What to expect during a grad school interview?

July 13, 2012 11:33 AM

What should I expect when interviewing for a Masters-level nursing program?

In less than two weeks, I am interviewing for this program. (Masters of Science in Nursing at Rush University.) I have never interviewed for a graduate program before.

If you've interviewed for a program like this, what should I expect? What sorts of questions should I be prepared to answer?

If you've been on the other side of the table, what were you looking for in the candidates? Can you recall any specific qualities that impressed you?

Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated.

posted by lholladay to education (2 answers total)

They want to know that you are serious about the program and won't crash and burn partway through.
posted by twblalock at 1:34 PM on July 13, 2012

I'm 2/3 through my program and was a semi-similar situation (background not in hard science, although I did a MA.)

The very first question they asked me was about my comfort level with statistics. This threw me a bit, but I could answer it well and rolled with it, which is key. After that we went into the 'why this' and 'why this and not a PA program' because of the specialty I interviewed for. Have your story straight, and give examples of when you were doing a lot of stuff at once. You will be likely doing a lot of stuff at once, such as class, clinical, and possibly research paper stuff.

Other concepts that come up a lot are teamwork (eg, within nurses, within research, within the healthcare team) and leadership. I'd focus more on the former than the latter.

I'm actually off to my summer clinical in a few minutes, but if you have more specific questions, feel free to me-mail me.
posted by cobaltnine at 2:46 PM on July 13, 2012