how to prepare for a grad school interview

That sense of perplexity is what led me to begin thinking about more than just the narratives, but HOW these are transmitted, accepted, challenged, etc., in the public sphere. Confess. You absolutely do not want to go on about what an illustrious or renowned school/program it is. As you’re finishing undergrad, use your school’s library resources to peruse some of the major journals in your field. Collect information about the interview structure. As well, overly-scripted answers will always feel inauthentic at best, and wooden or artificial at worst. Schedule Your FREE Initial Consultation Today! Especially with prospective mentors, most of the interview is finding out whether working together would be a pleasure or a torment. I also know a few graduate students in various fields, and I’ve started talking to them about some of the challenges and stressors they experience. In short, it’s all a lot to deal with, and it can be mentally trying, even in good times. April is interview month, when students travel across the country to interview at each school. She also just weaves deeply rich and incredibly elaborate worlds that I love spending time in and pondering, even if they are rather unsettling, at times. If you’re hoping to do a PhD, it is important to be able to articulate why doing a PhD, specifically, is the right choice for you, your priorities, and your goals. Instead, think about your own experiences and all the ways in which you can highlight certain qualities via those experiences. Make use of this incredibly valuable resource – you’re paying for it with your tuition, whether you use it or not! At this stage of your education, however, you must realize that the institution will get a lot out of you, as well. Be able to... Take the perspective of faculty members. Doctoral programs are stricter with admittance, requiring higher GPAs and related community service or internships in the field of study. One of the most important things you can do to prepare yourself for your grad school interview is to understand what questions will be asked of you. If you can throw out some key names and some current ideas or theories in your area, you’ll impress the interviewer(s). Here are a few tips on how to frame those goals for your interview. Instead, I’ve been reading Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam Trilogy before bed each night (Oryx & Crake, The Year of the Flood, and MaddAddam). In undergraduate studies, you’re gaining exposure to a wide range of ideas, but you only take the very first steps down the specialization process in your final year or two of undergrad. Next, prepare yourself mentally. There are two primary directions this answer could take, assuming there is something you would change (and almost everyone would change something): something you found unsatisfactory in terms of the academic institution, or something you found unsatisfactory in terms of your own performance as a student. On the other side of things, don’t come in with some grand plan that you think will shake the discipline to the core with its revolutionary ideas. I want to understand this more deeply and explore the ways in which contemporary social media similarly collapses boundaries between past and present. Clean, neat graduate school interview attire is the only appropriate choice. Tell them. In fact, it fundamentally changed my understanding of the term “history” – no longer was this just a collection of things that happened in the past, rather it was an active and influential component of the present. Graduate school admission boards don't extend interviews to every applicant; they only interview those whom they consider a solid candidate for their program. By the time of the interview, choose at least two professors from the school whose work stands out as interesting and focus on them. *, What have you been reading?/What's the last book you read? Present yourself well and have prepared answers for the easy questions like: “Why are you interested in this school?”“Why are you interested in this field?”“What experience do you have with this subject?”“Who would you like to work with?”“What do you plan to research?”“What are your strengths and weaknesses?”“What are your career goals?”“What are your questions for me/us?”. So, if that thing you’d change has to do with the institution, avoid naming names and discuss why the issue was concerning or disruptive enough to leave you wishing it were different, and explain how you succeeded despite this. What Is The Average Time to Obtain a Ph.D.? Search Now. Are you someone who is not naturally inclined toward organization? Studying these materials deepens human understanding of our cultural... Child and Adolescent Psychology examines the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of children and adolescents. The same advice goes if the thing you’d like to change about your academic experience so far is something you yourself did or didn’t do. If you’re applying to a graduate program, you likely have significant accomplishments – academic, but probably personal, as well. What is your most significant accomplishment? What Types of Jobs are Available With a Master’s in Finance? This same format can be applied at different schools, simply by focusing on what about each of their programs is especially meaningful to you. How Can you Specialize a Ph.D. in Family Counseling? Applicants will need official sealed