The Interview

[hypervodka]

Alright, a some of us have some interviews coming up, so I thought it'd be helpful to talk through preparation methodologies? Some people have discussed their experiences in the but I thought it'd be a good idea to have a separate forum as well.

 

I talked to a couple of folks at my target university (mine is a campus interview), and they were pretty explicit about what to expect during the process. From that, I came up with a few questions to practice the answers to.

 

What is your research topic?

Why are you interested in your research topic?

What sets you apart from our other applicants?

What about your undergraduate experience has prepared you for a graduate career at [university]?

What is your dominant methodology for this project?

What evolution do you see you project taking?

How will your research project benefit from instruction at [university]?

How does your research work through and expand upon contemporary criticism in your area of specialization?

Why are you interested in the PhD program at [university]?

Why do you consider yourself a good fit for [university]?

What would you consider to be your teaching philosophy?

How would you justify the value of [area group] to an undergraduate audience?

What would you teach at [university]?

What work of literature has influenced you as a person?

Where else have you applied?

Do you have any questions for me?

[fancypants09]

Thanks for kicking off a great thread, hypervodka! 

 

I had a question about the interviews that maybe the GC cohorts could help answer. I don't know whether it would be good to contact my LOR writers to inform them about the video interview invite I received from Michigan. The interview does seem rather informal, so I don't know if I want to bother my writers with the information, but I do want to keep them updated on the progress of my applications post-submission. Any thoughts? 

[unræd]

Thanks for kicking off a great thread, hypervodka! 

 

I had a question about the interviews that maybe the GC cohorts could help answer. I don't know whether it would be good to contact my LOR writers to inform them about the video interview invite I received from Michigan. The interview does seem rather informal, so I don't know if I want to bother my writers with the information, but I do want to keep them updated on the progress of my applications post-submission. Any thoughts? 

 

For what it's worth, I only notified two of my LOR writers about my Skype interview request because I happened to bump into them at a lecture. I let them all know when I got my first acceptance, and I'll keep them posted generally, but I too was unsure where to draw the line between "keeping them updated" and "omg somebody likes me!" I decided to be a bit more low-key with this one, especially given that this video interview appears to be a preliminary stage to a further interview process. But different strokes, and all!

 

And thanks for the list, hypervodka (and congrats on USC!!!)! That seems to cover all the questions I'd been thinking of; if I come up with any others, I'll post them.

[hypervodka]

I told all of my recommenders about my interview. It's really really stupendous news. I'm sure your LORs would appreciate any update.

Edited January 27, 2015 by hypervodka

[scribnera]

Yes, thank you, I need this thread! Preparing for an on-campus interview, too. I talked to a friend's sister who went through the interview process for the same program at the same school two years ago. Gonna copy her response here in case it's helpful for others:

 

"The most important thing is just that you have a clear sense of your project, and how you’re going to make use of your time in grad school. Having a sense of the kind of classes you want to take, what areas you need to work on, your methodology, etc. is a good idea. It’s also good to have a sense of the kind of work the faculty does there, so you can tailor your answers to their particular way of doing things. Beyond that it’s really not that intense, they’ll just ask you to elaborate on parts of your personal statement, classes you took, and papers you wrote, and where you see yourself going in the future. Just make sure you can talk freely about all those things! The biggest thing is to be relaxed, and think of it as a time to have fun talking to people about the stuff you like."

 

So it seems like the main point of these interviews is to make sure you can articulate your goals well and you're not a sociopath (or at least visibly a sociopath). Easy enough, I hope.

& I told my LORs too, and they were happy to hear about any good news.

[Scottstein]

Is the University of Chicago going through an interview process this year??

[hypervodka]

Some people have been contacted, but not even the Humanities division at the university seemed to know anything about it. Jury's still out on whether those interviewed are on the "cusp" of being selected, or are the final selection.

 

By the way, scribnera, one thing I'm interested about in terms of Comp Lit is if they "test" your language capabilities in any fashion over recruitment weekend--conduct some of the conversation in French, or reference Latin American texts in the original language. Curiosity more than anything. Could you report back?

[scribnera]

Yes, definitely. I was curious about the same thing - mostly because my language skills are rusty and I'm nervous about having to prove my proficiency. I asked the same friend's sister and she said they didn't test them at all when she went. But I'll let you know!

[unræd]

Mine's for a Medieval Studies program, and I keep trying to remind (convince?) myself that they won't think that watching me scratch my head at a sight Latin passage is a good use of their Skype time.

[__________________________]

Wonderful posts, scribnera and hypervodka! So, so helpful. And Scottstein, omensetter and I got skype interviews for UC, but as hypervodka said, jury's out on its significance since it doesn't seem like standard operating procedure.

