PhD Interview Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Apply! (1/3) (Repost)

Over on the R forum next door, there's a really popular post

If you can ask yourself every one of these questions before you apply and get clear on your background and goals,

it will definitely help your application a ton. Posting them here for everyone to mull over:

Motivations

• What motivated you to apply to grad school?

• Why do you feel prepared to start graduate school?

• What areas of research interest you?

• Why do you want to pursue a PhD in your area of interest?

• Do you have any reservations/worries about entering a PhD program?

• What are you looking to gain from your graduate school experience?

• Why do you need a PhD to achieve your career goal?

• Where do you see your field going in the next 5-10 years?

• Where do you see yourself in 15 years?

• What is unique about you that gives you a competitive edge over other applicants?

The Program/Institution

• Why are you specifically drawn to this program?

• Why do you think this program would be a good fit for you?

• What specific resources does this institution offer to enhance your scientific trajectory?

• How do you think your interests will fit in with the program?

• What do you think you will contribute to the program?

• Which faculty members’ work particularly interests you and why?

• Have you established a relationship with one or more faculty members within the program?

• What interests you about the city the institution is in?

• What would make you choose this institution over other programs?

Previous Research

• Please list the different research experiences you have had.

• How many total years of research experience do you have?

• How has your research experience prepared you for graduate school?

• What questions did your research help answer?

• What was your role in developing research ideas?

• How did you manage your research project?

• What was innovative about your research?

• What was your favorite technique that you used in your undergraduate research?

• What was the biggest challenge you encountered in your undergraduate research, and how did you deal with it?

• How is your work distinct from your supervisor’s/principal investigator’s?

• What do you think are your most significant research accomplishments?

• What do you consider to be your best paper/work and why?

• What has been the impact of your research?

• Do you expect to publish before starting graduate school?

• If you were starting your project again today, what would you do differently?