Doctor of Audiology Grad School Interview Questions and Tips

I think I had a grad school interview, but for some reason must have repressed the memory because I can’t remember that part of the process AT ALL. Luckily my friend and fellow audiologist Delia had some amazing advice to share with students.

Basic Grad School Interview Questions and Ideas for How to Think About Your Answer

What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?

With weakness always include tangible skills you have actively worked on to overcome the weakness. Mine is my poor memory (see above) so I always talk about how I’ve learned to take great notes and it’s helped me develop incredible organization skills.

What made you interested in the field of Audiology?

Don’t talk about the negative part about clinic that made you decide there was no way you were becoming a speech language pathologist (this was a great tip bc I’m totally guilty of this!).

Describe a time you encountered adversity, how did you overcome it?

Grad school is 4 years of adversity. They need to know you can do hard things. Keep your answer professional and respectful and show them you have a proven track record.

Why do you want to attend this school/AuD program?

Answer ideas- you’re impressed by their ____________ (research, alumni, offering of diverse clinic rotation types, pediatric specialty track, etc). Do your research and get specific! Your answer should not be super personal (i.e. you want to live close to your family or boyfriend).

How do you take criticism?

You are going to be learning and growing and that can be painful, but grad programs want to know that you can create a thick skin and focus on the big picture.

Everything can be a learning experience. It’s important to get curious and ask questions. Then take time to reflect and think about underlying influences that may be creating the issue. Then take action steps to correct the problem and make a change.

How do you approach conflict?

Always be respectful, everything can be a learning opportunity, remember your goal in the end (i.e. to help the patient) and try to focus on that. There’s more than 1 way to get to the same end goal and as a student it’s your job to keep an open mind and try different approaches. Flexibility is key as a student and as a professional.

Grad School Phone Interviews

For Phone Interviews: Write down the questions, especially if they are multi-part!

Don’t Over Compliment the Questions

Don’t over-compliment the question “Great question, …” If you need a second to think it’s ok to just pause. Or you can repeat the question as part of your answer to give yourself a second to process it.

Ask for Help

Ask a trusted professor if they can give you some pointers on grad school interviews. We are a helping profession and want to see students succeed. Always make sure you prep first though, no one wants to do the work for you!

Ok current AuD grad students- help the future classes out! What questions were you asked?

Follow me on Instagram for more tips @ListenWithLindsay