Interview Tips from a College Interviewer

Applying to College
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<p>I have't been here in 4 years, but as I am getting ready to apply to medical school and finish up my college career, I decided to come back and post this. Hopefully it will make your experience smoother with some advice I wish I had. I was asked to post something like this elsewhere so this is a reprint from another forum, but the advice remains the same:</p>

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<p>As a college student who interviews prospective students, I've come up with some tips that I wish I had when I was interviewing for college. If people followed these, it would also make my life a bit easier at times:</p>

<p>1) There is nothing wrong with bringing a copy of your resume. I sometimes only have less than 5 minutes between interviews and only get to read a brief summary sheet. On it is your name, address, high school, and Categories of activities. If you play in an orchestra and are in NHS, I see: "performance groups (musical), academic/professional organizations". Some schools may have a complete open file, but worst case they will just say they already have it. Best case, it gives me better insight to write my report on you.</p>

<p>2) Anything on your application is fair game, so please do not try to pull a mile out of something you only did once. If it had a profound impact on your life, fine as long as you can explain it, but nothing is more awkward than when I try to ask more about an activity and there is nothing more to say. If I hit more than one of these, personally my interest in the interview is over, and you do NOT want your interviewer to lose interest in the interview!</p>

<p>3) Moms who are always around. Please tell your parents that you need a bit of independence during your visit. I am here to interview YOU, not your family. When I am done with the interview I will be more than glad to answer questions Mom or Dad might have, but I don't need them hovering over you during the entire visit. We have a term for this in the admissions office: "helicopter mom" -- you don't want your mom to be labeled a helicopter mom...</p>

<p>4) Do not be afraid to say you don't know something. Often this is related to major of choice but it can be related to other things as well. Be sure to back up why you're not sure or give an alternative, but don't make things up!</p>

<p>5) Whole on the topic of making things up, please don't make up credentials or activities on your application. It is painfully obvious when it is done, I tell my supervisor about something being off kilter, and he investigates. If it is found you didn't do something that you said you did, you are done. Both at that school and other schools. Admissions officers do talk to each other.</p>

<p>6) Quite often, the students interviewing you are given much leeway as to what they ask. I have a list of pages and pages of suggested questions, but I only usually use a few off of that list to start with. I want to learn not only about you, but how you think and how you can strike up an intelligent conversation with someone you just met.</p>

<p>7) Most schools agree to some unwritten rules. One of these is that we do not ask you to rate your interest level or rank schools in which you are interested. On our report, however, we are asked to gauge your interest level in our school. You can bring this up if 1) you have a high level of interest in the school (don't lie about it, we can tell) and 2) when given the opportunity to make answering this question easier for me. All the interviewers agree this is the hardest question to address on the interview report for a lot of prospective students. Make our jobs easier here. Some ways we try to gauge interest: "What about "school here" draws us to you over others?" "How are you pursuing your college search?" "Are you looking at similar programs elsewhere? If so, what do you like or dislike about our program?"</p>

<p>It would be good here to let us know if you are either very interested in our school or strongly interested in our school and where else you are looking at applying if you think it will help strengthen your application. Don't tell me we are your number 1 choice when we are not, but don't be afraid to mention other schools' names during the interview. We are not naive enough to think you are only applying to our school and the others are all backups.</p>

<p>8) On the topic of other schools, another unwritten rule is that we don't bring up other schools' names during the interview. However, when asked about our own experiences and asked for other schools we looked at in particular, we are allowed to briefly discuss why we chose our school over others. Don't be afraid to ask me why I chose my school over others because 5 months down the line, you may be wondering the same thing yourself.</p>

<p>9) Come with some working knowledge of the school. Spend an hour before visiting on the various web pages of the school. A good start is to read the Wikipedia entry for that school (the one time I will encourage the use of Wiki). Get a general overview and then delve into the web site of the school. Have intelligent questions ready to ask. Especially if a student is interviewing you, this is a chance to get that student's unfiltered views. Most interviewers will leave a few minutes at the end for some questions; do not be caught like a deer in the headlights!</p>

