<p>R.H., when I’ve interviewed shy students, things have started a little slowly, but it usually gets better as it goes along. A capable interviewer–unless he or she is a sadist–will work hard to find something that you’re comfortable talking about.</p>
<p>The only memorably bad interview I ever had wasn’t because the applicant wasn’t much of a talker, but because she represented herself to be something that she really wasn’t. She had been a founder of her school’s Gay Straight Alliance, and she represented herself as interested in politics–particularly in progressive politics. So I asked her a question (I really thought I was lobbing her a softball) about her own congressman. I live in a very blue state, but her congressman happened to be the only traditional-marriage, school-prayer, Second-Amendment social conservative in our state’s Congressional delegation. She didn’t know his name, and she didn’t know his politics. If she hadn’t expressed an interest in lefty politics and in Congress, I never would have asked, but as they say in courtroom dramas, she opened the door.</p>
<p>In that case, upon the advice of a fellow alum, I did report something along the lines of regretting that I could find nothing in our interview to add to the other merits of her application. I intended to damn her with faint praise, but given what she had told me about the rest of her application, I also knew that nothing in there was going to get her admitted. (NOTE: when we interview you, we don’t know anything about your but your name, your address, your phone number, your email address, and the fact that you’ve applied to our college.)</p>
<p>I want to stress, however, that this was an extremely rare case. Almost all interviews go varying degrees of well, and since almost all interview reports are various shades of positive, very few of them have much influence in the admissions process.</p>
<p>If you are not naturally garrulous, I have a few suggestions about preparing for your interview for Brandeis (or anywhere else):</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Don’t represent yourself to be something you’re not. If you tell me who you are, I’ll find a way to ask you more about it. And that will get you talking.</p></li>
<li><p>Do come with an idea in your head of a couple of things you’d like to tell me about. You may be asked in one way or another to talk about an important academic experience you’ve had and an important experience you’ve had apart from academics. Don’t let those questions take you by surprise. Be ready for them. If you can tell me something that doesn’t just repeat what you’ve written in your application, so much the better.</p></li>
<li><p>Do know something about Brandeis before you go into the interview. Be ready to talk, at least superficially, about a thing or two about Brandeis that appeals to you. If it’s specific to Brandeis, and it couldn’t also be said of Tufts, BU, BC, Northeastern, etc., so much the better. You might already know about something appealing at Brandeis, or you might want to know more about something at Brandeis that you think would appeal to you. But be prepared to talk about something at Brandeis that you think will make you and the university a good match.</p></li>
<li><p>You might be asked to talk a little bit about your background: high school, family life, friends. Have some ideas ready. Don’t be overly negative. If you see how something (e.g., your high school, or the swim team, or the summer camp) could be improved, it’s OK to say so, but don’t trash these things.</p></li>
<li><p>You may be asked either what kinds of things (academic or extracurricular) you see yourself involved in during college, or what kind of life you want to build for yourself after college. Have some ideas, so you’re ready to talk about these things.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>The basic idea here is that the kinds of questions you might get are pretty predictable. If you have some idea of what you’d like to talk about going into the interview, your interviewer will gladly let you take the conversation in that direction. Unless, as I said, he or she is a sadist. And if your interviewer turns out to be a sadist, email the admissions office and tell them. Really, they want to know!</p>
<p>Good luck. With a little bit of thinking ahead, this doesn’t have to be scary.</p>
I have to choose a day where both my parents are free.</p>
You can tell when I’m nervous, too - my friends call me an open book! I’d probably be white in the face and trembling during my interview…</p>