What is the interview process like???

Interview Memories

The interview process for me is a distant haze but here is what I recall. The first day started easy with free breakfast and a brief introduction by the heads of the graduate program and the department. A pair of interviews with faculty followed the free breakfast, then free lunch (lucky its not the economics department), a second pair of interviews, a set of research presentations by some faculty, drinking, free dinner and a night out. During the four formal faculty interviews the professors and I discussed my previous research experience and their current research. I was familiar with some of their research and able to ask semi informed questions, while other work left me clueless and I spent the time asking for clarification. I described my broad interest in neuroscience and what I hoped to gain by joining the department. During the social time I talked with my fellow perspectives, the current graduate students, and faculty with whom I had not interviewed. We talked about travel, sports, science, sperm (although I think that fell under the category of science), Seattle, and the other graduate programs of consideration. The second day consisted of more free food and some Seattle sightseeing.

In retrospect the days go quick and pretty soon you're headed home full of excitement and self-doubt. Do not worry, it is normal to be nervous, but remember that the interview is your opportunity to learn if the program is a good fit. Take the opportunity to ask the important questions. Ask the faculty if they will be accepting graduate students in their lab next year. Ask the students if they have enjoyed the program and how they spend their free time. Assess Seattle’s nightlife, UW’s lab facilities, and the faculty’s enthusiasm. Imagine yourself sitting in Fred Rieke’s class, joining Andres Barria’s lab, sharing a lunch with Jon Cafaro (yup me), skiing in the winter, hiking in the fall, kayaking in the spring, and biking in the summer, do you look happy? Enjoy your interview and pretty soon it will be a happy memory and a distant haze.

- Jon Cafaro, current PBIO student

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...and a tale of the experiences of one PBIO grad student

Hmmm, good question...

First off, congratulations! You are part of the minority of applicants to whom we have extended offers of interviews!

Let’s start with some simple logistics. For the incoming 2005-06 class, interviews will be in early February. Whatever the actual date, about 15 of you or so will arrive on a Thursday evening and be greeted at Sea-Tac International Airport by the shining faces of Stacey Simmons and a couple of graduate students. Stacey will then give you 45 seconds to draw the three-dimensional structures of at least 18 amino acids with their isoelectric points written below each picture. OK, just kidding. In fact, there will likely be no talk of science whatsoever. When you step off the plane, you’ll see them sitting at a table talking. Grab a seat; tell them about yourself, movies you’ve seen, your hobbies, last night’s ball game, your feelings on Coke versus Pepsi, whatever! You know, just pretend they’re real people! They’ll hand you a packet containing information like your weekend schedule, info on the curriculum, interview times, campus maps, etc. After everyone has arrived, they will drive you to the hotel. From there, they will most likely walk to a small restaurant down the block for some late night grub on the UW PBIO credit card. Hopefully you’ll be able to join them, but if you’ve had an especially long day of traveling, feel free to call it a night.

The next morning, Stacey (and possibly a grad student or two) will meet you in the lobby of the hotel and you’ll take a walk through the main campus to the medical school. Our Chair, Stan Froehner, will greet you all and tell you about the PBIO program as you munch on donuts and bagels, and of course, my personal favorite, COFFEE!! Questions are always encouraged during this introduction to the department. You will likely hear from a couple more faculty members after Stan, and then you’ll proceed to your individual interviews which will consist of four or five faculty members, many or all of whom you have chosen to meet. But wait!!! I don’t know my way around this crazily built building!! What if I’m late for an interview and UW doesn’t accept me?! Fear not Grasshopper, you will each be assigned a student buddy. One of the many incredibly brilliant PBIO graduate students will be paired with each of you for the day. It will then be our responsibility to get you to your interviews on time. If you are late for an interview, it will be the fault of the grad student, who will later be tarred and feathered in front of the entire department.

OK, the actual interviews… This is the tough part. When asked to write this page for the PBIO web-site, I must admit I was a bit wary as to how much my interview experience in the PBIO Department might help incoming graduate students. If anything, I envisioned that it may frustrate those of you who want a rigid checklist of what will be expected of you once that door closes and a given faculty member has you in her or his clutches for 45 minutes. And, well, it may do just that. But first, let me describe my experience…

When I came up for interviews, Stan and Marc Binder spoke - I’ll never forget Marc referring to the PBIO Department as a scientific Disneyland. I think Fred Rieke and Peter Detwiler also said a few words. After the group introduction, I was off to meet my first faculty member for my first one on one interview. I had no idea what to expect. I suddenly realized that I had forgotten all the science I ever knew, I was frantically thinking of ways I could “sound smart”, and all I needed was to look down to see I was naked to complete the nightmare. I had visions of walking into a room and being asked to solve nine pages of triple integration equations in my head. I thought maybe I’d be handed a mouse, a pipette, and a pair of goggles and told to create some type of transgenic strain. However, thirty seconds after my first interview started, I was put completely at ease.

In describing my own personal one on one interview experiences, I will assign each professor an alias to protect the guilty. With the exception of these names, everything else describes my interviews just as they occurred.

My first interview was with Dr. Indiana Jones. I didn’t request Dr. Jones, and I hadn’t the foggiest notion of what sort of work he did. Dr. Jones put me at ease right away by telling me to simply call him Indy. Indy and I talked for 45 minutes without even alluding to lipid bilayers, synaptic transmission, or DNA replication forks. He actually asked me about me! What a novel concept! We talked about our hobbies, where we were from, and fun vacations we had taken. Indy was genuinely interested in who I was and didn’t make me feel like I was “on” or that I had to impress him. Again, no reference to any sort of –ology was made. When my student buddy came back to collect me, I was astounded by the fact that I actually enjoyed my first interview!

