Advice needed!

[Generic_Applicant]

I thought no one would understand my worry and nerves better than this community so I decided to post here. Esp for those doing their PhD or accepted into clinical psych already!

I applied to this POI last year and he showed a lot of interest in me. I interviewed with him last year. We have kept in touch and I almost began to volunteer in his lab as well. 

I asked him for a meeting again to discuss my interests and he sent me a long email with info on how to apply, how to make my chances stronger, saying he hopes I will come to the open house and so on (trying not to read too much into this; maybe he's just nice guy lol). And we are meeting next week! So I am nervous.. 

Questions:

- for PhD level apps, how prepared should I be to talk about a proposal for my dissertation etc? I will be honest, this area of research is not my top choice but I still enjoy it. So I want to figure out how much I should do my research and know my stuff in this field going into this meeting. My top choice and real interest of research in an area that he MAY be interested in but I will only bring that up as a secondary in order to not turn him off to my application. 

- What are some techniques you guys use to calm your nerves?? I understand this is all a good sign and such but... I am human. I want this bad enough to make me nervous anyway haha. 

Any tips, advice, good vibes will be greatly appreciated! 

[fuzzylogician]

- You don't need to pitch a specific project. You do, however, want to express an interest in what this guy does. If you say you really want to do something else, that essentially means you're not a good fit with his lab. So, I would say the two things you should probably do are (1) think about why you want to be in his lab and be able to articulate it. This will probably come up as a direct question like "why do you want to study in this lab?" or more indirect "what are your interests/what do you want to study in grad school?", both of which you will want to answer by spelling out interests that he can reasonably support. It's okay to say you haven't done much work in this area, but you're intrigued and think you want to do more. You don't need to already know all the details or have all the answers; after all, that's what you're going to grad school for. (2) have some kind of idea of what's currently done in this professor's lab. You don't need to know the details of any papers, but you should have an idea of the kinds of questions that are asked, if there is a "projects" page on the lab website then generally what's in it, and what techniques are used in this lab. More generally, spend some time on the lab page to know how it presents itself to the public. 

- I am probably not the best person to ask, but I think everyone can get very anxious during this process. Up to a certain point, I think that being excited about the possibility of joining the lab is a good thing. Take deep breaths and remind yourself that no one thing you say or do will decide your fate, but to me getting involved during the interview or right before is not necessarily a bad thing. Beyond that, I do my best not to get too invested (which I suck at, btw). The two things I do are remind myself that no option is the only one, or the best one for that matter, there are others that I can get myself equally excited about; and I have a friend who makes a list of bad things about the place for me, so if it doesn't work out and I'm upset about what I'm missing, she whips it out and tells me all the ways it sucks. So, I guess, acknowledging it, knowing that it happens to everyone, and just talking about it, helps for me. 

[Generic_Applicant]

- You don't need to pitch a specific project. You do, however, want to express an interest in what this guy does. If you say you really want to do something else, that essentially means you're not a good fit with his lab. So, I would say the two things you should probably do are (1) think about why you want to be in his lab and be able to articulate it. This will probably come up as a direct question like "why do you want to study in this lab?" or more indirect "what are your interests/what do you want to study in grad school?", both of which you will want to answer by spelling out interests that he can reasonably support. It's okay to say you haven't done much work in this area, but you're intrigued and think you want to do more. You don't need to already know all the details or have all the answers; after all, that's what you're going to grad school for. (2) have some kind of idea of what's currently done in this professor's lab. You don't need to know the details of any papers, but you should have an idea of the kinds of questions that are asked, if there is a "projects" page on the lab website then generally what's in it, and what techniques are used in this lab. More generally, spend some time on the lab page to know how it presents itself to the public. 

- I am probably not the best person to ask, but I think everyone can get very anxious during this process. Up to a certain point, I think that being excited about the possibility of joining the lab is a good thing. Take deep breaths and remind yourself that no one thing you say or do will decide your fate, but to me getting involved during the interview or right before is not necessarily a bad thing. Beyond that, I do my best not to get too invested (which I suck at, btw). The two things I do are remind myself that no option is the only one, or the best one for that matter, there are others that I can get myself equally excited about; and I have a friend who makes a list of bad things about the place for me, so if it doesn't work out and I'm upset about what I'm missing, she whips it out and tells me all the ways it sucks. So, I guess, acknowledging it, knowing that it happens to everyone, and just talking about it, helps for me. 

This is definitely helpful. 

