Reading through the advice given to PhD/PsyD applicants about how to prepare for interviews, I was just wondering.... assuming you don't sound like an apathetic idiot, what really counts in an interview? I'm especially curious about unstructured interviews that feel more like general conversations about the program, since I can imagine those going fairly well for most applicants (which makes me curious about how the decision is made about who makes the final cut!).
I guess my question is, if you have an unstructured interview, or a series of unstructured interviews, how does the admissions committee make their decision? Is it mostly personality characteristics (flexibility, humility, calmness, etc.), the way you talk about your research/clinical experiences (to prove that what's written on your application is true), or the types of questions you ask about their program? Do all these things count equally?
I guess my question is, if you have an unstructured interview, or a series of unstructured interviews, how does the admissions committee make their decision? Is it mostly personality characteristics (flexibility, humility, calmness, etc.), the way you talk about your research/clinical experiences (to prove that what's written on your application is true), or the types of questions you ask about their program? Do all these things count equally?