Student Buddy and I walked to Interview #2. This interview would be with a faculty member I was interested in potentially working for: Dr. Han Solo. We had been in contact via email for several months before my visit and I was familiar with his interests. I entered Dr. Solo’s office and, as with Indy, was told to use his first name. Being interested in his work, I asked Han about what was currently going on in his lab, as well as what he had planned for the future. He started telling me all about his current work and was kind enough to give me reprints of a few of his recently published papers. This interview, unlike my first, was rooted in science. However, that being said, I was the one asking most of the questions; Han did most of the talking. He answered all my questions and I left with a feeling of how his lab operated - something no paper in the literature could have told me.

Off to Interview #3. Again, this was a faculty member I asked to meet and was potentially interested in working for: Dr. Richard Kimball. This interview was much like the one preceding. Rich told me to use his first name, he told me about his work, and out came the reprints. Like Han, Rich was excited to talk about his work and eager to answer questions ranging from his future plans to his lab’s dynamic. Another wonderful 45 minutes.

Student Buddy soon knocked on the door and we were off to join the group again for lunch. I was thrilled that my interviews were going as well as they were. After a couple of slices of pizza, I was ready for my fourth and final round. I met with the two people I was most interested in working with, so Interview #4 would be with someone I did not request or know. That someone was Dr. John Book.

My interview with John went a bit differently than the others. Like Indy, I didn’t know what sort of research John did. Unlike any of them, John held my application folder in his hands and quickly perused it before we started talking. He noted a few things out loud such as my GPA, GRE scores, and research experience in organic chemistry. It was this last that John was interested in talking about. We chatted about the work I had done in synthesis as an undergrad. I gave him the gist of my research, told him what I had accomplished, and proudly mentioned the paper that had been published as a result of my work. That’s when John started asking me questions I couldn’t answer. He asked about other synthetic possibilities, how I thought the properties of the molecule I made might be modified to treat human cancers, etc. Wait… What?! I felt the blood rush to my face, my pulse quickened, and I was sure the temperature in his office had just doubled. I answered as best as I could, but in the end admitted I really didn’t know.

After 37 more hours of questions, Student Buddy finally came to rescue me. I told her I had just been swimming in a potpourri of questions I couldn’t answer. John Book had won the “Let’s See How Dumb Eric Is” game. I felt like this last interview sealed my fate. Obviously, this was not the case. In fact, now that I know John, I know that he was sincerely interested in my work experience and was just asking questions that came to him as we talked. He was simply asking me what I thought, and I made a much bigger deal of my not knowing than he did. I suppose I let my nervousness veil the possibility that John might have been asking questions because he was curious and not because he was a minion of Satan. Incidentally, as is more common than I thought, I wound up joining a lab whose PI I didn’t even interview with.

After the last of your interviews, you will all congregate in the conference room for an overview of the research being done in the department. This overview will consist of 10-15 faculty members presenting a slide or two on research that is currently being done in their labs. Each talk will be only about 5 minutes long. They’re not meant to be too specific, but rather a means by which to give you a flavor of the topics our faculty are interested in. As with Stan’s introduction, questions will be encouraged.

When all of the faculty members have spoken, you’ll have a couple hours of free time to do what you wish. In the past, students have talked to other faculty members, hung out with each other, or have taken tours of various labs led by grad students. Later that evening, you will be taken out to dinner by a group of the faculty. This will be a great time for you to interact with them in a casual, relaxed, and very non-threatening manner.

After dinner, you’ll be dropped off at the hotel once again. The rest of the night is yours, and you should feel free to relax and/or go to bed. However, as with previous years, a few grad students will be available to take you out if you’re not quite ready to hit the sack. They’ll almost certainly hit a bar to grab some drinks, do some dancing, or both. They’ll be totally open to any suggestions you may have as well. One thing to keep in mind, though, is that this is the one outing of the weekend PBIO won’t pay for.

At about 10:00 a.m. the next day (Saturday), a group of students will be at the hotel again to pick you up for brunch. Grad students and faculty alike will be there. As with the past several years, brunch will most likely be catered at the home of a faculty member. Both Fred Rieke and Jane Sullivan have played host to this brunch at their respective homes in years past. This will be another great opportunity to meet and greet faculty who may not have been at dinner the previous night. The atmosphere will be very casual and relaxed.

After brunch ( noon-ish), you’re stuck with only the grad students for the rest of your time in Seattle! It will be up to you as a group to decide what you’d like to do/see. In the past, we’ve gone to the Space Needle, the waterfront, Pike’s Market, and the underground Seattle tour to name a few. After spending the day seeing some of the sights in Seattle, they’ll go to dinner (they really believe in feeding you here in PBIO). This time, it will be just the grad students with you, and like the night before, I’m sure there will be several who are ready to go out on the town again afterwards. When we finally get back to the hotel Saturday night, that will signify the end of your interview weekend. Your plane will likely leave Sunday morning.

Well, if you’ve made it through this entire page, you now have an excellent idea of what the entire Physiology & Biophysics interview weekend is like. Unfortunately, I can’t give you any specific ideas about what your one on one interviews will be like; mine were all quite different as far as topics, and other grad students can tell you stories that are different still. The rigid checklist I mentioned above doesn’t exist. One common thread that I hope I’ve shown is that no matter how your interviews go, you will be talking to a faculty member who is interested in who you are and what makes you tick. No one is out to get you or to rake you over the coals. So what is expected of you? Well, just be yourself and don’t sweat the interviews; you were invited to Seattle for a reason…

– Eric Chase, former PBIO student