Doing a skype interview with two professors is, I gotta say, kind of a terrifying prospect. I'd much rather do it in person than find a decent part of my apartment to do it in and deal with potential technological difficulties...

I too have wondered about Comp Lit language testing in the interview and would be curious to hear about that.

[__________________________]

Mine's for a Medieval Studies program, and I keep trying to remind (convince?) myself that they won't think that watching me scratch my head at a sight Latin passage is a good use of their Skype time.

LOL this situation has come to my mind SO many times....

[fancypants09]

Thanks everyone for your input on sharing informal interview news with LOR writers.

 

FWIW, a bit on the language competency "test" during interviews: If you know who your interviewers are going to be, look up their profiles and/or CVs to see what their competency in the languages are, and make sure to prepare something, ANYTHING, to say in those languages. 

 

Back in the day, when I applied to an LLM program in Europe to study the EU human rights regime with a Big Name in the field, he literally asked over the phone, "now please say something in French" because I mentioned in my CV that I had advanced proficiency in the language. I do, but I was caught so unawares that I ended up stammering just a little bit of my personal history in the language. Needless to say, the interview went south from there on...This time, I plan on having something prepared in every language I mentioned because my research and statement drill down into grammar rules of a few languages. 

 

Another question for the group: I've been reading here and hearing from others that you want to ask professors about their research, but I was wondering how you would go about doing this...any suggestions?

Edited January 27, 2015 by fancypants09

[jhefflol]

I haven't anything of substance to add other than I thought this thread was going to be about the movie, and I was looking forward to the insightful conversation from our cohort. I guess this is great too...

[omensetter]

I'm interested in what people mean by 'research project' here. I might be alone in this, but I certainly don't have a dissertation topic in mind. I spent quite a bit of time in my SOP discussing possible ideas for future research but these were definitely at the 'motivating question' rather than 'defined topic' level. What do others understand this term to mean in the specific context of an interview?

 

Oh, and I told one of my LOR writers about my interview, but we talk multiple times a week and I feel like it would be weirder if I didn't tell him. The others I haven't told; I'm probably just going to talk to them when I've made my final decision (if I actually get accepted anywhere, that is). 

[HesseBunuel90]

omen setter: I'm in the same boat. Every applicant is different; some may have one, clearly defined topic to study, while others have several potential ideas. As long as the SOP identifies these interests, and gives examples of future research plans, this should be fine. At least, I'm hoping this is the case.

[fancypants09]

I'm interested in what people mean by 'research project' here. I might be alone in this, but I certainly don't have a dissertation topic in mind. I spent quite a bit of time in my SOP discussing possible ideas for future research but these were definitely at the 'motivating question' rather than 'defined topic' level. What do others understand this term to mean in the specific context of an interview?

Oh, and I told one of my LOR writers about my interview, but we talk multiple times a week and I feel like it would be weirder if I didn't tell him. The others I haven't told; I'm probably just going to talk to them when I've made my final decision (if I actually get accepted anywhere, that is).

Different advisors/professors may have different takes on this but I was told to treat my 'research project' = dissertation. Of course I may change my mind with coursework and advising, but I was told to come up with one topic and write about this in as much detail as possible. But take this with a grain of salt---non-English national lit and comp lit here. Edited January 27, 2015 by fancypants09

[snyegurachka]

Different advisors/professors may have different takes on this but I was told to treat my 'research project' = dissertation. Of course I may change my mind with coursework and advising, but I was told to come up with one topic and write about this in as much detail as possible. But take this with a grain of salt---non-English national lit and comp lit here.

 

This is also the advice that I got. Be direct and specific with your proposed dissertation but leave enough wiggle room for a professor to mentor/shape your work.

[hypervodka]

Thanks for pointing that out. I was basing these questions off of questions asked according to GCers in other disciplines. I do already have a dissertation topic picked out, so I didn't register that :research project" actually wasn't very applicable to us at this stage.

I don't think that the "research project" has to be so definite in our discipline. In my head, I've been translating  it to mean "writing sample" as well as "dissertation topic." But I think you should just be able to clearly state the kinds of things that you would be interested in exploring.

[hypervodka]

Another question for the group: I've been reading here and hearing from others that you want to ask professors about their research, but I was wondering how you would go about doing this...any suggestions?

 

For the literature department I'm interviewing for, they tell you (supposedly... I still haven't received my schedule, and it's this week!) who you're going to be interviewing with. Reading up on their research should prepare you pretty well (but, for personal, one-on-one interviews, you're typically interviewed by someone in your area group, so you'd probably already know a lot about them).

