Not all interviews are equal

Here's an account of an interview from just this year by Brianna. Clearly the methods have changed somewhat as it doesn't sounds like anything my current coursemates have told me their interviews were like (or maybe it's because it's early in the year and the interviewers aren't tired of the same ol' answers yet ;) Who knows?). The lesson to draw from this, IMO, is that no one can tell you exactly what the interview will be like.

In spite of her experience with the interview, Brianna did get accepted at OBU by the way :)

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The interview day began kind of poorly for me as I confused the time
change difference and found the interview was scheduled 2 hours before
I had planned. As I arrived to my regular 8 to 5 job, I received a
phone call from my interviewer and promptly had to reschedule, while
attempting to hide the purpose of the phone call from my boss and
coworkers who don't know I am considering graduate school. Luckily, my
interviewer had some extra free time later that day and I managed to
leave work for that purpose. Still, it ruined my built-up idea of the
interview going smoothly and I felt more nervous when the actual time
came. The lesson here is that if you are an international student, pay
close attention to the time difference!

I already felt stupid and apologized immediately when OBU called. I
had prepared for a week to answer questions based on my strengths,
weaknesses, interests in the school and general publishing questions.
I expected to be asked about what jobs I would see myself doing in the
industry and I also expected a lot of questions about my background.
What I found, though, was that the background meant little except for
clarification purposes.

I was asked what certain phrases meant regarding my honors courses and
my grade point average (GPA) - which I assume they don't use in the
UK? The previous week had been spent skimming stories on Publisher's
Weekly and The Bookseller, but the questions I received were much more
pointed. I had no questions about strengths or weaknesses, what I
thought publishing was, why I liked OBU, etc. My questions were very
focused on specific events and lawsuits within the publishing
industry. I don't want to give away details, but the stories I was
asked about have been in the news for years and I had never heard of
them. I felt completely lost and utterly stupid as I fumbled for
opinions. The important thing is that I gave opinions. Interviewers
will not mind if you have a differing view. They want to see that you
can speak clearly and form your own ideas. I even told the interviewer
that I had never heard the news story in question and she gave me some
key points to research.

Overall, it was a stressful interview. I did not feel comfortable, but
I felt like I did the best I could with the knowledge I had. I would
just suggest that anyone who is considering grad school in a specific
subject should know, in detail, the most pressing current events. I
thought I did, but should have dug deeper. Everyone should write a
thank you letter after the interview and send it immediately. I
usually have no problem with interviews and do not get stressed
easily, but for some reason I did. Not every interview is going to be
perfect, so you shouldn't expect it to be. Just do the best you can
and make sure you have a genuine interest in the topics. Relax.:)