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<li>The interview will be at a cafe. When I go in, how do I identify/approach the interviewer? I feel like I’ll end up awkwardly standing b the door scrutinizing all the customers trying to figure out which one looks like he could be the interviewer…and still end up going up the the wrong person. Or what if I arrive before him? I want to be like ten minutes early. Should I pick a table and sit until he shows up?</li>
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<p>He will likely arrive there earlier than you. Possibly wearing apparel from the school. Don’t worry, it’s happened to me before, really not stressful. Just laugh it off It happens. Most likely he will be interviewing other people from the area that there will be people before you. I did an interview at the café once and it was easily identifiable because they had admissions material with them.</p>
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<li>about how many questions does each interview usually entail? I want to pace my answers so they aren’t so short that we finish in five minutes or so long that I end up going way off topic.</li>
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<p>It really depends. In my personal opinion, just answer naturally. Before my interviews I thought of some interesting things to bring up, but I didn’t spend nearly as much time timing it. It’s a conversation, let it flow naturally. If it gets off topic from the usual stuff, that’s the best part imo. It’s where you really let your personality and some of your own quirky interests shine.</p>
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<li>I was advised to bring a resume to all my interviews but the interviewer didn’t mention it at all in his email. Should I bring one? and if I do should I hand it to him at the start or should I not bring it up unless he asks for it?</li>
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<p>Bring one anyway if you so desire. I’ve never used one, but it’s something to go off of if the person doesn’t know what to ask or you want to start from a certain point. They could also keep it for reference later on. My recommendation is to only put important stuff that you would willing to talk about in there. For instance, at one interview they asked me to talk about my activities, and happened to choose Model UN. Being the type of big conferences they are, I wasn’t nearly involved with that as some of my other activities which I could spend hours talking about.</p>
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<li>Someone also told me to bring a notebook and pencil. For what though? Am I supposed to be taking notes while he asks questions?</li>
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<p>You could. Again, I’ve never brought one. Remember it is a conversation, so you can (and probably should) ask questions back. If you want, you can use a notebook to take notes on things they say for later reference. But don’t go overboard.</p>
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<li>I’ve heard some people look up who their interviewer is beforehand. should I do that and if I do what should I be looking for? How is that information going to be applicable to the interview?</li>
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<p>Common interests perhaps? If you both have a common interest in rock bands, neuroscience, or have some interesting tibits in common you could always bring it up in conversation. Again, I would not stress this and I did not look up any of my interviews beforehand.</p>
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<li>Lots of people also say that for most people the interview neither hurts or helps you. How good/bad do you have to be to stand out then?? What are they really looking for? just like charisma in general? talking abilities? That’s pretty much the only thing that can be expressed in interviews that isn’t so discernible in the rest of the application right?</li>
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<p>They’re mainly to get to know you. Most aren’t evaluative necessarily but supplemental. They’re to get to know you through things that may not be able to be expressed in 500 characters on common app or through your resume. It’s to get to know what type of person you are and what you will bring to the college (aka being a good fit). I’ve been in all sorts of interviews where it ranged from formal (what is your major? what is your background like? why this school?) to informal (what super power would you have? if you had to pick one thing to describe you, what would it be? what do you do for fun? if you were an animal, what would it be?) Most interviews are a mix of both.</p>
<p>Again, it’s nothing to stress out over. Be yourself. Have some fun. I’ve been to 4 interviews total (2 on campus, 2 with alumni) and it’s really one of my favorite parts of the process, and I am not an extroverted person by any means. Imagine you’re just having a chat with an upperclassman or a person that has been in your shoes. They usually do a good job of making sure you are comfortable and whatnot. Think about what type of person you are and what images you want to give off to the interviewer, what cool interesting facts about yourself you can bring up, your passions, who you are, a little bit about the school to show you have done research, but other than that let it FLOW. Honestly, one of the best interviews I had was one that was complete on the spot with no preparation. </p>
<p>It’s a conversation, treat it like one :)</p>