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The Campus Interview and Beyond | 7 comments (7 topical, 0 hidden)

[new] Campus Interview (5.00 / 1) (#6)
by Amelia Taylor on Fri Mar 07, 2003 at 10:32:35 AM PDT

I just completed a search and I had questions for the Deans and Presidents that I met that they were impressed with. Some questions to ask (depending on the school affects which questions are dean and which are president and you might not meet the president).

How do you view the mathematics department as part of the college?
What do you see as the future of the college?
What research support is there for me and what is there for students?

These questions lead to good conversations. Another suggestion that was given to me was to use these meetings as a chance to discuss all the wonderful things you do outside of your department. Finally, I was asked some tough questions by some of the Deans and Presidents I met.

Describe your research. (And this is for a Classics or History, or German, etc. professor).
What about teaching gets you excited, i.e. what gets you out of bed in the morning (it really was worded this way)?
Describe your teaching (I find this one tough because you have no idea what they want...).

If you are interviewing at a school with a religious affiliation, regardless of how intense this affiliation is you will be asked to address how you see yourself fitting into it. Be sure to know how the school thinks of this affiliation and be honest. If the school expects you to say you believe in God and you don't, then maybe you shouldn't be there. If the school doesn't expect this (some do, some don't) what are they looking for? Ask questions, scour their webpages. Mission statements can help a lot with this.

Finally, my best President questions were at a school where I was able to get my hands on a letter from the President to alumni. Again look on the webpages and look for a letter/statement from the President. Inevitably there is a discussion of the goals of the school and you can ask specific questions about how they plan to accomplish these goals, it also shows you did homework, because otherwise you wouldn't know this information. Another particulary good one was a school where I knew the US News and World Reports ranking. The ranking was very good and I said that many of us question those rankings, but students and parents look at them. How did he (president) envision guiding the school to keep such a high ranking.

I had many experiences this season and if you are interested in knowing more, you are welcome to ask. To give you and idea, I had 21 interviews in Baltimore and turned down several from schools I did not apply to. I had 16 on campus inviations, of which I attended 7. I had 2 offers and expected a third, but turned it down before the committee met. I applied mainly to teaching oriented schools, but not necessarily only liberal arts colleges. I can be reached at ataylor@math.rutgers.edu.

The Campus Interview and Beyond | 7 comments (7 topical, 0 hidden)

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