Interviewing at Rochester

[DianaLynne]

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I received an interview invite for Rochester and I have a couple of questions. First of all, what do I do with those pre-interview questions? They say that you choose three of your ECs to discuss at your interview (since it's closed file, they have no idea who you are), so am I supposed to figure out how to fit those in those paragraphs? I didn't know I'd be writing essays for my interview! I suppose the pressure's off, I already have the interview but it seems like a good opportunity to steer the conversation toward my strengths.

And, what about travel arrangements? Rochester is way out there and doesn't seem like it would be an easy ride to one of my other schools. What's the train system like? What airport would be a convenient place?

I look forward to hearing your thoughts everyone. I hope the interviews and acceptances are rolling in for all of you!

Diana

 

[v-tach]

I received an interview invite for Rochester and I have a couple of questions. First of all, what do I do with those pre-interview questions? They say that you choose three of your ECs to discuss at your interview (since it's closed file, they have no idea who you are), so am I supposed to figure out how to fit those in those paragraphs? I didn't know I'd be writing essays for my interview! I suppose the pressure's off, I already have the interview but it seems like a good opportunity to steer the conversation toward my strengths.

And, what about travel arrangements? Rochester is way out there and doesn't seem like it would be an easy ride to one of my other schools. What's the train system like? What airport would be a convenient place?

I look forward to hearing your thoughts everyone. I hope the interviews and acceptances are rolling in for all of you!

Diana

The pre-interview questions aren't that bad. Just make a list of things to cover in each one and go for it--all it is, is a chance for you to tell them something about yourself and your interests. The interviews are quite low-stress and conversational; you may end up talking quite a bit about what is in your paragraphs/four activities, or other topics as well (with one interviewer, I got into a good discussion with him about his research). Be prepared to navigate your way through the hospital etc. as the interviews are often done in faculty members' offices which are scattered throughout. As far as travel arrangements, where are you traveling from? I went there from Worcester, MA so just drove (it was about 6 hours). Look into Amtrak--tends to be less hassle than flying, but if you're too far it won't really be feasible due to the time it takes. I say drive if it's reasonable--flying is SUCH a pain, and the school is not hard to find if you're driving. All in all, the interview experience there was very pleasant, and Rochester is my first choice school. Good luck!

 

[DianaLynne]

I'm gonna have to fly in, I live in Colorado. If possible, I'd kinda like to see what upstate NY is like. I lived in Ithaca for a summer and thought it was grand, but that was decades ago. Well, almost decades. I was thinking maybe fly in to Buffalo and train to Rochester from there. Is that possible?

 

[v-tach]

I'm gonna have to fly in, I live in Colorado. If possible, I'd kinda like to see what upstate NY is like. I lived in Ithaca for a summer and thought it was grand, but that was decades ago. Well, almost decades. I was thinking maybe fly in to Buffalo and train to Rochester from there. Is that possible?

That sounds like it could be a good plan. Go to www.amtrak.com and look at the schedule for trains from Buffalo to Rochester (if there are stations in both places--probably are) and see if it will work with the flights you can get. It will be a bit annoying to have to do switching around etc. but if you want to see a bit of upstate NY that should be a good way to do it.

 

[v-tach]

I was going to try and look up some of this for you, but it appears that Amtrak's website is down right now. You might try a little later. Now, I have to go to class. 🙂

 

[seethrew]

Even though it is a little more expensive, it is a lot more convienent to fly into Rochester. Buffalo is like an hour away driving, if you take a train it'll probably be longer and you'd have to get from airport to train in Buffalo. When is your interview? In snow months you may not want to deal with any surprises in terms of road/flight conditions. Chances are that weather will be OK, but you never know. As I'm sure you know from Ithaca, that Buffalo can get majorly dumped on in a regular way. The Rochester airport is REALLY close to the school. The ease might outweigh the extra $50-$75. I have in the past found reasonable rates from Denver to Rochester. You'll see a much prettier route if you are interested in SEEING upstate NY going for a drive south of Rochester by the Finger Lakes through Mennonite country and pick up some local wines! The route between Buffalo and Rochester isn't as scenic.

 

[DianaLynne]

I haven't scheduled it yet, but I'm going to try to get in there the first week of December. Is it already snowing there then? That's a good point on the extra transfers, that would be lame.

Diana

 

[seethrew]

The past few years it hasn't been so bad the first few weeks of December, but it does snow. Last year there was about 8" and the year before probably about a foot on the ground at that time. Not much really at a time, they got the plow power to take care of that fairly quickly. I looked this up - my memory isn't that great. 🙂 When that lake effect snow hits its a doozy though. A few years ago there was 6 feet in like 36 hours or something crazy like that. That happens occasionally. I don't remember what month it was. My beau at the time got trapped out there at work for a few days.

 

[DianaLynne]

Whoa! I love snow! Of course it might make wearing my interview pumps a little less practical on the tour, but I would like to see it. I did some checking around, and it's not too expensive to fly straight into Rochester. In fact, a little cheap, so I'm going to go that route I think. I talked to the lady who schedules interviews but she's not scheduling for December yet, so I have to call back next week.

Happy Halloween!

Diana