Congrats, care to share your interview experience?
Absolutely; I was always anxious to hear how others interview went as well, so I'll try to sum it up in a nutshell. (I don't think I'm giving anything away with this post, but if I am I'm sorry, I'll edit it out).
So I flew in last Tuesday and met all of the other candidates, who were all just as excited as I was. Wednesday was a study day which was helpful; the LT's escorting us gave us a study guide similar to the one on the navy blog spot website, so everyone was studying it and helping those who were struggling with some problems. The LT's also gave us a mock technical and admiral interview and critiqued us on both which was helpful.
Thursday morning before the any of the technical interviews everyone was nervous, but our escort told us that after the first interview we'd be able to relax a little (and of course nobody believed him). Well needless to say he was right, after my first interview I felt really good about everything. My interviewer was really nice and we just talked for the first 10-15 minutes about why I want to be in the program, how I like my major, etc. It really broke the ice so it helped. Then he asked me a very generic calculus and physics questions, both pretty much from the study guide so no problem there.
I then went to my second interviewer and we also talked for about 10 minutes or so, which again helped to break the ice. He asked also asked me a few calculus and physics questions, and after I was finished with those he asked me a couple of simple ChemE questions, so overall it went really well. I got stuck at a part on one of the Physics questions, but it was a stupid mistake on my part that was an easy fix.
Overall both technical interviews went well so I didn't require a third. I'd say about 5 people got asked to go to a third interview, but they honestly knew they'd need one so if you feel good about yours then you shouldn't require a third.
So then was the Admiral's interview. You and about five people walk into the "Dugout" when called (where the legendary Rickover chair is on display) and wait for your turn. Then you get called "On Deck" while the person ahead of you is talking to the Admiral. Once they leave, they call your name and you walk in, say your intro and sit down. Honestly he seemed like a pretty cool guy; he wasn't staring me down the entire time and he asked me fairly generic questions (why I want to be in the program, etc.). So then I walked out and they told me I was in!
Like I said above, I know you've heard this a dozen times but it really isn't that bad. I was pretty nervous before the Admiral's interview, but when I was saying my intro I kind-of put a smile on my face like I was excited to be there and that helped alleviate some nervousness. If you've made it this far then you should have no problem getting in, just gotta put the icing on the cake.
