<p>So I have an interview coming up next week, and I was wondering if anybody wanted to offer any advise. Like what questions they have for you and stuff, and really tricky ones?
Thanks a lot.</p>
<p>Don’t worry at all. I went into my interview not nearly as worried as I should’ve been, and I came out with a positive attitude and a great impression of the school. My interview was at the Admissions office, so if you’re doing it off-campus you might have a slightly different experience than I did. But basically, it was a conversation. She asked me why I was interested in the school, what I liked about it, my academic interests, things like that. Some topics of conversation: how cool ants are, Scav, all the angry letters I’ve written in my lifetime. Very un-interview-like. But here’s some general tips.</p>
<p>1) Prepare questions! My interviewer was very impressed when I asked a specific question about a major at UChicago. Doing your research shows that you’re passionate about the school.
2) Don’t fumble the intro like I did, hahaha. Practice shaking hands and smiling or something so you don’t look awkward like I did…it starts you off on the wrong foot. You’ll recover, but still.
3) Be prepared to answer that vexing college interview question: “Tell me about yourself.”
4) BE PASSIONATE! Talk about your activities, your hobbies, and UChicago like you LOVE THEM. It’s never good to bore your interviewer by reading off your resume. Make it come to life!
5) Don’t worry, it will be less scary that you think. </p>
<p>GOOD LUCK!</p>
<p>Noo, don’t be nervous! Haha. I was a wreck before it started, because this is my first choice and I was worried that I would blow it or that they would ask me strange questions and I’d just sit there like “What” o.o</p>
<p>Seriously, I spent like 3 days brainstorming the three famous dead people I’d want to have dinner with, because I heard that was a question previously asked. Ofcourse she didn’t ask that question ._.</p>
<p>Honestly, just be yourself. Be very talkative, it worked with me, although I’m usually always talkative. So that keeps up a flow, and there’s no weird awkward silence, you know? Although I hope I didn’t run her ear off.</p>
<p>Joke to keep the mood light, but don’t go overboard. I was telling how I love learning new things and that one day I was so bored that I went onto wikihow.com and looked up “how to bellydance” and spent the whole day learning the art of bellydancing xD It made her laugh, but then I got back down to business.</p>
<p>I think I did most of the talking, just about what I was really into and what I might want to learn. The only questions she asked were of the “What got you into that particular interest” and “What can you contribute to the campus” etc etc. </p>
<p>If you can’t think of something to say right away, do small talk. I started off by saying how beautiful the campus was, and how we got to see a good deal of it since we got lost 
Just little chit-chat until you get to the interview table.</p>
<p>It was very informal, but still professional, and I felt very comfortable. If you are less outgoing than most or are a bit shy, feel free to ask questions about the school to take the pressure off of you for a bit. They are very impressed by that!</p>
<p>Good luck hun! :)</p>
<p>how do u schedule an interview? o.0</p>
<p>Cacciato:</p>
<p>There are two ways to schedule interviews- you can register online and do the interview with an admissions counselor at UChicago, or you can wait until the application process and request an interview with an alumnus/a from your area. There’s a check-box on the application for requesting such an interview.</p>
<p>If you’re coming to campus soon, you can register for an admin. counselor interview online at this url: <a href=“https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/php/interviews.php[/url]”>https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/php/interviews.php</a>.</p>
<p>I’m not sure if I accidentally cheated the system or something, but I was accepted and enrolled without ever having an interview. I visited the campus once and talked to some sort of high-up guy in the admissions office, but that was after I was already accepted. I remember reading on the admissions website that UChicago only conducts alumni regional interviews for transfer applicants. So apparently it’s not really a big deal at all.</p>
<p>Is that true, UChicagoPSAC? UChicago only conducts alumni regional interviews for transfer applicants?</p>
<p>I’m not UChicagoPSAC, but I’m answering anyway.</p>
<p>From the admissions website, on the information for first-year applicants: </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This looks different than it did last year when I applied. I don’t know if the policy changed or if I just misunderstood it before, but it looks as though you can have an alumni regional interview. Sorry about the confusion.</p>
<p><a href=“https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/admissions/firstyear/[/url]”>https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/admissions/firstyear/</a></p>
