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hey mod thanks for the link, that is great place!!
i realize it's a tricky question too---can you give some suggestion? everyone has weakness, but how shall we elaborate them? as for a good interview strategy.
In job interviewing books and articles, I have read to say something positive about yourself that you consider a weakness. For example, as a nurse, I might say "I get so attached to my patients that I don't always take all my breaks", etc. Now admittedly, this is tricky. You don't know what the interveiwer wants to hear.
my daughter's going through the same stuff, different field. She gets asked what her interests are because in her field she has to fit into small depts even for grad study, and there has to be someone there to sponsor the work or she has to be willing to take an independent project on and go with it, one that fits their direction.
Other than that fit stuff, they want to know you have an active interest in the intellectual questions of the field, are engaged in it, and can converse about it and the theory etc. After all they are going to be spending some time with you so just liking you is important! Have fun! Be enthusiastic! Enjoy what you want to do and I am sure it will go fine. Don't be afraid to ask questions about what the program has in the way of stable financing, age of faculty, why particular interests of the dept fit you, etc.
Great topic, I have an interview Friday and I am so excited and nervous!
I have always found, in employment interviews, showing a genuine interest and positive attitude goes a long way.
Of course, there is no perfect answer. Its one of those questions where the Interviewer probably has an idea of what they want to hear.
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Originally Posted by Katiana
Now admittedly, this is tricky. You don't know what the interveiwer wants to hear.
yea seems like this is indeed a tricky part.
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Originally Posted by esya
Other than that fit stuff, they want to know you have an active interest in the intellectual questions of the field, are engaged in it, and can converse about it and the theory etc.
thanks for the info esya!
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Originally Posted by christina0001
Great topic, I have an interview Friday and I am so excited and nervous!
so I guess you know exactly how I feel
my friends told me they mostly receive offers before the campus visit (interview), the ones got interviewed are the candidates they are not sure about, so... GOOD LUCK to both of us!!!
----should I spend lot of effort studying the faculty member's research area??? that will be a pain... they do work in some very different areas which I am not expert in.
I'm suprised that you are being interviewed as a step in your admission. Having been around several engineering depts I only know of one that actually has an interview.
Most universities invite accepted students out for recruitment weekends on the departments dollar and have somewhat informal interviews with potential advisers during that trip. The adviser will hope that if you are interested in joining their lab that you have an idea of what they do. They shouldn't expect you to have a mastery of the material but they may ask what you are interested in that they are doing. Read their websites, hit up google, and read some of their manuscripts beforehand if possible.
I would guess that during your interviews you will actually be hearing the profs babble about how great their research is, show you their labs, and maybe introduce you to some grad students that work for them. Make sure to ask them questions about their number of PhDs produced, time to PhD, publications/PhD, TA to RA % in the lab (if it isn't department mediated) and job placement of past PhDs.
I would suggest that you actually use this opportunity to interview the labs instead of being interviewed. You are a trainee and will only be in the lab for a short period of time. You should be focused on getting into the lab that will offer you the best training and provide you with an end goal of getting the job you desire. If possible you should try to use this time to talk to the grad students in the labs that you are interested in and ask them about their experiences.
so I guess you know exactly how I feel
my friends told me they mostly receive offers before the campus visit (interview), the ones got interviewed are the candidates they are not sure about, so... GOOD LUCK to both of us!!!
The letter I received, said this is their first round of interviews, and that it was very likely I would receive an acceptance letter not long after. But I guess they want to make sure I'm not a nutcase or anything. lol
DrJoey thanks for your input, it's very helpful information
that is what bothers me---like I said most of my friends received offers BEFORE interview, so their so-called interview is actually them interviewing the schools not the other way around,
hence I am bit nervous, it is a school I want to go... I don't know what kind of selection rate I am facing.... hopefully high!
The one grad school interview that I had to do was for an IGERT(NSF fellowship) program--I believe that it may be standard protocol for IGERT programs to do interviews. In our case, they accepted something like 20-30% of those interviewed. The interviews were mainly discussions of our undergrad research and discussions of which groups/what research we intended to pursue in the program. They were able to probe our understanding pretty well by questions about our research and general questions about science and engineering.
DrJoey thanks for your input, it's very helpful information
that is what bothers me---like I said most of my friends received offers BEFORE interview, so their so-called interview is actually them interviewing the schools not the other way around,
hence I am bit nervous, it is a school I want to go... I don't know what kind of selection rate I am facing.... hopefully high!
No problem.
Don't let that bother you. You are being flown out because you are obviously someone they are interested in. Otherwise you would have gotten a thin envelope already. Admissions can vary widely between different departments even within different schools. Most of it depends on their anticipated needs and they may have only flown in students before interviews who had their own funding or who previously worked with top people in the field.
You should use the opportunity to interview your potential trainers. You should also do the necessary homework if you are serious about going to that school. If you know what the prof. does and have a serious interest during the interview I can almost assure you an acceptance. But you don't want to just go because of your current interest, you want to know why you should go and what it will do for your future.
good luck with the interviews. If you have more specific questions send me a message.
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