How was Berkeley's Interview Day

OATBooster | The Ultimate OAT Resource
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
M

mathcod

Full Member
10+ Year Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2008
Messages
282
Reaction score
45
What did the other 116 interviewees think about the entire day?

I personally loved it and had so much fun. It was incredibly laid-back, both the interview and the rest of the events. So many smiling faces (from faculty, the 130+ volunteers, and all of the applicants) really made the whole thing so stress-free. The food and food service was luxurious in my opinion as well. I thought the essays were very thought-stimulating as well. All of the interviewees I met were really awesome people. yay.
Members don't see this ad.
 
mathcod said:
What did the other 116 interviewees think about the entire day?

I personally loved it and had so much fun. It was incredibly laid-back, both the interview and the rest of the events. So many smiling faces (from faculty, the 130+ volunteers, and all of the applicants) really made the whole thing so stress-free. The food and food service was luxurious in my opinion as well. I thought the essays were very thought-stimulating as well. All of the interviewees I met were really awesome people. yay.
Click to expand...

man..my mind started to blank out on the essay..dont think i did that great on that part. everything else was awesome though!
 
Likewise, Oceanblue. I hadn't written an essay like that in years (maybe I should've practiced) so the jumbled bunch of ideas in my head didn't come out as easily and smoothly on paper. I was really pleasantly surprised at how upbeat and friendly everyone was, and though this is a very competitive school, I didn't sense a competitive air anywhere. Everyone was open and willing to share their experiences with each other! I had a good time. Well done, Cal!
 
Members don't see this ad :)
wow, i expected this thread to grow as fast as the interview invitation thread. I mean, spirits were pretty darn high.
 
mathcod said:
wow, i expected this thread to grow as fast as the interview invitation thread. I mean, spirits were pretty darn high.
Click to expand...

me too. maybe everyones nervously/anxiously waiting for a phone call instead of checking sdn. howd it go for you mathcod?
 
I think I did well in the interview. I had fun and I think the interviewers had fun as well. We talked the whole 45 minute time allotted. The interview wasn't really that stressful. I was nervous at first but after they asked if I was comfortable with my coat on (which I wasn't so I took it off), I guess I was able to relax.

I'm really optimistic about getting in, but I don't want to mess with the fates and jinx myself. Everyone here is the cream of the crop and totally fit for Berkeley, it just sucks that we have to compete for a limited available space.

I was in group yellow.

I got rejected by SCCO today, and I only applied to that school and Berkeley so far.

My interview at SCCO was terrible, and despite getting a 400/380 OAT, it wasn't enough to get past that mess.
 
mathcod said:
I think I did well in the interview. I had fun and I think the interviewers had fun as well. We talked the whole 45 minute time allotted. The interview wasn't really that stressful. I was nervous at first but after they asked if I was comfortable with my coat on (which I wasn't so I took it off), I guess I was able to relax.

I'm really optimistic about getting in, but I don't want to mess with the fates and jinx myself. Everyone here is the cream of the crop and totally fit for Berkeley, it just sucks that we have to compete for a limited available space.

I was in group yellow.

I got rejected by SCCO today, and I only applied to that school and Berkeley so far.

My interview at SCCO was terrible, and despite getting a 400/380 OAT, it wasn't enough to get past that mess.
Click to expand...

I was in Red group. it was nice having the interview first, but i was pretty tired by the time of the essay...add to the fact that I haven't had to write an argumentative essay in quite some time, so I think I was pretty rusty at that part.

Funny how, being invited to the Berkeley interview I was "pre-qualified" to make it past graduate admissions, yet I got denied an interview to SUNY and haven't heard back for an interview from SCCO...both of which claim to be very strict academic schools
 
Last edited:
mathcod said:
I got rejected by SCCO today, and I only applied to that school and Berkeley so far.

My interview at SCCO was terrible, and despite getting a 400/380 OAT, it wasn't enough to get past that mess.
Click to expand...

My SCCO interview was terrible too. From what I've heard, there was one interviewer of the 5 that felt it was his job to interrogate rather than interview (and maybe we both got him). That part of it really does suck too, because with SCCO, once you get offered an interview, they no longer look at your GPA or OAT scores... everyone is considered equal at that point. So, if you get stuck with an interviewer who goes out of his way to make you feel intimidated, you might just be SOL. :thumbdown:

Good luck with Berkeley though! When are they letting people know?
 
oceanblue392 said:
Funny how, being invited to the Berkeley interview I was "pre-qualified" to make it past graduate admissions, yet I got denied an interview to SUNY and haven't heard back for an interview from SCCO...both of which claim to be very strict academic schools
Click to expand...

