EPTIntroduction
Hello fellow TL netizens. I'm Zaranth, and I'm going to be sharing my graduate school know-how with you and this is the Part 3: The Interviews, with 2 more parts to follow!You can find Part 1 here!
And Part 2 here!
This is it
You’ve sent out your applications and a few schools have invited you for interviews. What do you wear? How should you prep? What should you pay attention to while you’re at the school?
Note before we begin: The school should pay your way to the interview weekend. They should also provide a hotel room (though you’ll probably have to share). Being given an interview means the school is definitely interested in accepting you, but they need to verify that you are who you say you are in your application.
Overview
Interviews usually last for three days. Typically, you’ll arrive on Thursday and have a nice meal with a few select students and professors. You’ll be greeted by the dean and talked at briefly, then sent off to bed to prepare for the next day.
Friday is the gauntlet. You’ll have to get up really early. You will get breakfast, and then a student guide will collect you. This guide will show you around campus and make sure you don’t get lost on your way to your interviews. You’ll interview with at least 4 faculty, and possibly up to 8, with lunch in there somewhere. There may be student talks, lab walkthroughs, and other fact-giving sessions. The dean will probably talk to you again and pimp the school as much as possible. After your brain has turned to mush, you’ll get a few hours break before a fancy dinner. At this dinner, you’ll be able to interact with more students and faculty. There may be an after party hosted by the graduate students. You should fall into bed exhausted and mostly sober around 11 or midnight.
Saturday is tour day. You may get a tour of the school, of the city, of student residences, or some other local amusement. Then you’ll fly home in the afternoon.
If you are not completely exhausted after one of these weekends, you’re not doing it right.
Attire
Call me old fashioned, but you should dress formally for this occasion. Pull out that suit that you wore to your cousin’s wedding. Shine your shoes. Trim your hair. Shave your stubble. You are representing yourself in a professional environment. Act professional.
On Thursday, arrive with business casual attire. Nice slacks and a button-up top should suffice. You will be making your first impression to your fellow interviewees and to some of the VIPs of the grad school administration, so behave.
On Friday, bust out the suit. Rock it. Store an extra water bottle in the hidden inside pocket. Maybe even a granola bar or two. You’re going to be mentally beaten down throughout the day, so it’s important to plan ahead. There may be 6 or 7 hours between breakfast and lunch. Take any sustenance you think you’ll need. For Friday evening, you can lose the jacket, but keep the nice pants and shirt. You never know, you might end up shaking hands with a Nobel Laureate.
For Saturday, tour day, casual is fine. Keep in mind you’re still on trial, though.
Your Student Guide
Think of your student guide as a valuable resource. Ask them a lot of questions about the school, the faculty, the coursework, the salary, the funding, parking, etc. They will be honest with you, and they’ve got the first-hand experience. You will get the real story from them. Ask them how many hours they work in a week, what their weekends are like, what the city is like, what rent is like, and how long it really takes until graduation.
The Interviews
At each school, you will be interviewed by at least 4 faculty, and sometimes up to 8. These interviews will be in a row, with 5-10 minutes between. You’ll have enough time to catch your breath and use the restroom, but not much more than that. It’s important to be prepared for each interview. Most schools will try to match you up with professors in your field of interest. Some schools ask you for a few names of faculty you’re interested in meeting. Either way, you should have a list of the faculty you will speak to before you arrive at the school. Use this information to your advantage. Go to the school’s website and search for each faculty. Read their pages and take some notes. Come up with a few questions that you can ask them about their research. It’s also wise to ask them how they like the school, and what they think of the environment.
The best thing you can do in these interviews is ask a question about the faculty’s research. Usually, professors love to talk about their research, and it’s possible to spend the whole interview listening to the faculty member talk. Act interested in what they are saying, and they’ll think you’re a great candidate.
Be prepared to answer questions about yourself. Know why you want to go to grad school, and why you are interviewing at that particular institution. Know the specifics of your undergrad research project, and be prepared to explain the how and why of the experiments you are currently doing. If you had an internship, be prepared to answer questions about what you did there. If you are currently working, you may get questions about your job responsibilities and why you want to leave to come back to school.
If you feel that the conversation is starting to drag, don’t be afraid to point out highlights on your application. Most likely, the professor hasn’t taken a good look at it. It’s fine to point out that you won first place in your undergrad poster competition, or that you were elected president of the biology club, or that you can run a sub 5-minute mile and enjoy hiking on the weekends. Present yourself as an interesting, well-rounded candidate with a passion for basic science research. You gotta do a little self-pimping sometimes.
Student Talks and the Dean’s Presentation
At some time during the interview day, you’ll get to listen to presentations given by the dean and current graduate students. The dean (or someone similarly high up the tree) will give a presentation showcasing the school and why you want to come there for graduate school. There will be a lot of facts and figures in this presentation. Things to pay special attention to: student stipend and how that stipend is earned, health insurance, housing, length of typical grad student’s career, grants awarded to faculty, and number of students in each incoming class. Let’s break these things down.
(i) Stipend - obviously, this is how much you will get paid. See the “Money” section below for more info here.
(ii) Health Insurance - you may not think about it now, but it’s an important part of life. See “Money” section below for more info.
(iii) Housing - Is there grad student housing? If not, where are you expected to live? What’s the cost of an apartment around the university? If this is not announced, ask!
