Any tips for preparing for interviews?

[Flux2]

Hello,

so is the final decision solely based on the interview or the combination of our LOR, academic records, and SOP?

Thank you!

[Nomad1111]

8 hours ago, Flux1100 said:

Hello,

so is the final decision solely based on the interview or the combination of our LOR, academic records, and SOP?

Thank you!

Exactly, I would love to know the answer to this!

[Bioenchilada]

On 1/14/2017 at 7:41 AM, Nomad1111 said:

Exactly, I would love to know the answer to this!

I'm fairly confident it's based on the interview alone 

I really don't see an adcom being like "Oh, he was great on paper and an amazing interviewer, but his GRE could have been better" haha 

[.letmeinplz//]

On 1/13/2017 at 11:05 PM, Flux1100 said:

Hello,

so is the final decision solely based on the interview or the combination of our LOR, academic records, and SOP?

Thank you!

Generally you are awarded interviews because they (industry, academia, w/e you are applying for) looked at your application package and said "this is good, lets talk to them". I doubt they would return to the application package to make the decision when they went through the time and effort to interview you. It would negate the entire purpose of the interview. 

[virionoftomorrow]

On 1/15/2017 at 10:25 AM, Bioenchilada said:

I'm fairly confident it's based on the interview alone 

I really don't see an adcom being like "Oh, he was great on paper and an amazing interviewer, but his GRE could have been better" haha 

I see what you're saying, but at the same time, no one goes into the interview as a blank slate. They will have certain expectations of you based on all your other application materials. I think it would be equally silly to disregard everything else in the application package and decide solely based on impressions formed from talking to people for a few days. Of course, if they weren't interested in accepting you they wouldn't have invited you for an interview, but that doesn't mean that they are necessarily equally interested in every applicant awarded an interview. 

 

[Bioenchilada]

37 minutes ago, virionoftomorrow said:

I see what you're saying, but at the same time, no one goes into the interview as a blank slate. They will have certain expectations of you based on all your other application materials. I think it would be equally silly to disregard everything else in the application package and decide solely based on impressions formed from talking to people for a few days. Of course, if they weren't interested in accepting you they wouldn't have invited you for an interview, but that doesn't mean that they are necessarily equally interested in every applicant awarded an interview. 

 

Actually, at most schools I interviewed at, rarely any of my interviewers were aware of my credentials or familiar with my other application materials. The interview is when you show the adcom that they were right about you by inviting you. So, I think the impression you make during it will go farther than your credentials, given that they were already good enough to get you there. 

[jumbo1177]

2 hours ago, Bioenchilada said:

Actually, at most schools I interviewed at, rarely any of my interviewers were aware of my credentials or familiar with my other application materials. The interview is when you show the adcom that they were right about you by inviting you. So, I think the impression you make during it will go farther than your credentials, given that they were already good enough to get you there. 

I'm a little nervous about this because at my last interview I spoke to three faculty members and they were all out of my field of interest. I just feel like I would have had a better chance at getting in if they had been in my field and I wanted to rotate in their lab! Any ideas on this?

[jmillar]

23 minutes ago, jumbo1177 said:

I'm a little nervous about this because at my last interview I spoke to three faculty members and they were all out of my field of interest. I just feel like I would have had a better chance at getting in if they had been in my field and I wanted to rotate in their lab! Any ideas on this?

I just got back from an interview where several people were not within my specific field. It seemed more about getting a feel if I'd be a good fit for the program, through personality and interests outside of my specific field. Everyone was friendly and working on interesting things, so it was fairly conversational.

[Drink The Sea]

On 1/8/2017 at 8:27 PM, biomednyc said:

Thanks so much, your input is immensely helpful. I really appreciate it. On a related note, do you have any tips for good questions to ask interviewers? Regarding their work, their students, or maybe the program at large? 

To add to @Ferroportin's excellent advice, here's one approach I've been coached on for developing tailored questions to ask POI interviewers: read 1-3 of their recent pubs in depth, then come up with questions that would be good follow up projects for the study, or alternative approaches/applications they could try out. A great question about their work, not just a question for the sake of asking one, will catch their attention really quickly. They want thinkers and being able to ask a great question that pertains to their immediate work will only draw positive attention to you. Another "cheat" you can do is look up their recent NIH grant proposals to get a pre-glimpse at where some of their research is heading. https://grants.nih.gov/grants/oer.htm

 

 

[PhDHopeful3]

On 1/17/2017 at 8:55 PM, Bioenchilada said:

Actually, at most schools I interviewed at, rarely any of my interviewers were aware of my credentials or familiar with my other application materials. The interview is when you show the adcom that they were right about you by inviting you. So, I think the impression you make during it will go farther than your credentials, given that they were already good enough to get you there. 

That's interesting. All of my interviewers have known EVERYTHING about me. 

[avflinsch]

On 1/15/2017 at 1:25 PM, Bioenchilada said:

I'm fairly confident it's based on the interview alone 

I really don't see an adcom being like "Oh, he was great on paper and an amazing interviewer, but his GRE could have been better" haha 

I am in a totally different field, but interviews are interviews -

My expectations were as follows -
By the time you get to the interview stage, you have already passed through all of the coarse filters (LOR, GRE, prior transcripts, SOP etc.) and you are being checked to see that you are not the square peg trying to fit into a round hole. It mostly about seeing if your research interests fit that of your POIs and the rest of the department.

Anyway - I had an interview yesterday (both POIs at the same time), it started out as light banter, then went into research interests and how well they fit with both POIs. In my case they were both parallel and overlapping with both, but distinctly different from either. 

[Bioenchilada]

1 hour ago, PhDHopeful3 said:

That's interesting. All of my interviewers have known EVERYTHING about me. 

I think my cycle starter like that, and then spiraled down haha

By the end, I'd say like 40% were fully familiar with my credentials 

 

[LoveMysterious]

Hey guys! I should bring copies of my resume to bring to the PIs I meet with, correct? 

 

[meggied]

14 minutes ago, LoveMysterious said:

Hey guys! I should bring copies of my resume to bring to the PIs I meet with, correct? 

 

I really feel like they won't expect a copy of your resume. I think you should just be able to talk about yourself. The school already has seen your resume and if they want the professors to see them or have them in hand they would supply them.  You could bring them just in case. 

[Kaede]

2 hours ago, LoveMysterious said:

Hey guys! I should bring copies of my resume to bring to the PIs I meet with, correct? 

 

I brought some just in case, but thus far all everyone I have interviewed with had a copy of mine already that was submitted through the application.