Someone at one of the programs to which I applied (social psychology) e-mailed me to tell me more about his research interests and set up a time for us to talk on the phone. I was nervous and treated it kind of like an exam ahead of time - I read up on this professor's work, took notes, thought of what I wanted to say about my own research and took notes on that too. One of the good things about a phone interview is that you can have a cheat sheet in front of you.
I'm sure it was helpful to me to review like that, but I ended up not using the notes much during the interview. The actual conversation felt like just that - a conversation, not an exam. He asked me about my research experiences, particularly my thesis, and we also talked about research he is currently working on and plans to be doing in the near future. It wasn't stressful at all, just a fun conversation about things I was interested in academically.
Congrats! I've had a few "let's discuss your application further" phone calls (though for clinical psychology), and they were all phone interviews in disguise. So be prepared to talk about your application, experiences, and interests. Have short, clear answers ready for interview-type questions, and also think of a few questions for the professor. Make a notesheet with your questions, plus specific things you like about the professor's work, the program, KU, etc. You definitely don't want to confuse KU with your other schools during the interview, so make sure you're clear on exactly why you want to go there, and put that on your notesheet.
Also, go KU! I went there for undergrad and loved it. I gotta warn you that the history department is in the ugliest freaking building ever, though ;)
Hey there! Thanks for the advice. I don't think I'll mind the ugliness of the building...this is what my current building looks like: http://www.tour.pitt.edu/tour-040.html
It looks sorta nice from the outside, but inside....oh good god.
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I'm sure it was helpful to me to review like that, but I ended up not using the notes much during the interview. The actual conversation felt like just that - a conversation, not an exam. He asked me about my research experiences, particularly my thesis, and we also talked about research he is currently working on and plans to be doing in the near future. It wasn't stressful at all, just a fun conversation about things I was interested in academically.
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Also, go KU! I went there for undergrad and loved it. I gotta warn you that the history department is in the ugliest freaking building ever, though ;)
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It looks sorta nice from the outside, but inside....oh good god.
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