(iv) Length of Stay - Of course the goal of getting into grad school is eventually getting out! How long does it take the average student to graduate? If the number is above 6 years, think hard about going to this school. That means (if you’re a senior in college) you’ll be 28 or so before you can be called Doctor. That’s a long time!
(v) Grants - Care about this information because it has a direct bearing on the amount of money the university has. If they brag about the number of RO1s awarded (big money grants), and the number of HHMI (Howard Hughes Medical Institute) investigators they have, awesome! If not, pin a red flag to the school.
(vi) Number of Students per class - This number should be stable from year to year. I mention this again in things to look for, but if the number of students is unstable, that’s a warning sign that the school doesn’t have admission under control.
You should have the opportunity to view one or more student talks. Pick whatever talk sounds interesting to you and go there. The school will intentionally pick successful grad students to give these talks, so don’t read too much into them. Get a feel for the type of research that is happening and enjoy the talks.
Money
In the United States, biology graduate students earn a stipend. Usually, your first year will be paid for by the university, and from your second year on you will be supported by grants, fellowships, and/or teaching. Your stipend will depend on your surroundings, since the amount of the stipend is usually determined by the cost of living. Because my school is close to Boston, MA, the stipend for grad students here is $30,000. (Yes, this is high. We like to think we are competing with Harvard and MIT.) A friend of mine at the University of Michigan gets $28,500. However, it can be as low as $15,000 (rural South Carolina, thanks to Niflheim for the info!). You can make more if you get a fellowship, since they can be in addition to your stipend. All this information will be given to you at the interview weekend, and it may be something you need to take into consideration when you choose which school to attend. Obviously, you are going into grad school, so prepare to be poor, but it’s not like you’ll have to dumpster dive for old furniture or eat Ramen constantly for the next 6 years.
I found this website that lists stipends for about 100 US graduate schools (though it’s a bit out of date, I would add $1-2,000 to these values. It lists UMass at $28,350 and we’re now at $30,000). http://www.wendychao.com/science/stipends/2009-10.html
Health Insurance
Something that goes along with the stipend is health insurance. Make sure you know the school’s policy on this. Some schools include health, vision and dental, some make you purchase vision and/or dental. If you have a spouse or significant other who needs insurance, you will probably pay a fee to get them on your plan. The plans will most likely be limited in their coverage. You’ll want to know the details of this.
Loss of Funding/PI moves
What if your PI loses funding, or decides to move to another university? These types of details may not seem important at the time, but they can be critical if this happens to you. Check to see if the university will still pay you if your PI loses funding. Although it might seem like tenured professors stick around forever, it’s not the case. There can be a lot of movement between universities. Check out the school’s policy on that as well. Are you expected to move with your PI, or can you stay at the school and change labs? Hopefully you will never have to deal with these issues, but on the off chance that you do, it is good to be prepared!
The After Party
Usually there is a party after the interview day. You’ll get a fancy meal first (ours occur at the local art museum). Then you’ll have the chance for a little recreation. There will be booze. Lots and lots of booze. Interview weekends are parties for current students and faculty. In order to convince students to participate, they are bribed with a fancy meal and free drinks. You, as the interviewee, need to rein it in at the afterparty. I suggest that you do go to the party - after all, it’s a great place to see faculty and students let loose. You’ll get a different idea about the quality of life at the school. Plus, the grad students are still watching! Hang out, have one or two drinks. Do not get drunk. This is a big minus on your record. We have had instances when students were not accepted to the school because they drank way too much and got sick in front of faculty. Not a good idea. Moderation, my friends!
What you want to see
A good sign at any university is construction. If there is construction, either repair work or new buildings, the school has cash to spend.
Happy grad students. If the grad students are tired, haggard, and unenthusiastic, think twice about going to the school.
Young Faculty. Young faculty indicates that the school is hiring, which means they have money. Young faculty tend to be more collaborative and also more fun. They were grad students not too long ago, and they should have reasonable expectations regarding lab work.
Nice lab facilities. Most of us don’t want to work in a dungeon. Sunlight is nice!
What you don’t want to see
Irritated grad students. Expect the grad students to do a certain amount of complaining. If there is an excessive amount, it may not all be in jest.
Exclusively old faculty. If the school doesn’t have a lot of young faculty, it’s a sign that things have not been well. Expect a stricter, more rigid atmosphere.
Old, musty labs. Not only does this lower your desire to be at work, experiments can be at risk!
Second year students still looking for labs. This means there is not enough space at the school; they have accepted more students than they have room for. Check the class size, and make sure that the past few classes have been about the same size. Otherwise, there might not be space for new students!
International Students
Lucky you - most of you will be able to skip this whole process! Most schools won’t pay for international flights. You may have to do a phone interview, but sometimes you are spared even that! If you do have a phone interview, be prepared to ask a lot of questions about the school. This may be your only chance to get detailed information before you make your final choice.
Overall, remember that you are at the interview weekend for a purpose. If the school was not interested in you, they would not have invited you to come. Getting an invite is no longer a shoe-in, either. Do your legwork, dress well, and behave like an adult. Everything should flow from there. Go with your gut. If you get a good vibe from the school, keep it among your candidates. If you get bad vibes, cross it off the list (even if it’s your top choice). You will be in this place for the next six years or so. It’s important to make the right decision now, before it’s too late.
*Editor's Note: Feel free to ask Zaranth anything about the topic in the thread and apologies to Zaranth for taking so long to get this post out again! But she has been really awesome and besides putting this post into the format, it's all her!
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