My experience at two of the schools I interviewed with:
Argosy (Alameda campus):
The interview was 9:15am-2:00pm on a Monday. It started by everyone trickling into the library and sitting in a circle introducing ourselves to the other candidates. An admissions representative shortly came over and escorted us to a nearby conference room, where we were greeted by a panel of 12 or so professors. There were 10 applicants (including myself), we received a name tag, an Argosy promoting bag, and a folder. We sat directly in front of the professors. Each professor gave a brief introduction and then each applicant gave a brief 1-2 minute introduction as well. After, each applicant was preassigned a professor to interview with. The interview was approximately 45 minutes to an hour long (questions posted below) and was held in the professors office. After the interview, we wrote a short essay (1 page or less) on a very broad topic. The topic was something along the lines of 'what family means', it was so broad that it was somewhat hard to write because it could be described in countless ways. After the essay, we took a brief tour of the building and then went back to the conference room where we ate lunch and mingled with the professors (and one or two current students). Then, we had a group interview where it was a fish bowl type setting. All the applicants sat in a circle while the faculty members observed. One faculty member read three different questions/scenarios and we had to give our response/impression on the topic. There was no specific order when it came to speaking, everyone chimed in whenever they were ready to contribute. As I can recall the scenarios were very dull and basic, for example, "What would you do if you felt like you were falling behind in the program and one professor in particular was assigning a bunch of homework and was being really critical of your work?". Overall the questions were very dry and I felt like everyone was just rambling on about nothing important. The group interview lasted about 30 minutes and was followed by any last minute questions. The end.
Questions asked:
1. Why do you want to be a psychologist?
2. What theoretical orientation do you reside with?
3. What populations of people do you feel least comfortable working with?
4. What is your cultural background and upbringing?
5. How would you feel working with diverse populations of people?
6. What undergraduate class did you enjoy the most?
7. Which class did you find was the hardest?
8. What qualities do you possess that would make you a successful psychologist?
9. What made you interested particularly in clinical psychology?
10. What do you think the biggest obstacle will be in this program?
11. What case, research study, or class did you like the best and demonstrates your clinical interests?
12. Why do you want to be part of this program?
13. What experience did you have at your prior internship?
14. What would be the hardest thing about being a psychologist?
15. What do you see yourself doing after you graduate?
16. Would you relocate in order to get an APA internship?
17. What weakness do you think would hinder you as a psychologist?
18. Which of our faculty members do you think you would work with?
19. What makes you a good fit for this program?
20. What kind of practice do you envision for yourself?
21. What populations are you interested in working with?
22. How do you plan on paying for your education here?
JFK (Bay Area campus):
The interview was 9:30am-12:00pm on a Thursday. I was escorted into a conference room where I was greeted by three other candidates. There was only 4 of us total. We were first greeted by two current PSYD students. They answered any questions we had, which lasted about 30 minutes or so. About 7 professors came in after that and introduced themselves. We did not introduce ourselves back. After that we moved to a smaller room in order to conduct the group interview. It started out as a fish bowl type setting, two professors and the two current students were watching us. We were asked to read a piece of paper which contained two problems/scenarios. Our task was to choose one scenario as a group and then discuss how we would go about solving that issue. The activity lasted about 10 minutes or so. After, we repositioned our seats so that the professors and students were sitting in a circle with us. The professors asked us how we felt about the activity and what our "role" was within the group. Next, was the group interview, except we were only asked one question, "In what ways have you been privileged and in what ways have you been oppressed?". After answering this question, we were told to write a short 5-7 sentence essay describing how the interview process has been thus far and how we felt during the group activity. After the essay, we each had individual interviews which lasted about 30 minutes. The professor asked " Why do you want to be part of this program? What kind of practice do you envision for yourself? What populations of people do you feel least comfortable working with? What do you think the biggest obstacle will be in this program?". He also asked two hypothetical questions, which unfortunately I cannot remember. It was relatively short over all. The end.