 

Some questions that come to mind:

 

What are you working on these days?

How has teaching at [university] benefited your research?

Do find any student employing similar methodologies?

How do you see your research evolving?

I'm interested in [interesting topic, turn of phrase, work of literature, author, etc from a POI's prior work]. Could you tell me more about that?

What university resources have you employed in your research?

[__________________________]

I'm interested in what people mean by 'research project' here. I might be alone in this, but I certainly don't have a dissertation topic in mind. I spent quite a bit of time in my SOP discussing possible ideas for future research but these were definitely at the 'motivating question' rather than 'defined topic' level. What do others understand this term to mean in the specific context of an interview?

 

Oh, and I told one of my LOR writers about my interview, but we talk multiple times a week and I feel like it would be weirder if I didn't tell him. The others I haven't told; I'm probably just going to talk to them when I've made my final decision (if I actually get accepted anywhere, that is).

omensetter, based off this should I assume you're applying from a B.A.? I ask because I am too, and I honestly don't think you will honestly be expected to have a dissertation topic decided upon. My impression is that people with M.A.s are generally expected to be more specific about that sort of thing. For my part (and granted, as a someone who is working full time and have my interview right after work tomorrow, i.e., not a lot of prep time), I plan on elaborating on some of the potential future projects I put in my SOP - I have no idea what my diss will be at this point, but I definitely have projects in my head that I'd love to be able to start researching or continue working on (such as the paper I submitted as my WS). But you know, blind leading the blind.

I definitely told my letter writers and another person with whom I consulted during the process, specifically for my WS research. My alma mater was a homy little SLAC though, where everyone's on a first name basis and where I have a pretty good relationship with my recommenders. Also, thanks, hypervodka for the additional question prompts!

[omensetter]

omensetter, based off this should I assume you're applying from a B.A.? I ask because I am too, and I honestly don't think you will honestly be expected to have a dissertation topic decided upon. My impression is that people with M.A.s are generally expected to be more specific about that sort of thing. For my part (and granted, as a someone who is working full time and have my interview right after work tomorrow, i.e., not a lot of prep time), I plan on elaborating on some of the potential future projects I put in my SOP - I have no idea what my diss will be at this point, but I definitely have projects in my head that I'd love to be able to start researching or continue working on (such as the paper I submitted as my WS). But you know, blind leading the blind.

I definitely told my letter writers and another person with whom I consulted during the process, specifically for my WS research. My alma mater was a homy little SLAC though, where everyone's on a first name basis and where I have a pretty good relationship with my recommenders. Also, thanks, hypervodka for the additional question prompts!

 

Nope, I have an MA! Lol. But 'potential future projects' sounds like just the kind of stuff I wrote in my SOP, so this is reassuring. 

[omensetter]

omen setter: I'm in the same boat. Every applicant is different; some may have one, clearly defined topic to study, while others have several potential ideas. As long as the SOP identifies these interests, and gives examples of future research plans, this should be fine. At least, I'm hoping this is the case.

 

 

Different advisors/professors may have different takes on this but I was told to treat my 'research project' = dissertation. Of course I may change my mind with coursework and advising, but I was told to come up with one topic and write about this in as much detail as possible. But take this with a grain of salt---non-English national lit and comp lit here.

 

 

This is also the advice that I got. Be direct and specific with your proposed dissertation but leave enough wiggle room for a professor to mentor/shape your work.

 

 

Thanks for pointing that out. I was basing these questions off of questions asked according to GCers in other disciplines. I do already have a dissertation topic picked out, so I didn't register that :research project" actually wasn't very applicable to us at this stage.

I don't think that the "research project" has to be so definite in our discipline. In my head, I've been translating  it to mean "writing sample" as well as "dissertation topic." But I think you should just be able to clearly state the kinds of things that you would be interested in exploring.

 

Thanks also for all these responses! They've definitely cleared things up a bit. 

[fancypants09]

Just re-read my WS for interview prep. Super painful...I want to hide under some blankets because of the shame. Wish I had given myself more time to edit before submission...

[fancypants09]

Statement of the obvious, but I thought it would be helpful to repeat the following for those of us prepping for interviews: Do your homework and find out as many details on your interviewers beforehand. I just learned that one of my interviewers wrote her dissertation on a topic very similar to that of my own WS---we challenge the same Big Name theorist, using different texts. It's going to be a tough interview, but I'm really looking forward to what she has to say on my WS!

[HesseBunuel90]

Fancy pants: for a while I stressed after re-reading my writing sample too. Then I realized that an ad com that looks over hundreds of samples are not going to dwell on the little imperfections. The fact that you were contacted for an interview proves that.