<p>For college interviews (COMING UP THIS SATURDAY FOR ME!!) I hear that most start with "tell me about yourself", and I'm guessing this is how mine will start especially since I don't know the interviewer in advance. </p>
<p>I just have NO idea how to answer this question... the more specific questions (what is your favorite activity, etc.) I am okay with - but this is just too general for me!</p>
<p>Please help a freaked out senior!</p>
<p>Don’t worry! Just be yourself and answer candidly. You don’t have to think of a super-creative or impressive answer to a question like “Tell me about yourself.” When an interviewer asks this, they are just trying to get some background to start off the interview. You can simply respond by telling them about your personality, interests, and why are you interested in their college. The specific questions (which you seem to be fine with) are most important. The “tell me about yourself” questions are just for introductory ice-breaker purposes. </p>
<p>Good luck with your interview this Saturday! Don’t stress :)</p>
<p>Thanks runi27! I’m not even TRYING to be super-creative/impressive. I just want to make sure I give an acceptable response, not totally off and weird. I’m just the nervous type, so yeah… Thank you so much! I’ll try not to stress!</p>
<p>Go to your library or google for info on job interviews. This is a common starting question in job interviews as well, and there is tons of advice out there on how to come up with an answer. In some sense this is a test of what’s termed the “executive function” in neuroscience. There are thousands of things you could tell about yourself; what’s at issue here is whether you can come up with a set of statements that give insight into why a college should want you as a student.</p>
<p>When you get a question like this they are giving you the lead to take it anywhere you want. And your ability to make decisions about what is appropriate and useful answering this is relevant to a college college because you’re going to be making lots of decisions both big and small once you’re away at college. If someone has big problems with ambiguity that can be an issue in the relatively unstructured college milieu.</p>
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you wrote this in another thread. You need to put some effort in here, because “do you have any questions for me?” is one of the most important questions in a college interview. It shows whether you’ve done the homework to learn about the school so you can ask relevant questions and so you don’t ask questions that are easily answered with the web or were already answered in material the college sent you. It shows whether you’ve spent some time thinking about what it would be like to be a student at the school. For example if there is a big greek scene (which you’d know about thru your research about the school) that could naturally lead to questions about greek life, something as a HS student you presumably don’t know much about yet.</p>
<p>Thanks mikemac! I have (THANK GOODNESS) thought of questions that I am actually curious about, one of them actually about the Greek scene! I will definitely make sure to google more info about interviews as well, since like you said, it seems to be letting me lead the conversation…</p>
<p>What an annoying question. I just asked my daughter, who has been on six interviews this year, and she said none of them asked that question.</p>
<p>She took a resume, and some of the interviewers asked her questions about partsof that. She was prepared, and was able to talk about them, including some anecdote. good luck!</p>
<p>Look yourself up on Google or Wikipedia or something. You have to be sure to do thorough research before showing up to an interview: about the school (curriculum, traditions), about the interviewer (profession, year of graduation, interests), location of interview (menu if applicable, strategic placement of restrooms). Why should yourself be any different? Be sure to look up and memorize all the essential information first (name, birthday, city of birth, intended major) and then move on to more in-depth abstract stuff like traumatic childhood events, first crushes and so on.</p>
<p>With enough preparation and a bit of luck, you’ll be able to imitate yourself perfectly in time for the interview.</p>
<p>anotherparent: I sure hope so! I’m trying to prepare the best I can. thank you!
moodragonx: I don’t know my interviewer in advance, and the location is the same for a bunch of applicants (not like a restaurant…) so I don’t think that is my concern for this interview at least. I will try to prepare!! Thanks a lot!</p>
<p>One other thing to consider: you’d be more comfortable if this was your fifth interview and not your first, right? And there’s a way to do that. Get a list from a book on job interviewing or from the web of typical questions. Then have some friends, a parent, etc. give you a 15-20 minute “interview”. Do this a few times and it will help get over the jitters you might feel if the first time you do this is with the real college interviewer.</p>
<p>To be perfectly honest, I would steer clear of reading any advice articles or books on acing an interview. Obviously the basics are necessary - decent clothes, a good handshake, look directly in the eye, etc. But I wouldn’t look for anything to help you come up with responses. The more genuine the interview seems, the more real and attractive you are to the university.</p>