26 PhD Application Results+Interview Advice
Background
Current undergrad at Ivy Bio major/CS minor. Student athlete. Mid GPA. 4 year lab experience. 3 Pubs.
Applied while in sport season so was very intentional with applications to balance time constraints (do not recommend if no constraints, apply everywhere you're interested in regardless of prestige!) Weill Cornell was my dream program for the specific niche I want to do!
Interview Advice
My biggest advice for interviews is to not focus on memorization of recent publications! PIs will not expect you know little details, and often won't probe you much on their research. Oftentimes, the first half of the interview will consist of them asking you about yourself, so I would recommend having a loose (but not scripted) spiel about yourself that encapsulates both your personal scientific intrigue/journey/why you want to do a PhD and then your research itself. A lot of the times they will then start to ask questions about your projects where then you can go into full detail (be sure to know the full details bc they will ask a lot of questions). Then, usually I would ask a semi-niche question about their research that piqued my interest and let them go on their talk about it. ASK QUESTIONS DURING THEIR TALK ABOUT THEIR RESEARCH!! I think being able to ask pointed questions on the fly is something that they look for to see how your mind operates and see some creativity on the fly.
Most importantly is not to be too nervous! I think keeping things conversational and showing genuine excitement and curiosity for the field is what they are looking for because a PhD is a big commitment. At the end of the day it is more of a conversation rather than a interview interview per se.
Hope this helps and good luck everyone!
If anyone is going to be at Weill Cornell feel free to reach out!