<p>In my research of Carnegie Mellon and at some other schools, I found out that they place a lot of emphasis on the admission’s interview. My daughter expressed a lot of concern and wondered what would be asked and how to handle the interview. Accordingly, here are some of the questions that I thought she should prepare for, and some tips that I gave her:</p>
<p>QUESTIONS:</p>
<li>How did you find out about this school?</li>
<li>Why did you apply here?</li>
<li>Why are you interested in …(major)?</li>
<li>What experiences have you had regarding this major?</li>
<li>What research did you do regarding this major or occupation?</li>
<li>Why should we accept you and not someone else?
7 What was the best high school teacher that you had, and why did you like he/she?</li>
<li>What was your favorite extracurricular activity and why?</li>
<li><p>What was your favorite book, and why was it picked by you?
TIPS:</p></li>
<li><p>Become very familiar with the web site of the college. NEVER ask questions that can be found on the web site or in the catalogue.</p></li>
<li><p>Understand that colleges are interested in students that are passionate about what they will be doing and will stay for the full 4 years. Thus, confidence in yourself and in your choice of major and understanding about the college is crucial. </p></li>
<li><p>You need to sell yourself as to fit the college’s needs. They are not here for you, per se. Always put yourself into the mind of the interviewer and find out what they may want to hear? However, never blatantly lie.</p></li>
<li><p>Use common sense in interviews. For example, one student interviewed had a running nose and never used a tissue. Bring tissues and act with decorum at the interview.</p></li>
<li><p>Be yourself. Don’t posture, speak normally. Don’t use tough SAT words in the interview, Don’t brag. Be charming, nice, friendly, and respectfull.</p></li>
<li><p>Dress appropriately. The dress should at least be “Nice casual.” Cut out the hair spikes and purple hair, if possible. You want to look good, smell good, and sound good.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>If you agree with my ideas, please show these to your kids.</p>
<p>If I showed this to my son he'd never want to be interviewed. Do they really ask question like #6? It doesn't seem appropriate and I would be surprised to hear it asked. Number 7 sounds good. I also don't agree that you have to confident about your choice in major. As a matter of fact, my son says that one of his main reasons for selcting his ED school is that he wants his college to be able to support a potential change in major and have lots of offerings in other areas. Kids have to know themselves.And, if knowing yourself means that you know you might change your mind, why not say it? Tip #3, I disagree. Don't worry about selling. Be yourself.....you can't place yourself in the mind of the interviewer. I would imagine that the interviewers REALLY wants to come away with a sense of who the applicant is. If the applicant only says what they think the interviewer wants to hear, the interviewer may pick up on it and feel that the applicant his no sense of self. Tip #6...keep the hair spikes......just add some fresh gel to make sure they're as spiffy as possible. </p>
<p>I guess I agree with about 50% of your advice. The rest sound like good "job interview" tips.....not college interview.</p>
<p>Damn typos. The correct question should be, " What was the best teacher that you had, and why did you like him/her? ( I must have been too tired when I wrote this)</p>
<p>I also failed to address the importance of interviews. At some schools, especially with alumni interviews, the interview may not get you admitted,but it definitely can eliminate you! In some college ( notably Carnegie Mellon) and some majors ( art, design etc.), the interview can be very crucial. I have noted this because I am seeing some posts implying that the interview isn't that important or should be taken with a "grain of salt." I certainly don't agree with that advice!</p>
<p>It should be emphased to your children that ,"They never get a second chance to make a first impression."</p>
<p>Momsdream, they may NOT ask all of these questions. I am simply preparing for what can be asked! These questions are all theoretical possibilities. If I were an interviewer, I would certainly ask these questions.</p>
<p>I also do understand that many kids don't know what major they want as high school seniors. My questions really focused on a school like Carnegie Mellon who " wants kids to stay the full four years and wants kids who know what they want." Some schools really want kids to have a good idea of what they are going into( art, theater, music etc), while other schools may not care as much. I would imagine, however, that sounding confident, passionate, and prepared can't hurt the interview.</p>
<p>Quite a few of D's interviewers started out with, "Tell me about your high school." That is such a broad question that it pays to figure out in advance what aspect of your h.s. or yourself you want to emphasize in answering such a broad question. Of course it's quite possible that you might want to talk about different aspects during different interviews.</p>
<p>My only question is," Whether kids should send a thank you to the interviewer after the interview? I don't think that this is done a lot; thus, I believe that a nice thank you letter would stand out. Courtesy is always appreciated by me, at least. However, some of you may disagree. I wonder what many of you think about sending a "thank you" note as a follow-up.</p>
<p>Taxguy, that's an excellent list of questions for students to think about. All are plausible ones.</p>
<p>Here's another common question: "What other schools are you applying to?"</p>
<p>I've seen some discussions of whether students should answer this question completely on the application itself, but it may be tougher to avoid giving a direct answer in an interview.</p>
<p>I think this is meant more as a conversation starter, a sort of "why are you here?" question.</p>
<p>I would also say that many schools are really interested in providing information to you about their school -- selling it, explaining how it works -- and so the conversation isn't only one-sided.</p>
