Phone Interview 3

1- will (possibly) ask questions about your resume and research mentioned in your resume, anything about your background. The MOST IMPORTANT thing is that you should be able to TELL A STORY about yourself and your research. Be prepared to give them a story of what you did (your research background) is a non-technical manner, exactly as if you're telling a story (hint: re-read the introductions of your papers !)

2- Be enthusiastic when you're talking about your work, but don't get defensive if they comment/ask questions etc.

3- Don't be shy (when you're talking about your achievements), but don't exaggerate things much ! It's like any other interview, you want to sell yourself and your work, but not oversell that!

4- will (probably) ask questions about themselves and how much you know their work (if interviewing a particular professor), or the school if a general purpose committee is questioning you. So be prepared.

5- might ask questions about your own school and courses. Don't assume they've read your SOP/resume ! They may, but don't make this assumption. Even if they had, they might've forgotten things you put there.

6- If you're applying for anything which is not very popular (read: cognitive science as an example), be prepared to express your desire and passion for that, and your insight with simple, story-like sentences !

7- Last but not the least, no need to mention you should practice before by yourself to be fluent !

As a recap: the key is to be able to be a good story teller ! That's what is count a lot with academic professors.

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How I envison working with you: The path to the Ph.D

Mihir Bellare Department of Computer Science & Engineering University of California at San Diego

The way a student and advisor work together differs of course from student to student. But here is the kind of path I try to show students. Not all students follow this kind of path. It is just a rough guideline.

Phases
In the first phase I will typically try to give you a well-defined project that could lead, if successfully completed, to a reasonable quality publication. This starting project should have clear questions, goals, and deliverables, meaning a student should be clear on what is the target and what needs to be done to get there. We would typically work together on properly formulating the questions, solving them, writing up a solution, submitting it to an appropriate conference, and, if it is accepted, preparing a presentation, so that the student gets a view of the whole process.
In the second phase I could continue to suggest projects, ranging from well-defined to fuzzy, but you are more on your own with respect to solving the problems and writing up the solutions.
By then you should be well enough advanced that you can find your own questions as well as the answers. That's the third phase.

Meetings
I expect to meet with you at least once a week during regular quarters and probably more often if you work here in the summer. You are also free to drop by at non-scheduled times, or send e-mail.

Working together is fun. I enjoy it and hope you will too. So if you want to discuss a problem don't feel shy to stop by. A good deal of research is spontaneous and social, arising from interactions with your peers or advisor.
You may not have something substantial to report at a meeting. That's OK, as long as it's not a habit. See the section on time allocation below.

Question
I see my advisor
Not often enough
About as often as I want
About as often as I can stand
Way too much

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