How to Prepare for a Counseling Psychology Graduate School Interview
Although every program is going to be different in the way they interview candidates, I think some general advice applies to all interviews, whether they’re for school or work.
First of all, you’re going to want to have an answer to “Tell me about yourself,” and “Tell us why you chose this program.” Those are both crucial to think about and even rehearse. You probably know the answers to those questions, and hopefully answered them in your personal statement as well, but you can’t assume the person doing your interview has seen any of your application package. It’s most likely that they are going in blind as an impartial party to do your interview. You will want to prepare some questions you think might be asked and rehearse your answers to those possible questions as well, literally by talking out loud to yourself or another person.
In my case, I definitely went overboard in preparing for my graduate school interview. I scoured YouTube for videos of mock interviews for counseling programs and when I didn’t find any, I ended up watching a lot of videos about med school interviews, which were also helpful. Additionally, I reached out to one of the upper year students I met at an information night and they were able to have a quick phone chat with me, answering questions I had about the school, program, and interview process.
Here are some general things to focus on for your interview:
Have questions and answers prepared but not over-rehearsed. Just have a general idea of what points to hit on for each question, not an actual script.
Be prepared for questions like:
Tell me about yourself.
Why do you want to be a therapist?
Why did you choose this particular school/program?
What is one of your biggest strengths? Weaknesses (and how you’re working to overcome it)?
Think of a time you had to work with someone that had very different values from you? How did you handle the situation?
What has your experience with diversity and inclusion been like? How do you think about or experience privilege in your life?
Think about questions that you would like to ask the interviewer. For example:
What makes a successful student in this program?
How do I make the most out of my time at the school? Are there volunteer opportunities I should try to take advantage of early on?
Will I be assigned an advisor or do I need to seek one out on my own?
Are faculty required to maintain a private practice?
Is personal psychotherapy required during the program?
In my program we did the interviews in groups of 4. About halfway through the interview, we were split into two groups of two and did roleplay work where each of us took turns being a client and then being a therapist. We had something like 5-10 minutes in each role and then switched, while an observer popped in and out of our Zoom breakout rooms. Dyad work and observation like this is a huge part of your first year experience in counseling psychology, and eventually you will move on to meeting real clients and being supervised during your practicum. Hopefully you already have some sense of what it’s like to be a therapist at this point, since you’re already applying to school to do this job. If you’re really hesitant about doing this exercise, you might want to take time to ask yourself if this is the right choice or right time for you.
Think about what you might like to talk about as a client. You’re never going to be forced to reveal or discuss something you are not comfortable with, but it is best to pick something that feels safe while still having some small emotional charge for you. It’s best if you can go deeper than small talk, but not as deep as a real therapy session. A “bite-sized” issue that you could talk about for a few minutes without getting dysregulated is best.
Think about how you might open the discussion as a therapist, how comfortable you are in the role, how you can make your client feel at ease. Be yourself, try not to be too stiff and awkward, and trust your instincts. Personally I had some practice with this beforehand, both from a therapy class I took in my senior year of undergrad and from attending actual therapy. Hopefully you can get some practice in beforehand too, to feel comfortable with the exercise.
In my case, since we were doing 4 people to an interview, it’s best if you can keep your answers short and sweet, around the 1-minute mark. Touch on your main points but do not ramble. Practice your elevator pitches.
You might be thinking, okay, this is great, now I have a list of questions but how do I actually answer those questions properly? Well, if you’re an over-thinking perfectionist like me, this is when you hit YouTube and start looking up other people’s interview experiences.
Here are some of the med school videos I found helpful:
How to Answer the Question “What’s Your Biggest Weakness?” - Ali Abdaal
How to Answer the Question “Why Should We Choose You?” - Ali Abdaal
As I mentioned, watching medical school videos is probably overkill for a counseling psychology graduate program, but it helped me feel completely prepared and confident when it did come to interview day. Overall it took no longer than an hour even though there were 4 candidates plus the interviewer sharing speaking time.
If you get an interview for one of the graduate school programs you apply to I hope you ace it! Good luck out there and hopefully one day soon I will be able to offer consultation and mock interview services for prospective graduate students in case you have any questions that you’d like one-on-one help with.