Argosy (Alameda campus):
The interview was 9:15am-2:00pm on a Monday. It started by everyone trickling into the library and sitting in a circle introducing ourselves to the other candidates. An admissions representative shortly came over and escorted us to a nearby conference room, where we were greeted by a panel of 12 or so professors. There were 10 applicants (including myself), we received a name tag, an Argosy promoting bag, and a folder. We sat directly in front of the professors. Each professor gave a brief introduction and then each applicant gave a brief 1-2 minute introduction as well. After, each applicant was preassigned a professor to interview with. The interview was approximately 45 minutes to an hour long (questions posted below) and was held in the professors office. After the interview, we wrote a short essay (1 page or less) on a very broad topic. The topic was something along the lines of 'what family means', it was so broad that it was somewhat hard to write because it could be described in countless ways. After the essay, we took a brief tour of the building and then went back to the conference room where we ate lunch and mingled with the professors (and one or two current students). Then, we had a group interview where it was a fish bowl type setting. All the applicants sat in a circle while the faculty members observed. One faculty member read three different questions/scenarios and we had to give our response/impression on the topic. There was no specific order when it came to speaking, everyone chimed in whenever they were ready to contribute. As I can recall the scenarios were very dull and basic, for example, "What would you do if you felt like you were falling behind in the program and one professor in particular was assigning a bunch of homework and was being really critical of your work?". Overall the questions were very dry and I felt like everyone was just rambling on about nothing important. The group interview lasted about 30 minutes and was followed by any last minute questions. The end.
Questions asked:
1. Why do you want to be a psychologist?
2. What theoretical orientation do you reside with?
3. What populations of people do you feel least comfortable working with?
4. What is your cultural background and upbringing?
5. How would you feel working with diverse populations of people?
6. What undergraduate class did you enjoy the most?
7. Which class did you find was the hardest?
8. What qualities do you possess that would make you a successful psychologist?
9. What made you interested particularly in clinical psychology?
10. What do you think the biggest obstacle will be in this program?
11. What case, research study, or class did you like the best and demonstrates your clinical interests?
12. Why do you want to be part of this program?
13. What experience did you have at your prior internship?
14. What would be the hardest thing about being a psychologist?
15. What do you see yourself doing after you graduate?
16. Would you relocate in order to get an APA internship?
17. What weakness do you think would hinder you as a psychologist?
18. Which of our faculty members do you think you would work with?
19. What makes you a good fit for this program?
20. What kind of practice do you envision for yourself?
21. What populations are you interested in working with?
22. How do you plan on paying for your education here?
JFK (Bay Area campus):
The interview was 9:30am-12:00pm on a Thursday. I was escorted into a conference room where I was greeted by three other candidates. There was only 4 of us total. We were first greeted by two current PSYD students. They answered any questions we had, which lasted about 30 minutes or so. About 7 professors came in after that and introduced themselves. We did not introduce ourselves back. After that we moved to a smaller room in order to conduct the group interview. It started out as a fish bowl type setting, two professors and the two current students were watching us. We were asked to read a piece of paper which contained two problems/scenarios. Our task was to choose one scenario as a group and then discuss how we would go about solving that issue. The activity lasted about 10 minutes or so. After, we repositioned our seats so that the professors and students were sitting in a circle with us. The professors asked us how we felt about the activity and what our "role" was within the group. Next, was the group interview, except we were only asked one question, "In what ways have you been privileged and in what ways have you been oppressed?". After answering this question, we were told to write a short 5-7 sentence essay describing how the interview process has been thus far and how we felt during the group activity. After the essay, we each had individual interviews which lasted about 30 minutes. The professor asked " Why do you want to be part of this program? What kind of practice do you envision for yourself? What populations of people do you feel least comfortable working with? What do you think the biggest obstacle will be in this program?". He also asked two hypothetical questions, which unfortunately I cannot remember. It was relatively short over all. The end.
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