What my IU Interview was like

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Eyegirl2007

Hi, y'all (I'm still in the southern mood).

I just got home from my interview. It's funny because the first thing I thought about when I stepped through the doors of their optometry building was that I had to record it all in my memory for SDN!

It was a loong drive down there, woooh. I have earned the name "Hard butt"

I attempted to stay at the econo lodge. Please don't ever stay there. It's a hole. I ended up staying at the Hampton instead which was VERY nice. Moral of the story: Never trust the pictures on the internet.

I don't know how many of you have ever been to Bloomignton but it's a lot of one way streets. In order to not get lost, here's how you get to the school if you come in through Indianapolis. Coming in on SR-37 you'll end up on college ave. It's college ave towards the center of teh city and n. walnut street on the way away from the center. To get to the optometry building, drive up college avenue until you get to third street. It's well labeled. Take a left on third street and keep going on this road. It will eventually turn into Atwater after a really steep curve. The optometry buildinjg will eventually appeare on your right. It's next to a Subway (the Jarod subway! Really!) on the left side of teh street is the parking garage your'e supposed to park at. Park on the 4th or 5th floor.

Anyhoo, I arrived at about 8:40. There were six or seven interviewees including myself, one guy and the rest were girls. They were all very friendly. We started out with a welcome session where they introduced teh school. The schedules are all staggered, so you might have the faculty interview first while....

Back soon...my cat just puked all over!!!

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mmmm hairball.. ;) we look forward to hearing all about your interview. Hope it went well.
 
Eyegirl2007, the masses are waiting to hear how the rest of your interview went:)
 
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Sorry, sorry sorry, hehe. I didn't realize I had so many fans. I've been kind of busy since I have to leave on an un-optometry related trip tomorrow. Here's the rest...

...someone else might have their student administration interview first or have a tour of the optometry building first. The welcome session took place in OP 310--the faculty lounge. I had my faculty interview first. Nothing like jumping right in! There were two faculty interviewers, one clinician and one research oriented person. They were both really great to me. They asked me the usual....how did I get interested in optometry, what was my undergrad like, what do I do outside of class. Note: It's a BLIND interview. They know nothing about your file! So make sure what you say matches your application!! They did ask me about the direction I saw optometry going in in the next ten years, and what issues were going to affect the profession. Those were the hardest questions. I hope I answered them well. Then they asked me if they had any questions. I asked about the student/faculty ratio, since I've heard rumors that it isn't so good but they seemed to clear that up. I thought 4:1 in clinic is pretty good!. It lasted for about 45 minutes. I was really relaxed this time since I've already been through one.
 
Then I went back upstairs and had my student administration interview, which is not stressful at all. They just make sure your file is complete and they collect your undergrad bulletin. I think that took all of ten minutes. Then, since I got the bitchin' schedule, I was done with the hard part. I had to wait around for about a half hour for the other girl who had the same schedule to get out of her interview and then we were taken on a tour. The facilities seem competent, but some of it does seem a little rundown. That just might be my opinion, since I don't really know anything about the equipment. However, the clinic is very nice. They seem to have a pretty good clinic education. Also, the tour guide told us about her research, which was really neat. We were eventually returned to the waiting room (which I termed the holding pen). I was so hungry at this point! I know I always think about lunch but I was!!! We had another tour guide take us on a 40 minute walk outside (the campus is huge! Bring your coat, I felt really bad for the others who didn't have one. The fall foilage was at it's peak, so it was beautiful.

We had lunch at this beautiful place called the Tudor Room. It was seriously like a five star restaurant! I had broccoli, cajun rice, teriyaki steak with sesame seeds. (MMM) and a GIANT piece of chocolate cake (mmmmmmmm). I was really impressed by that restaurant, wow! (I think I made a bad joke during lunch, so I hope they don't toss me based on that).

That was pretty much it. They walked us back to the optometry building and set us loose.

It's a pretty laidback atmosphere but not as laid back as ICO. and there's definetly a large, state university feeling to it.

If anybody wants to know anything else, PM me. I'm sorry it took me so long ..:rolleyes:
 
the other thing is, a lot of people brought their mothers...I thought that was a little weird. I like to go by myself to interviews, it just seems the thing to do.
 
I have my interview on the 15...what time did it last until? Starts at 9 and goes until when?
Thanks.

Grand Teton
 
Grand Teton,
The IU interview begins at 9 but I got there at 8:30 and most of the people were already there. They have you fill out some demographic forms when you get there so it's good to be there early. It lasts until about one o'clock. I imagine you're either driving or flying and then renting a car out of Indianapolis? Watch out for the Indianapolis traffic!! Yikes! Boy do they drive aggressively there.
 
WOW, a free meal with your interview! Never had that at NOVA, SCO, or OSU. Good luck!
 
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