So you got through the applications and the excruciating waiting time, and you just received the email to schedule an interview with the graduate school program! Congratulations! We are going to quickly walk through how you can prepare yourself before to ace your graduate school interviews!

  • Search the school’s offer rate from the applicant pool
  • Research professors who you would be interested in joining their labs
  • What to bring with you for the interview
  • First day nerves and meeting your fellow applicants
  • The interview
  • Socializing

Search the School’s Offer Rate

It’s hard to know at this point how likely your chances are of getting accepted; some graduate schools only interview a small pool of students so if you are interviewed you are most likely getting an offer, while other schools will fly out tons of students even if they will only give an offer to 1/3 of those students. Either way, it will calm you down a little bit knowing your chances of getting into that school after the interview, so I always did a bit of research after getting the interview offer to see how likely my chances were of getting in at this point.

Research Professors who you are Interested in Joining their Labs

Most graduate school applications require you to mention at least one professor you are interested in, and I am hoping you researched the professors before applying and reached out to them! If you need help with the application, I wrote an earlier blog about it here.

If not, it’s alright. Perhaps now take this opportunity to reach out to professors, letting them know you have been accepted for an interview and you are interested in their research, perhaps scheduling a potential meeting with them while you are there for the interview.

If you did already research the professors before applying, way to go! Refresh your memory about these professors, especially if you mentioned them in your application. What I would recommend is writing down in a Legal Pad (or whatever writing notebook you are going to take in with you to the interviews) a page for each professor, summarizing their research and the big takeaways from their most recent 2-3 papers (you can find them on PubMed). I did this for 3 professors I was interested in for each interview.

When they send an itinerary, you may be meeting with professors not on your list, but still be prepared! Research each of those professors and even if you aren’t interested in working with them at least get a gist of their research. If you are feeling particularly like a go-getter, include takeaways from those professors’ one or two most recent papers.

Interview Packing List

Most graduate school interviews are Thursday-Saturday, with Friday being the interview day. One lucky thing almost all science graduate programs do is pay to fly their interviewees out and pay for their hotel costs. Because they are paying for your flight, try to only bring a carry-on. I always pack extra but below are what I would always travel with to interviews.

Personal

  • Makeup/cosmetics
  • Deodorant/hair products/personal hygiene products
  • Pajamas (you will likely have a roommate)

Interview Day

  • suit and dress shirt (suit coat optional, but I like to bring it with me in case I get cold inside or want to impress someone particularly)
  • spare dress shirt (you never know what might happen!)
  • legal pad in a padfolio, or some sort of notetaking notebook
  • 2 copies of your C.V. (in case you need to hand one out)
  • your notes about the professors you are meeting (preferably in your legal pad)
  • 2 pens
  • a printed version of your personal statement (so you can reference it if a professor is referring to it)
  • Dress shoes (go with flats if you are a woman just because you will likely be walking around all day)
  • slacks and a nice shirt (lots of interviews have dinner with the faculty where you want to dress nice but maybe not as formal as the interview)

Downtime

  • swimsuit and coverup (if the hotel has a pool you might want to go for a swim!)
  • jackets/outdoor attire
  • casual outfit (jeans and T-shirt and sneakers)
  • club outfit (some grad schools take their students out after interviews)

First Day Nerves and Meet Fellow Applicants

Now you have arrived for the interview and start meeting the other applicants. Don’t shy away from socializing because these may be your fellow classmates! This is also a good chance to see whether the people drawn to this school and this program are the right fit for you. Remember you are all in the same boat so don’t treat this like an interview as much as a getting to know you time.

The Interview

The scariest part of this whole graduate school application process is the interview, but you don’t need to be nervous as long as you have prepared in advance! For each professor you are going to be talking to, review your notes on them the night before your interview. Also, come up with some questions you want to ask. Below I have included some questions I asked, but also think of your own!

Generic Questions

  1. How did you choose to become a professor?
  2. How did you get into __ field?
  3. I thought ___ paper was very interesting in finding __, could you explain more about this?
  4. What do you expect from your graduate students?

Questions if you genuinely want to join this lab

  1. What is the lab environment like?
  2. What is the size of your lab? (undergrads, graduate students, post-docs, research techs, etc)
  3. How many years on average do your graduate students spend in your lab?
  4. What type of teaching style do you use with your graduate students?
  5. How often do you have lab meetings?
  6. What grants is your lab funded with? (you can find this out online as well but this is a good opportunity to see how well funded the lab is)
  7. What is your stance on graduates students writing their own grants?
  8. What foundational papers do you have incoming graduate students read?
  9. How often does your lab publish/how many papers do you expect a graduate student to publish during their time in your lab?

Socializing

The graduate school interview weekend will seem incredibly long because you are always trying to be on your best behavior. While you do want to be on your best behavior, don’t shut yourself off from enjoying the all expenses paid trip and getting a feel for the school. Make sure to talk with the current graduate students because they have the best idea of how you are feeling and can help answer most of your questions.

Also be mindful of what you say, even when you think it is just to a few other applicants, and NEVER say the school you are interviewing at isn’t one of your top choices. I’ve heard a few times of interviewees trash talking the school, bragging about getting into their top choice so none of these other interviews matter, or other things to sound like they are in high demand. No matter who you might be talking to, assume it will get back to the admissions. Needless to say, these people saying they don’t want to go to the school during interviews don’t get an acceptance.

You may also be offered to go out with current graduate students after the interview day, or to hang out with fellow applicants, and don’t waste these opportunities to start making connections right away! If you plan to join the school, great because you are making the first introduction for 4 or more years of knowing these people. Even if you don’t join the school, all these people will be your professional colleagues in some capacity who you may see in conferences or even collaborate with, so might as well start networking now.

Last, but not least, RELAX! You have already made it most of the way to getting into graduate school! Now let your personality and C.V. shine, and you will be getting those acceptance letters in no time.