What does it mean to be "pre-qualified"? What standards did you have to meet?
 
blysssful said:
What does it mean to be "pre-qualified"? What standards did you have to meet?
Click to expand...

I just made that term up. They told us at interview day that since we were invited for an interview, we were all capable of passing graduate admissions, based on our grades, qualifications, etc. After the interview day, they review your entire file again with the interview feedback and essay feedback to determine to accept you or not.

We should find out after the 17th of Feb, and before the end of the month.
 
oceanblue392 said:
I just made that term up. They told us at interview day that since we were invited for an interview, we were all capable of passing graduate admissions, based on our grades, qualifications, etc. After the interview day, they review your entire file again with the interview feedback and essay feedback to determine to accept you or not.

We should find out after the 17th of Feb, and before the end of the month.
Click to expand...

Well good luck to all :xf:
 
mathcod said:
What did the other 116 interviewees think about the entire day?

I personally loved it and had so much fun. It was incredibly laid-back, both the interview and the rest of the events. So many smiling faces (from faculty, the 130+ volunteers, and all of the applicants) really made the whole thing so stress-free. The food and food service was luxurious in my opinion as well. I thought the essays were very thought-stimulating as well. All of the interviewees I met were really awesome people. yay.
Click to expand...

Does it mean that Berkely offers one interview day for all qualified applicants (116 std at one day), and then they start to interview each person alone? I do not understand?
 
Members don't see this ad :)
HOPEOPT said:
Does it mean that Berkely offers one interview day for all qualified applicants (116 std at one day), and then they start to interview each person alone? I do not understand?
Click to expand...

there were appx 128 interviewees, broken down into 4 groups of 32. Each group cycled through 4 stations: 1) Interview 2) Essay 3) Mock Class and 4) Relax and talk to students in the lounge, each about 45 minutes long. In all, there were 32 Interview stations to handle a group at a time: each station with 1 professor and 1 student. So at the end of the day each pair of interviewers saw a total of 4 students.
 
Oh, was it 128 interviewees? My mistake!
 
oceanblue392 said:
there were appx 128 interviewees, broken down into 4 groups of 32. Each group cycled through 4 stations: 1) Interview 2) Essay 3) Mock Class and 4) Relax and talk to students in the lounge, each about 45 minutes long. In all, there were 32 Interview stations to handle a group at a time: each station with 1 professor and 1 student. So at the end of the day each pair of interviewers saw a total of 4 students.
Click to expand...
This is totally different from all other optometry school's interview, but I think this kind of interview will not be fair enough in selecting students, what do you think?. On the other hand, other schools have the same members of admission committee to interview all the qualified applicants, so their decision will be more fair, I think.
 
HOPEOPT said:
This is totally different from all other optometry school's interview, but I think this kind of interview will not be fair enough in selecting students, what do you think?. On the other hand, other schools have the same members of admission committee to interview all the qualified applicants, so their decision will be more fair, I think.
Click to expand...

The one definite plus is that you get to meet your future classmates. This is pretty important considering how you will probably see them everyday
 
HOPEOPT said:
This is totally different from all other optometry school's interview, but I think this kind of interview will not be fair enough in selecting students, what do you think?. On the other hand, other schools have the same members of admission committee to interview all the qualified applicants, so their decision will be more fair, I think.
Click to expand...

I dont know about the fairness of it..it is what it is. One thing I didnt mention explicitly but alluded to, is that the interviewers are not in the room when the admissions committee decides on each student. Instead, they submit a written evaluation which is included along with the rest of your file. Same goes for the essay; someone reads it and evaluates it-that evaluation gets included in your file. Then its the job of only the admissions committee to review all the information in your file and select students, therefore none of the admissions committee actually know the students personally, only whats in the file.

i suppose all this information would be pretty useful for next year interviewees...any mod wanna add it into the UCB sticky thread?
 
Last edited:
HOPEOPT said:
This is totally different from all other optometry school's interview, but I think this kind of interview will not be fair enough in selecting students, what do you think?. On the other hand, other schools have the same members of admission committee to interview all the qualified applicants, so their decision will be more fair, I think.
Click to expand...

