Hey guys,
I have a couple of fellowship interviews coming up in about a week. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on preparing for those interviews. What kinds of questions will they be asking? Thanks.
-S
Hey Superstarz, diosa, and Reimat, I'm a current Sarnoff Fellow and I interviewed (and was also accepted) at cloisters etc.
Both are great. Neither interview was difficult per se but the tone of the entire interview day is INCREDIBLY different. You'll see what I mean. (Typically people walk away knowing that they'll take one or the other.)
Its been a while but here's what I remember.
First off, the timing of the interviews are different. At Sarnoff the interviews are MUCH shorter (when I say short, I mean SHORT) and they have your 3pg proposal. At cloisters its a bit more Research-chatty because they need to get an impression of your knowledge. Both were 2 sets of interviews, 2 on 1 (profs to student).
At cloisters they asked me about my prior research and tried to test my understanding of research design/broader implications/etc. They were VERY friendly but tried to grill me a little. Nothing uncomfortable or unpleasant, I just explained the rationale of my research and stuck to my guns.
At Sarnoff, they've already read your proposal (+CV + personal statement, and believe me they have actually READ them) so the focus will be much less on these aspects. You might get 1 or 2questions on your proposal to test your general comprehension-- so know your proposal, but this wont really be the focus so don't freak out. They are really looking more for how you approach science, research, & your career. (There is no right answer here so don't look for one. All kinds of people were accepted my year. Just say what you think)
From the other fellowship-applicants, it seemed like the questions varied widely but the FOCUS of the questions (see previous 2 paragraphs) was pretty consistent.
I'm betting it'll be more along the lines of questioning past research experience, 10 year goals, making sure we're all normal, and weeding out the people who are willing to do a year of research just to be more competitive for certain specialties.
This is absolutely correct.
For some reason, even though my cloisters interviewers grilled me, it was the Sarnoff interview that I felt was more intense. (My friends who are previous cloisters fellows agree so its not just me having some weird Sarnoff bias, I don't think)
The dress may have been a bit more formal at Sarnoff for non-interview events... although as far as the interviews themselves go, an interview-suit is an interview-suit. (bring your suit and tie for the friday dinner...or carry a tie in your pocket on Fri night, just in case. Saturday dinner, which is with current fellows, was much more relaxed though.)
Hope that gives you at least some idea of what to expect.
Feel free to PM me with questions.
I look forward to seeing all of you Sarnoff applicants this Fri/Sat (and taking you out to dinner... after all, its not all interviews)