Thanks for the info. My daughter applied for the Italian PhD program. Neither she nor I can find any info at all about interview percentages or post-interview acceptance rates. One of the lecturers at her current program is a current PhD student at Penn and he told her it’s a very good sign, though he was surprised that her interview is scheduled to be 20 mins long when his was an hour (and scheduled as such). I’ll be glad when the whole application season is over tbh, one way or the other. When she was applying to undergrad it was straightforward- we knew she’d get multiple acceptances… with grad school it’s much less cut and dried.
Can her undergrad profs help her out re: possible interview questions and other info on the program?
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In the same program? Then that person would be the best resource for advice on how to prepare!
With my daughter’s program, individual interview blocks may have been 20 minutes to half an hour, but the entire process was two hours, with multiple interviewers as well as an opening “group” orientation.
My daughter would prepare by reviewing all the information on the program, any specializations they offered, the multi-year outline, etc. - so she could cite specifics how/why it closely lined up what she was hoping to gain from their program. This way, she was ready to have a conversation in those areas, in case they were soliciting/inviting comments.
And, of course, she prepared to speak in detail about her internships, practicas, etc. on her application - as well as advanced classes she had/was still taking. From what I gather, they did probe one or another specific topic, probably to gauge how competently/confidently she could respond outside the “textbook” material.
So, when she got a genuine “Hm, true. That’s actually an interesting thought…”, she sensed it was going well.
(PS: in the case of my daughter, she had been invited to interview at more than one program - and the interviews were just as much driving HER decision towards one vs other programs, as it informed the graduate schools’ decisions.)
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No additional insights, just chiming in to extend congratulations and wish your daughter luck.
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She had a meeting with one who told her to expect them to want to just converse in Italian to gauge her language skills, and basically get to know her unique area of interest. Their advice was to make sure she had a few questions so she seems engaged. There are six professors on the interview panel but only one from the Italian department (the dept chair whom she’s met previously). I thought it was interesting that it’s so many people unrelated to the program.
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I was thinking the interview may very well be to gauge language skills. Most of the programs D20 is considering also make language skills a big part of the interview. One school made it clear whatever language(s) you list on your grad school app, be prepared to speak all of them during your interview. While I’m sure this isn’t a concern for your daughter, I have been surprised to learn many schools have clearly been burned by people not proficient in languages necessary for their programs. 
How is D21 doing in her dance program? I’m always curious to hear about both your daughters - they are so clearly self motivated and determined…and also are traveling paths not many pursue!
I agree that’s probably what it’s about, but I’m very curious to hear from her after if the professors from the other departments spoke/understood Italian. Her informal interview with the department head was in Italian, so they seem to have a grasp of where she’s at in general.
My younger daughter is loving her program. She’s been cast in multiple pieces in the fall and spring and has a crazy schedule so that she can do ballet/pointe five days a week- and she likes it that way. After the fall her credits put her as a junior- and a junior in her education major- but she’s still a freshman in the dance major. She’s currently fighting the administration about the meal plan requirement, as she has celiac and they glutened her about 5 times last semester, which is totally unacceptable.
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@milgyfam - Good luck to your daughter. If she has particular research areas of interest that align with the department head or other Italian faculty members, it might be good to figure out a way to chat with those faculty members, even informally.
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Yes, keep us posted! And congratulations to D21’s accomplishments!! I hope she’s able to get off the meal plan - that is totally unacceptable!
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My daughter got an acceptance from UPenn today! She’s over the moon!
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Congratulations to both you! Our S19 still has only one grad school application submitted - Glasgow - with five more to go. His part of the work is mostly done, but his advisor has a very systematic approach to references and she’s asked him to submit only when she’s got the reference ready for a particular school. It seems that the UK schools send an email to the referees named in the application when it is submitted and often give them only a very brief window to respond. I’m sure it will work out somehow. In any event, this is just the first step on another long road - first the one-year UK conversion masters, then the sports psychology masters and then the Ph.D. I don’t think he is focused enough yet that he could realistically have gone directly into a Ph.D. program in the US, so having an extra couple of years before attempting that is not a bad thing for him.
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Congrats @milgymfam - that is so exciting!! Good luck @tkoparent!
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Congratulations! Is Penn her top choice or does she have other pending applications?
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She has other pending apps- Hopkins, Stanford, and Oxford, but Penn has always been her second choice (after Oxford)- and since Oxford is for a masters Penn would probably win out in the end anyway.
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Congratulations!! Not surprised at all - it is so clear that your daughter is an amazing candidate! What made UPenn her second choice? What is she really excited about? Always like hearing the why’s of these choices. 
Thank you! When she was in Oxford for junior year she really fell in love with their system, the city, and the school. They also have a professor who literally wrote a number of the books she’s used in undergrad, and she would love to work with him. She is currently reeling from the fact that she was rejected from CUNY but accepted at Penn. the CUNY rejection had her worried she wasn’t PhD material.
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Upenn made a very good choice! If they’re lucky, she’ll decide to accept their offer.
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Wonderful news @milgymfam! Congratulations!
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Ok, my daughter’s grad application cycle is now complete, and it was a roller coaster!
Her results:
Rejected: Cambridge, CUNY, Hopkins, Stanford
Accepted: Middlebury, UPenn, U of Wisconsin Madison, Oxford
Overall, she got into the places that she wanted the most, and you can’t ask for more than that. She has a BIG decision to make now!
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Great results! Nice choices to have.
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