When asked what my weaknesses are, or, in today’s Syracuse case, “if five of your freshman year teachers were to gather in a room and discuss about you, what do you think they would say about you?”, should I be completely completely honest?
My freshman GPA is extremely weak, and I decided to be honest today in front of the Syracuse adcom, telling her that the freshmen teachers would describe me as “unmotivated, unenthusiastic, and reluctant to complete hw on time, etc.”
Would this have hurt my chances…? I of course told her all the positive things my junior teachers would say about me… but she seemed stoic throughout that part of the convo… so idk if she appreciated or not. Meh.
My Wash U interview’s coming up this friday. I just wanted to clarify the benefit of completely honesty when explaining weaknesses.
<p>You are really asking two different things. Honesty is one element but in the interview you are selling yourself which you can do honestly but perhaps more effectively than you did at Syracuse. Also.....don't get rattled about this. Remember that many folks see failure as opportunity for growth and new experience.</p>
<p>me as "unmotivated, unenthusiastic, and reluctant to complete hw on time, etc."</p>
<p>This honesty would hurt you only if you didn't balance it off by demonstrating through a raised gpa and through other examples that your attitude and work ethic has greatly changed for the better. Honest students who have changed their problematic behavior would impress adcoms. </p>
<p>A bad answer would either be admitting no freshmen problems (Why would a college want someone who apparently thinks they are perfect already? There'd be no point to educating them) or indicating that one has not changed for the better since freshman year.</p>
<p>Well I would suggest always demonstrate the lesson or the realization. Draw the attention of the interviewer to your journey of self discovery or an exposure to a mentor who really motivated you as an example. Show how you are open to new experiences and new goals. Show how you can contribute to the new class the school is assembling.</p>
<p>Those weakness questions are so tricky! I've always been told to say a strength that was buried in a weakness...things like "people think i work too hard/am a perfectionist/try to do too many things at once/ am really tough on myself"</p>
<p>I guess the real lesson is to identify some weakness or acknowledge an obvious one but sum up with a positive a strength. I'd say to always remember that these interviews are a "selling opportunity" and you don't want to sell yourself short. Practice with someone you trust or a tape recorder it does help. When you hear yourself in response to a question you will have a different feeling.</p>
<p>Just be honest. Say "yeah, I wasn't perfect, but then I made an effort to change, and I've improved." (I'm assuming that's the case!)</p>
<p>I was never asked to talk about my weaknesses per se, but I was asked if I felt I'd reached my potential in high school, or something along those lines... kinda similar, in that there's no perfect answer, so you should just answer it honestly with what happened, what you learned, and what you're planning on doing in the future.</p>
<p>The best way to address the future is what/how are you going to take advantage of the offerings at the school you are interviewing and also be aware of what "services" they offer....say support services or others. Let them know that you are aware of the curriculum and what is offered. Colleges want students who will take advantage of the most they have to offer. They want to know that you will help yourself not sink....or perform weakly if a problem presents itself. Demonstrate resourcefulness. Read up on the school you are interviewing.</p>
<p>I'd suggest getting a book about job interviewing to learn how to handle difficult questions. You can kinda map the answers from jobs to college.</p>
<p>The key to answering questions like this is to understand what the question is getting at. The question you were asked was not a test of honesty. It was a test of perspective. Can you see yourself the way others do? </p>
<p>One way to answer this honestly AND cast it in a positive light is to open with something like "you know, my frosh teachers probably wouldn't recognize me today based on what they saw back in 9th grade". And go on from there. You can be honest about your shortcomings, but you're relating them in terms of how you've changed and improved.</p>
<p>One other key point is never whine or complain. It may be true that Mr. Jones was a closet alcoholic who hated kids and gave you cr*p all the time in class, but the interviewer doesn't know that and it makes a bad impression to blame others or whine. It just does. So when discussing problem areas, do as hazmat and others have suggested -- accept responsibility and explain what you've learned and how you've changed things so it won't happen again. Its exactly what companies do with their highly-paid PR firms when they're caught doing something. They regret it, they've put policies in place to make sure it never happens again.</p>