Navigating College Interviews

The importance of college interviews varies by college or university.    Most schools  don’t require interviews but offer them to students who are interested either on  campus or with local alumni of the school.   With the increase in applications at  highly selective schools, these alumni interviews are becoming increasingly  important for the following reasons: 

• Willingness to participate shows the school that the student is really  interested in attending the school.   The interviewer will evaluate the interest  level and enthusiasm for the school.   

• Represents one more opportunity to stand out in the admissions process.

• Provides the student the ability to emphasize those parts of his/her personality, values, and beliefs that might now have shown through in the  application. 

• Provides the student the opportunity to show passion for certain activities  and talk about how he/she will be contribute to the campus community. • Interviews can move you up or down one position.   Strong interview can  move you up a step (ex.  Waitlist to Admit). 

Types of Interviews: 

• On campus – These usually take place starting the summer before Sr. Year. These need to be scheduled well in advance! 

• Evaluative Interview – These interviews result in a written report from  interviewer.   They are either done on campus by admissions, by a current  student, or by alumni in your local community.   For example, Stanford &  Northwestern both use a 5-point scale when evaluating students who have  interviewed.   Northwestern has recently added a section to the evaluation  that focuses on the students enthusiasm for attending Northwestern &  knowledge of the school and programs. 

• Informational interview  - These generally don’t result in a report to  admissions but sometimes they do so it’s important that you take them just  as seriously.

Preparation\Conduct 

• Start by making sure that you are very familiar with the school and the  programs that if offers that are of interest to you.    Research the classes that you will likely be taking in majors that you are considering, the  extracurricular activities that you are planning to participate in, etc. Walk in  with a good answer to ‘Why are you interested in XYZ school?’.   

• Be prepared to talk about who you are, your background and goals for at  least 30 minutes.   If it’s an alumni interview, it’s likely that the interviewer  only knows your name and what high school you attend.   Practice talking  with another adult before the interview if you are uncomfortable talking with adults that you don’t know. 

• Participating in an on campus interview is highly recommended if you can.  It’s important to schedule these early as the schedules fill up fast. If you can, do an interview with a ‘safety’ school first so you can practice  before interviewing at your ‘dream’ school. 

• Try to be yourself and have a natural conversation.    Everyone gets nervous  in interviews but remember it’s just a conversation with someone that is  truly interested in why you want to go to the school.   The more relaxed you  are the better you will come across. 

• Your first impression is important.    Greet the interviewer with smile.  Dress nicely.   Males should  wear slacks/khaki’s and a collar shirt.  Depending on the situation a blazer  may be added.    Females should avoid jeans and tennis shoes and not wear a  lot of makeup or perfume.  

• Practice good manners in the interview.   Show up on time (arrive early).    Turn off cell phone before the meeting.    No gum or mints.      

• The final ten minutes is generally used by the interviewer to ‘wrap up’ the  interview.    They will typically ask the candidate if they have any questions  at this point. 

o Students should come prepared with a few questions that they are  generally interested in.    These should be things that the student  would not be able to research online.    

o If the student genuinely has no questions, they should say ‘I’ve done a  lot of research and learned everything I needed on the tour/visit.  This interview has been very helpful as well.’ 

o Student should reiterate their enthusiasm for the school at this point and thank the interviewer for their time.

Sample Questions 

• Tell me about yourself. 

• Why are you interested in this school?     

• How did you learn about this school? 

• What are your academic interests?  Why? 

• What are your career goals?  

• What classes have you taken that you truly enjoyed and why? • What classes have you not enjoyed and why? 

• What are your strengths & weaknesses? 

• What do you plan to be involved in the college environment?

• If you could change one thing about your high school what would it be?

• Describe or define your best friends.   Are they like you or very different?

• What is the title of your autobiography? 

• What is your favorite book?

• If you could have lunch with two people either living or dead, who would you  choose and why? 

• If you had the opportunity to take a year off before college and money was no  object, what would you do? 

• What is one thing that most people don’t know about you? 

Interview checklist 

• Student to call/email to schedule appointment. 

• Get directions, address, phone number. 

• Practice with parent or college admissions counselor. 

• Prepare to share some stories from your high school years.