PhD/PsyD How are decisions made post-interview?

[fallen625]

I have started interviewing for Clinical Psychology PhD and I have noticed that the interviews have been VERY laid back - mostly having casual conversations about research interests, me asking questions, and learning more about the program.

All of this makes me wonder - how are decisions made post-interview? Most schools I am applying to interview are interview 5-6 people per PI, and it seems like all the applicants are good fits. I can't help but wonder how faculty make decisions post-interviews, and what we can do now to increase our chances.

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[AcronymAllergy]

It's really going to vary from lab to lab. Ultimately, the POI is generally always going to have the last say (unless students are admitted by the department as a whole rather than any one specific advisor). However, the factors that set applicants apart will vary, both by advisor and by each specific applicant pool.

As for what you can do to increase your chances, basically just do a good job of selling yourself during the interview without coming across as a conceited blowhard. That's about all anyone can do; after that, it's up to your CV and whatever the lab happens to be looking for that year.

 

[InNae]

I understand applicants are in anxious waiting mode post-interview, and I know it's not fun, but in the spirit of trying to encourage applicants to stop stressing over the part they can't control:

You can't do anything post-interview to increase your chances. Some percentage of the decision is made pre-interview (by choosing who to interview and having a sense in advance of how interviewees rank), most of the decision is fairly instantaneous during the interview, and a small part of it is negotiating the allocation of offers post-interview (the faculty have to meet to decide which of, for example, the 8 outstanding applicants will be offered the 6 available slots). There is nothing you can do to enhance the faculty's opinions of your fit after the interview day itself.

If, and ONLY if, you end up on a waitlist, you can reinforce the faculty's perception of fit by reiterating your interest in that program and your hope for a spot, which still won't increase your chances, but obviously will keep you in the running (whereas other waitlisted applicants might accept offers elsewhere, or indicate in some way that they prefer a different program).

You can do something post-interview to harm your chances, however. My current colleagues and I are not fans of the occasional applicant who sends multiple emails throughout the post-interview period, who calls the administrative staff to ask about their status in the absence of another offer, who emails us or the current graduate students with inappropriate followup questions and/or inappropriate tone, who try to negotiate for a larger stipend, etc. But you wouldn't do any of that anyway, right? 🙂

About the "casual" conversational style of many interviews, well of course. We faculty are not corporate recruiters, we're clinically trained, and many of us prefer a day of interviews that feel like comfortable conversations with smart prospective students rather than Q&As. Remember we're each meeting with a lot of people that day, too! Just be careful to remember that it IS an interview, regardless of how informal it feels.

To the numbers issue: a faculty member who interviews 5-6 people for one position is betting that 2-3 will take offers elsewhere (i.e., they'd be a great fit, but THEY prefer a different program), that 1-2 will tank the interview (either egregiously, or by demonstrating a mismatch between the application materials and the reality), and that 1-2 will be a great fit on both sides.

Short answer: for this phase of the process, your job is done.

 

[WisNeuro]

In my program, we consulted the I Ching, inconclusive hexagrams were determined via coin flip.

 

[fallen625]

I understand applicants are in anxious waiting mode post-interview, and I know it's not fun, but in the spirit of trying to encourage applicants to stop stressing over the part they can't control:

You can't do anything post-interview to increase your chances. Some percentage of the decision is made pre-interview (by choosing who to interview and having a sense in advance of how interviewees rank), most of the decision is fairly instantaneous during the interview, and a small part of it is negotiating the allocation of offers post-interview (the faculty have to meet to decide which of, for example, the 8 outstanding applicants will be offered the 6 available slots). There is nothing you can do to enhance the faculty's opinions of your fit after the interview day itself.

If, and ONLY if, you end up on a waitlist, you can reinforce the faculty's perception of fit by reiterating your interest in that program and your hope for a spot, which still won't increase your chances, but obviously will keep you in the running (whereas other waitlisted applicants might accept offers elsewhere, or indicate in some way that they prefer a different program).

You can do something post-interview to harm your chances, however. My current colleagues and I are not fans of the occasional applicant who sends multiple emails throughout the post-interview period, who calls the administrative staff to ask about their status in the absence of another offer, who emails us or the current graduate students with inappropriate followup questions and/or inappropriate tone, who try to negotiate for a larger stipend, etc. But you wouldn't do any of that anyway, right? 🙂

About the "casual" conversational style of many interviews, well of course. We faculty are not corporate recruiters, we're clinically trained, and many of us prefer a day of interviews that feel like comfortable conversations with smart prospective students rather than Q&As. Remember we're each meeting with a lot of people that day, too! Just be careful to remember that it IS an interview, regardless of how informal it feels.


To the numbers issue: a faculty member who interviews 5-6 people for one position is betting that 2-3 will take offers elsewhere (i.e., they'd be a great fit, but THEY prefer a different program), that 1-2 will tank the interview (either egregiously, or by demonstrating a mismatch between the application materials and the reality), and that 1-2 will be a great fit on both sides.

Short answer: for this phase of the process, your job is done.

Thank you! This is really helpful.

 

[psychRA]

Short answer: for this phase of the process, your job is done.

I agree. At least in my experience, the initial decisions were already being formed during the interview days. Even as applicants were getting ready to leave, we already had a sense of the likely top choices, just based on informal conversation amongst lab members and our advisor.

After the interviews were done, there might be some shuffling of the rankings based on factors that are outside of that applicants' control. If a POI is very torn between two top choices, they may go back and re-read their applications for clarification, or they may contact the people who wrote letters of recommendation. Or the selection committee may convene and learn that there are no underrepresented minorities among the first round of picks, in which case POIs might be asked to revisit their top choices. Sometimes a POI would get grant funding after the interviews, and that could potentially influence their choice; if your general research interests align with the POI, and then they get a grant to study a particular subtopic that you've also studied, you may become a more desirable pick than other interviewees who weren't interested in that same subtopic. Each of those things happened at some point while I was in grad school, but I can't think of instances in which anything that the applicant did after the interview had an influence on the outcome.

I hope that I haven't stressed anyone out by mentioning the circumstances above - I just wanted to list some examples of reasons why a program may still be in the process of making their decisions, even though there's nothing you need to do at this point. Certainly feel free to follow up with a thank you note (on paper or email) in which you reiterate your interest in the program, but I would leave it at that unless you get another offer, or the school contacts you to let you know that you're on the waitlist.