<p>Yes. Don’t worry at all. The interview is very casual (at least mine was) and just be yourself, which is something that you will learn to do after one or two interviews. </p>
<p>Basically: </p>
<p>(1) Dress up neatly, but don’t overdress. </p>
<p>(2) Talk slowly and clearly. Be sure to make eye contact, and don’t freak out when you can’t keep the conversation going. Often the interviewer will help you out by moving on to a next question, and if you think of something to say, you can go back to it when there is time. </p>
<p>(3) Be passionate. When the interviewer asks you what you do outside of school, don’t give them a list. Tell them what you do … give them a story about a memorable event doing what you did, whether it’s some orchestra festival you went to or you volunteered somewhere cool. The more details, the more they know that you pay attention to what you do and that you love what you do. It’s not just something that you’re forced to do. </p>
<p>(4) Know the school and understand the school’s philosophy. An admission officer once told me that there are people who actually don’t know anything about the school. (Aka Chicago is in the Ivy League or has an engineering school or that Brown is in Philadelphia and has a law school) Things like that do tick them off. </p>
<p>(5) Add some color to your personality. Tell them what you like to do for fun. Have you travelled anywhere? What kind of music do you like to listen to? Any movies you like? What did you do over the summer and what do you want to do with your next summer? Things like that. I remember how my interviewer (off campus) and I talked about Britney Spears’s music video for Womanizer - how she sang and how the music video should have been better … what we did like and what we didn’t like about it. Superficial, but fun. Also, try to find common ground between you and the interviewer. It’s not required but it is a bonus. </p>
<p>(6) “Tell me about yourself.” - ah the most scary question of the college interview process. It’s basically a signal for you to answer any question that the interviewer might ask you - it’s just your choice to choose how to start the interview. For my MIT interview, I chose to tell the interviewer about why I wanted to go into economics and what other choices I was interested in, like engineering. I gave them a story about how my dad used to bring 3-D animations in from work showing how a car crumbled upon colliding into a wall … stuff like that intrigued me as a kid. I wasn’t very normal, as you can see. :)</p>
<p>(7) It may help you to organize what you want to say in your head before going to your first interview, because you may not be sure how to present yourself. For me, I put down what I wanted to say on a flash card, even though the interview will not go according to how you want it to. The good new is that after the first interview, this usually comes more naturally.</p>
<p>(8) Also, never criticize your high school or another school that you’re applying to. It’s lame and it often isn’t constructive for the conversation.</p>
<p>(9) Remember that the interview will not be the thing that breaks you in the college admission process. It’s a holistic process that involves everything, including your essays, your academic performance and your recs. Screwing up the interview is not a matter of life and death. And neither is getting rejected by your dream school.</p>
<p>And last but not least, good luck!</p>
<p>Just to add to everyone, I had a fantastic time with the interviewing process. Since accepting invitation to go to UChicago this fall, I’ve met with the person who interviewed me twice for lunch and we plan on meeting up when I come back for Christmas break. </p>
<p>Why I say this is because they are really there to help you get excited about the school and learn some new things. Make sure and do the things the other posters here have stated (they’ve pretty much given about all the advice there is to give so I’m not going to repeat it).</p>
<p>So sit back and enjoy. Try not to stress (I know this isn’t hard).</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Bah. Now I kind of wish I had had one.</p>
<p>Wow, everybody. Thanks a lot for all of your help. At first I was really scared for the interview, but now I’m kind of excited.</p>
<p>Does anyone know the latest date that we can request an off-campus alumni interview, if we’re applying EA?</p>
<p>It says that after you submit either your common app or supplement and make an account with Chicago you can request an alumni interview. The latest date to request for EA is November 3rd.</p>
<p>^One last tip: If you’re nervous, just think of the interview as another opportunity for you to meet someone new. (If anything, you’ll be using similar conversations to make new friends in college … aka introducing yourself) AND ASK QUESTIONS TO SHOW THAT YOU’RE SINCERELY INTERESTED IN THE SCHOOL … ASK FOR THE INTERVIEWER’S PERSONAL EXPERIENCE</p>