The risk of inconsistencies between the interviewers is definitely a valid concern. However, I am sure all the interviewers are briefed on how to conduct the interview and sort of standardize the interviews.

A lot of an interview is subjective anyways, even with the same person.

I really think Berkeley is wise in how they run admissions.
 
zyg0te said:
The risk of inconsistencies between the interviewers is definitely a valid concern. However, I am sure all the interviewers are briefed on how to conduct the interview and sort of standardize the interviews.

A lot of an interview is subjective anyways, even with the same person.

I really think Berkeley is wise in how they run admissions.
Click to expand...

What about those people who absolutely couldn't make that day? Was anyone brave enough to ask for another day?
 
I think I remember reading somewhere, either from their website or the invitation, that you can interview at a later date if something legitimate came up.
 
blysssful said:
What about those people who absolutely couldn't make that day? Was anyone brave enough to ask for another day?
Click to expand...

Berkeley changed their policy a couple years ago. No phone interviews, and no make ups (that i have any knowledge of). They make Interview day a very very important day, and I think that the admissions committee really emphasizes the importance of attending that day.
 
oceanblue392 said:
Berkeley changed their policy a couple years ago. No phone interviews, and no make ups (that i have any knowledge of). They make Interview day a very very important day, and I think that the admissions committee really emphasizes the importance of attending that day.
Click to expand...

That is the only thing I've heard about Berkeley that I think is absurd. What if there is a death in the family? What if you're getting married that day? What if your sister gives birth? I mean, life gets in the way of very important days all the time... it shouldn't be an indicator that you're not committed.
 
blysssful said:
What about those people who absolutely couldn't make that day? Was anyone brave enough to ask for another day?
Click to expand...

That is a very good point. Especially considering we weren't given too much notice and may have made prior, equally important arrangements for that day.

Besides your evaluation, attending interview day is a really good experience for you to learn about UCB's priorities as well.
 
blysssful said:
That is the only thing I've heard about Berkeley that I think is absurd. What if there is a death in the family? What if you're getting married that day? What if your sister gives birth? I mean, life gets in the way of very important days all the time... it shouldn't be an indicator that you're not committed.
Click to expand...

I can't believe they wouldn't be understanding of such extenuating circumstances.
 
Just reread the invitation e-mail and found this:
"In truly exceptional circumstances we can try to make alternative arrangements."
 
oceanblue392 said:
Just reread the invitation e-mail and found this:
"In truly exceptional circumstances we can try to make alternative arrangements."
Click to expand...

Good! I mean, that would be silly otherwise.
 
Only two more days until we find out the results.
 
mathcod said:
Only two more days until we find out the results.
Click to expand...

well, they did give us a range, from tuesday to the end of the month...but lets hope they are speedy and inform us sooner rather than later!
 
oceanblue392 said:
well, they did give us a range, from tuesday to the end of the month...but lets hope they are speedy and inform us sooner rather than later!
Click to expand...

Are you serious? ARGHHH, yes, let's hope because the uncertainty is killing me.
 
bumpity bump, this waiting game is making me go insane! anyone else?!
 
mathcod said:
I've been hyperventilating for the last 2 hours!!!

I really hope we hear today. How'd the interview go for you?
Click to expand...

From what I can gather going through last years threads on SDN regarding Berkeley Interview and admissions, I think it took about 2 weeks after the interview before people were notified. :(
 
I guess I'll go through daily hyperventilation until the results come in. bah
 
i haven't heard back yet either... anyway, don't worry so much! you're making ME worried! whatever happens will happen, plus, will it be so bad to take a year off? you should watch some how i met your mother.
 
wow, my heart just sank a little just now. i got the "quick update" from berkeley, an e-mail just to inform us they will try to get out the decision by the end of the week (tomorrow??). eeks!!
 
oceanblue392 said:
wow, my heart just sank a little just now. i got the "quick update" from berkeley, an e-mail just to inform us they will try to get out the decision by the end of the week (tomorrow??). eeks!!
Click to expand...


it says end of next week. =)
 
me too! It was so unexpected! I finally stopped being so anxious after tuesday cause I guess they probably wouldn't send out any notice till next week. oh man...this waiting process is killing me..
 
Next week? the unnnncceeeerrtaaaiintyyyyyyy............!

