4 Offers Later: My Honest Take on Grad School In-Person Interviews

Before you leave for the trip:

• Wear business casual/professional clothes (yes even to the airport if you can). The PI or maybe even the department head will be picking you up from the airport and its best to not be wearing casual clothes to make a good first impression.
• Prepare questions before you leave for the trip to ask professors during the actual interview day
  • go into it having read a few of their papers and knowing generally how the lab operates (especially if you already had a virtual meeting with them)
• Bring hand-written thank you cards! (I included stickers but that’s not entirely necessary)
  • This is a great thing you can do to stand out to them and secure that final offer. Write a personalized message to them and make them think of you after the weekend is done.

During the interview day

• The interview weekends are typically three day endeavors and I want to give you an idea of the structure day by day (+ some tips for each day): [Interview weekend is typically Thursday-Saturday]

• Thursday– The travel day and getting settled in the hotel. There is possibly a dinner with the current grad students on this day or just with other applicants.
• Friday– The main interview day which is a full day of tours (both the university and lab) and meetings especially. Know that you will be in back to back meetings with PIs and students for multiple hours straight.
  • They will likely assign you to have a meeting with a PI you don’t know and they will tell you that ahead of the trip in the itinerary. Take the time to research them so you can have a good conversation. Remember even though they aren’t your PI of interest, they are still part of the interview so don’t give them a reason to say no to you.
  • On this day you should get an opportunity to speak with the current grad students in a private room with no professors. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS. Come prepared with logistical questions about cost of living, the program from their perspective, things they like/hate, how the professors really are (both red and green flags), and just generally what it feels like to be in the program.
  • Overall just come prepared to talk confidently about:
    • your research experience and interests
    • why you want a PhD/masters
    • why their program is the right place to get your degree (what resources do they have/people that you find valuable)
    • casual conversations about your interviewer’s research interests
• This day usually ends with a dinner put on by the whole department with PIs and grad students in attendance. This is a great way to network and ask questions in a casual setting. This will be a VERY long day and if you are an introvert like me, your social battery will be absolutely demolished by the end of it so pace yourself, take brain breaks when you can but also try to make the most of it and meet as many people as you can to get all your questions answered.
• Saturday– Typically the day you will be leaving.

After the interview:

Make sure you get home safe and try your best to keep in touch with the professors and students you talked with through email. The grad students are usually very willing to answer questions through email after the fact if you think of any more.

Within 1-2 weeks you should receive the final decision concerning your application: either they accept you, reject you or waitlist you.

In the case that they accept you: Yay! if they are your only choice, go ahead and accept sooner rather than later after you are sure this is what you want. In the case that you have other options, you should wait until all your in-person interviews are complete before you make a final decision. Who knows, a school may surprise you in the end and its best to avoid limiting your options until you have compared each one evenly.

If you take a couple weeks to respond, the school may reach out and ask about the progress of your decision. In that case, make sure you respond with a polite email letting them know you haven’t completed all your tours and let them know a general time frame when you will have your decision. Be polite and give school’s you reject at least a week and a half’s notice that you are rejecting before the April 15th deadline (standard deadline in the U.S.) but ideally more time than that if possible.

In the case they reject you: It can be very discouraging to get rejected this late in the application cycle, but it happens. Just respond with a polite email thanking them for the opportunity and inquiring about any feedback that would have improved your chances of getting accepted. Hopefully you have other options, but if not, this application cycle (2025-2026) in particular has been extremely tough and DO NOT take it personally if you don’t get any offers. Ultimately there are a number of variables completely out of your control in all this. Hopefully you have the opportunity to try again next cycle if a PhD is really what you want.

In the case you are waitlisted: Try not to panic yet. There could be quite a few reasons for this to happen that is once again out of your control. For example, the university could have very limited spots due to funding uncertainty and in a normal year they would have accepted you but this year was difficult. That does not mean you are any less qualified as a candidate, it is just unlucky timing. If the school that waitlisted you is your first or only choice, hold tight and wait it out. Restate your interest to the PI and graduate coordinator and if you are lucky enough, you may make it off the waitlist. It has even happened to me before! Don’t lose hope.

Overall, in-person interviews are not supposed to be nerve wracking in nature. If a school is paying for you to come see them, just know they already like you and likely intend on giving you an offer if things go well. All you have to do is be yourself and give them a multiple reasons to say yes!

From my experience going on four in-person PhD interviews this year, I have found that these interviews are actually more about the school getting interviewed by you. Visiting in person is going to give you a sense of if the school and the people are as you expected them to be based on your online interactions and if you could see yourself going there and living in that city. This is your chance to get to know the professors and students beyond long distance, surface level interactions. That is why these visits are so important and why they are paying for everything, because no one is going to move to a place sight unseen. If you get nervous just know they are trying to win you over not the other way around.