Dear all

I was shortlisted by a DPhil program in Experimental Psychology in Oxford for 2017 entry.
As I live in Asia, the admission committee allows me to do a skype interview in which the candidate would give a presentation for 7 minutes and then Q&A.
However, I wonder whether it is better to go for an onsite interview even though the department is not able to support me with transportation or accommodation fee.

I had a skype interview for their DPhil program in Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics and was accepted for a position for 2016 entry. But the 2016 one was not supported with any funding.
Therefore, I dropped that offer and applied again this time. As an Asian student, I heard it is quite hard to get funding from Oxford, so I thought I need to be not just good but excellent in the interview, which might give me better chance to be accepted and shortlisted for scholarships, including one that is from our government.

Does it make sense to fly to the UK for the interview just to try if I can get top scores in the interview?

Please feel free to let me know if you have any concerns or comments.

Best Regards

I'd say there's little point in attending interviews in person if you are in Asia and they are not paying for travel. Yes, it's better to interview in person as it's easier to decide on the best candidate face to face, but there's no guarantee you would get the position, so I'm not sure I see the benefit. You might have to fly over for several interviews.

I know of several PhD students who had skype interviews when others had face to face interviews and the skype interview got the position, so it is definitely possible.