What does "Interview via email" mean?

[DartmouthTrav]

I see a few PhD results stating that people have an interview scheduled...or got an interview via email...or something else?  What exactly is this?  No narrative was associated with these posts. Can someone clear up what this means?  I would love to know if there is the need for a future interview or is there some form of written interview that folks are getting. It's really unclear. I've only ever got a YES or NO email link. 

Edited January 19, 2015 by DartmouthTrav

[Katla]

I see a few PhD results stating that people have an interview scheduled...or got an interview via email...or something else?  What exactly is this?  No narrative was associated with these posts. Can someone clear up what this means?  I would love to know if there is the need for a future interview or is there some form of written interview that folks are getting. It's really unclear. I've only ever got a YES or NO email link. 

 

II'm 99,9999% sure this means that people received an email inviting them to an interview to be held at a later date via phone, Skype or in person...

Edited January 19, 2015 by Katla

[bsharpe269]

8/10 of the programs I applied to do interviews before admitting people. This seems highly field dependent! I applied to biophysics/computational bio but people applying to related fields like chem or physics don't seem to do interviews.

 

Interview via email just means they were emailed a request to go to an interview weekend (or possibly skype interview if international). In my field, programs fly you out to visit the school and have you meet with faculty members before admitting you. It is in part to screen out the students who aren't what they seem on paper or get drunk and hook up with random people. It also serves the purpose of "wine and dining" students so that they are more likely to accept the school's admission offer.

[Chubberubber]

As someone who did post "interview via e-mail": in my case it meant that I was notified, and asked to schedule an interview via e-mail. 

The interview itself is face to face either on campus or through Skype.

[TakeruK]

To give a more "general" answer, the "Results Search" Decision/Date column has the format

"X via Y"

 

where X is the decision and Y is the method of notification, so as others said above, this is an interview request sent via email!

 

And to answer the original question/concern, you should not expect to have to do a future interview if one was not requested when they gave you their decision. For me, only 1/8 programs actually wanted to interview me prior to acceptance (and they emailed me to select a date for a Skype call). My field does not typically do interviews prior to acceptance. However, our programs often fly accepted candidates out in order to have them meet professors (and set up future projects) and woo/recruit them! So, we might still have one-on-one or panel meetings with professors, which might take a format similar to an interview, but it's not an interview in the sense that they are evaluating you for admission. But with these meetings, it's often true that both parties are evaluating one another to determine if they would like to work with each other if the student accepts the offer.

 

Finally, I would like to add that (at least in my field), if it is not in writing in your offer letter, you should not assume anything told you to verbally (including future interviews, recruitment visits, funding and whether the medium is email, phone, Skype etc.) is set in stone yet. If you were expecting the offer letter to say something but it is not there, I would follow up immediately with the program and definitely do not accept/reject the offer until you find out! 

[DartmouthTrav]

Thanks for the clarification. I have only ever met or spoken with faculty prior to applications, so that I know if it is a good match and worth my time applying. Figuring out that piece after applying is foreign to me and probably the source of my confusion. Cheers all and good luck to everyone!

[TakeruK]

Thanks for the clarification. I have only ever met or spoken with faculty prior to applications, so that I know if it is a good match and worth my time applying. Figuring out that piece after applying is foreign to me and probably the source of my confusion. Cheers all and good luck to everyone!

 

This is what we do in Canada too, however, we still have the post-acceptance "interview" where we can go into the details of proposed thesis topics. Also, it's a good time to ask questions like "do you have money to send me to conferences?" or "what are your expectations with regards to vacation/holiday time" and other such questions that might be a little too "sensitive" to ask prior to admission.

 

But in the US for my field, it seems like most professors are not willing to say much more than "yes, I will be taking students, please apply" until an admission decision is made. I guess this makes sense because I think US schools get way more applicants so if they talked to every applicant, they would probably spend all of November and December writing/talking to students!!

[braindump]

In this same regard.. does "interview via phone" also mean that the applicant received a phone call notifying them of a future interview? No one gets a surprise interview.. right?? 

[rising_star]

Yes, it does.