Importance of Doctoral Admission Interviews
Having proficiency in communication is a must for psychology doctoral applicants. Most universities require the student undergo an interview with faculty member(s) in order to determine the student's strengths, commitments, intentions, and critical thinking skills. An interview is a tool that provides context to the application material that students previously submitted. Admission interviews are useful because they give the interviewer an opportunity to hear and see the applicant in real time. More specifically, face-to-face interaction allows more freedom to receive feedback, notice body language, listen for tone, and assess the student's actual abilities. Reading a statement of purpose can only communicate so much to doctoral faculty members. Reviewing an applicant's curriculum vitae will only give descriptions of their work experience, not the nature of the person. Thus, an interview is a wise choice for choosing students that aspire to become psychologists to the general public.
Admissions interviews may consist of one faculty member or several members. Some universities require that applicants attend a group interview, where all invited applicants answer questions and collaborate on given activities. Surprisingly, the group interviewing method is becoming more popular. Several counseling psychology texts actually recommend this form of interviewing for selecting potential students. The reason for group interviewing is to see how students work with others. Does the candidate work comfortably with individuals that they are unfamiliar with or who are culturally different from them? Can the candidate adjust to new and unfamiliar situations with ease?
Besides the screening for socialization, psychology departments want to observe the mental status of applicants. Only by meeting applicants in person can a department screen for potential issues. Consider James Holmes, the Aurora shooting suspect, who dyed his hair like the Joker from the Batman movie, drove to a movie theatre in Aurora, Colorado (USA), and open fired with military style rifles, AR 15 assault rifles. Surprisingly, this mentally disturbed individual was pursuing his doctoral degree in some area of psychology. This is one reason that universities must screen the individuals that they select to offer psychological services to the public. No one wants an unstable individual providing psychological services.
In addition to screening for mental competence, the doctoral faculty want to ensure that each student can demonstrate how their previous academic and clinic work apply to the prospective area of study. Here are some questions to consider for doctoral interview. Can you articulate your interests and academic abilities during an interview? Are you approachable and honest when answering questions on an interview? Do you talk somewhat effortlessly as you elaborate on the prompt given by the interviewer or do you give choppy explanations? Are you able to address the content discussed during the interview or do you look puzzled, dazed, and overwhelmed? Are you open to giving a presentation or overview of work to others on an interview or are you not comfortable or ready to discuss your work? A student should take all of these two-sided questions into consideration.
On the next post, we will look at important steps to take in preparing for group student interviews, since solo student interviews have been covered in earlier posts.
