Graduate School Interview?

Hi - I applied to a graduate school for a MSeD in School Counseling.  They emailed me that i have an interview scheduled in about two weeks - they said "Interviews will be conducted in a group format."  I kind of JUST got the hang of job interviews.. but I'm really nervous about this.  In general I am totally fine with the GPA and letters of recomendation and my undergrad info is pretty impressive.. but I don't really know what they will ask me.  I'm assuming they will ask why I want to do school counseling and stuff... but what else?? My coworker said not to wear a suit - business casual sort of (no jeans.. etc).  Can anyone give me any advice or share some experiences?  I would really greatly appreciate it.  Thanks

I had to do panel interviews (was interviewed by a panel of people) when I was competing for a scholarship.  And I had to do serial interviews (met with members of the board one after another) for my current job, but I've never had to participate in a "group interview".

So I found you a brief article about it - scroll down to the bottom.  It sounds like they want to observe your problem-solving style and the way you relate to others, etc.

Good luck with it!  Be positive and be yourself!

When I interviewed at one of my grad school choices we were sat down with a lot of the admissions committee. I wouldn't really call it a group interview, but everyone was asked to participate, and we all went around answering their questions. A lot of the questions (in my experience) tend to center around why you chose this particular program, and what your eventual goals were.

I was also terrified about my interviews, but just remember to stay honest and relaxed. You have to show them a real passion and interest in what you'll eventually be doing, especially if it's a field where people get burned out.

Good luck, and I'm sure you'll blow them away!

i've never heard of a group interview; sounds like an interesting format!  given that it's an Ed program, they're probably looking for your ability to work with a team so really listen to the other interviewees, and try to respond without getting competitive. 

are you a working teacher now?  if so, be prepared with some "challenging situations" at work that can add to their understanding of how you work.  if not, maybe you should read some education theory and research to convince them that you know what you're getting into.

also, remember this interview is to get into school.  unlike interviewing for a job, where you have to demonstrate how much you can already do, in this situation you want to demonstrate how much you want to learn.  you could look at some of the course outlines and be prepared to talk about the elements of the program that are exciting and interesting to you.  don't pretend you already know everything, but have real ideas about what you want/expect to learn.  and be prepared with good questions!

good luck!!

Thanks, this is pretty helpful (I'll look at the article when I have some time later).

I'm not a teacher but I have a minor in Education.  Right now I work at an academic department at a University.  And I LOVE learning - So I think I can display that.

I had a group interview for my fellowship and we did a lot of different things.  First, we had to individually write a solution to a problem we were given (it was timed), then we were assigned to a group and had to come to a group consensus on how to tackel that problem - it was a hot topic sort of problem so there was a lot of negoiating different ideas.  We were then asked to present the problem and our solution to a panel of interviewers as if we were trying to sell our solution over the other groups.  Finally, we were interviewed one-on-one to discuss our role in the group and our observations of others.  It was all observed very closely and I was insanely nervous the whole time.  

I'm willing to bet that, given your major, you will be doing things that force you to interact with others and they will watch to see how you respond.  Good luck!!

on thing you might want to consider: in my experience, school counsellors tend to spend most of their energy dealing with school issues (whether they like it or not).  the agenda tends not to be about helping kids cope with their lives so much as helping them to per/conform in school (ie. sit down, shut up, do your work, don't come to school stoned, and don't beat anyone up). 

working in a school setting is great, because you have the opportunity to develop really great therapeutic relationships.  and the hours are great, and the professional development opportunities, and the holidays.  and with a masters--at least in canada--even the money is pretty good! 

but if you really want to work with kids (people) on issues, you might want to look at counselling programs in other disciplines.  although i'm sure your MSEd would qualify you for other work settings ;)

Original Post by alle0299:

I had a group interview for my fellowship and we did a lot of different things.  First, we had to individually write a solution to a problem we were given (it was timed), then we were assigned to a group and had to come to a group consensus on how to tackel that problem - it was a hot topic sort of problem so there was a lot of negoiating different ideas.  We were then asked to present the problem and our solution to a panel of interviewers as if we were trying to sell our solution over the other groups.  Finally, we were interviewed one-on-one to discuss our role in the group and our observations of others.  It was all observed very closely and I was insanely nervous the whole time.  

I'm willing to bet that, given your major, you will be doing things that force you to interact with others and they will watch to see how you respond.  Good luck!!

alle, that's such an education model!  i took one upper-level undergrad course in education counselling, and the whole course was structured that way.

yeah, it's definitely more about working well together than coming up with the "right" answer.

I'm in a PhD program for clinical psychology, so granted, that's different but here are just a couple of things I've picked up from our interview process.

WEAR A SUIT. You can never appear overdressed at an interview, and it WILL make someone stand out if they are not wearing a suit (in a bad way).

Be prepared to discuss why that particular program is a good fit for you - what they have that other schools don't - and why you are a good fit for it - how your previous experiences and skills can be demonstrated to their best advantage there, but also how they can fill in the gaps of what you still need to learn. I know that at least in grad programs in clinical psych, they are huge on FIT with the program. Otherwise, you are just another applicant with good grades and GRE scores that applied to a bunch of random places. You have to be able to coherently explain why you want to go to this program and not somewhere else.

And I definitely do not want to increase your nervousness, but the whole day is an interview. Even if they just have you meet other students in the program or everyone is eating lunch, that's part of the process and you should try to stand out (again, in a good way!) during that part as well. It's nerve-wracking, but as it was explained to me, if people can't hold it together for a day-long interview, interacting with others in a challenging environment, they probably can't hold it together during grad school either.

Best of luck to you!!