Grad School Interview at current Undergrad Instituion

[lauralal]

Long story short, when I applied to go to my current state school for undergrad, I had no concrete plans for grad school and certainly did not know that it had an excellent program for my now intended field, Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) Psychology. I love it here, and because it really is one of the best programs in the country, it was my #1 pick when applying.

 

I just got the phone call that said I'm in for the interviewing process, which I have very few details on, but basically seems to be a lot of one-on-one interviews with faculty and directors of the school's disability center, as well as a group dinner. They said it would span over 2ish days.

 

Other than basic interviewing tips, I want to ask how to approach the fact that I am already an undergrad student here, and want to continue grad school here. When my potential advisor called, he made a point of saying the school covers hotel fees and such, and he seemed a little taken aback when I waved him off because I'm local. I have heard grad schools do not like accepting from their own undergrad, and I don't want this to hurt me during the event. Any tips on how to play this off? Should I avoid it? Use it as a strength?

 

Also, I am graduating early so I am only 20 right now, and I heard that sometimes drinking is a thing after dinner. Will not being able to partake impact some of the socialization aspects of the process?

 

Again, any tips for an event like this are apreciated!

[GCool]

Other than basic interviewing tips, I want to ask how to approach the fact that I am already an undergrad student here, and want to continue grad school here. When my potential advisor called, he made a point of saying the school covers hotel fees and such, and he seemed a little taken aback when I waved him off because I'm local. I have heard grad schools do not like accepting from their own undergrad, and I don't want this to hurt me during the event. Any tips on how to play this off? Should I avoid it? Use it as a strength?

 

Well, the way I see it, the people who are interviewing you should already know that you're a current undergraduate student (from your application at the very least). If they want to mention it, they'll mention it. If you don't feel comfortable with bringing it up yourself, I wouldn't recommend it. I've personally never heard that graduate schools would rather not take in students from their own undergraduate program; in fact I've heard the opposite from my alma mater regarding engineering students especially.

 

A good way to use it as a strength (if asked, or if you want to bring it up) would be to mention the importance of a good learning environment. Since you've already been around the campus and know how everything works, your time to adjust to graduate life will be greatly reduced!

 

Also, I am graduating early so I am only 20 right now, and I heard that sometimes drinking is a thing after dinner. Will not being able to partake impact some of the socialization aspects of the process?

 

Not if you don't let it impact socialization! I'm not sure how you "feel" about drinking, but respectful people tend to be understanding of people who prefer not to drink. Plus, you're underage, so it's not even a talking point as to why you wouldn't order a drink at dinner. I wouldn't worry about it!

[avflinsch]

I had the same situation here - I had no real plans for grad school when I went back to finish my undergrad, but in my final year, I decided to apply to the same school for the grad degree. I had reasons other than it being one of the top schools for the program I was applying to. I am a full time employee of the university, and free tuition makes a big difference. I probably would not have applied to grad school otherwise.

 

I did not get called for an interview, just outright accepted - others in the program did do interviews. My feeling is that some members of the admission committee knew me (either personally or by reputation) and just did seem that it was necessary.

 

My daughter is in that situation also – the program she is most interested in does not accept grad students who got their undergrad degree in the major from the same school (different school in the same university as me). Fortunately, her first choice for grad school is her undergrad minor, so that may not be an issue for her. The grad program in her undergrad major has already “strongly suggested” that she apply, so any policy may really depend on the department.

 

Personally I would use the same school situation as a strength – you already know the particular ins and outs of the bureaucracy peculiar to your institution.

 

Drinking – should not be an issue, you already stated that you were local, and would be uncomfortable if you needed to drive back home. If pressed, just state that you are still underage. Either of those replies shows responsibility, don't worry about it.

[ERR_Alpha]

I was 20 when I interviewed early at the school I ended up at. I did have to explain myself quite a few times (in NY you can go to kindergarten when you're 4, no I'm not a prodigy, etc) but no one really minded. The drinking part is really just to get to know the graduate students, skipping it won't really affect the adcom in my opinion.

[rising_star]

The one thing I would suggest is making sure that you use the same transportation as the other people interviewing. That is, show up at the hotel and get a ride from there rather than just showing up on campus. I say this because there could be grad students doing the driving, which lets you ask more questions, and also because you may want to start to get to know your future colleagues sooner rather than later. You can definitely skip the drinking part. Or, you could go and just drink a soda. That's an informal time that's really about you learning more about the program. I've seen people go to bars and just get a Shirley Temple, club soda, or cranberry juice.

[TakeruK]

I agree with rising_star -- even though you are local, try to experience as much of the visit as a visiting graduate student as you can. For the specific example of getting a ride from the hotel, do this if it's not a huge hassle for the department (i.e. if you are the extra person that requires a whole new vehicle then maybe don't do it). I became friends with some of my current cohort during our visit and it turns out that it's pretty common for cohorts to my program to decide collectively to all attend or not. I know I kept in touch with many people I visited with when making my decision.

 

In addition, you might see some of the other visiting graduate students to your current school when you are visiting other schools as well. Maybe this really depends on your field, but each year, there are multiple visiting prospective students that know each other from another school visit (one rival program does their visit weekend the week immediately before us, so some of our prospective visitors already know each other when they get to our school).

 

As for the drinks thing, if you are comfortable being around others who are drinking, definitely show up and socialize with a non-alcoholic drink. Grad students are generally mature and we also have diverse backgrounds so you won't be the weird one that doesn't drink! I know that our program does make sure that we don't plan any social events at places that require you to be 21+ since it's not that rare to get a 20 year old. In fact, our program has admitted 16 or 17 year olds in the past! Funny story -- in one year, we took visiting students to a place with one of the best selection/variety of beers in town ... only to find out that more than half of the prospective students are not drinkers! Oops!! We still all had a great time with beers for those who chose to drink and hot chocolate/teas/coffees/sodas for those who didn't. No one harboured any ill feeling towards people who didn't drink -- instead we (the current grad students) mostly felt like idiots for making such a bad choice.  We definitely learned to ask our visiting students prior to making evening social plans in the future!

[rising_star]

Oh, what TakeruK said is important. You definitely don't want to inconvenience anyone with the transportation. But, if there's a spot, you should go with that, rather than arranging your own solo transportation. I say this because (what seems like eons ago), I went on a visit weekend for admitted students. They put us all in the same hotel. After the last full day of programming (so, day 2 there), the whole group of us ended up hanging out in the hotel's restaurant/bar and discussing the weekend, the professors, if we were planning to go, etc. There was one person who was an undergrad there but ze came back to the hotel too (can't remember why) and was also part of those conversations. I think it was good for all of us even though none of us ended up attending that school. (That part is another story entirely and is also legendary in that department.)