited to finish all my interviews before I made my decision, but was prioritizing and ranking as I went. I still made my final decision about a month before the April 15th deadline. every school would love to know prior to april 15th, if they signed the resolution that is about where it stops in what they can do. If they didn't then I guess they can do whatever they want but again, why? gliaful, lab ratta-tat-tat and Appsitude 3
Appsitude Posted January 4, 2015 Posted January 4, 2015 If a school wants to pressure you to make a response to them prior the april 15th deadline I'd highly question their motive. For many of my interviews (even the ones that had multiple weekends) I received an offer of acceptance within maybe 1-2 weeks. i waited to finish all my interviews before I made my decision, but was prioritizing and ranking as I went. I still made my final decision about a month before the April 15th deadline. every school would love to know prior to april 15th, if they signed the resolution that is about where it stops in what they can do. If they didn't then I guess they can do whatever they want but again, why? The one exception to this are fellowships that might have specific deadlines. For one of the schools I was accepted to, I had to make a decision to decline or accept a fellowship by April 1st. However, this is the exception and not the norm. For me, I decided over a month before the deadline. For most people I have talked to, they pretty much knew where they wanted to go after they had their last interview. I knew immediately after my interview at UCSF that I wanted to attend there -- and the rest of my interviews didn't really do much to sway me.
nutellarain Posted January 7, 2015 Posted January 7, 2015 Does anyone have any general interview weekend tips? So far I've heard "don't get wasted and be a shitshow". I'm not too worried about this one, my tolerance is pretty well-developed
gliaful Posted January 7, 2015 Author Posted January 7, 2015 Does anyone have any general interview weekend tips? So far I've heard "don't get wasted and be a shitshow". I'm not too worried about this one, my tolerance is pretty well-developed I've heard that being friendly with the other interviewees is important. Everyone that we meet at those interviews is going to be very well-qualified, but being competitive/overconfident will make you stand out in the "poor fit" sort of way. Smile a lot. Ask lots of quality questions -- nothing that can (reasonably) be found on the program's website. Have fun with the grad students, but...don't get wasted and be a shitshow. Have a drink and participate, but be careful. My tolerance has been in the trash the last couple years so I'm not really sure what I'm going to do about it.
Vene Posted January 7, 2015 Posted January 7, 2015 I've heard that being friendly with the other interviewees is important. Everyone that we meet at those interviews is going to be very well-qualified, but being competitive/overconfident will make you stand out in the "poor fit" sort of way. Smile a lot. Ask lots of quality questions -- nothing that can (reasonably) be found on the program's website. Have fun with the grad students, but...don't get wasted and be a shitshow. Have a drink and participate, but be careful. My tolerance has been in the trash the last couple years so I'm not really sure what I'm going to do about it. I don't think anybody will look down on you if you decline to drink. Personally, when I interviewed, I just had one drink during when they were offered and stopped after that.
peachypie Posted January 7, 2015 Posted January 7, 2015 I've heard that being friendly with the other interviewees is important. Everyone that we meet at those interviews is going to be very well-qualified, but being competitive/overconfident will make you stand out in the "poor fit" sort of way. Smile a lot. Ask lots of quality questions -- nothing that can (reasonably) be found on the program's website. Have fun with the grad students, but...don't get wasted and be a shitshow. Have a drink and participate, but be careful. My tolerance has been in the trash the last couple years so I'm not really sure what I'm going to do about it. I don't think anyone cares if you drink or not as much as if you are willing to hang out with the students or something reasonably social. It is easy to avoid drinking at the poster sessions or whatever things you may be doing with faculty and students since there is generally food, people you are talking to, bathroom breaks etc. If you are out to the bars with students and are REALLY paranoid about not drinking, just go to the bar and ask for like a tonic with lime....you can sip that all night and no one will know its not a vodka tonic with lime. Just requires a little skill in discreetly ordering a tonic with lime.
gliaful Posted January 8, 2015 Author Posted January 8, 2015 Question about the first night of the interview: A few of my interviews involve 7-8 hour travel time (flight+layover(s)). I leave around 7 am (my time, MST) and arrive around 4-5 pm (eastern or central, depending). I am going to be exhausted when I finally arrive and hopefully not too intoxicated, but I am crazy scared of flying and having a drink/drinks while reading some papers sounds kinda delightful. I know that most interviews have a dinner the night everybody arrives. Do I just get dropped off at my hotel room and picked up for dinner later (i.e., can I take a big, scrumptious siesta?) Is this first dinner "dressy" -- would any potential nap time be better spent freshening up and getting settled? I just crave detail. If I could, I would bring a secret camera with me and attach it to my shirt so that I could film the entire experience and release it for all my fellow future anxious applicants. ghostoverground 1
peachypie Posted January 8, 2015 Posted January 8, 2015 Question about the first night of the interview: A few of my interviews involve 7-8 hour travel time (flight+layover(s)). I leave around 7 am (my time, MST) and arrive around 4-5 pm (eastern or central, depending). I am going to be exhausted when I finally arrive and hopefully not too intoxicated, but I am crazy scared of flying and having a drink/drinks while reading some papers sounds kinda delightful. I know that most interviews have a dinner the night everybody arrives. Do I just get dropped off at my hotel room and picked up for dinner later (i.e., can I take a big, scrumptious siesta?) Is this first dinner "dressy" -- would any potential nap time be better spent freshening up and getting settled? I just crave detail. If I could, I would bring a secret camera with me and attach it to my shirt so that I could film the entire experience and release it for all my fellow future anxious applicants. It all depends on the school. I had some schools where I had a travel day and I literally didn't meet anyone until the next morning so i had dinner by myself and hung out in my room. I had others where grad students picked us up and dropped us off for maybe an hour or so and then we reconvened for a casual student meetup (food and drinks at a bar). I also had others where we got in and met up and went to a faculty's home for a catered dinner. The first night is pretty casual even if faculty were there. I am even thinking that first night faculty dinner may have been optional. Its really going to vary, but usually you'll have at least an hour or two to sneak away from arriving to showing up if not the whole night. These first nights were always low key and over pretty early so I always had time to relax and get rest or read if I wanted to as well. ghostoverground 1
gliaful Posted January 8, 2015 Author Posted January 8, 2015 It all depends on the school. I had some schools where I had a travel day and I literally didn't meet anyone until the next morning so i had dinner by myself and hung out in my room. I had others where grad students picked us up and dropped us off for maybe an hour or so and then we reconvened for a casual student meetup (food and drinks at a bar). I also had others where we got in and met up and went to a faculty's home for a catered dinner. The first night is pretty casual even if faculty were there. I am even thinking that first night faculty dinner may have been optional. Its really going to vary, but usually you'll have at least an hour or two to sneak away from arriving to showing up if not the whole night. These first nights were always low key and over pretty early so I always had time to relax and get rest or read if I wanted to as well. This is good to know, thank you! Other question about rooming with another person (I am never out of questions...): Did you ever have any troubles with your roommate? I'm imagining troubles of the sort of going to sleep at different times/waking up at different times (being noisy/being woken up by other person)/ other person uses all the shower's hot water/ etc? I've never shared a room with someone I didn't know -- I never lived in a dorm on campus or anything like this.
