Fall 2018 Psych PhD Interviews (not clinical)

[vallaboop]

Hi all,

I've seen threads for interviews and I thought I would start one for all of us that aren't applying to clinical programs! Feel free to share, ask questions, and vent!

School:

Track and/or specialization within psychology program:

Interview type:

Date:

Good luck everyone!

[April12345]

Thank you! I really hope to be posting here soon! The waiting is brutal.  I applied to the social psych programs at UCSD, UCSB, UCLA and UCI (Irvine).

Good luck to everyone!

[vallaboop]

15 minutes ago, April12345 said:

Thank you! I really hope to be posting here soon! The waiting is brutal.  I applied to the social psych programs at UCSD, UCSB, UCLA and UCI (Irvine).

Good luck to everyone!

Agreed! Good luck to you as well!

[crystalcolours]

I just got an interview invite today! I was told in the email that I've been "recommended for admission", but that the final decision will be made on interview day. 

School: North Carolina State University
Program: Human Factors and Applied Cognitive Psychology (Ph.D)
Interview Type: In Person
Date: February 3rd

[April12345]

2 hours ago, crystalcolours said:

I just got an interview invite today! I was told in the email that I've been "recommended for admission", but that the final decision will be made on interview day. 

School: North Carolina State University
Program: Human Factors and Applied Cognitive Psychology (Ph.D)
Interview Type: In Person
Date: February 3rd

Congratulations!!! ??

[songofgallifrey]

Thanks for starting this @cindyboop!

I applied to University of Maryland (NACS), Penn State (Psychology), UC San Diego (Psychology), Johns Hopkins (Cognitive Science), McGill (Psychology), NYU (Psychology), and University of Michigan (Psychology). I'm interested in the neural and cognitive bases of language processing, particularly in bilingual speakers, and bilingual language control.

I've been contacted by my POIs at UCSD and Penn State for Skype interviews. I had my Penn State one today with my #1 POI and I think it went well! Next step for both will be to get an invite to the official on-campus interview weekends, so fingers crossed!

[vallaboop]

4 minutes ago, songofgallifrey said:

Thanks for starting this @cindyboop!

I applied to University of Maryland (NACS), Penn State (Psychology), UC San Diego (Psychology), Johns Hopkins (Cognitive Science), McGill (Psychology), NYU (Psychology), and University of Michigan (Psychology). I'm interested in the neural and cognitive bases of language processing, particularly in bilingual speakers, and bilingual language control.

I've been contacted by my POIs at UCSD and Penn State for Skype interviews. I had my Penn State one today with my #1 POI and I think it went well! Next step for both will be to get an invite to the official on-campus interview weekends, so fingers crossed!

That's awesome, congrats! Good luck on your UCSD interview! I am sure you will be hearing about an official on campus interview soon! What was the Skype interview like? Did it feel awkward? I'm most worried about group interview situations where there are a group of applicants 

[songofgallifrey]

Thanks @cindyboop! I was really nervous for my interview but it was actually super chill. I had my UCSD on Tuesday actually and it was also not awkward. Basically it was like hey, I see you have this thing in your personal statement, can you tell me more about that? Usually related to my honors thesis and research interests.

Then there was lots of time to ask questions about the program and the POI's lab/mentorship style, so I thought they were both mutually beneficial, and the conversation generally flowed easily. I'm also nervous about the on-campus interview situation, but it may also be good not to have the spotlight 100% on you? I feel like once you've gotten to that point you can be confident that the person likes you, so you can use that to be at least a little less nervous!

[vallaboop]

5 minutes ago, songofgallifrey said:

Thanks @cindyboop! I was really nervous for my interview but it was actually super chill. I had my UCSD on Tuesday actually and it was also not awkward. Basically it was like hey, I see you have this thing in your personal statement, can you tell me more about that? Usually related to my honors thesis and research interests.

Then there was lots of time to ask questions about the program and the POI's lab/mentorship style, so I thought they were both mutually beneficial, and the conversation generally flowed easily. I'm also nervous about the on-campus interview situation, but it may also be good not to have the spotlight 100% on you? I feel like once you've gotten to that point you can be confident that the person likes you, so you can use that to be at least a little less nervous!

That's good! Congrats again!

I can understand where you are coming from. But I've heard from students who have been through the process (although not the same program type so that might make a difference) that group interviews can be annoying because if you aren't one of the first people to answer a question then the answers start to get repetitive. I don't know, I guess it all depends

[crystalcolours]

@cindyboop I had 2 informal skype interviews and 1 informal phone interview prior to me submitting my application materials (I reached out to POI's personally, and a few of them were interested enough in my CV and research interests to set these up with me sans application). 

The interviews were not awkward at all! I was nervous, but after a minute, you realize you're just having a conversation about the things you're both interested in. A couple pieces of advice for skype interviews: 1.) Make sure you test Skype beforehand to make sure audio/video is up to speed (also make sure there's no dirty laundry laying around, and lighting is decent) 2.) Dress like you're going to a real interview (this is also to help you feel like you're in the mental interview mode) 3.) Think of a few things you want to say about yourself beforehand, especially regarding your research interests 4.) Think of some good questions to ask them beforehand! This is a really important part of the interview process. 

[vallaboop]

Thanks for the advice! That was really helpful. Especially the tip about making sure everything in the background is okay, I don't know if I would have thought of that!

I love how helpful everyone is on this site. Really helps! 