<p>Don't be afraid to ask the hard questions like, "what do you dislike most about this school?", "What would you change about this school if you could?", "I read in the school paper that there is a group forming against this issue, how do you think the school will deal with that?" As long as you are not insulting about it, it shows maturity to be able to ask questions like that. (An aside, pick up a copy of the school's newspaper if you can, it is also often an uncensored view at the good, bad, and ugly or the current happenings of the school.)</p>

<p>DO NOT ASK, however:<br>
- Anything in regards to what my SAT, ACT scores were or my GPA. I don't even remember them and if I did, that is personal and does not reflect on your chances at all.
- What I think your chances are of getting in; I honestly don't know, I just met you 20 minutes ago and I got 5 minutes with your file. Just do your best and you'll be fine.</p>

<p>10) DO write a thank you note. I receive fewer than 10% of my interviewees writing me a thank you note so it really stands out when I get one. You want to be in my mind a few weeks later when an admission offers stops me in the hall and ask me a question about you. A lot of the times, people are not memorable just because we interview so many students (I average about 10 a week during the peak season). If you don't stand out to me, I can't go to bat for you next week.</p>

<p>To answer the question of email vs snail mail:</p>

<p>Snail Mail is going to be a better option, but be sure you have your card/letter out the same day and you mail it from campus. That way it gets to me a lot quicker. For my medical school interviews, I carry a pack of thank you cards with me and a booklet of stamps and I am sure to write down the names of people who interviewed me. Before I leave, often in the cafeteria or somewhere else I can sit down, I write my cards and then drop them in the closest mailbox. If you are unsure where to send the mail, address it to the interviewer c/o the admissions office.</p>

<p>The reason I say snail mail is better: 1) it is more memorable in today's world of email. 2) I may forget to forward a copy of your email to the admissions office to put in your file and then it is as if there was no thank you sent at all. With snail mail, a copy is placed in your file before I even get it. If it is sent directly to me (you looked up my campus box number online for example) I have a physical note in my hand that I will remember to hand off to get scanned. 3) Please don't send gift cards or things of great monetary value. Some people have found cute ways of saying thank you, but many of us are volunteers who do this because we want to.</p>

<p>Now, there is also a reason to send an email out too, but it is NOT a substitute for snail mail IMO. Our office likes to have the reports done within a day for those of us who volunteer and are only in once a week. But for me, since I am in more times a week, I usually have a few days to do them. The email is a nice touch of there is something you want to say before the report is written, but otherwise the snail mail will be enough for me to remember you by!</p>

<p>Remember that most of these students are not being paid for this and do this because they want to so please show your appreciation for their hard work!</p>

<p>That's all for now, please reply if you have questions and I wish you all to have a successful application season!</p>

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<p>Thanks a million for providing your advice. I will definitely keep this thread at hand so I can reference it before I go to my interviews.</p>

<p>On another note, were there any interviews that were particularly memorable for you? If so, how did they stand out to you? </p>

<p>Again, thank you for offering your personal insight and advice!</p>

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<p>There are two types of interviews that stand out. The good and the bad.</p>

<p>And actually the bad are sometimes so hilarious that they stay with you and the office and become legend. I don’t remember who the student was that did this, or any of his details, but one guys seriously pulled out a laptop during the interview and got on facebook. They’re still talking about that one in the office today and I have some of the newer interviewers come up and ask me if it is a true story!</p>

<p>For the good ones, it generally the people who in some way, shape or form, impress me. Usually it is someone who is very interested in the university and you can genuinely tell that. It helps if the student has no previous connection with the university (siblings, parents, etc) such that it stands out even more that he knows so much, but that is not a prerequisite.</p>

<p>During one student’s interview, she was able to give me some very good responses to the question: “Why do you want to come here?” She gave answers that were more than just the standard answer of good academics, good community, and stuff in the viewbook. Her answers showed that she had talked to students on campus and genuinely found things she liked so she could ask more about them and talk to me about it later in the visit. Some of the things she was telling me about I didn’t even find until I was a sophomore!</p>

<p>Another student’s response similarly peaked my interest. He had a significant research experience that you could tell was more than just working in a lab. He was humble about it, and didn’t boast too much, but from the way he talked about the subject matter, you could tell her was genuinely interested in what he was doing. Once again, he impressed me with his knowledge and expertise in the subject which was unparalleled in other applicants.</p>

