Preparing for Clinical PhD Interview

[Clinapp2017]

5 minutes ago, abnumber5 said:

How many students per faculty member do most schools accept per year? For example, if there are 6 faculty members accepting students each head6, would only 6 people be accepted, or possibly 12? 

It varies based on funding. And I know lots of labs where if they don't like any applicants, they won't take anyone. 

[JacobW83]

1 hour ago, abnumber5 said:

How many students per faculty member do most schools accept per year? For example, if there are 6 faculty members accepting students each head6, would only 6 people be accepted, or possibly 12? 

It really does depend on the school and the funding. Usually there's some sort of priority list for which faculty get to take a student, and *typically* it's just 1 per faculty. Sometimes there will be more than one if they have extra funding sources. 

[ServeNStudy]

Would anybody who has been through some interviews this cycle be willing to share some of the topics or specific questions that come up? I'm having a little bit of a tough time figuring out how to prep other than reviewing my own material and being sure I'm familiar with my POI's research areas...

[Le Chat]

On 12/23/2016 at 1:06 PM, MarineBluePsy said:

Regardless of what the interview sites tell you about having meals/snacks always ALWAYS have your own snacks and water with you!  This is especially important if you're on a special diet, have allergies, or are just plain picky.  Some programs are not very organized and you may have so many things scheduled for your day that you get 5 minutes to scarf something down.  Or you may find that their understanding of your dietary needs is horribly inaccurate or the special meal requested for you is forgotten or still not something you can eat.  Some places also just have terrible food regardless of what is served.  I just carried my purse with whatever I needed in it, but other applicants carried messenger bags or briefcases.  Most programs also load you down with swag.....pamphlets, brochures, random office supplies, water bottles, etc so having a bag is helpful anyway.  Oh and have kleenex, cough drops, and hand sanitizer.

Thank you- great advice! I have severe food allergies so on top of snacks will pack my emergency kit. Hope I don't need it during the interview weekend. lol

[Clinapp2017]

2 hours ago, ServeNStudy said:

Would anybody who has been through some interviews this cycle be willing to share some of the topics or specific questions that come up? I'm having a little bit of a tough time figuring out how to prep other than reviewing my own material and being sure I'm familiar with my POI's research areas...

I've been on two (about to go on my 3rd of 8) and I would just say to read over your materials, read over the faculty profiles you are interested in doing work with at the program, etc.

 

You should be proud because you are in the top group of applicants. There will be a few other people interviewing for the same spot, but you shoudn't be worried about being tripped up or something. 

[DrGirl]

I'd advise to be prepared with a lot of questions! This sounds obvious but my interview with my POI was just him wanting me to ask questions. By that time after the grad student social and the intro presentation, most of my questions were answered so I was trying to come up with things on the spot. 

[InterviewQuestion]

Can anyone who has interviewed before attest to how many other people were interviewing with them?

Also wondering if anyone who has interviewed would be willing to share the hardest/most surprising question they were asked? 

Thank you!!

[tomorrowforgotten]

5 hours ago, InterviewQuestion said:

Can anyone who has interviewed before attest to how many other people were interviewing with them?

Also wondering if anyone who has interviewed would be willing to share the hardest/most surprising question they were asked? 

Thank you!!

At my last interview, there were 6 of us for one spot. It varies greatly across schools, however. 

[Clinpsyc01]

21 hours ago, InterviewQuestion said:

Can anyone who has interviewed before attest to how many other people were interviewing with them?

Also wondering if anyone who has interviewed would be willing to share the hardest/most surprising question they were asked? 

Thank you!!

At one of my interviews, there were 5 of us competing for 1-2 spots. My POI at my next interview is interviewing 3 people and taking one. I think POIs usually interview 3-6 people for each spot, although I have heard of some who interview upwards of 10. I definitely don't think that's normal though lol 

[eveline]

On 1/29/2017 at 5:48 PM, ServeNStudy said:

Would anybody who has been through some interviews this cycle be willing to share some of the topics or specific questions that come up? I'm having a little bit of a tough time figuring out how to prep other than reviewing my own material and being sure I'm familiar with my POI's research areas...

I have spoken with a good amount of faculty by now, and MOST have been.. 

- They tell me about the lab/research/program
-"What questions do you have for me?"

So for the majority of the interview, I was asking the questions. 

[8BitJourney]

One thing I haven't seen (correct me if this was already mentioned) is: during 1:1 interviews be comfortable with occasional silence.

I know knee jerk reaction is to talk but if you've said the most relevant thing to an answer just let it settle and take the time to breathe. After that is a good time to ask a question of the interviewer (make it a good one to keep them on their toes!)

