I have an interview with a Dickinson alum next week and I am freaking out! Has anyone done one of these before? Any advice? What should I be prepared for? How should I dress? What kind of questions will she ask me? Also, how should I respond if she asks me what my weaknesses are?
Not a reason to freak out . . . my son did one, it was perfectly pleasant, low key. The interviewer had a sample list of questions which they basically ran though – why Dickinson, what do you want to study. My son wore khais and a button down, they met at a Staarbucks, it was 30 minutes long, or a little less.
Don’t sweat it. My interview was great and it was more conversational rather than question and answer. The person conducting the interview expects you to be nervous and will allow you to settle into a comfort zone without judging you. Be yourself, be polite and ask questions that cannot be answered by researching the school’s website or the interweb.
You might ask them about their Dickinson experiences (can’t find that out on the web!). Why did they choose it, what did they like or dislike, how has it helped them after graduation. Dress nicely, but not provocatively if you are female (heck, or male). Slacks or khakis or a skirt are fine, no holes or ripped stuff.
My kids took a sort of resume when they went to interviews (we called them “intkid in a nutshell” documents). Brief sections on education, and one on activities, bullets in each. Not super detailed – did not list every award, easy to scan quickly by the interviewer. They gave them to their interviewer when they sat down, and the interviewer could use it or not.
I doubt they will ask about weaknesses.
I had an on campus interview in early September, so a little bit different from an alum one I guess. But anyways a student did most of the interview while one of the admissions counselors just kinda sat back for most of it. But anyways they really just wanted to get a sense of who I was and what I could bring to the college. Be prepared to talk about what you want to study/do later in life, and why. Also they ask about your hobbies, interests, volunteering, etc. Pretty easy stuff! The only question that I got tripped up on was “So, outside of (all the academic stuff we talked about earlier), what do you like to do to relax?” By this point I had pretty much covered everything I do, including art and volunteering, so I just said “well, honestly, to relax I like to watch TV”. I think they liked that answer 
and we talked about some tv shows. Also we talked about Bernie Sanders, lol, after they saw a button on my backpack. I had brought an resume but didn’t use it at all. At the end they’ll ask if you have any questions- I had about 2 or 3 really good questions that showed that I already knew alot about some of Dickinson’s special programs, stuff that wasn’t obvious.
Idk your gender, but I’m a girl and I wore a blue a-line skirt (knee length) with a black, sleeveless shirt (not a tank top though), and a statement silver necklace. I also wore cute black chunky shoes and a smallish pretty canvas backpack.
And they didn’t ask me my weakness!
Again, overall, they want to see what you can bring to the school and if you’ll be happy and successful! Don’t sweat it!
I had an on campus interview in late September of this year, and it was verrrry laid back! I had done a campus tour rigjt before, which was nice because I was able to talk about some of the things I saw on campus. Mine was with a student, and it was more of a conversation than an interview. My interviewer was very pleasant and we ended up finding a lot of things we had in common, such as having traveled to Spain, watching the same shows on Netflix, and being fans of the same soccer team! It’s really nothing to be nervous about, although I know first hand that that’s easier said than done. You’ll be perfectly fine! Some of the questions they asked were what I liked to do outside of school and my extracurriculars, what were some of the challenges I’ve faced and how I dealt with them (inside or outside of school), what I want to be remembered by, etc. In terms of what I wore, since it was still warm I chose a very light long sleeve shift dress, paired with brown gladiator sandals. However, wear anything that you may wear to school on days that you want to look nicer than usual! Make sure you also wear something that is comfortable, especially in case your interview ends up longer than expected, or you’ll be in complete agony the entire time! Best of luck to you!