Hi!
I was admitted to Whitman College fr the class of 2020 with really excellent aid and was chosen as a potential Claire Sherwood scholar. I’m really excited because Whitman is currently my top choice school. However, I’m really nervous about the interview process for the scholarship though and was wondering if anyone had any advice or had gone through the process before and had any helpful tips?
Congratulations!
My son was a Garrett Scholarship (male equivalent of Sherwood) nominee and was flown to campus for a weekend visit and the interview. He was not chosen, so I can tell you what he said he wished he had not done and maybe it will help. He listened to the accomplishments of all the other nominees during the visit before the interview, and started to psyche himself out. He began to doubt what he achieved was as worthy as the other awesome guys, you can imagine what that will do to your self confidence. I think he entered the interview in a jumble of nerves and self doubt, not so good when you’ve been selected because of your leadership capabilities! Of course, he really had accomplished a great deal, that’s why he was there, but he lost sight of that fact. So my advice to you is to forget all those other folks who have done amazing things, you are there because you have too. Relax, stay confident and be able to discuss what attributes you have that helped you become a good leader. He was asked to elaborate on his leadership style, he wasn’t able to answer that very well because he’d never really thought about it.
In every other respect he had a fantastic visit and it helped convince him that Whitman was his best choice. He spent 4 years there having a great time and taking numerous leadership roles.
Good luck!