I panicked when I saw an email from Berkeley, lol, after hearing that only those that are rejected are sent emails. o well, I'll go crawl back into my hole until next week. bye world
 
Last edited:
Hi mathcod
I am new to the forums but I was wondering what you heard about rejected or sent e-mails?
 
whoops that was a typo in my earlier post.

I meant to say that I heard from last year's class that:

If you are accepted, they give you a phone call
If you are rejected or waitlisted, they email you

Anyways, how was interview day for you optoisforme? Team yellow ftw.
 
whoooaaa no way? is that gonna be the same this year? i thought they were gonna e-mail EVERYONE if they were accepted, rejected, or waitlisted. during interview day all it said was we will be notified via e-mail right?
 
mathcod said:
whoops that was a typo in my earlier post.

I meant to say that I heard from last year's class that:

If you are accepted, they give you a phone call
If you are rejected or waitlisted, they email you

Anyways, how was interview day for you optoisforme? Team yellow ftw.
Click to expand...

Oh thanks for clarifying I was hoping that you meant they had already sent out rejection e-mails to some people, meaning that if we didn't get one we made the second cut or something like that.
I thought my interview went well, I was really nervous at first and started coughing from a dry throat but then I pulled it together. They just had my application essays right in front of them and asked me to elaborate on my experiences and my roles in different activities I participated in, so that was easy. The hardest question to answer was " Describe two instances where you were in a high pressure situation and how you dealt with it".
I was in the Blue group so I was tried by the time we got to the essay portion. I am hoping that the essay does not have too much weight a million other things were running through my head so it was hard to keep my argument going.
The anticipation is killing me I have huge midterms this week and I can't focus for more than an hour without wanting to check my e-mail!!! :xf:
 
optoisforme said:
The anticipation is killing me I have huge midterms this week and I can't focus for more than an hour without wanting to check my e-mail!!! :xf:
Click to expand...

yup! join the club. I'm nearly useless at work since I'm always checking my e-mail, keeping my phone out and making sure its in a location where it gets reception, then checking it often to see if i might have missed a call, then checking SDN to see if anyone has heard back from berkeley..
 
haha that is EXACTLY what my days at work are like lately...ive got the other girl here listening for my phone to vibrate too..

I was in the red group and loved it! We got to do interviews first which was awesome...the women interviewing were real nice and asked me about my experience a lot...and about this other job I had working in an opthalmology research lab...which was nice b/c all of the answers were very straitforward. I loved the students that were with us too..everyone was so nice :)
 
Last edited:
mathcod said:
BREAKING NEWS: THIS JUST IN!
Click to expand...

That was kinda mean. Just curious, but how many of you people are female? At interview day, it didn't seem to be an overwhelming female presence, maybe 60-65% female - at least to me (i'm a guy). Given that berkeley doesnt take into consideration sex, yet less than 20 people in each of the classes are male, it seems like the odds are not in my favor. What do you all think?
 
mathcod said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rguo2n4uFp8&feature=channel this video describes how I feel about UC Berkeley's Admissions Office:laugh:
Click to expand...

That's nice, same as I feel
icon2.gif
 
oceanblue392 said:
That was kinda mean. Just curious, but how many of you people are female? At interview day, it didn't seem to be an overwhelming female presence, maybe 60-65% female - at least to me (i'm a guy). Given that berkeley doesnt take into consideration sex, yet less than 20 people in each of the classes are male, it seems like the odds are not in my favor. What do you all think?
Click to expand...

sorry bout before. Anyways, it's kinda ugly to bring up the whole issue with admission regarding gender, race, age, sexual orientation, etc. In my opinion for admission to professional school, qualifications are the only thing that should matter. The only pickle is what would you do if Mister X and Madam Y are both equally qualified?

I'm a guy, and I'm optomistic about being favored, but solely on my achievements and opinion of my interview.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

O
UC Berkeley Optometry Interview Day
Replies
1
Views
1K
AcademicEyes
A
R
Berkeley School of Optometry Waitlist
Replies
1
Views
2K
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
S
  • Locked
Interview Day Profile Form for ICO
Replies
0
Views
978
studentoptom2021
S
A
Pacific University Interview Day
Replies
5
Views
1K
hifzar
hifzar
M
IUSO Admissions Day
Replies
4
Views
2K
jigglybutter
J
Top