<p>So I have my interview sometime next week, and I was just wondering a few things:</p>
<p>1) I called my interviewer by her first name in email, but should I call her "Ms." in person?
2) When she asks me like why I want to go to Princeton, do I start listing reasons, or do I like say a reason, wait for her to respond, and then list another? Not sure how this etiquette works.
3) Do I ask her questions as well? Should I research facts about the school or wait to ask her?</p>
<p>1) Ms. x is fine
2) it’s a conversation. How can we guess at its flow at this point?
3) I’m sure she’ll expect questions at some point. Ask her why she chose Princeton and what was integral to that choice.</p>
<p>Remember, at the heart of the interview is that it’s a *conversation *-- not a quiz bowl or Jeapordy! type event.</p>
<p>T26E4 is completely right. For the record, each and every college interview I have ever had closes on a few minutes for you to ask questions. Have them prepared.</p>
<p>In terms of the Ms. vs. first name–See how she introduces herself. She may say “I’m X” or “I’m Ms. Y” go from there.</p>
<p>I disagree with that advice: I don’t think you can tell anything from the way she introduces herself. </p>
<p>I don’t introduce myself to anybody older than the age of about 12 as “Mr. Sikorsky.” You’re not supposed to give yourself an honorific. But I don’t really want high-school kids calling me “Igor” unless I invite them to.</p>
<p>It’s not a very big deal if you call her “Ms. Cardew” and she says, “Oh, please call me Cecily.” But you don’t want her to leave the interview thinking, “I can’t believe Princessk21 took the liberty of calling me Cecily!”</p>
<p>(Now that I’ve written that, I see that you did already address her as “Cecily” in email. No matter. Address her as “Ms. Cardew.” If she wants you to call her “Cecily,” she’ll ask you to. If she doesn’t, addressing her as “Ms. Cardew” at the interview will undo any assumption she may have made when you first-named her in the email.)</p>
<p>You can’t go wrong with Mr/Ms/Mrs. Even if technically they’re a “Dr” they probably won’t take offense. I would not recommend ‘firstname’ for an interview. Don’t worry about it too much.</p>
<p>And like others have said – it’s a conversation about Princeton and yourself. Treat it like one! And good luck.</p>
<p>re:addressing your interviewer–</p>
<p>I think using an honorific is the safe choice, and usually you can’t go wrong. I do think if your interviewer is a relatively recent grad–within the past 5 years or so–it could be a bit weird to addressed them as Mr/Ms. I usually tell interviewees to address me by my first name…though I think that might start to change a few years down the road.</p>
<p>I always asked two questions in my interviews: (1) why did you choose X over other schools to which you were accepted; and (2) how does X’s [conservative/preppy/grad-focused/etc.] reputation play out?</p>
<p>You have one chance to make a first impression - take advantage. Neat, business casual, use “Mr, Ms, Dr”, look at the person during conversation, say thank you. If nothing else, it will be great practice for future interview situations. </p>
<p>My son’s interviewer did most of the talking, and only one question was raised out of the several hours’ worth he prepared for. But I think it is the answer you will also want to prepare well too. “Why Princeton?” </p>
<p>The interviewer also contacted my son to congratulate him after he was admitted (a very nice gesture and a bit of a surprise since my son didn’t contact him first). I assume he found out from Princeton afterward.</p>
<p>Learn about the school. Be careful you say stuff that’s actually specific to the school or qualify your statements. For example, the Yale brochure is hilariously bad at this. “We have residential colleges (hint: so do tons of other schools); we have research opportunities (so does every other school).” You could touch on Princeton’s OUTSTANDING access to professors and labs for research.</p>