quietedge Posted January 8, 2015 Posted January 8, 2015 Just venting my worries: I am nervous because the school I am going to interview at is sending me the faculty I will be interviewing with the day of my flight (at the latest). It will also be a red eye flight. I just hope I have enough time to do the research on the professors I will be talking to and get enough sleep. I am a super nervous flyer(there is one stop where I switch planes), but have never done a red eye fight, so I hope I can knock out. The morning I arrive the whole process starts and I am the type of person that is very out of it when I don't get enough sleep. I am hoping I just have enough adrenaline to get me through it....
gliaful Posted January 8, 2015 Author Posted January 8, 2015 Just venting my worries: I am nervous because the school I am going to interview at is sending me the faculty I will be interviewing with the day of my flight (at the latest). It will also be a red eye flight. I just hope I have enough time to do the research on the professors I will be talking to and get enough sleep. I am a super nervous flyer(there is one stop where I switch planes), but have never done a red eye fight, so I hope I can knock out. The morning I arrive the whole process starts and I am the type of person that is very out of it when I don't get enough sleep. I am hoping I just have enough adrenaline to get me through it.... Oh man, this sounds rough. I didn't know schools arranged for red eye flights...seems like an unkind thing to do. Did you give them a list of faculty you want to interview with and they're picking faculty based on this list? Because maybe you could just print off a recent paper from each of them/familiarize yourself with all of them beforehand, and then you'd be prepared even if they give you this info with very short notice. Or maybe you could tell them that because you have a red eye flight, you would appreciate getting the list of interviewers as soon as possible...I don't know how much the coordinator can really expedite the process, but you never know.
quietedge Posted January 8, 2015 Posted January 8, 2015 (edited) Ok so I just rechecked the schedule and my flight arrives around 10 am and I cannot check in to the hotel till 3:30 and events start at 5:30. This means I might have time to review before check in and possibly nap for an hour when I get to my room if needed. This makes things somewhat better..... This interview is really short. Thursday evening and Friday all day and then I depart Saturday. Kind of wish they made it a day longer. For now I can just review the faculty I chose and hope there is some overlap with the ones I interview with. Edit: I think I can check into the hotel right when I get there....Maybe they just put 3:30 on the schedule as an estimate of when everyone would be arriving? Edited January 8, 2015 by quietedge
nutellarain Posted January 8, 2015 Posted January 8, 2015 This is good to know, thank you! Other question about rooming with another person (I am never out of questions...): Did you ever have any troubles with your roommate? I'm imagining troubles of the sort of going to sleep at different times/waking up at different times (being noisy/being woken up by other person)/ other person uses all the shower's hot water/ etc? I've never shared a room with someone I didn't know -- I never lived in a dorm on campus or anything like this. My #1 rule for staying in rooms with other people (at hostels, etc) is bring earplugs! I'm sure most people applying for graduate school are generally not completely nuts and you can work out sharing a bathroom. As for hot water, I think it's pretty rare for hotels to run out...that would need to be a long shower.
Vene Posted January 8, 2015 Posted January 8, 2015 Ok so I just rechecked the schedule and my flight arrives around 10 am and I cannot check in to the hotel till 3:30 and events start at 5:30. This means I might have time to review before check in and possibly nap for an hour when I get to my room if needed. This makes things somewhat better..... This interview is really short. Thursday evening and Friday all day and then I depart Saturday. Kind of wish they made it a day longer. For now I can just review the faculty I chose and hope there is some overlap with the ones I interview with. Edit: I think I can check into the hotel right when I get there....Maybe they just put 3:30 on the schedule as an estimate of when everyone would be arriving? If events start at 5:30 it's probably a welcome dinner, I can't imagine there being anything too intense. Friday should be the real interviews.
quietedge Posted January 8, 2015 Posted January 8, 2015 If events start at 5:30 it's probably a welcome dinner, I can't imagine there being anything too intense. Friday should be the real interviews. You are right....I will probably be okay. Just need make sure I am well rested.
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