<p>I applied to engineering PhD programs and received some rejections/offers and an interview, the school gave me interview is the school I really want to go.</p>
<p>Note that school did NOT give me an offer, I asked their graduate coordinator they said I was highly rated and will decide on offer after my interview... and did ask me for the few faculty members that I am interested in.</p>
<p>The interview is this coming Friday, and the department did pay for the trip and everything.</p>
<p>As my understanding, engineering PhD programs rarely interview people, it's usually either reject or admit, so I am kinda confused right now... so my question will be: what are my chances? what is the selection rate of this kind of grad school interviews? and is there anything I should do to prepare for it? (right now I'm just going over the few faculty members webpage and study their research areas, make some documents to show my previous research experience)</p>
<p>at last, I am no where good like the MIT/CalTech guys here, the school I want to go is around rank 40</p>
<p>You are correct - engineering programs almost never interview before deciding.<br>
It could be that they are trying to decide between a couple of people and are looking for a tie-breaker, but I think they just want to evaluate in person to be sure. I would consider it a good sign - you probably have at least a 50% chance from here.</p>
<p>As preparation, I would be sure to reread your SOP and be prepared to back it up. I would also read up on the program and your professors of interest, including reading some of their papers.</p>
<p>My guess is they want to find if your interests actually match the professors’ that still have spaces open for new students. You should definitely take a look at their webpages and figure out who you’d like to work for (and why).</p>
<p>Some engineering programs routinely interview candidates before deciding. HST (Harvard-MIT) and UW-Seattle Bioengineering come to mind. Such programs are definitely in the minority, though.</p>
<p>Other engineering programs may not generally interview candidates before deciding, but if presented with a strong candidate with an unusual background, may want to interview said candidate just to be sure before extending an offer of admission.</p>
<p>In any case, the fact that they have invited you to interview is a good sign. It means that they are genuinely interested in you and want to meet with you in person to see if their program would be a good fit for you. Congratulations on the interview invitation!</p>
<p>As interviews are not a general feature of most engineering programs, there are no reliable general statistics on what percentage of interviewees are ultimately accepted. In fact, the percentage of accepted interviewees would most likely vary widely between those engineering programs who do conduct interviews. If you really want to know what your chances are, you could always ask the graduate coordinator/program administrator. But in any case, it isn’t going to be a matter of luck who gets in and who doesn’t. No matter whether the percentage of accepted interviewees is 33%, 50%, or 80% (just to give some random examples), the most important thing you can do is to make sure you present yourself in the best light possible during the interview.</p>
<p>To that end I would agree with what cosmicfish and RacinReaver have said. Reread your statement of purpose/personal statement, read more about the program and its features, prepare a concise but convincing answer to the question of why you want to attend the program, read up on the faculty members’ research interests and goals, and be prepared to talk about your own research and research interests (be prepared to give a concise but convincing summary of your research, but also be prepared to talk about your research in-depth).</p>
<p>cosmicfish, Racin and Ace, thanks for your inputs, they are very helpful!</p>
<p>I could imagine top programs interview their candidates… but this school is not top 20… just weird</p>
<p>Ace I think what you said about “candidate with unusual background” might be my case. I will def. take all of your suggestions seriously and make sure to be prepared!</p>
<p>For one of the schools that I applied to (engr program), interview was intended for admitted students to locate their own funding because the department couldn’t fund most of the prospective students.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t read it either way. At least you’re in the running. Once you get there, you’ll know if you’re in or not. If they try to sell you the school, you’re in. If they spend all their time grilling you, your admission depends on the interview.</p>
<p>Read a paper from each person interviewing you, and ask him or her something about the paper. Then maybe have a few research ideas jotted down and discuss one of them with the faculty member (match the idea to the faculty member’s interest).</p>