College Interviews and You
I’ve been through my fair share of college interviews, and the first and most important piece of advice I can give is to not take it too seriously and free your mind. I walked into my first interview for Princeton University very tense and stressed, and it took a good fifteen to twenty minutes to calm my nerves and talk like a normal person. Luckily, my interviewer was older and more experienced and was able to guide me to cover all the points on my sheet. Yes, I had brought a sheet of items to mention, at which I took cursory glances while he was looking away. By no means was this a bad interview, but in my nervousness I made it harder for myself than was necessary. As more interviews passed by, I became more confident, more natural in speech and behavior and this has increased my control of the dialogue and improved the flow of the exchange.
This doesn’t mean that you should wing it. I still do research on the interviewer and the school the night before and bring my faithful folder and reference sheet, although by now it has become more of a token than an useful tool. Ideally, you should be well-rested, well fed and prepared with knowledge of the institution, talking points about yourself and questions for the interviewer.
If there’s one thing you want to take away from this post, it’s that college interviews, especially alumni interviews, factor little into your overall decision. Of course, every inch could end up counting in college admissions, but it’s not the end of the world if you slip up, blank out or mispronounce a word. Just don’t do that too many times. Bring a pen and paper if you want, I generally find them pretty useless as the questions I ask are more personal and don’t require me to write down any information. Instead, I have a tendency to fidget with my pen. If you find out that you tend to fidget, leave the pen in your pocket until the Q&A session.
With confidence, you can take control of the interview. Alumni interviewers are not standardized, trained or intimidating in any way. Most of the time, they are friendly and want to be entertained in the 40-minute to 1-hour time they have to spend with you. Make it so. Speak of yourself liberally, don’t be afraid to go on wild tangents but don’t try to embellish your achievements or even flat-out lie. These people have no idea what your application looks like, but they do have to send a one-page summary of what you talked about to Admissions. If you say something that contradicts your application, that could break the deal for you.
Answer questions pleasantly and truthfully, provide anecdotes and share life experiences, both embarrassing and proud. Often, the interviewer will find a common point about themselves to chime in. If you feel like it, you can even direct the conversation towards your interviewer’s career and/or interests (Googled beforehand). Once you get the ball rolling, don’t stop talking. When you get comfortable with your talking points, you should be able to get to all or at least most of them in an hour, regardless of order or progression. Let your radiance shine through.
Bottom line, I consider a college interview like a meeting with a childhood friend I haven’t seen in twenty years. Would you stutter, fidget with your pencil and avert your gaze in front of a cherished friend? You wouldn’t want him to think badly of you now, would you?
Check out the rest of my College Admissions Guide here
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