I’ll let you know that I have an exceptional personality, and I believe an interview could only help my chances at my top schools. Egoism aside, I decided to contact most of the schools and ask if there were any alums in my area (I live in Europe) and the reply was a resounding no, though quite a few offered a phone interview.
Now as incredible as my personality may be, I think that a phone interview just increases the chances for awkwardness seven-fold. I can’t pretend to sip coffee when I’ve run dry on discussion topics.
So, has anybody had any experience with a phone interview and would they like to give a poor international some sound advice? Should I try to make my voice sound deeper, manlier? Perhaps I can leave Yale’s Wikipedia page open on my laptop and read off obscure facts in order to prove my genuine interest in one of the best institutions in the world?(hey maybe phone interviews aren’t so bad!)
Here’s an additional recommendation: please leave your “exceptional personality,” your world-class arrogance, and your teenage ego behind when you interview (regardless of the venue or the methodology). If the interviewer – who, after all, is an alumni of the institution you aspire to attend – perceives these things, which are blatant in this (and other) CC posts, the chance of a strong, positive report will precipitously decline.
Just be yourself. Be curious about the school (you don’t need wiki for that). Make sure you interview the school as much as they interview you. My daughter had a couple of phone interviews; she asked about some specific classes and didn’t find the interview stressful once it got started. She was relaxed and comfortable - then again she was wearing her pajamas.
My S did an interview for grad school over Skype and it worked out pretty well he thought (and he eventually got into and attended the school!). A video chat may be preferable to a phone conversation because you can make eye contact (although you’d have to close your Wikipedia page lol).
