Interview Format

[Yav Friendly]

Is there a thread where we can discuss possible interview format of individual programs? Or is it necessary? It might be hard for me to contact any previous students.

Edited January 9, 2016 by Yav Friendly

[peachypie]

You'll get an itinerary and schedule from your schools before the interview.  I think that should clarify what the formats of interviews will be fairly clearly.  Any additional information can be answered by the graduate student contact that you'll have. 

[Yav Friendly]

3 hours ago, peachypie said:

You'll get an itinerary and schedule from your schools before the interview.  I think that should clarify what the formats of interviews will be fairly clearly.  Any additional information can be answered by the graduate student contact that you'll have. 

Oh. Actually I meant more detailed experiences. I got the arrangements and everything. But I thought it would be good to know what the faculties care about or how long would the interview usually be.

[peachypie]

26 minutes ago, Yav Friendly said:

Oh. Actually I meant more detailed experiences. I got the arrangements and everything. But I thought it would be good to know what the faculties care about or how long would the interview usually be.

It should be fairly obvious then, based on your itinerary, that you will meet with faculty (anywhere from 5-8) throughout the course of the interview day.  They will be one on one interviews that last anywhere from 30-45 minutes.  Again all these details will be given in your itinerary.  Have you received them already? 

I typed up a whole paragraph of the things that faculty care about before I realized it is all questions you should be able to answer if you are prepared for graduate school anyway.  Me spoon feeding you the types of questions and what the expect of an applicant does not do any service to the school or you as an applicant.  I would be happy to answer specific questions but this isn't a final exam and I'm not giving out a study guide so people can "do their homework" to get into graduate school.  Prove to me you have thought about this and are coming with specific questions like you've taken time to understand the process and what you are embarking on.  then I'd be happy to guide you or talk about specifics.  Most graduate programs will be very similar in their approach so you don't need to ask a student from each school/program. 

[funkydays]

Do a little research ahead of time on each faculty you are meeting.  Go to their lab website (if they have any) and pubmed their lab's recent publications.  It'll give you a sense of what their lab's current focus and you can tailor your interview questions based on those.  Like @peachypie said, have a few notes to take along.  I think I wrote about 3 sentences for each faculty member to help me remember what I've read or seen.  

For questions to ask, that is up to you.  Graduate school interviews are a time for the school to see if you are good candidate, but ALSO a time for you to figure out is this school a good fit for you.  Ask questions that you find important in a graduate program.  If you don't know, then sit down and think about it.  Think about why you applied to X school and fill in the gaps at the interview about any lingering questions you might have about the program.

Overall, graduate school interviews are pretty much similar.  You do a little research on faculties and the program (if you haven't done so already) but the remainder is up to you to figure out what information you want to get out of the interviews.