How'd your interviews go?

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MorganLilith

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I have one this weekend (I leave tomorrow). So far, incredibly nervous. My boyfriend keeps saying "it's just a conversation." Yea, a really IMPORTANT conversation. Post how yours went, what they asked, or even just how nervous you are! Anything really to do with the interviews. I feel like everything is being talked about in the invite thread, and I feel like the actual interviews deserve their own post. Good luck everyone!:xf::xf::xf:

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So I have an interview blooper to lighten the mood. Basically when my interviewers came into the room and I stood up to introduce myself...my pants start to fall down (I've lost some weight) and I had to hike them up very awkwardly. They looked at me oddly...so I said, "Goodness, you would think I was interviewing to work at a Chippendale's." They both laughed, so hopefully I'm not "that guy whose pants almost fell down". I guess I need to go buy a belt. :laugh:
 
I had dinner at a professor's house on one of my interviews and tripped and spilled my entire plate of food EVERYWHERE. However, I ended up getting an offer and am now a second-year at that program. You never know how it will work out, just give it your best shot and know that things happen sometimes :).
 
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...They looked at me oddly...so I said, "Goodness, you would think I was interviewing to work at a Chippendale's."

Smooooooooth.
 
I had dinner at a professor's house on one of my interviews and tripped and spilled my entire plate of food EVERYWHERE. However, I ended up getting an offer and am now a second-year at that program. You never know how it will work out, just give it your best shot and know that things happen sometimes :).

Lol! I had something similar happen. During my group interview I spilled a can of soda on the floor. It was an embarassing moment (do not ask why I decided to bring the soda into the interview to begin with). I got an offer and am almost finished now! I guess you never know...
 
I really hope schools don't have a problem with clumsiness, because if they do - I'm screwed. :)
 
It looks like spilling stuff is the way to go - both posters here who spilled food and drinks during interviews seemed to get into the program... i'll have to find something extra messy to drop during my interviews ;)
 
haha, that's good. I'm skilled in the art of spillage! I was thinking about smuggling one of my pigs into my bag so that if things start going downhill, I can just whip her out and the diffuse whatever tension has arisen. :p I mean who can resist that face? Just look at those cheeks, don't they say *love me, let me into your school* :laugh:
 
If it works, psychcavy, let me know. I have one of my own that I can bust out, though she has an unfortunate tendency of chewing on people's clothing. ;)
 
If it works, psychcavy, let me know. I have one of my own that I can bust out, though she has an unfortunate tendency of chewing on people's clothing. ;)

lol, I can see it now. One POI says to another, " I had the strangest thing happen!" and the other says, "An applicant of mine did the same thing!" It'll be a nation wide conspiracy. :laugh:

I'd imagine the clothes nibbling and trail of "beans" into the POI's office would be looked at unfavorably though.
 
Can anyone find the previous post (maybe two years ago) about the person who interviewed at a school and, while staying at a graduate student's apartment, killed a cat? That was perhaps the greatest school visit story ever told.
 
It looks like spilling stuff is the way to go - both posters here who spilled food and drinks during interviews seemed to get into the program... i'll have to find something extra messy to drop during my interviews ;)

There is some study I remember learning about in my undergrad social psych class that suggested that highly qualified candidates for a job who spilled something during their interviews (or otherwise did something to look human) ended up with higher ratings than highly qualified candidates who made no mistakes. On the other hand, those who were not highly qualified who spilled something looked worse than the not highly qualified candidates who did not spill anything.
 
I had one fun interview. Though I feel a bit like the odd one out having never spilled something during an interview.

I showed up late the first day because I slid off an icy road while driving through a blizzard and had to get towed out. Felt ridiculous doing it too...I only needed to be towed about 3 feet, but I skidded out across the snow before sinking in and was stuck.

Then my car wouldn't start because of the cold and I was blocking the driveway of the grad student who was driving me. Eventually I managed to get it started, ended up in another snow bank on her street trying to back out of her narrow driveway, onto her narrow street, because I didn't have enough traction to navigate the street (driving up a street in vermont is somewhat akin to trying to drive up a vertical side of a glacier, for those who haven't been).

Fun times! Though I was told people were impressed by the fact that I was calm and stoic about all this instead of freaking out.

Surprise surprise...I withdrew my application after I was offered an acceptance in sunny Florida:) Actually I'd have been happy to go there too, but FL was a better fit for me.
 
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when my interviewers came into the room and I stood up to introduce myself...my pants start to fall down (I've lost some weight) and I had to hike them up very awkwardly. They looked at me oddly...so I said, "Goodness, you would think I was interviewing to work at a Chippendale's." They both laughed, so hopefully I'm not "that guy whose pants almost fell down". I guess I need to go buy a belt. :laugh:

Kudos! Nice recovery.
 
Hey! I had my interview for the Counseling Psychology PhD yesterday, and it was was fine in general. I mean I didn't spill anything, and didn't kill anyone! :laugh: I liked both professors and students, and I am pretty sure they liked me as a person. I showed themy how motivated I am and how much I like their program too...... But I am still very worried about my performance. I am thinking about what I was telling during the interview over and over again.... I wish I were better prepared and more consistent and defined about my interests and population I want to work with... Professors and students told everyone more than once that they value broadness of interests if they coincide with the program specifics and faculty's interests. My interests match theirs 95%, but I still wish I were more consistent in my answers and more specific, rather being broad and seeming rather vague.... :(

I will be waiting for the feedback for more than 2 weeks :confused:. I hope it would be sooner that I hear from them...
 