[psychlifer]

Hi all,

Thought I would reach out on here with a question/dilemma. I received interview invites for two of my top school options, and the interviews are happening on the same day. Any advice on how to handle that? I know that if I do a Skype/phone interview, my chances of acceptance are probably lower, but I'm not sure what to do...

 

Thank you!

[SchoolPsychApplicant]

I've thought about this issue and asked a current graduate student at my university. They said the best thing to do is go with the one who contacted you first and tell the other you have a previous engagement. Then, set up a Skype/phone interview with the second one. Apparently they're understanding of that, but I understand you worrying about your chances for getting accepted. 

[vallaboop]

2 hours ago, psychlifer said:

Hi all,

Thought I would reach out on here with a question/dilemma. I received interview invites for two of my top school options, and the interviews are happening on the same day. Any advice on how to handle that? I know that if I do a Skype/phone interview, my chances of acceptance are probably lower, but I'm not sure what to do...

 

Thank you!

Are they group interviews? I'm surprised they didn't offer you a choice of days. I'm sorry, that's so frustrating  I agree with @SchoolPsychApplicant though. They should be understanding. I would offer to do a skype/phone interview but also try to offer some other dates that you would be available for an in person interview

[ZachOxford]

Just got an email from Northwestern to attend their interview weekend for Social Psychology! In the email they said they just contacted their top group of candidates, so I'm thinking most of their interview invites were sent out today. Best of luck, everybody! 

[thuzixuan]

Hi all,

Has anyone received any notification from UCB? I applied to the Cog Neuro Program. I saw one interview in the Results Search and I was wondering whether they had sent out all interview invitations?

P.S.: Interviews I have received

1. Dec. 11, UCSD Initial Interview from POI;

2. Dec. 13, UCDavis informal interview invitation to the "Visiting Day" from POI.

[vallaboop]

9 hours ago, thuzixuan said:

Hi all,

Has anyone received any notification from UCB? I applied to the Cog Neuro Program. I saw one interview in the Results Search and I was wondering whether they had sent out all interview invitations?

P.S.: Interviews I have received

1. Dec. 11, UCSD Initial Interview from POI;

2. Dec. 13, UCDavis informal interview invitation to the "Visiting Day" from POI.

Congrats! Are you thinking the UC schools sent out invites around the same time? I applied to UCSB and I'm really hoping for an interview there

[thuzixuan]

1 hour ago, cindyboop said:

Congrats! Are you thinking the UC schools sent out invites around the same time? I applied to UCSB and I'm really hoping for an interview there

Thanks!

Actually I am not sure... but rumor has it that UC schools tend to send out invitations before the end of Dec. Probably keep an eye on the posts in the Results session?

Wish your interview invitation from UCSB comes soon!

[Logan B.]

I was told by a girl who is now a graduate student at UCB that they send interviews RIGHT around Dec 21st like stated on their website. THE WAIT IS KILLING ME.

 

(It was also helpful talking to her because her GRE scores weren't good at all and she got in. So I remain hopeful!)

Edited December 16, 2017 by Logan B.

[vallaboop]

3 hours ago, thuzixuan said:

Thanks!

Actually I am not sure... but rumor has it that UC schools tend to send out invitations before the end of Dec. Probably keep an eye on the posts in the Results session?

Wish your interview invitation from UCSB comes soon!

Thanks! I'll keep an eye out for sure

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

22 hours ago, ZachOxford said:

Just got an email from Northwestern to attend their interview weekend for Social Psychology! In the email they said they just contacted their top group of candidates, so I'm thinking most of their interview invites were sent out today. Best of luck, everybody! 

Just wanted to send an update about Northwestern: The interview invites for Cognitive Psychology with go out around Monday. So, if you applied to Northwestern and haven't received an interview invite, it's still possible that the administration will send you an interview invite next week. Perhaps the only official invites that have gone out are for Social Psychology.

[SisterlockedPhD2Be]

Hi all,

Interviews received so far: 

School Name: Oklahoma State University 
Date Interview Invite Received: 12/13/17
Degree: PhD
Type: Counseling
Notified via: Email
From: Department Head
Interview Date: 2/8/2018 or 2/9/2018
Additional Info: Dinner with graduate students

School Name: University of Houston
Date Interview Invite Received: 12/13/17
Degree: PhD
Type: Counseling
Notified via: Mass Email
From: Training Director
Interview Date: 2/5/2018
Additional Info: Dinner with graduate students 2/4/2017

School Name: University of Denver 
Date Interview Invite Received: 12/15/17
Degree: PhD
Type: Counseling
Notified via: Email
From: The Morgridge Office of Admissions
Interview Date: 2/2/2018

Edited December 17, 2017 by FuturePhDGirl

[psychonerd]

do you think if UCSD sent out their pre-interviews that if you didn't get one of those that you won't be hearing for the official interview? very nervous...

[April12345]

4 hours ago, psychonerd said:

do you think if UCSD sent out their pre-interviews that if you didn't get one of those that you won't be hearing for the official interview? very nervous...

I wondered that, too... IDK. I've seen mostly ones from the cognitive specialty. It's possible the other areas haven't done it yet (hopefully). I applied to the social psych area. Although, I admit that it was a bit of leap research-focus-wise for me.  

Good luck, though!!!

[psychonerd]

5 hours ago, April12345 said:

I wondered that, too... IDK. I've seen mostly ones from the cognitive specialty. It's possible the other areas haven't done it yet (hopefully). I applied to the social psych area. Although, I admit that it was a bit of leap research-focus-wise for me.  

Good luck, though!!!

Good luck to you too! Its hard to gauge yet..and same about the research..ahhhhh I hate this