<p>My daughter answered the "what other schools" question at her CMU on-campus interview by saying she wasn't sure she was applying to CMU yet, because this was her first visit. That led to a whole conversation about what she was looking for in college. And everything went fine. It was a mutual learning experience. (She was admitted -- in art.)</p>
<p>Of course it doesn't hurt to prepare for any question, but I tend to agree with Momsdreams' objections. And especially about the spiked hair. If you think that will keep you out of a school, it might be the wrong one for you. But frankly, I can't think of many that where that would be a problem--maybe Brigham Young?</p>
<p>the interviews my kids had were much more open-ended; they were a chance for the interviewer to find out what kind of people they were, not how much research they'd done, or why they're better than the next guy.</p>
<p>Another common question" What are your questions for me?" The correct answer is not "I don't have any questions." Even if one has visited and researched the school well, one still should have some questions, even if the question for an alumni interviewer is is, "How did going to X college affect your life?" or "How did you select this college?" or for an adcom, "What do you feel is the main benefit that this college has to offer freshmen?"</p>
<p>Other possible questions, "What do you want out of your college experience?"</p>
<p>"If you could do high school over again, what would you do differently?"</p>
<p>"Give me an example of a challenge that you overcame."</p>
<p>"Tell me about a research paper that you did, including how you chose the subject and how you did the research."</p>
<p>Incidentally, many questions that are asked for job interviews are also asked at college interviews. There are lots of similarities between applying to college and applying for a job.</p>
<p>And, yes, thank-you letters are appropriate. Few students, however, bother to write them. I have seen a strong correlation between writing thank-you letters and getting acceptances.</p>
<p>I don't think that's because the interviewers are influenced by the thank-you letters, though that may happen. I think that students who are thoughtful enough to write thank-you letters also probably are thoughtful enough to do other appreciatve things, and that helps them get better recommendations and get better leadership positions than do students who don't take the time to show kindness and courtesy to others.</p>
<p>The students who write thank-you letters also may be putting more thought into all aspects of their application and into their lives in general.</p>
<p>You're making the interview sound a lot scarier that it is. This is not a job interview. It's supposed to be more of a casual conversation. The purpose of the interview is to find out more about the personal side of the applicant, such as their family and how they to spend their spare time. Questions 3-7 are inappropriate for this type of interview.</p>
<p>I interview for a top 25 school. The biggest peeve of alumni interviewers is the kid that doesn't talk and gives one word answers. I tell kids ahead of time to think about their applications and to think about how they may want to expand on some of the information. It's an especially good opportunity to talk about passions and interests that aren't fully explained on the application. It is also good to have a compressive reason why you want to attend this school - not just the beautiful campus and location.</p>
<p>Garland, I think your point is worth emphasis. Interviews are two-sided. They're not a 20 Questions program. If the interviewee gets into an interesting conversation on almost any topic, it's a good interview. Interviewers and applicants differ in personality, but if the conversation stays loose, with a bit of humor, that's also good.</p>
<p>Still, I think taxguy's list is a good one for students to think about prior to an interview. But then they should hope to have a good conversation and exchange, and go with the flow. The applicant shouldn't have any particular agenda except to learn and be willing to discuss whatever topic may come up.</p>
<p>HOWEVER - not exactly in those words!!!! Of course I would never use the words taxguy used, but I think he just meant to prepare mentally for such a question.</p>
<p>At least part of the interview was to determine what the particular student had to offer the school, not just what we could offer the student. So Garland (whom I always agree with!) - it wasn't really about how are you better than some other REAL student, but more like a hypothetical one, one who has little to offer, but just wants to take!</p>
<p>My S's last interview started with "what other schools are your applying to?" My sense of the question - fair or not - is that they 1) want to get an idea of whether they are the safety, and 2) whether the student has a sensible list of somewhat similar colleges or schools that are all good for what the student may specialize in. My S knows a kid who is applying to Harvard and U of Arizonia, among others, who is not an Arizona resident. That kind of list might raise some eyebrows. I also think if the school gives merit money, it gives them a sense of who they might be competing with for your kid! I think it can be helpful to mention some/all of the other schools being considered.</p>
<p>Turned out the interviewer had attended grad school at one of the schools S mentioned. The interview went well in general, and was very helpful to S, as it included aspects where S and interviewer compared the two campuses and specific programs. </p>
<p>Other questions kids in S's HS have had this year:</p>
<p>1) Biggest challenge
2) Who is your hero
3) Favorite TV show
4) How would your friends describe you
5) How would your parents describe you
6) Favorite band</p>
<p>as well as Taxguy's # 2 and # 8.</p>
<p>One had an interview that was specifically billed as non-evaluative but included questions like the above. I think that officially or not, consciously or not, every interview is evaluative and every interviewer they meet is evaluating, and kids should understand that. </p>
