<p>pentaligin
Well spoken!
Your dress for interview sounds right to me.</p>
<p>I was not being hostile. I was providing necessary evidence of someone’s unreliability.</p>
<p>And, yes, jeans are a mistake - after all, you can expect that very few people will be wearing them. However, that it’s a mistake does not infer it’s unacceptable: “casual” means “casual.”</p>
<p>
They are not paying to see you in formal clothes. Suffice it to say an attempt to “repay” your interviewers by dressing up is the form of repayment they will appreciate the least.</p>
<p>Oh, and…</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That, frankly, is ridiculous. It’s not a form of repayment, it’s a show of respect for the time and effort. </p>
<p>And a problem to overdress - what!? A suit may be slightly too much but I’ll bet you that you’ll probably never find a professor who thinks “Oh, this kid is overdressed for my graduate interview, he must not be appropriate for our program.” But - I bet you will find faculty who thinks this guy looks like he isn’t taking me or the school seriously enough.</p>
<p>Hi folks, I’m grateful for all the ideas and tips shared in this forum. Everyone has a different viewpoint: different choice for dinner, different favorite music, and even different views on what to wear for an interview. That makes the world interesting. However, for those that are a bit inexperienced with interviews (including me), we have to pick and choose which suggestion(s) to absorb. There is not a right answer on exactly what to wear for an interview (not even in the constitution or any religious text) since every college or professor might have a different idea, so at the end we are up to ourselves on deciding what to wear. I have seen professors who wear suits to lab and some that wear a Red Sox jersey too…</p>
<p>I’m glad to see a flow of ideas throughout this thread too, but I hope that it will not become too negative in the future. I also believe that many of us have other concerns in our minds other than what to wear for the interview too, and I hope that folks who are more experienced can continue to voice their thoughts. :)</p>
<p>
First of all, I’ve got a pink-haired professor who wouldn’t be able to contain herself if someone showed up in suit and tie for a stated casual event. Secondly, though she would most assuredly laugh, her initial judgements based on clothes couldn’t stand up to her (obviously more important) judgements based on interview performance. The same is true of being “underdressed” with traditionally minded interviewers. What do you have to worry about if the substance of your interview conveys the seriousness your clothes happen to not?</p>
<p>
Well, that would be why “repay” was in quotes. Proper “repayment” or show of respect is dressing nicely and not over/underadequately - what does formal wear, particularly when it’s uncalled for, have to do with respect?</p>
<p>@dendritic
I agree with you about the PI. There are a lot of labs in the pharmacology division that seem really interesting (2 right now in which I would be interested in doing rotations). It’s a very well-funded program, in general… (I’ve always been treated extremely well by the faculty/people of VCU so you can probably tell I am kind of biased – I really love this school.) :)) I hope I see you tonight or tomorrow at least!</p>
<p>Folks bickering – c’mon, y’all! We’re all trying to help each other. </p>
<p>Those who visited Sackler already at NYU: can you either post or PM me how you think it went? It was my first interview and I was really nervous so I am curious what you guys thought about the process. In general, I thought they were pretty classy and I really dug the director of admissions (talk about a nice guy.)</p>
<p>@jambromr
Oh…I’ve not heard from Yale yet. What about u? Have u heard from Yale? I remember that you’d heard from Harvard, Cornell, and…where? (sorry I forgot others) </p>
<p>Anyway, I am just wondering…why are u waiting from Upenn despite you didn’t apply for Upenn public health program? Is there a special program? </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>The general rule for ANY kind of professional interview is to dress at or one step above what is worn in that particular work place. Professors wear casual pants (though rarely blue jeans) and sweaters/nice shirts. The only people on campus who regularly wear suits are upper administration (deans, provost, president), although occasionally a professor will wear a suit when he/she is meeting someone important outside of the university. </p>
<p>If you feel more comfortable wearing a suit, go ahead and wear it. No one will fault you for dressing up. But most university people, male and female, will be wearing some version of khakis and a sweater/shirt. You will not feel out of place as long as you are neat. Although I wouldn’t recommend blue jeans, black jeans should be fine as long as they aren’t worn. No one will care what you’re wearing as long as it looks as though you are taking the interview seriously.</p>
<p>You can click on websites of the various programs to see what the professors are wearing in their official photographs. :)</p>
<p>Edited: I left the above intact because it’s so hilarious: “Although I wouldn’t recommend blue jeans, black jeans should be fine as long as they aren’t worn.” Yes, you must WEAR your pants. But the fabric shouldn’t be old. :)</p>
<p>^Agreed.</p>
<p>I would note that there is one way overdressing could hurt, at least in my opinion. I have had a few professors encourage me not to overdress for these sorts of encounters, because it sends the message that you view yourself as a subordinate, and are dressing up to impress the bosses. The point of graduate school is that you’re transitioning from your undergraduate time to become a junior colleague of these professors, so it’s not ideal to look like you’re an underling – you want to look like a colleague. And as MWFN says, to look like a colleague you would probably wear casual pants and a sweater or shirt. </p>
