Group interviews

[speechie95]

Has anyone had any experience with a group interview? I have a group interview next week at Queens College and was wondering what they were like!

Edited March 6, 2017 by speechie95

[kayyyyy_]

Yeah I've done one. It's pretty relaxed and you actually feed off of each other. You take turns going first so it's fair :]

[slpgrad620]

1 hour ago, speechie95 said:

Has anyone had any experience with a group interview? I have a group interview next week at Queens College and was wondering what they were like!

I have an interview with QC this week and they never told me it was a group interview.... I wonder if everybody gets group interviews or maybe not? 

 

[jmk]

I have one at SF State today, so I'll share my experience after!

[Elska]

My interview was a group one as well. It was pretty mellow and my interviewers did a good job of keeping a calm and relaxed environment. We sat in a row and each end alternated going first and we answered down the line. Some people definitely fed off of other answers, and the responses started to sound the same, so be sure to add some new thoughts or perspectives if the answer you give is going to be similar to another person's.

I think it also depends on who you're grouped with as well. My group was mindful of not taking too much time to answer questions and no one went out of their way to show off. I think that really helped with keeping things chill. I've heard of some group interviews being stressful because the group happened to have really strong competition in it. Just be prepared to think on your feet and adjust your game plan based on who is in your group and what questions you get!

Good luck! 

[pbandj]

I had a group interview and it was much better than I thought it would be. The interviewers were very relaxed and welcoming. The students were also really nice. In my group interview, there was no set order for answering. We just answered whenever we felt like it until we all answered. I know "be yourself" is cliche advice but I think it's true lol. Personally, group interviews freak me out because I look at it as a competition and I start to compare myself to everyone else. Of course it's always naturally competitive, but I challenged myself to look at it as opportunity to just share my passion and I think that helped me in forming unique responses that did not play too much off of other people's answers.

Good luck! I'm sure you will do fantastic

[speechie95]

On 3/6/2017 at 7:55 PM, pbandj said:

I had a group interview and it was much better than I thought it would be. The interviewers were very relaxed and welcoming. The students were also really nice. In my group interview, there was no set order for answering. We just answered whenever we felt like it until we all answered. I know "be yourself" is cliche advice but I think it's true lol. Personally, group interviews freak me out because I look at it as a competition and I start to compare myself to everyone else. Of course it's always naturally competitive, but I challenged myself to look at it as opportunity to just share my passion and I think that helped me in forming unique responses that did not play too much off of other people's answers.

Good luck! I'm sure you will do fantastic

Thank you so much! I'm a little less stressed now haha 

[speechie95]

On 3/6/2017 at 4:46 PM, Elska said:

My interview was a group one as well. It was pretty mellow and my interviewers did a good job of keeping a calm and relaxed environment. We sat in a row and each end alternated going first and we answered down the line. Some people definitely fed off of other answers, and the responses started to sound the same, so be sure to add some new thoughts or perspectives if the answer you give is going to be similar to another person's.

I think it also depends on who you're grouped with as well. My group was mindful of not taking too much time to answer questions and no one went out of their way to show off. I think that really helped with keeping things chill. I've heard of some group interviews being stressful because the group happened to have really strong competition in it. Just be prepared to think on your feet and adjust your game plan based on who is in your group and what questions you get!

Good luck! 

Thank you!!

Edited March 8, 2017 by speechie95

[jmk]

I posted this in another thread, but for SFSU the group consisted of 6 applicants and 3 faculty. For 15 minutes we were given a scenario, and asked to work as a team to discuss the scenario, then spend 5 minutes reaching a group conclusion. That was the entire interview, haha. 

[SpeechLaedy]

4 hours ago, jmk said:

I posted this in another thread, but for SFSU the group consisted of 6 applicants and 3 faculty. For 15 minutes we were given a scenario, and asked to work as a team to discuss the scenario, then spend 5 minutes reaching a group conclusion. That was the entire interview, haha. 

Woah. How nerve-wracking was that??! 

[jmk]

1 hour ago, SpeechLaedy said:

Woah. How nerve-wracking was that??! 

I felt like the faculty couldn't really get to know students through that observation. It was also really difficult to "shine" without seeming "pushy", too. I was happy my interview group had gotten to the waiting room early, so we all had a chance to talk and break the ice before we entered.