 

I was thinking since it is the PhD level I am applying for, that I would have to have a more specific interest than just to say "I want to study X in the Y populations (through Z methods)". This is the only part that makes me a bit anxious. I dont want to come across as someone who doesnt really know specifically what they want to do. And I have been told by two other collaborators that maybe I should try to be more specific. Maybe that doesn't apply to the grad school application scenario though. I dont know

[fuzzylogician]

I was thinking since it is the PhD level I am applying for, that I would have to have a more specific interest than just to say "I want to study X in the Y populations (through Z methods)". This is the only part that makes me a bit anxious. I dont want to come across as someone who doesnt really know specifically what they want to do. And I have been told by two other collaborators that maybe I should try to be more specific. Maybe that doesn't apply to the grad school application scenario though. I dont know

There's some distance between saying "I am interested in field X" and coming up with a detailed research question for your dissertation. A good place to start is to be able to describe in some detail what you've done in the past, and (if relevant) how you'd like to build on it or extend it in the future. For every project you've been involved in, you should be able to describe the question that was asked, how you went about finding the answers, what you found, and how it contributes to your field (i.e. why we should care about what you did). This is one place where being specific helps. You've done the work so it's not hypothetical, and you should know. Another place where you could provide more detail is not so much about what you want to do in grad school (that can be kind of vague still), but why you think it's important and interesting. Why this population, why these methods, what will this project teach us? How will this expand what we already know in a meaningful way? Also, why this particular lab is a good place to support your interests.

I think you'll find that in many interview situations, the details of your research plans don't really come up in conversation. Your POI will probably spend some time telling you about his lab and what's going on there, describing some ongoing/future projects, and maybe talk about the program and school, and he will ask you if there is anything you want to ask about (so come prepared with some questions. You should always have something you want to ask). Your interests will come up too, most likely, but in my experience you don't get asked for many details about your future plans, because you're not really expected to have the answers at this point. 

[Generic_Applicant]

There's some distance between saying "I am interested in field X" and coming up with a detailed research question for your dissertation. A good place to start is to be able to describe in some detail what you've done in the past, and (if relevant) how you'd like to build on it or extend it in the future. For every project you've been involved in, you should be able to describe the question that was asked, how you went about finding the answers, what you found, and how it contributes to your field (i.e. why we should care about what you did). This is one place where being specific helps. You've done the work so it's not hypothetical, and you should know. Another place where you could provide more detail is not so much about what you want to do in grad school (that can be kind of vague still), but why you think it's important and interesting. Why this population, why these methods, what will this project teach us? How will this expand what we already know in a meaningful way? 

I think you'll find that in many interview situations, these things don't really come up in conversation. Your POI will probably spend some time telling you about his lab and what's going on there, describing some ongoing/future projects, and maybe talk about the program and school, and he will ask you if there is anything you want to ask about (some prepared with questions, by the way. You should always have something you want to ask). Your interests will come up too, most likely, but in my experience you don't get asked for many details about your future plans, because you're not really expected to have the answers at this point. 

Thanks, Fuzzylogician.

Since I have met with this PI before and he has known of my work and interests since my interview with him last application cycle, I think a lot of it may be updating about my new research job and the new projects in his lab. Other than that, he has said that "we can meet to discuss your interests", so that scares me a bit, especially because his primary interest is my secondary (even though I would be super excited to still study it at a PhD level), and my primary is likely his secondary. I have one or two ideas in each of these areas but probably need to work on the reasons for why the ideas from his primary interests would be important. Gotcha, will do! I have also applied to the CIHR DRA with one of these which is an extension of my masters thesis. So maybe he'll see that as a good sign.

Im nervous that the fact that i didn't push more to volunteer in his lab may throw him off a bit. I met with his grad student to get started but the project didn't pick up and then he told me he would keep me on file, but then I got a paid job where he did his post-doc and in the field he studies anyway. So I let it go. 

Overall, still freaking out lol. Probably will until I get this over with. And then will likely say hi to him at the open house, just to have him continue to see my interest and remember me. 

Lets hope these efforts pay off! *fingers crossed*

[rising_star]

Syedahum, I don't think anyone will fault a someone for taking a paid research position in lieu of a volunteer one! If this PI does, then would you really want to study under him? I wouldn't freak out about this. As fuzzylogician has said, be prepared to talk about what has happened since you last met with him, including discussing your ongoing research projects, anything new/recent in the literature that you've read, and how those are shaping or have shaped your PhD research interests. 

[Generic_Applicant]

Thanks everyone! I'm going to stop reading so much into it and just do my best   Appreciate all your input!