transcripts, sealed letters of recommendation, and other forms specific to each school. Say so. Practice mock interviewing with the Career Development Center, family, or friends. Graduate school interview questions with sample answers. You will face critique. Grad School Interview Questions - General, Grad School Interview Questions - Academic, Grad School Interview Questions - Personal. My pasta sauce isn’t going to be critiqued for its methodology. How to Prepare for your Graduate School Interview. That said, this school would be one of my top choices, particularly because of the work Dr. Singh is doing is doing in his [Research Lab]. As noted before, passion and genuine interest are a must, if you’re going to get through grad school. A dose of humility is always welcomed. Remember, the people interviewing you are looking at you as a future colleague. If you don’t have such strategies, start working on them NOW. Well, I acknowledge that there are some limits to my current knowledge, but one idea I’ve returned to again and again in my undergraduate work is the idea of historical narrative, and whose voices are dominant – or even permitted – in popular historical narratives and/or the public sphere. Are There Different Types of Psychology Degrees? However, beneath those gaps you’ve identified lurk even greater depths of knowledge – not just things you know you don’t know enough about, but those things you can’t even recognize as possible points of knowledge, due to the current limitations you’ve acknowledged. I look forward to the day when I’m presenting at conferences, so that I can meet these scholars and thank them in person – I don’t know if they realize just how important their insights were in fostering my passion to continue my studies. Here’s a great video on “Tell Me About Yourself”, if you’d rather watch. However, at the stage of applying to graduate school, you will likely not have a clear research agenda yet, and that’s okay! What can this specific school/program give you that others cannot? If you’re not familiar, it’s a dystopian science fiction story that explores some of the anxieties and potentialities around genetic modification, environmental catastrophe, and the human/non-human species divide. Most importantly, be yourself in your grad school interview and try to express how pleasant it would be to have someone like you on the team. What Types of Jobs are Available with a Ph.D. in Family Counseling? Do you have a hard time saying “no” to others? Graduate school is a whole different beast – graduate school is as different from undergraduate as undergrad was from high school. Now that I’m pretty good at it, most of the things I make are delicious. Poor time management? As ever, you want to be honest, but that means making a note to yourself right now: Ensure you’re reading things that show depth and curiosity! What is a Capstone Project in Graduate School? As noted earlier, if you’re not sure what these are – in either case, old or new – ask a research librarian at your school. So, do bring a good dose of humility with you into the interview. Graduate school is – ideally – more about working collaboratively and collegially with your peers and professors than it is working for your profs in undergrad. Have you historically had poor time management? However, enthusiasm will only get you so far. For graduating college seniors who are planning to attend graduate school, learning how to prepare for a grad school interview is top on their list of things to do. Insider Interview with a Current Master's Student Insights into what to expect and how to prepare for a master's degree program . What Types of Jobs Can I Get With a Master’s in English? In today’s digital world, your email address or username is … But, if there are landmark names in your field whose actual works you’ve never read, work them into your rotation along with some things that are more current. Do not try to sneak in a “weakness-that’s-really-a-strength” – interviewers can see right through it, and it comes off feeling cliché, at best. They can point you to the most influential journals in your area, and you can look through the past few issues to see what issues are being addressed by scholars right now. How do you deal with failure/disappointment? You need to demonstrate that your research interests are viable, that you have the discipline necessary to follow through with the degree, and that a doctorate is needed for the kind of work you want to do. The most popular masters program is business administration (MBA), with education trailing behind, both career-focused paths. But, you do want to be strategic in what you disclose in an interview, since you're making a first impression (your quirks can come out after you've been accepted!). Ask your professors or a research librarian. These are the kinds of questions you likely already have in mind, and to which you have hopefully given some thought already. Here are some of the most common and some of the most difficult or tricky questions candidates often face in interviews. I’ve been following the Chronicle for Higher Education online for the past year, as I wanted to start gaining an understanding of the realities of graduate school. Check out three difficult grad school interview questions and answers here: Image credit: Sari Montag, via the Creative Commons License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/legalcode. 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