Would like this to stay here in the cafe since I’m not really looking for the student perspective (because I don’t really “know” the students here like I “know” the parents here!).
D2 will have her first grad school interview in a couple of weeks for a professional doctorate program (OT). Happens to be this interview is for her first choice school so it’s a lot of pressure!
What kind of feedback did you hear from your grad school kids as to how they prepared or felt they should have prepared for the grad school interview?
Clearly she should know the particular school’s program pretty well. Have some questions of her own to ask. Be able to clearly communicate what makes her a good candidate, be confident of her skills academically and with peers, etc.
She is going to shop for an outfit over T-Giving break. She is not a black blazer and pants person. She is considering a neutral business dress with a coordinating but not matchy-matchy jacket. I support that. I work in a medical school and we are having resident interviews right now and the amount of black, black, black outside my office door is unbelievable! The one person who stood out to me visually was the woman NOT all dressed in black. She looked professional but not like a factory interview!
Anyway, any tips on prep ahead, pitfalls, recommendations etc that you heard from your own grad students would be appreciated.
I’m sort of amazed that parents focus this much on their grad-student children. Aren’t they adults by NOW?
I understand that OP and other parents are hoping to be supportive but inside I’m thinking: land the helicopter, please. They are just fine. Let them go!
You can say that, @Dustyfeathers, but I just had coffee with my DD-MD and three other MD friends, I was answering some adulting questions and several of them talked about how much they appreciated their family’s support & some made the comment that they would not have made it into med school without the guidance of a family member as their school advisors were not the best. If nothing else, it is good to come to a forum and get your questions answered so you don’t bug your kid and if you know a little something about all 100 possible questions, when you kids asks you one question, you might have an answer
It sounds like your D already has a good handle on the whole thing.
D1 flew all over the country interviewing. I don’t have a clue what she did to prepare or what kinds of conversations she had. She’s about to finally get that Ph.D this spring, so I guess she figured it out with my help. I will say she is more like your D in the clothes department. No black.
I’d provide her support in the form of gift cards for coffee shops or restaurants, or some spa/massage gift cards, Uber gift card, or chip in for any other travel expenses. Of course you are already supplying love and emotional support.
I don’t think my daughter had interviews for grad school (nonprofessional school Ph.D.). So the only advice I have to offer concerns the trip itself and that is to not cut corners on time, if possible. Good luck to your daughter!
I was not a lot of help with my D for her med school interviews. I did encourage her to talk with others that were further along in the process and ask them what they did and what they wished they had known beforehand. I should probably ask her if she has had the chance to pay that forward to future students.
What I did do to help was to read and edit her essays for her application. I did not tell her she had to send them to me, I did tell her I was available if she wanted me to read them. I had to write an 80 page thesis for my master’s degree, she knew I knew how to write and how to edit. It would not have bothered me if she had not sent them to me, though I was glad to do it.
What I do now that she is a 3rd year, a year out from residency applications/interviews, is collect frequent flyer miles so that she can afford the plane tickets for interviews. I will use them if she chooses not to for whatever reason.
As far as interview clothes go, it should be something that she is comfortable in. My D is tall and thin, hard to fit sometimes. Each person needs to find something that is business to formal, that fits well and that they are comfortable with. Mindset and comfort goes a long way in an interview.
@Dustyfeathers I can assure you I’m not helicoptering. She’s my third finishing college and I’ve supported - not coached - through several applications process. We are a family however and she likes to talk to me about these steps. She has asked me to “ask around” - so I am! She is carrying her load and is talking to her advisor as well as others who have been through the process. Sometimes it just helps to talk things out and explore the whole process - before you’re standing their IN the process.
I personally don’t “get” the concept that just because we are adults - whether 21, 31, 61 - that we should not ask for help or opinions.
Yes, it’s something like a 4-5 hour process.
She is used to interviews and I think she comes off well in person and is a good communicator.
@abasket - Suggest your DD talks to the career services office on campus. My son is working on grad school applications currently and has gotten some great help from them on his essay. They do more than just job placement.
She’s “interviewing” them as much as they are interviewing her, so she should also be looking for what does or doesn’t make THEM a good candidate for her. How are the other students in the program? Are they happy? stressed out? Do they like their instructors and advisors? Does it seem like an atmosphere where she will fit in? S had 2 interviews followed by 2 offers. They both wanted him, so they were kind of wooing him, if you will.
My kid only had interviews over the phone for PhD programs (and only some did it) before she was accepted or rejected. So she could wear her PJs if she wanted. She did visits to programs after acceptances. She got into 7 programs, and visited 5. So I guess it depends on the kind of program.
That said, I’d have been happy to help with clothing choices, mock interview, etc if she’d asked. Heck, I don’t want my kid home in her bedroom after college. She did ask me to help her arrange flights for most of her visits because she was crazy busy spring of senior year with her senior project when she had to do them, which I happily did. For the most part the programs just said what they’d pay, and she was left to make her own travel arrangements and then apply for reimbursement.
I wore professional clothes to my grad school interview. I was told it would be a “group” interview, so I assumed it would be me with several other candidates. It turned out to be me and 6 interviewers. I just made sure I was really prepared: that I knew their program in and out; that I had looked over the faculty members and knew about several of them in the room and what research they were doing. You can’t be over prepared for this. Good luck to her.
Good point about the other grad students. In most of D’s interview weekends, there were activities with current grad students in the program, so she observed them and spoke to most of them. At one program near a beautiful beach, she commented to a student how nice it was to be in a city on such a beautiful coast. The 3rd year student said “Beach? I’ve never been to the beach! Who has time for that?!?” She crossed that school off her list mentally right then and there.
She did do a visit day at this school so has had some hands on time - though limited - with some of the current cohorts. That was valuable. Also really good angle about the group interview!
Daughter’s interview “uniform” as she called it for vet school was a navy suit, with a very light pin stripe, blush colored blouse-round neckline, silk, not shiny, pink pearl post earrings, single strand pinks pearls, no jewelry on fingers or wrists, black pumps. She did a mock interview with and alum and talked with several current students. Her career services at college approved of the outfit and reviewed interviewing skills with her. She tends to be soft spoken, so that really helped. She had asked me to help pick out a couple of outfits to bring to the career center for approval and she discussed everything she was prepared to ask with me.
Happykid did the MFA Theatre Design application thing last winter. That process is very different from your daughter’s so I don’t have any specific advice for her beyond 1) talking with recent successful OT applicants from her college/university to get ideas about the process, and 2) trusting her gut about whether the place is the right match for her, She will know pretty quickly whether a place is keeper. It was a wild ride for our whole family from January through March, but my kid landed where she is supposed to be. I’m sure yours will too.
I think it is a great idea to come here and get ideas and answers while your child is making ANY change. It keeps us busy and out of our children’s hair!
I don’t have many tips for how the search went since DD did it while she was far away at undergrad. But it worked. She got in (near home even!) and is set for her thesis defense this Dec.
One place (besides CC) I stalked while she was in the process was the gradcafe. Don’t know if I could post a link here but google gradcafe forum and it comes right up. there were some funny threads on there, too.
