<p>Hey everyone, quick question. I applied to a few neuro programs and I'm now scheduling interviews. At one of these schools (it is actually my "safety" school, although it is quite good), I contacted a faculty member about doing thesis work in his lab and he was pretty enthusiastic about me coming there. But when I received my interview schedule, he wasn't on the list -even though he was my top choice (and I made this pretty clear in my application).</p>
<p>Since my only reason for going there is to work with this faculty member, it feels kind of useless to go there and not interview with him. At the same time, I am curious to know why he wasn't put on my schedule (is he NOT interested in working with me? etc.). So... is there anything I should do about this? I want to be honest with them, but at the same time, I don't want to seem like I'm "demanding" to interview with somebody on my list- especially if they are less-than-interested in working with me in the first place.</p>
<p>To clarify - The people they lined me up with are my 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th choices, etc. All things considered, they are great researchers and I would enjoy working with them - but since I've been invited to 4 of the top 5 programs, I would probably choose to go elsewhere (this is a top 20 program)... Thanks for the advice,</p>
<p>I would just tell the coordinator that you really want to meet with this person...is it possible to set up a time outside of the normal interviews? This is what the coordinators have told me on all my interviews so far. if there's someone that you really want to meet with, just let them know and they will work something out.</p>
<p>Also keep in mind these interviews are being scheduled for you and however many other prospective students are coming that weekend and they have to try and accommodate everyone's wishes and coordinate that with times the professors do not have meetings/class/seminars to be at and keep everything flowing in a relatively short time period, typically on one day.</p>
<p>What I'm trying to say is don't read too much into who you are interviewing with. It's less likely that he is NOT interested in working with you and more likely that he was busy from 1-1:30 on Friday, February 13th (for example...heh, there are interviews on Friday the 13th this year...awesome). He may not even be in town that weekend...</p>
<p>I would e-mail him or the DGS and see if you can arrange a time outside of interviews to meet with him...it could be as simple as making sure you go to the right house for dinner one night or scheduling an extra meeting.</p>
<p>Hi folks, thanks for the advice. I asked the department if I could meet with him outside of the schedule and they say I can drop by his lab if I want. I'm glad I asked.</p>
<p>It's often hard to schedule the interviews around the schedule of the faculty and to try to get everyone one of their top choices to interview with. I wouldn't read too much into it-- although I took it as a sign of how much they wanted me to come (not that they wouldn't accept me, just how hard they were trying to get me to come). One school in particular put me with a faculty host that had completely opposite interests from me, and that was a bit of a turn-off. If the school is your top choice I wouldn't worry about it, you can probably find the faculty member at some departmental function. It might be worthwhile to email the pi directly to make sure he will be around that weekend.</p>
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It's less likely that he is NOT interested in working with you and more likely that he was busy from 1-1:30 on Friday, February 13th (for example...heh, there are interviews on Friday the 13th this year...awesome). He may not even be in town that weekend...
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Agreed. When you get to grad school and have to schedule your qualifying exam and dissertation advisory committee meetings, you will realize how difficult it is to corral PIs to a specific place at a specific time. Sort of like herding cats. :)</p>