I have one this weekend (I leave tomorrow). So far, incredibly nervous. My boyfriend keeps saying "it's just a conversation." Yea, a really IMPORTANT conversation. Post how yours went, what they asked, or even just how nervous you are! Anything really to do with the interviews. I feel like everything is being talked about in the invite thread, and I feel like the actual interviews deserve their own post. Good luck everyone!:xf::xf::xf:

Hi! :) You haven't written anything about your interview... How was it after all? Do you have any news already?
 
OOH! Thanks for caring!! haha. It went really well actually. I loved the school. I went there not really knowing if I'd want to be there but after I went, the professors, students, and just the aura of the program seemed to really fit with me. They hardly asked me any questions and I had to be ready with about 20 questions! I told them a little bit about myself.. for 5 minutes... then the rest was just me asking questions. I met with my POI for an hour, then 5 other people for half hour interviews. We got to sit in on this case conference where we heard about a particular patient that was being seen at the clinic. It was really interesting. I won't hear back for a few weeks I'm sure because there's another interview date on Feb 23rd but I'm crossing my fingers. I have another interview, but I'm not so sure that it will be as great of a fit, but we'll see! I was suprised how relaxed it was. I was so stressed the whole drive up there, i couldn't even eat or anything. When I got there though, the students were pleasant, the professors were so welcoming. I am such a loser, but I really enjoyed it! What about you? Have you gone on any??

Hi! :) You haven't written anything about your interview... How was it after all? Do you have any news already?
 
Oh, I'm an idiot. I just saw that you wrote this whole thing but then I continued to ask you about yours. Dumb of me!
 
Oh, I'm an idiot. I just saw that you wrote this whole thing but then I continued to ask you about yours. Dumb of me!
Hi! :) Well, as I have already written, I have kind of dubious feelings about the interview. I really love the program, and enjoyed professors and students, who were very friendly and personable. 3 groups of professors and 2 groups of students interviewed everyone individually. I had a feed back from professors and students that they liked my personality. I was not tense and I really enjoyed talking to them. I made them smile and laugh several times, and they showed that they value humor....They all stressed that it is the personality and interests match which they value most. But I were rather vague and broad as I have already written... However, there are several research teams students can join, so they do not require that applicants have clear cut interests. There is no determined POI- student match either. So, we shall see how it will work....Hope all of us are lucky :luck:
 
I loved it, actually! Exhausting but exhilarating, and I enjoy any opportunity in which to discuss my research. The faculty was soooo nice and laid-back, and the grad students were wonderful (my host especially). I think that I did okay, but who knows.
 
29 years on this planet, and never once has an airline lost my bag....except the one time that I ABSOLUTELY needed the suit that was inside it for an interview! :D Honestly, that was the only bad thing about the interview day, and I was able to stop on the way to the school and find a suit that fit (off the rack, FTW). Its good to be an average size dude!:laugh: I kept such a calm demeanor about the whole thing that I think it impressed some of the grad students and faculty at the school.
 
I interviewed at Loyola last Friday and had a really great time. It was a long day (8 a.m. - 7 p.m.) with 3 interviews with faculty members and 4 interviews with grad students, but it went by pretty quickly because everyone was so nice and accommodating. The interviews were more like casual conversations, which helped put me at ease.

I got most of the standard interview questions like "Tell me about yourself," "What's your greatest strength/weakness," "What got you interested in psychology," "Why Psy. D. instead of PhD," "Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years," etc... The most interesting questions I got were "Taking into account his prior DUI in addition to the latest news, how would you counsel Michael Phelps?" "What do you think people say behind your back about you?" "What is the most played song on your ipod right now?" "If I could take away only one thing from this interview about you, what would you want that to be?"

I think I did pretty well, but who knows.
 
I would have loved some of those questions, especially the mp3 player one. ;)
 
Anyone else want to share about their interviews? I would personally love to hear how people felt before/during/after their interviews.
 
I had my interview at Hofstra yesterday. My student interview was first (that took all of 15 minutes, and it was with someone I had worked with before...). Then, I hurried up and... waited.

They put us all in a room together while we waited for a student to retrieve us for our faculty interviews. I thought they had forgotten about me until my name was FINALLY called. They brought me to meet with the director of the clinic, and he was AWESOME. We totally clicked, and spoke for about 40 minutes about my research and clinical goals, as well as different aspects of working as a clinical psychologist. Afterwards, one of my good friends who is in the Psy.D. program ran into my interviewer. She called me as I was on my way home and said he was raving about me. So, I guess that's a good sign! :D

We shall see... St. John's on Monday...
 
So when they ask you why not a MA instead of a PhD or PsyD (especially if you just want to do private practice) what do you say? More rigorous training? You actually are a psychologist. (Better pay but I didn't say that.) You have more options in terms of getting hired places. What else?
 
So when they ask you why not a MA instead of a PhD or PsyD (especially if you just want to do private practice) what do you say? More rigorous training? You actually are a psychologist. (Better pay but I didn't say that.) You have more options in terms of getting hired places. What else?

Depending on the orientation/persuasion of the school, you might say that you are a firm supporter of the Boulder model (scientist-practitioner) & believe that good clinical work must be informed by good science.
 
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