Hello! D19 has an intv with Carleton at the running center of one of our major city parks. Can’t decide how casual she should dress. Thoughts?
Wear what she would wear to school.
In generally I’d say business casual is the way to go. Neat, clean, but not too formal. If it helps, in the cooler weather my D typically wore black pants, a nice shirt/sweater, and black boots. (Unless they agreed in advance to go for a run together I’d stay away from athletic wear).
As an alumni interviewer for a different school, I tell my interviewees in advance that whatever they wore to school that day would be fine. My advice for my own kid would to be wear something that makes you feel awesome about yourself.
Love all of these thoughts, thank you!
Best advice I got was “What do you think the interviewer will be wearing?” My S did his first interview deep in the summer months so I thought maybe a nice shirt & dressier shorts would be ok. Thankfully a wiser individual stepped in & asked me that question. Even though it was warm, he wore slacks & a dress shirt, with business casual shoes. Nice but still comfortable enough to walk around campus.
Does the interview involve running or athletic recruiting?
My daughter wore a pair of dressier (meaning a nice dark wash, no rips) well-fitting jeans with a blouse and a pair of leather booties to her college interviews conducted in a Starbucks.
Similar to a job interview…not to draw attention to your appearance, what you want them to focus on is you as a person. I told my kids, no big jewelry, light makeup, no perfume, no low cut/see through tops. My kids didn’t have tattoos, but I would have asked them to cover them (I know it is more acceptable now, but just in case).
This wasn’t asked by OP, but I would have my kid bring a resume. It would just make the interviewer’s job easier when he/she is writing the feedback.
This is not true at all colleges. The college I interview for states students should not bring a resume to their interview on the website. If students do bring one, we are instructed to either hand it back or flip it upside down during the interview.
The college I interview for mentions students “are welcome to dress in typical high school attire” on their website, and instructs interviews to ask students to “dress casually” in their introductory email. A good interviewer should be evaluating based on the interview comments, not on their clothing or fashion sense.
The first interview tip on Carleton’s website is “be your authentic self.” I’d expect the same advice to work for clothing – regular school clothing should be fine. That said, I’d avoid wearing anything really extreme, such as avoiding dressing provocatively enough to upset old fashioned persons and avoiding dressing formally enough to make casual persons feel out of place.
Definitely find out the school’s requirement when it comes to resume, but my kids did bring a resume to their interviews. The school GC had all of their students do a resume.
My kids offered resumes at all of their interviews (and DS at all of his auditions). Some people took them and some didn’t. But my kids had them.
Mine took a resume as well. The interviewer can use it or not. Carleton is a pretty casual school. I think @oldfort ‘s list is good. I’d add no ripped jeans. We also have a “no t-shirts with writing” category of dress at our house, and I’d suggest that as well.
The main rule is : don’t let your clothes be a distraction. If you came in a 3 piece suit, that would be a bit much. if you came in running attire, that would also be distracting. Like people said, wear a nice version of something you would wear to school. I think boys should have a collared shirt.
Do have someone check over the resume. I just did an interview where there were typos/copy paste errors.
As an alumni ambassador, I personally appreciate having a resume. We are instructed not to take notes during the meeting so it’s helpful, especially if there are meetings scheduled back to back.
As far as clothing, I would say khakis and a polo, or something of that nature is fine for attire. I’ve had some kids dress up which is fine too but super sloppy and/or dirty is a turn off to me. Right or wrong, I find it feels disrespectful.
D has had several interviews and we went a “nice” casual aesthetic. For fall interviews, black pants and a nice sweater. She wanted something comfortable but also somewhat “professional.” This seemed similar to what other students in the waiting area were wearing.
When my son interviewed with Cornell it was on a Sunday and the interviewer said “FYI, I am wearing jeans”. My son still wore khakis and a nice shirt.
Something you wear to school leaves a lot of room for interpretation. I would agree on business casual - something that is not distracting you from the conversation.
I wouldn’t give carte blanche to “something you wear to school.” As mentioned above, that leaves the door wide open. My D20 went to school today in Lululemon leggings and an oversized “vintage” sweatshirt from my college days - not something appropriate for an interview.
For a high-school girl, I would suggest black jeans or nice pants, a sweater without rips and holes (and what is with this trend anyway?), and booties. Another popular trend for teen girls here are the button-up miniskirts. Keep accessories and makeup to a minimum. You can look nice while still looking like a teenager.
Boys, as usual, have it easier. Khakis and a nice shirt with either oxfords or loafers always works.
I don’t think I would suggest mini skirt for an interview. Pants and shirt /blouse /sweater just seems more appropriate to me. Clean shoes.