<p>Finally, thank you notes are always appropriate. I suggest email rather than giving the admissions office/interviewer one more piece of paper to handle!</p>
<p>Send your thank you snail mail. And if you're like most of us, the minute you walk out of the interview you'll think of that one question you meant to ask or the one perfect answer you didn't give. Use your thank you to mention it. And send it immediately. </p>
<p>My son had a lot of interviews for schools and scholarships. He said the questions were all over the place. He's fairly comfortable in such situations so he said he was able to wing it pretty well. My other son isn't as comfortable, so when he recently had an interview at school we practiced at home. It really helped him, even though they asked some questions we hadn't thought of. I'm with the boy scouts on this one - be prepared.</p>
<p>I fully agree with over30 about the snailmailed thank-you. First, snail mail is the most courteous way to send a thank-you. Sending it that way also makes it more likely to be noticed, read and appreciated. Over 30's tip about sending the additional info also is important. </p>
<p>Students shouldn't view interviews as scary. They really are fun. They are like having a conversation with an interested and interesting person. I liked doing interviews when I was an applicant. I like doing interviews as an interviewer.</p>
<p>Ity sounds like the interviews vary in scope and intensity. A student should also consider the interview an opportunity to rule out a school that might not be right for them...based on the questions they are asked. Not only should the school judge the student by the interview, the student should judge the school by the interview. If an interviewer gives a student the impression that this is cut-throat competitive situation, the student might deicde that this interviewer has been influenced by a school that isn't what the student wants for the next 4 years. Students need to remember that THEY are "shopping" for a school....and they are the $160k customer. </p>
<p>I suppose an interview that includes many of the question in the first post would turn my son off to the point that he would look elsewhere. Maybe students should stop trying to force a fit during the interview and "listen" to the interviewer more.....as it seems the school may be sending a message by the tone of the interview.</p>
<p>I think that Momsdreams' comments about rating the college based on the interviewer apply to when adcoms interview. Since colleges hire and train adcoms, the adcoms really do reflect the colleges' philosophy.</p>
<p>When alumni interview, all bets are off. Alumni are only volunteers, and get minimal training. In the case of my alma mater, alumni interviewers get a detailed brochure about do's and don'ts. However, no one is peeping over the interviewer's shoulder to see how they are doing. </p>
<p>Since the university's goal is to have all applicants interviewed, the university ends up taking what it can get in terms of alumni interviewers. The university asks alumni interviewers to try to leave a good impression of the interviewer, but I am sure that there are some interviewers who are clumsy, tactless, etc. and definitely don't stand for what the university wants to be noted for.</p>
<p>I am curious about what in questions 1-9 a student would find so offputting that he would apply elsewhere. Even if question 6 is not asked directly, when it comes to the super competitive colleges, it is a major implied question. </p>
<p>After all, for some ultra selectives, 8 or 9 excellent applicants are rejected for every applicant who is accepted. Thus, when applicants are considered, the adcom and interviewer's main question is, "What does this person have going from them that is so special, s/he should be selected over the many other wonderful students who have applied?"</p>
<p>We are sticklers for thank you notes in our house, and I also prefer snail mailed thank you notes in general. I would definitely agree they are best for alumni interviewers who interview a smaller number of kids than adcomms. But I think snail or email is fine for adcomms. S did get a personal email reply to one emailed thank you he sent recently.</p>
<p>I think the wording of question 6 turned me off. "Why should we take you and not someone else". In my mind, this implies that the student is being asked to discuss what makes them better than others....something my son would be uncomfortable with because of how he's been raised and the culture of his school. I'm sure he would prefer to leave that to the adcoms. Asking it outright is different from gleaming the same information from other questions. Askinng it outright conveys that support of such an ultra-competitive environment (am I better than you and by how much?) is part of the school's culture. Many, many students seek out such environments......and many, many purposely avoid it.</p>
<p>I just want to make a comment about what wonderful experiences my kids both had with the alumni interviewers for the two schools they ended up at.</p>
<p>In my D's case, the interviewer was in the same state but not city as the college she was then attending. She didn't have a car, and the public transportation between cities was sketchy, so I drove down to bring her over. But we didn'twant this to be obvious, so I waited in a parking lot a couple blocks away. Well, after a long, and very friendly interview, he walked her out, and realized she was walking, so he insisted on driving her to where I was and meeting me. His first words as we shook hands were "we have to get this young woman into Wesleyan!!" We had a wonderful conversation; I have to feel his commitment helped her.</p>
<p>My S's interviewer was also incredibly friendly and supportive. He called our house several times afterward to ask some more questions, and to see if S had any. He also sent him a videotape about th school (not an official admissions one, but a documantary he'd seen and taped from tV). After S's acceptance, they emailed back and forth also.</p>
<p>I'm offering these stories for two reasons: first, to make it sound a little less scary, and second, as a big thank you to all you alumni interviewers who obviously really care about your school and the kids who are applying there.</p>