Interviews

There seems to be very little information from university to university about the process (or not) of interviewing prospective students to determine their suitability to study at a postgraduate (research) level. Having discussed this with various other students and lecturers in the department, however, this doesn't seem to be as much of an oversight as it first appears, because the formal interview is not necessarily a fundamental part of the applications process.

Once again, I will have to concentrate on research postgraduate courses because that is all I know about; as far as taught postgraduate courses go, such as an MSc or PGCE, it seems that a formal interview is — in a similar fashion to undergraduate courses — very much an integral part of the applications process.

The difference between a taught and a research-based course is a very handy definition, really, of why the interviewing processes are so different: whilst a taught course is linear in its goals, requiring an aptitude that can be measured relatively easily, a research-based degree requires skills that can not be "measured" in any tangible way. Thus, whilst the admissions process for taught courses can admit a regimented, homogenous approach to determining appropriate students, the analogue for research degrees can not.

If this is the case, then what can an applicant for a research degree expect during an informal interview? By this stage of the application process — which is to say the time at which the applicant has determined their research area and a choice of possible institutions — it normally falls to an informal visit to the various departments and a chat with any potential supervisors to determine suitability — and indeed ability.

Of course, the department should provide details of what they expect any applicant visiting the university to do during their time there. If such details are not provided, then it can be of no harm to get in touch with someone within the department — usually a member of the administrative staff — to ask questions concerning the visit. Such queries can range from appropriate dress (which I would say is casual-smart — how many well-dressed lecturers do you ever see around a campus?) and what eating facilites are available to whether you should prepare a presentation or sample of your work for the meeting.

The latter is quite unusual. It is more likely that you will spend an hour or two chatting with your potential supervisor about the subject area you are interested in, what your background in the area is, what courses you completed at an undergraduate level, which of those you enjoyed or disliked, what packages you are familiar with and those sorts of things. Such a discussion will give you a good idea of what to expect from the research and the supervisor a good idea of the sort of individual you are. From this stage, it is likely that you will move on to the formal application, at which point sources of funding can be agreed upon.

The informal chat will obviously vary from person to person, so once again it is a good idea to be in touch with an administrative member of the department to determine anything you would like to know.

The postgraduate admissions office at the University of Surrey is indicative of the sort of information available at other institution's websites. Generally speaking, a search for postgraduate admissions should do the trick.