Hello,
I have an interview coming up in a few days with Lawrence University and I was just curious on what to expect. I haven’t been interviewed for anything and I don’t feel like I’m well prepared and experienced for this. Any tips on how I can impress the person who’s interviewing? I would also like to know that if the interview goes bad, will this hurt my chances of getting in (what about vis versa)?
Interview is nothing more than the interviewer trying to get a better understanding of you as a person and a candidate. Most of the times, it will be a nice, smooth conversation to talk about your passions or future endeavors, and to ask the interviewer questions about the school (make sure you have at least one).
Nothing to lose sleep about. Have fun and good luck.
Don’t sweat it. He’s just trying to have a nice talk with you and find out something about you. They aren’t there to grill you or uncover your weaknesses. There’s really no way to prepare other than to make sure you get a chance to talk about your strong points or your passions.
Is this an alumni interview, or an interview on campus with admissions? Either way, try to have a few questions to ask about the school, and be ready to talk about your interests, especially your ECs and possible choice of majors. They might want to know what you are looking for in a college and what specifically draws you to Lawrence – here is an example of what my kid would have said made them interested in Lawrence: the 24 hour quiz marathon they do there, the chance to help keep bees in the campus garden, and the strong Physics program. If you are talking to an alum, ask them what they liked best about their Lawrence experience, and how it has helped them since graduating.
just be natural and discuss subjects you are passionate about and maybe discuss volunteer you have done. For one of my interviews, they asked me what the hardest moment in my life was and I got emotional because I come from a rough area and there were a few things that came to mind but I spoke about losing a close friend and how it made me stronger, the important thing when they ask any question like that is to show how you’ve grown as a person because of an experience. Also colleges want to make sure students are multifaceted so the more you can show that, the better. Good luck 
Please feel free to answer my question
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1740097-can-someone-help-me-edit-this-essay.html#latest
Interviews aren’t weighted very heavily in the admissions process compared to other factors, so it’s nothing to get nervous about. You’ll also do better if you’re not nervous, so it’s best to relax as much as possible. If it helps, think of it more as a conversation than an interview, and remember that you’re allowed to ask questions too. If there are things about the school you’ve been wondering about that you can’t find out from looking on the website, talking with an alum can be a great way to get an insider’s perspective, especially if your interviewer is a more recent alum. As for preparedness, just make sure you’re prepared to talk about your interests, both academic and extracurriculars, and articulate why these things interest you. The idea of an interview is to add a more “human” perspective, so that the admissions committee can get a better sense of you as a person than they could get by just looking at your stats on paper. If there are things about you that you think are important but may not have come through very strongly on your application then the interview is a good time to focus on them.
I really like intparent’s suggestion that you ask an interviewer about their experience at a school and how it’s made a difference in their lives. Always a good question.
As an interview prep, get your ‘elevator speech’ in order. An elevator speech is what you would say if you got into the elevator with someone you wanted to impress and they asked you to ‘Tell me about yourself.’ It’s your opportunity to succinctly hit on the aspects you most want to highlight about yourself and would like to talk about during the interview. You will be asked this question, directly or indirectly, often in your life both at interviews and in informal situations where you want to make a good impression - so you might as well have an answer ready to go.
Want to do more prep? Google commonly asked common interview questions. For example: http://collegeapps.about.com/od/theartofgettingaccepted/tp/college-interview-questions.htm
This is going to sound so cliché, but seriously, be yourself. Don’t try to act impressive
A few things in no particular order:
-You can google “college interview questions” and get some ideas of what might be asked. But be ready for unexpected questions as well.
-Be prepared to talk about yourself, your accomplishments, what you can bring to the college, why you like the college.
-Have a couple of questions ready to ask if you can (that are not answered on the website). My D would write a couple of things on index cards in case she forgot (but she didn’t).
-If you have a resume, bring it as it makes it easy for the interviewer to start a conversation. My D brought a folder with a couple of copies of her resume and the index card with questions into each interview.
-This may be obvious but be on time and neatly dressed and thank the interviewer when the interview is finished and send an email afterward
-Interviews are generally considered an expression of your interest in the school and don’t carry a lot of weight in the admissions process. As long as you are interested, polite, and can speak in coherent sentences about yourself you should be fine.
Relax and enjoy. A good interview will feel like a conversation. Use the interview as a way to learn more about the college. And if you are being interviewed by an alum, keep in mind that they are not professional interviewers.
Be early! Don’t cut it close at all. Better to be 30 min early than to be rushing at the very last minute.
Have solid reasons why you want to go to the school. It’s been the first question of both of my interviews and it was returned to throughout the interviews.
Have some good questions to ask, for example:
If you had to go back would pick the same school?
What are some unique traditions of the school?
Definitely be able to talk about how you found out about the school and what interested you in it.
I’m applying to universities hoping to transfer next fall. How do you get an interview? Do you make an appointment for one individually or the school asks you to?
I’m an athlete trying to be recruited, so I have had my fair share of “interviews” so far. I would say it is very important to prepare- have a parent play the interviewer and ask you the hardest questions they can. If you get stuck, break your role play and discuss it. I’ve found often times that I do not know how to word my thoughts in the best way possible, but doing this really helps. Good luck!
@indiaa well I got an email personally from the University stating that an admissions rep was going to come to my area to interview students that wish to attend the University. It gave me a choice whether I wanted to register for an interview or not so I decided to register.