PhD Epidemiology interview - what to expect

[ugm12]

Hello,

Can anybody share their experience / knowledge of interviews for admission to PhD Epidemiology programmes?

My partner has a few interviews scheduled at U.S universities for Jan and Feb, but cannot find any information on commonly asked questions and how to prepare.

Are panel interviews a general chat? Are they more structured with biostats questions to work through?

Any comments would be a huge help!
Thank you for reading.

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[hawasm]

I second this! I have two interviews coming up and would love some insight

 

[wwmmkk]

I haven't interviewed for the epidemiology program I applied to, only for some behavioral sciences programs. None of the interviews were particularly difficult or technical, but of course all interviews are stressful. Here's some stuff I was expected to be able to do:

- Give a brief overview of the research I've done in the past and how it has informed my current interests
- Give a brief overview of my current interests and why I think they are interesting/relevant/worth studying on the population level
- Discuss my plans for after my PhD
- Talk about what sorts of projects I'd be interested in working on during my studies (ie., talk about how my research connected to my POI's)
- Talk about my experience with the population I'm interested in studying
- Talk about why my research would be useful to others beyond the Ivory Tower
- Ask intelligent questions about the program (ie., stuff that wouldn't be on a website)
- Be able to hold a general conversation about a POI's current projects (reading and knowing their past publications in detail was a waste of time; it's more important to look at what grants they have now and to ask where they see their work going in the next few years)

 

[hawasm]

That was incredibly helpful. Thanks!

 

[MPH1990]

I haven't interviewed for the epidemiology program I applied to, only for some behavioral sciences programs. None of the interviews were particularly difficult or technical, but of course all interviews are stressful. Here's some stuff I was expected to be able to do:

- Give a brief overview of the research I've done in the past and how it has informed my current interests
- Give a brief overview of my current interests and why I think they are interesting/relevant/worth studying on the population level
- Discuss my plans for after my PhD
- Talk about what sorts of projects I'd be interested in working on during my studies (ie., talk about how my research connected to my POI's)
- Talk about my experience with the population I'm interested in studying
- Talk about why my research would be useful to others beyond the Ivory Tower
- Ask intelligent questions about the program (ie., stuff that wouldn't be on a website)
- Be able to hold a general conversation about a POI's current projects (reading and knowing their past publications in detail was a waste of time; it's more important to look at what grants they have now and to ask where they see their work going in the next few years)

I attended an in-person interview day last week, with a panel interview and 3 individual interviews with potential PIs. Panel was very general questions- why a PhD, strengths/weaknesses, things I'm proud of, any questions I have. Individual interviews focused more on my interests and the work of the PI and if there was a good fit, like mentioned above. I didn't feel the need to know tooooo much in depth about professors' work as we mainly spoke about upcoming projects they had where they envisioned student participation- so looking up grants is certainly useful but you can also just ask where they see their research going!

It's also a good time for you to get more information on if that advisor is a good fit for you (not just if you're a good fit for them). Good time to talk about student work scope (field work? all data analysis? lab? some flexibility?), time to graduation, funding and grant opportunities etc.