<p>I heard here and there that suits are not necessary for interview, but I really don't know what to expect to dress. Is it okay for a girl to go without high heal shoes? I heard it's gonna be a lot of walking and I can't ever find a pair of high-heals that don't hurt. If it's snowing, wouldn't it be a bit funny to have snow shoes with what seems to be a business attire? Would a pair of plain-colored sneakers be okay? </p>
<p>I hope they don't care a whole deal cos I've worked with 4 PI's and none of them ever cared how I dress. </p>
<p>I'm really nervous about this entire process being intl and getting an interview (well i'm hopefully hopeful). If you folks have interview experiences please post about those here... would love to hear your stories. My friends told me they talked about the professors of their classes, and certainly their research. But does any school ask you to introduce yourself in a speech-like manner and or for a catchy reason about why you want to go to that school? How much show-off does it take? (I'm asking this because I'm horrible at show-off but I think I'm okay with knowing my own research.)</p>
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I hope they don't care a whole deal cos I've worked with 4 PI's and none of them ever cared how I dress.
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This is actually the key -- the dressing up is primarily for you, not for the professors. They are not likely to notice if your clothes aren't "just right", and it would be very surprising if any of them noticed anything about your shoes. :) Mostly, you just want to wear clothes that make you feel confident. </p>
<p>I did wear ballet flats with pants for my interviews, but I wore shoes with a low heel with a skirt. I tried to wear the skirt/heels on a day when we weren't scheduled to walk much. (But if you do decide on heels, bring band-aids, too.)</p>
<p>
[quote]
My friends told me they talked about the professors of their classes, and certainly their research. But does any school ask you to introduce yourself in a speech-like manner and or for a catchy reason about why you want to go to that school? How much show-off does it take?
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In a typical interview, you walk in, sit down, and introduce yourselves. The professor will give a description of his/her work. You will give a description of your work. You will try to think of poignant questions to ask while the professor is describing his/her work. The professor will ask if you have any questions about the program, and you will ask one or two questions. You will thank each other for the interview and move on.</p>
<p>It's all pretty scripted, really. Nobody is going to try to get you to say why you want to go to that school -- they aren't particularly interested in getting people to fake excitement about the program, they want people to decide if the program is the right place for them. Any allegiance the faculty members have to the program is trumped by wanting to help you find a program and perhaps a lab that makes you happy.</p>
<p>So there's not too much showing off. You do want to make sure that you credit yourself appropriately while you're discussing your own research -- you want to sound like an active, thinking player.</p>
<p>Has anyone interviewing at UW-Seattle MCB heard from them again yet re: arrangements? I received the initial phone call, but they never sent me anything about flight arrangements or faculty interviews, and it's been a while. I'm wondering if I should call and make sure I didn't accidentally get left off the e-mail list.</p>
<p>TVGradSchool - I got an e-mail from Berkeley MCB saying they would notify people between the 15th and the 31st - though I assume it will be sooner than later, since their first interview weekend is one of the first weeks of February.</p>
<p>Based on some old forum threads, Berkeley MCB invited people on the 18th and 19th last year.</p>
<p>Also, Harvard sent out their first invites between the 15th and 20th of January last year, for MCB.</p>
<p>thanks for the info...did you email UCB and ask them when they were sending out interview invites? If you did not, I am wondering if I should be concerned that I didn't receive anything from them. </p>
<p>This seems like it will be a very busy week. MIT sent out interview invites this week last year as well. Good luck everyone!</p>
<p>tvgradschool, I apparently received the same e-mail as buffkitten. The subject line was "UC Berkeley Application Complete" and I received it on January 4th, about 3 weeks after the application was submitted. The sender was "MCB GAO Office." I would e-mail them if you didn't receive similar notification.</p>
<p>I second (rather, third) that thing about email from Berkeley. I read on their site that if you had anything missing, you would be contacted early January. Definitely contact them if you haven't been already.</p>
<p>Sorry, I applied to the Molecular Biology program. According to the gradcafe, someone got a call on 1/10 for the same program. I'm guessing they'll be calling later into this week as well.</p>
<p>I heard from UWash. MCB that an email should be sent out with some info about the weekend. The secretary mentioned that we should book the flights ourselves. What weekend are you guys interviewing?</p>
<p>Hi aevertts, I submitted the gradcafe record you're thinking of. I bet it's a relief to all of us to know that these things come out gradually - it certainly makes me feel less nervous when reading about other people's invitations.</p>
<p>"Therefore our Admissions Committee is pleased to invite you to visit our department; meet the faculty, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, and staff; learn about our predoctoral training programs; attend research talks; tour our research facilities on Cambridge and Boston campuses; and sightsee our historic neighborhoods..."</p>
<p>I guess it's a "recruitment visit," whatever that means.</p>