Interview Inquiries

Applying to College
1

Hi,

I have an interview for Princeton University coming up and I really need to make a good impression because my grades aren’t 100% at Princeton standards. They aren’t horrible, they are actually quite good, but Princeton’s average GPA is 4.04 out of 4.0…so, yeah.

What should I expect in this interview? I am expecting questions like “Why Princeton?”, “What are you looking to study and why?” “Tell me about yourself”, but what else? I did a little research on my interviewer. He is a renowned surgeon and seems very nice as we have exchanged emails.
However, I know this be a little out there, but my interviewer is an older white man and I am a young black woman (a fact I’m pretty sure he doesn’t know unless he is given a file on me). Should I concerned if I will be treated fairly in this interview? Moreover, are the interviews given any information on us (e.g application, grades, basic demographic info)

Also, how should I dress? My interview is after school and about 20-30 mi away.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! I want to really impress him. My academic interests include economics, political science, sociology , and pre-law. Thank you!

Note: This was also posted in the Princeton Forum but it keeps glitching and reposts every time I put it in college admissions.

2
  1. Typical dress for an interview is business casual. For a female slacks and a blouse/sweater. You can wear a skirt/dress if you want but no need to be that dressy. Absolutely nothing revealing. Think about where you are meeting the interviewer (ex. if you are meeting in his business office you can go towards the more formal side, if you are meeting at Starbucks then more towards the business casual side).
  2. You can google “typical college interview questions” or anything like that to get ideas of questions.
  3. What an interviewee gets can vary from school to school. When I interviewed for a different Ivy school I got very minimal information (name, contact information, area of interest).
  4. I absolutely expect you will be treated fairly.
  5. If you have a resume then bring it – it is a good springboard for conversation.
  6. Know some reasons why you particularly like Princeton and try to prepare a few questions that are specific to the school.
3

@MadisonMJ - not sure about Princeton, but my interview (and most others I have read about here on CC and elsewhere) are very casual conversations (YMMV). Absolutely no need to prepare, except you want to keep a few questions to ask the interviewer. Telling an interviewer you have no questions may make you sound like a totally uninterested applicant. Again, Google your interviewer and prepare appropriate questions. For example, my interviewer was an elderly person, who attended the college only for PhD, so I could not ask him / her about freshman college life etc.

Agree with ^ re: dressing in business casual, or if you are interviewed by someone like an attorney - perhaps a full formal. Going by your major interests, a full formal might be a good idea.