<p>You will have to deal with these issues over and over again in graduate school, when you decide what to wear to your committee meetings, defense, and postdoc interviews. I wouldn’t ever wear jeans to one of those events, because it would make me feel slobby and not confident. But I’ve been talked out of looking too much like a girl, too, so I don’t wear skirts for these types of events anymore. YMMV.</p>
<p>When in doubt, pack a couple of different outfits and see what everybody else is wearing.</p>
<p>^^ About the overdressing part: Mollie is right. It may look like you’re trying too hard. But I highly doubt they will be admitting/denying people based on dress.</p>
<p>Punkybugsy - I applied to Duke’s Evolutionary Anthro program, as well, and haven’t heard anything back. Though I talked to my PI of interest and he said they haven’t even really started reviewing applications. He thought decisions might not be made until March. He also said they got a crapload of applications this year, though I’m sure that’s true across the board… Good luck!</p>
<p>since when was wearing a suit such a big deal? last time i checked, a grad school interview = a job interview…and i would probably wear a dress shirt and slacks to a job interview. i disagree with the subordinate part, too – you’re only being paid to work in a professor’s lab doing his work for 5 years. even though some labs might feel like you and your professor are colleagues and best buds you’re definitely not. the good thing about science is that things like appearance or personality don’t really matter to most scientists, but it’s still the real world…</p>
<p>I (like many others) plan to wear a nice pair of slacks and a nice dress shirt/blouse. I considered wearing my suit, but I was told business casual so that’s what I’m going to stick with. I find myself feeling a bit more confident in the clothing I’ve chosen, and I think that’s important. The last thing you should have to be worrying about at interviews is whether or not you are dressed appropriately.</p>
<p>One week until recruitment weekend for the CMB program at UT Austin. Getting super excited about it!</p>
<p>You will probably adjust your dress according to what you encounter on your first interview. </p>
<p>I’d also like to note that different parts of the country have different levels of appropriate dress. New England and California tend to be much more casual than NYC and TX. Philly is relatively casual, but Atlanta may not be.</p>
<p>thanks to all who answered about the einstein interview invites;
i finally bit the bullet and called them and they said that the review process is still undergoing and they have interview dates till march but im not too confident because my app says “under review” now for a month…
sigh.</p>
<p>they were really casual at UTSW in Dallas…but then again, it seemed like all the profs had performed postdocs at johns hopkins, harvard, or ucsf.</p>
<p>about the dress code…</p>
<p>i went to an interview and saw a guy wearing jeans and a nice polo shirt. did he look unprofessional? I did not think so. It was the way he carried himself. I also saw a guy who wore a tie and he looked fine. Dress with whatever you think will be acceptable. </p>
<p>On that note, my PI who went to UCSF dressed in khaki pants and a hawaiian shirt with open toed sandals which he wore with his socks. i thought that was funny! he got in nevertheless. </p>
<p>i suppose they mostly care about how you talk and interact with other people not so much about you dress unless you plan on wearing a hobo-attire.</p>
<p>I wore a suit at the UPenn interview and there were many ppl who also wore it! So its no harm if you overdress…but yes it does look awkward if you undress as they expect you to be somewhat professional. </p>
<p>Has anyone heard from Stanford Biosciences?</p>
<p>Hi all,</p>
<p>New here, first post, but I’ve been lurking a long time.</p>
<p>About me:</p>
<p>3.9GPA in EEB at small, private liberal arts college
Two Journal publications
finalist at ISEF
Howard Hughes Scholar
Research Presentations at three universities
Other smaller stuff…</p>
<p>Applied at:</p>
<p>Harvard MCO
Cornell
Wash U St. Louis
University of Toronto
Wisconsin Madison
IU Bloomington</p>
<p>So far I have been offered interviews at all of them except Toronto, whose application deadline was only a couple weeks ago, so I don’t expect to have heard back from them so soon. </p>
<p>Problem is: I accepted the invitation to interview at Wash U a few weeks ago, and today finally heard back from IU. IU wants me to interview on the same weekend as Wash U. I don’t want to say that IU is a “safety,” because I don’t want to treat it that way. But, I’m not sure if I had the choice between them and Wash, which I would take. </p>
<p>I’m composing a letter to IU letting them know that I’m honored they have asked me to attend, but that I already booked that weekend with Wash U (who has already paid travel expenses) and that, out of courtesy to Wash U, I feel I must attend. </p>
<p>I then asked if it was possible to make other arrangements to visit IU and interview, since I do still consider it a very viable contender. </p>
<p>Does anyone know if they would be willing to do this? Every weekend in February is booked with Madison, Cornell, Harvard and Wash U, so I probably would not be able to get to Bloomington until sometime in March. Is that too late? </p>
<p>Do I just need to make a decision now as to whether I’d rather sacrifice IU or Wash U?</p>
<p>Hi!</p>
<p>I just joined and its awesome to see all the posts!
really need some help.
I’m an international student(India) currently in the US on a H4 visa.
I am interested in pursuing a phd in cancer biology and have applied to the following institutions</p>
<p>BMS-UCSF, Weill Cornell, Sloan Kettering, NYU-Sackler, Rutgers State, Mt Sinai, USC-LA-PIBBS, UC-Irvine, and Univ of Rochester</p>
<p>Rejects- BMS-UCSF</p>
<p>Interviews
Rochester - Feb 4-6
Mt Sinai- Feb 22/23</p>
<p>I havent heard frm the rest of them and frm reading the above posts I figure that Weill Cornell and NYU-Sackler have already given out interview invites :(</p>
<p>Can someone pls tell me abt their exp at Rochester/ Mt Sinai interviews if they have already interviewed and any suggestions on how to prepare?</p>