No Interviews?

[brianski]

Is is weird for a clinical PhD program to not conduct interviews? I know that a few of the schools that I applied to do not hold interviews, but still do not give out acceptances until the end of March. Why is this? Any thoughts to ease my pain? I do not understand how the faculty can receive an accurate picture of the students without an interview, and it is definately a chance for the students to see if the school environment is one that appeals to them. Without an interview, everyone is basically throwing dice. That's my thought as of now anyway. Comments?

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[positivepsych]

Is is weird for a clinical PhD program to not conduct interviews? I know that a few of the schools that I applied to do not hold interviews, but still do not give out acceptances until the end of March. Why is this? Any thoughts to ease my pain? I do not understand how the faculty can receive an accurate picture of the students without an interview, and it is definately a chance for the students to see if the school environment is one that appeals to them. Without an interview, everyone is basically throwing dice. That's my thought as of now anyway. Comments?

Pretty much most other grad programs outside of clinical psych don't do interviews. So don't worry, it's not like it's unheard of. Clinical psych is the outlier here amongst PhD programs in terms of how involved the process is.

Even at some interviews I've been to, I got the sense that faculty just wanted to confirm their suspicions as to who are good candidates in terms of if the person is agreeable, can speak coherently, and not socially inept (I guess evaluating their potential to be a colleague).

However, in terms of evaluating academic potential, I don't think that paper applications are the same as 'throwing dice.' The best predictor of future academic success continues to be previous academic success.

 

[brianski]

That is true, at one of the interviews that I attended one of the professors said that the interview was the lowest predictor of becoming a successful graduate student. I just know that most psych programs do conduct interviews, and wondered if those that did not were at a disadvantage, especially at giving potential students a view of how their program actually runs. It is one thing to read about the program online, but sometimes what looks good on paper does not feel good in person.

 

[Psyclops]

Many times the interview is used as much as a recruitment tool as a evaluative one. But ultimately I think professors want to make sure they will enjoy the next five years with the person whom they are interviewing. So be polite and charming.