Can a bad interview hurt my chances of acceptance?

Applying to College
1

<p>The colleges I'm looking at that strongly recommend interviews are Brown, Bowdoin, Swarthmore, and Pomona. I think for all of them they've said that the interviews tend to be more conversational, but for me that doesn't necessarily make it easier. I guess I'm kind of shy and really bad at making conversation with strangers. It's not that I'm antisocial, just that my brain goes completely blank and I have nothing to say. Sometimes I forget really basic things (in previous conversations I've completely forgotten the fact that I play cello, even though I've been playing for 10 years, and even my age...). With my friends I'm pretty talkative, but those are either people I've known for years or shared close experiences with, not someone I got comfortable with through a single conversation.</p>

<p>Pretty much every college says interviews can only help, but what if it went really, really bad? Like awkward silences, sweating profusely, short answers. I'm pretty sure the reason I didn't get accepted for an internship once was that I botched the interview (their email said that even though I had a strong application, I'd been wait-listed)... </p>

<p>Thanks for your time.</p>

2

<p>One important but unnoticed thing about interviews are that they prove the qualities shown on your original application submitted to colleges. For example, if you put down you are the president of multiples of clubs, but you can’t confidently have a conversation with an interviewer hints that something is off. </p>

<p>As for the shyness, it’s really really a casual conversation. I did multiples of interviews, and I over-worried for my very first one. I could not sleep the night before. But it turned out completely fine. It really is like a conversation. </p>

3

<p>Don’t worry too much about it. My interview was so awkward that when we were ordering drinks and standing in line next to each other, we didn’t even talk for ten minutes.</p>

<p>Things happen, it’s only one small part of your application.</p>