[stereopticons]

30 minutes ago, byn said:

I found this link of questions potential POIs may ask you during an interview, which was very helpful: http://www2.tulane.edu/sse/psyc/news-and-events/archive/upload/InterviewQuestions.pdf

This is great, thanks!

One thing that came up for me this weekend was what questions to ask when you are interviewing individually with basically all the faculty in the program? I had 7 separate interviews and by the end, I didn't know what questions to ask and the questions I had prepared were primarily geared toward the person who would be my mentor. Thoughts?

[ellieotter]

Not sure if this is where I should ask but did anyone reach out to their POI's after interview to say thank you for meeting with you?

[stereopticons]

5 minutes ago, psychlife4me said:

Not sure if this is where I should ask but did anyone reach out to their POI's after interview to say thank you for meeting with you?

Yes. I was taught you should do this any time you interview. 

[ellieotter]

3 minutes ago, stereopticons said:

Yes. I was taught you should do this any time you interview. 

Any advice on what to write (besides thank you obviously)? I didn't want to write a novel and sound like a suck up!

[stereopticons]

4 minutes ago, psychlife4me said:

Any advice on what to write (besides thank you obviously)? I didn't want to write a novel and sound like a suck up!

It can be short. I'd probably thank them for their time and say enjoyed speaking with them, and if there is something specific you talked about, mention that (for example, I mentioned a paper I recently published so I'll probably send them that)

[juhidee119]

3 minutes ago, stereopticons said:

It can be short. I'd probably thank them for their time and say enjoyed speaking with them, and if there is something specific you talked about, mention that (for example, I mentioned a paper I recently published so I'll probably send them that)

Also be sure to let them know they can contact you with any further questions they may have 

[stereopticons]

2 minutes ago, juhidee119 said:

Also be sure to let them know they can contact you with any further questions they may have 

Oh, yes, that too!

[ellieotter]

10 minutes ago, juhidee119 said:

Also be sure to let them know they can contact you with any further questions they may have 

 

10 minutes ago, stereopticons said:

Oh, yes, that too!

 Thank you both!!

[meep95]

On 1/17/2017 at 10:06 PM, Wildcat Way said:

I have been practicing with one of my mentors and he has pointed out to be careful with closed body language such as crossing of arms. I do this automatically when I become nervous. Also, I need to focus on framing everything in a positive manner. I tend to be fairly frank and to the point. So I need to be sure that what I say does not come across as negative.

Another question to consider.

Can you tell me about a time when you have had to confront an ethical or moral dilemma? Maybe an issue within yourself or with others, and how did you handle it?

Have you interviewed with Central yet? Mine is tomorrow at 8am! for a different program though

[jrc3000]

I would definitely be prepared for a question as well regarding greatest strengths/weakness (typical but I feel like they're looking to make sure you can actually reason through a weakness rather than give some BS answer like "I never know when to stop working!"). I haven't had an interview yet but my best friend has had 7 already and she has noticed trends across all of them. One of them being don't stress about stats, hardly any people asked her specific questions about analysis. When asking about a project you would be interested in doing they're mostly looking for design rather than specific tests. 

[spookycat]

In my experience, one of the big key questions (that has been mentioned on this site before, I'm sure) is - if you had all the funding in the world, what research would you conduct right now? 

I don't think you need to have recruitment plans or any crazy specifics about measurements, but be able to have a clear "plan" of what you would study. This shows the faculty members that you've been thinking about SPECIFIC research as opposed to just general topics of interest or just spitting back studies that the POI has already conducted. This is a tough question, and one that is extremely hard to answer on the spot if you haven't prepped for it. This is a really great time for the POIs to measure whether your research interests align with areas they are interested in going, and I think it can spark their interest if you have ideas that they hadn't considered. 

[featherfloat]

Does anyone know how to deliver handwritten thank you cards to POIs after interviewing? A professor whom I work with closely told me this was a nice touch when she interviewed candidates (although it won't make or break a decision obviously). Do you find their office on your last day and give it to them in person? Find their mailbox in the department? Mail it to them? I really want to do this but am so confused by the logistics haha

[1|]010ls10o]

On 2/5/2017 at 8:00 PM, ellieotter said:

Any advice on what to write (besides thank you obviously)? I didn't want to write a novel and sound like a suck up!

I've written novels before. I'd rather risk making a bad impression with typing a wall of text of research ideas and what I thought about the program, than making a generic / no impression at all. They might not like that side of me, but if I'm working with them for 5+ years or for the rest of my life, I want them to know how and what I think. I don't want to 'trick' them into accepting me by leaving out critical details; I want them to take me as I am. You're taking a risk by sending them a long email and revealing potentially bad aspects of yourself. But they're taking a risk by investing in a student for 5+ years. I tell myself that my transparency helps, but I also totally understand why most people wouldn't want to be a weirdo messy over-sharer like me.