Summary: <br> The letters of recommendation have been submitted, and review committees have assembled. But while this graduate school application season may seem familiar, the next steps will be wildly different from past years.<br> <br> <br> <br> How will Universities conduct graduate school interviews during a pandemic? <br> <br> <br> <br> And what can applicants do to prepare for these unprecedented times?<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Virtual Interview<br> <br> <br> <br> Interviews are always nerve-wracking. And for graduate school they’re especially complex.<br> <br> <br> <br> You typically take a 3-day weekend, fly to a new city, sit through orientations, seminars, faculty interviews, campus tours, dinner meetings, and social events.<br> <br> <br> <br> Then a week later, you do it all again with a different University in a different city!<br> <br> <br> <br> But this year, as COVID-19 infections spike in fall and winter months, those anxiety-inducing interviews will get, well, weirder.<br> <br> <br> <br> This week, we talk with<a href="https://medschool.vanderbilt.edu/igp/person/beth-bowman-phd/"> Dr. Beth Bowman,</a> Assistant Director of Graduate Programs in Biomedical Sciences at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. <br> <br> <br> <br> You may remember Dr. Bowman from our conversations about <a href="http://hellophd.com/2018/09/101-hellophd-guide-to-grad-school-application-knowing-when-and-where-to-apply-with-dr-beth-bowman/">how to craft an application</a> and <a href="http://hellophd.com/2018/12/106-hellophd-guide-to-grad-school-applications-acing-your-interview-with-dr-beth-bowman/">how to ace your interview.</a> Well, she’s back with more information on what to expect this year when you’re invited for a virtual interview.<br> <br> <br> <br> Most of the previous advice still applies:<br> <br> <br> <br> * You need to understand your science, and be able to talk about it.* You should take a quick look at the research websites or paper abstracts from your interviewers so you’re at least familiar with the field they’ll speak about.* You should ask lots of questions to get a feel for the University, the city, the research, and student life.<br> <br> <br> <br> What’s different will be wildly different. You won’t get a campus tour. You won’t have much opportunity for side conversations with current students or other applicants to trade gossip or interview experiences.<br> <br> <br> <br> And you’ll be spending a lot of time on Zoom. <br> <br> <br> <br> So… much… time…<br> <br> <br> <br> And that’s where Dr. Bowman advises you to prepare with some very practical tips<br> <br> <br> <br> Make Time <br> <br> <br> <br> There’s no sugar-coating this: you’re going to be on video conference calls for hours at a time, and you need to be ready for it.<br> <br> <br> <br> Some programs are looking for ways to break up the monotony by scheduling interviews over two afternoons. But whatever happens, you’ll need to combat Zoom Fatigue.<br> <br> <br> <br> First, do what you can to clear your schedule. Because you’re not actually traveling, you’ll be tempted to sneak in a little work in the lab.<br> <br> <br> <br> Fight that urge, and let your lab-mates know it’s an interview weekend and you’ll be unavailable.<br> <br> <br> <br> If you have other video-conferences, try to cancel them or sit them out. Missing a few journal clubs or research seminars is not the end of the world, and it might save your sanity.<br> <br> <br> <br> Make Space<br> <br> <br> <br> Remember that thing about not being in the lab? That applies here too!<br> <br> <br> <br> Some students don’t have great internet,
