Not interviewing with POI?

[brainsbrainsbrainsbrains]

Hi all,

I received an interview invitation to one of my top choices, but after receiving the interview schedule, I realized that I will not be interviewing with my main POI in the program. I'm primarily interested in the program because of this POI. Moreover, the professors that I am interviewing with specialize in topics that I have no experience nor particular interest in.

Has anyone else had this experience? Should I email the POI, even though I haven't had any prior contact with him? If so, what do I say in this email? I don't want to sound whiny or unappreciative, because I am still very excited for this interview opportunity.

Thanks for your input!

Edited January 19, 2016 by brainsbrainsbrainsbrains
typo

[nevermind]

1 minute ago, brainsbrainsbrainsbrains said:

Has anyone else had this experience? Should I email the POI, even though I haven't had any prior contact with him? If so, what do I say in this email? I don't want to sound whiny or unappreciative, because I am still very excited for this interview opportunity.

Thanks for your input!

Just because you're interviewing with other people doesn't mean you can't work with the POI. In fact, the POI might've already signed off on approving you (If you mentioned them in your SOP). I would email the professor and say, "I'm scheduled for an interview for X program and I'm extremely interested in your work on A, B, C. Do you have time to have an informal chat on such-and-such weekend?" Keep it simple and keep it excited.

 

[TakeruK]

When you got the interview information, did you get background info / context on the rationale behind choosing your interviewers? 

For example, for one school that interviewed me prior to their decision (via Skype), they told me that the profs interviewing are selected from the admissions committee and there would not be overlap between my interests and their interests. I think they might even do this on purpose, because you tend to like people with similar interests better, and it's easier to find interviews that don't have the same interests as each candidate than it is to find someone with the same interests for each candidate.

However, if the point of this visit/interview is to meet potential people to work with, then you should probably ask if you can meet your POI. It's weird that if this is a recruitment visit (as well as an interview) that the people organizing the schedule did not ask who you wanted to meet with. I think the first thing you should do is email the person that sent you the schedule and ask if it would be possible to meet with your POI. I think this is the best because your POI is probably meeting with a lot of other people and it's easier when one person manages all of the faculty's schedules. If they cannot do this, then asking for an informal meeting like nevermind suggested is a good idea too!

[brainsbrainsbrainsbrains]

1 minute ago, TakeruK said:

When you got the interview information, did you get background info / context on the rationale behind choosing your interviewers? 

For example, for one school that interviewed me prior to their decision (via Skype), they told me that the profs interviewing are selected from the admissions committee and there would not be overlap between my interests and their interests. I think they might even do this on purpose, because you tend to like people with similar interests better, and it's easier to find interviews that don't have the same interests as each candidate than it is to find someone with the same interests for each candidate.

However, if the point of this visit/interview is to meet potential people to work with, then you should probably ask if you can meet your POI. It's weird that if this is a recruitment visit (as well as an interview) that the people organizing the schedule did not ask who you wanted to meet with. I think the first thing you should do is email the person that sent you the schedule and ask if it would be possible to meet with your POI. I think this is the best because your POI is probably meeting with a lot of other people and it's easier when one person manages all of the faculty's schedules. If they cannot do this, then asking for an informal meeting like nevermind suggested is a good idea too!

I didn't receive any explanation about why these particular interviewers were chosen, so I hope that they are on the admissions committee, and not necessarily the people that I would be potentially work with. I actually did request to interview with my POI before the interview schedules were made.

I will try to get either an in-person or a Skype meeting with the POI as nevermind suggested.

Thanks a lot!

[serenade]

Just to chime in, I also was interviewed by random adcomm faculty rather than my POI. In my program, there was one prof from adcomm that interviewed everyone applying in "broad topic X" and then the 2nd person was supposed to be your individual POI. However, I learned (through exchanging emails with the grad student responsible for organizing the interviews) the day before I flew up, that POI 1 was on research travel, POI 2 had just had a death in the family, and POI 3 was retiring next year. So, I had non-specialists for my interview. At first I was concerned that the fact that they had not arranged for any of my POIs to be there was a sign that they were less serious about choosing me for admission than some of the other candidates. However, I still ended up getting in and I realized that it had nothing to do with me and everything to do with external factors beyond anyone's control. 

If it were me, I would first email the grad student/admin assistant/DGS responsible for organizing the interviews to inquire whether your POI could replace one of the non-specialists that you're scheduled to interview with. If the organizer says no, then I don't think it would be presumptuous to email your POI asking if they have time to meet up with you while you're there. Choosing a grad school is a big decision and you should have all the info you can get before making that kind of decision. (However, if for whatever reason you don't get to meet them, don't let it prevent you from choosing that school if you feel like it's the best fit. I ended up never meeting my POI [now advisor] until I walked into their seminar the first day of classes in the fall and it all worked out wonderfully). Cheers! 

[TheMonkeyOnMyBack]

I also find myself in a very similar situation and I have a nuance to add to this discussion and hopefully get some help / opinions. Both of the professors that I am scheduled to interview with have interests that are so far out of my purview that I'm not even really sure how to intelligently talk about their research, nor am I sure on how fully I'll have to explain my research interest as even though we under the same broad umbrella they're about as opposite as you can get.

 I would appreciate any suggestions that you have.

Thanks!!

[Edotdl]

1 hour ago, TheMonkeyOnMyBack said:

I also find myself in a very similar situation and I have a nuance to add to this discussion and hopefully get some help / opinions. Both of the professors that I am scheduled to interview with have interests that are so far out of my purview that I'm not even really sure how to intelligently talk about their research, nor am I sure on how fully I'll have to explain my research interest as even though we under the same broad umbrella they're about as opposite as you can get.

 I would appreciate any suggestions that you have.

Thanks!!

You could try starting general then if they seem like they're expecting more details, you can get more specific. In regards to asking about their research, just say something along the lines of "I'm not to familiar with your field but could you explain a bit more about <something you thought was interesting>". Then based on their explanation you can try to see if there are parallels to your interests or at least ask some follow-up based on what they said.

[psyc2016]

On January 28, 2016 at 8:25 PM, TheMonkeyOnMyBack said:

I also find myself in a very similar situation and I have a nuance to add to this discussion and hopefully get some help / opinions. Both of the professors that I am scheduled to interview with have interests that are so far out of my purview that I'm not even really sure how to intelligently talk about their research, nor am I sure on how fully I'll have to explain my research interest as even though we under the same broad umbrella they're about as opposite as you can get.

 I would appreciate any suggestions that you have.

Thanks!!

When I interviewed with profs whose research interests weren't that related to mine we rarely spoke about their research. I was asked general q's about my research interests and we sometimes built off that (even if it's not their area of expertise, they can most likely still talk about it) or was asked broader questions about why I wanted to go to grad school, why I was interested in my particular field, etc.

In terms of not meeting your POI I do think that's a little strange unless they happen to be out of town or something - I agree that politely requesting a meeting would be a good idea. If there's a reason they can't meet with you during the interview visit, I'd think they'd at least agree to talk to you on the phone/Skype at some later date.