<p>I just received an interview offer--those of you who have already had college interviews or know someone who did, what kind of specific questions do they ask? Or can any current Columbia students give us all some tips? Thanks!</p>
<p>be ready for this one: "Do YOU have any questions for me?"
I've heard most interviewers like to ask that and if u ask somthing, u seem to b more interested... Be inteligent in question choice, though... Dont ask somthing u should already know like "Where is Columbia?"</p>
<p>Do a search -- particularly for posts by me. </p>
<p>There's no "standard" interview protocol; interviewers can ask you about whatever they want, and you could get an odd-ball interviewer. But expect questions about such things as:</p>
<p>why you want to go to Columbia</p>
<p>what you're interested in studying at Columbia</p>
<p>your high school academics</p>
<p>your ECs</p>
<p>various miscellaneous "get to know you" questions (your family, your high school, what your hobbies are)</p>
<p>what other schools you're looking at</p>
<p>hey VieRoulette, if you don't mind, would you tell me what state/area you're from? I'm paranoid that I somehow missed an interview offer since i submitted my app on August 6 and still haven't received an offer. -worries-</p>
<p>Hey livingtea, I live in NJ. And don't worry b/c my friend who goes to my school and applied at the same time didn't get an offer yet either... it's probably just random.</p>
<p>I did mine last Friday! My guy started off with a profile that is basically the Part I of the application (academic interests, extracurricular...) and basically they go off from there.</p>
<p>Hardest Question: How have you dealt with change? (I didn't know what he was really asking so he let me off on it)</p>
<p>Difficult Topics: How do you expect to make friends in college? Expect a lot of "why" questions.</p>
<p>Common Topics: What to fix in your HS, diversity, what do you look for in a college (not just Columbia but your entire list), why columbia (again)</p>
<p>As for asking the interviewer questions, remember that these are alumni interviewers and some of them have not been to Columbia in over 30 years (aka my interviewer). So don't try to ask specific questions like about food, campus life, dorms, etc. I asked my interviewer a very general question and his answer lasted about 30 minutes.</p>
<p>Good luck with everything! Just remember that it is almost like an informal discussion so just be comfortable.</p>
<p>Sorry to hijack your thread, but is it good or bad that my interview lasted 45 minutes longer than expected? (Mine lasted 1 hour 30 minutes)</p>
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Hardest Question: How have you dealt with change? (I didn't know what he was really asking so he let me off on it)
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<p>That's a really dumb question. What the heck does that mean? Puberty?</p>
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Difficult Topics: How do you expect to make friends in college?
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<p>Pretty dumb also. I'm not sure what sort of useful info he could gather from this question.</p>
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I asked my interviewer a very general question and his answer lasted about 30 minutes.
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<p>Lame.</p>
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Sorry to hijack your thread, but is it good or bad that my interview lasted 45 minutes longer than expected? (Mine lasted 1 hour 30 minutes)
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<p>It means very little, but it's more of a good thing than a bad thing. If he really hated you, he probably would have ran out of things to talk about. But sometimes old people are just bored and happy to have someone listen to them, so he probably spends a lot of time with most people (even though Columbia tells us not to go for more than an hour).</p>
<p>I’m having my interview this Wednesday, so I’ll post about it then, but a piece of advice I was given that hasn’t been mentioned on here, although it is usually common knowledge, is the follow-up email. Make sure to send out an email to your interviewer after the interview, to thank them. It leaves a good impression.</p>
<p>Don’t revive old threads, emily. GL w/your interview.</p>