I think this may be a stupid question, but I have been participating in No Shave November and have a college interview coming up. Do I need to say my goodbyes to the closest thing to a beard I’ve ever had for my interview? Or will the interviewer be amused/impressed by my commitment to this cause at the expense of my appearances?
…shave…
you don’t understand the bond
Could go either way. No way of predicting. It’s a risk, so depends on how much you care whether or not you get into this school or not if you are willing to take the risk. Obviously the first responder didn’t say what you wanted to hear,
It’s fine if it’s well kept but otherwise might be worth a shave. Then again, alumni interviews for college don’t mean too much.
If this were a job interview, I’d say shave. But for alumni interviews for college? Nope. Don’t shave - but trim it so it’s not sloppy looking if you are ‘man enough’ to sport significant facial hair at this age.
Just explain to your interviewer that you’re participating and why you care about this. It’s a good jumping off point for discussion. As long as they know that it wasn’t because you didn’t bother, it won’t be a problem. (My son is participating too.)
“Closest thing you’ve ever had to a beard” doesn’t sound like it’s impressive enough to keep…I’m friends with several guys who only end up growing, like, cheek whiskers. It looked awful and unkempt. Just think carefully about what image you’re presenting.
You guys are off the rails.
Don’t shave. No one bloody cares about your facial hair or lack thereof. Or if you have piercings or blue hair.
Don’t explain unless they ask.
My goodness, does the younger generation think that us old folks are that uptight?
I wouldn’t wear cutoffs or show a bare midriff, but that is different.
I have not ONCE made a note about an applicant’s physical appearance, either personal or clothing, on an interview report. We tell applicants to wear what they normally wear to school.
(I interview for my Ivy alma mater by the way)
@rhandco, At last! Someone who recognizes that the admissions process has become far too stressful for students. I’m constantly inundated, by peers and counselors, with information regarding the importance of curating ECs from the age of 5, of taking X Class because a transcript without it will appear substantially less impressive, of retaking the SAT/ACT more than once to go for an extra 20, 40, 60 points, etc.
So few encourage the environment that has given rise to so many intellectuals: one that stimulates critical thinking and is conducive to motivating each student to pursue his/her passions.
I’m pretty young myself but I wouldn’t go so far as to say nobody cares about facial hair, piercings, or blue hair. There are some people who do very much care. I was in a thread about this the other day, re: workplace norms, and a significant proportion of people said that they judged service professionals on hair color, tattoos, and piercings. (I personally don’t.)
I think it depends on how it looks. Is it a tidy beard or does it look unkempt and unruly?
But overall, I agree with @SirPepsi. The college admissions process has ballooned to ridiculous levels at this point.
I was in this position last week. In the end I just bit the bullet and shaved.
I wouldn’t shave, but if it’s looking messy I might give it a bit of a trim.
I try not to judge people by the way they look, but it’s hard not to sometimes. Certain sorts of piercings still make my stomach turn a little. On the other hand, tattoos have become so ubiquitous I don’t think twice about them any more. Most alumni interviewers like kids and know the range of what they look like. Dress nicely in business casual and don’t worry about it.
Many people on here are proud advocates of micromanaging every aspect of an application to come off as professional and mature, but the truth is that so much of an application isn’t geared toward that. I had tons of people tell me my ideas for a “use 3 words to describe yourself” question were idiotic and immature and there were hoards of parents bashing me, 2 days later I talked to the AdCom in person and he was laughing about it, he said there was someone on campus, an admitted student, whose answers were:
- Ridiculously
- Good
- Looking
People on here are way too uptight, and quite frankly they seem mad at the world and every kid who may not know exactly what he/she is saying or why he/she is saying it. I’d like to see more sympathy and less rhetorical questions aimed at making a kid feel stupid or down. Don’t worry about the beard. Clean it up if it nags your thoughts, if you wanna keep it going, keep it going. At the end of the day a beard won’t make or break your application, GPAs, essays, and test scores will.
Best of luck!!!
OP is asking for advice but many posters are explaining how they wished the world was instead of giving the best advice. No one will be put off by his being clean shaven. Some MIGHT have a bad impression if he looks scruffy. Therefore the best advice is that he shave.
Shave. Plan to do it next year. Or make it up in the spring.
Thanks everyone for your advice. I think I was mostly just in denial about having to shave, but I don’t want to take the risk so I’m gonna shave.
I’ll just make up for it by never shaving again I guess.
The OP ASKED for advice, so here’s my 2 cents:
Who benefits from your not shaving? I realize it’s about cancer awareness, but I think most people are pretty much aware of cancer. A donation to the American Cancer Society or Locks for Love would probably be a more tangible way of helping those with cancer.
On the other hand, who stands to benefit from you shaving? You, in a very direct way because of the impression you’ll make.
“Cleaning up” the beard would be shaving. Not cleaning it up means you probably look pretty scruffy by this point in the month.
Shave. And donate a few day’s pay to the ACS or Locks for Love.