<p>The take home message:</p>

<p>Some schools, like mine, have 30k+ applicants. Most weeks we interview hundreds of students and on some weeks, thousands. You need something that will let you stand out against the sea of bodies. At these top level schools, being smart isn’t enough. What sets you apart from the crowd? You don’t need to be Super Student and have everything, but you do need something. The long running joke here is that you don’t need a Nobel Prize in every field, just one of them!</p>

<p>In today’s competitive admissions process, a good SAT and GPA is no longer enough–too many people have those to set you apart, you need a good SAT and GPA, but you need a lot more than that!</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

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<p>Thank you for taking the time to write this up!
Your advice is spot-on.</p>

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<p>Thanks so much for these tips!</p>

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<p>I’ve been an alum interviewer for Harvard, and have interviewed for major scholarship programs. The OP’s advice is excellent. Thanks for taking the time to share this valuable info!</p>

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<p>Thanks for sharing. Very insightful, useful information.</p>

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<p>Wow, it’s great of you to write all this!
I just have one question.

What if this is actually true? I’m just applying to 2 schools. One is the best school in my country [my backup] and one is in the States and is highly selective. I’m only applying to that school because, very genuinely, I feel it’s the only school worth leaving my life behind for, and traveling for, etc. I’m interviewing for the latter.</p>

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<p>Great post, thanks for the tips!</p>

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<p>The real question is, how important really are interviews in college admissions?</p>

<p>I was a valedictorian type, high SATs, applied to top private universities — I didn’t have an interview with any of them (how easy is it to fly out of state and pay for all that?) - I wasn’t a shoe-in candidate at these, but I got into most of them without an interview anyway.</p>

<p>The whole interview system seems fickle - you are trying to gauge whether they can hold an intelligent conversation with you, while you are talking about their life achievements, laying their passions bare, and are conspicuously judging them on whether they should be admitted to this university?</p>

<p>I know plenty of intelligent, successful engineers who would struggle with that.</p>

<p>You have some good advice here - bring a resume, don’t lie – and I know this website is gung-ho on trying to provide admissions tips on everything - but is some of this advice geared towards helping the prospective student, or you?</p>

<p>I mean, you did volunteer yourself, I wouldn’t go on a power trip simply because interviewing prospies need your good graces but you don’t need theirs.</p>

<p>For instance, the admissions process is first and foremost, a game, and it always has been. Required class might bring down your accelerated GPA? Take it second semester senior year, etc. I can write a book on college admissions gamesmanship alone. I did it straight, but I know plenty of people (and schools) who try to stack the deck in their favor. And I came from a “lowly” public high school.</p>

<p>I wouldn’t lie, but people do blow a lot of smoke in admissions. Like they are President of this club, or Captain of that thing. And they may be - in fact, that club (1 of 100s) may have 7 Presidents, and it may require no responsibility. It’s like being the middle manager at Initech (Office Space) - you are going to talk up your responsibilities a lot. Are you suggesting that people don’t try to talk themselves up at the interview? Because I’m sure people have padded their resumes, and that is has gotten by you.</p>

<p>Also, why wouldn’t you say the school is your #1 choice, even if it happens to be your #2? Because frankly, I think one answer clearly helps your admissions chances, especially if you are interviewing at a school like Wash U.</p>

<p>I wouldn’t do anything you think is unethical, especially because, like I said, the interview is hardly the tipping point for whether or not you are getting in (if it is, spend more time on your essay), but I wouldn’t shoot yourself in the foot by saying you might be choosing another school. Frankly, the school would reject you and throw your application away in a heartbeat if they thought chances were good you would affect their precious yield.</p>

<p>My point is, gamesmanship happens, the admissions process is not a true meritocracy, nor a true inner glimpse at the soul or someone’s intellectual prowess. If you think you are above the game, that’s fine, but it will affect your admissions chances.</p>

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<p>“The real question is, how important really are interviews in college admissions?”</p>

<p>For all schools, academic stats are the most important factors. Interviews can be tip factors at some schools, and can lead to merit aid at schools offering it.</p>

<p>I don’t know what school the OP is interviewing for, but I would doubt if interviews carry a lot of weight at schools that use students as interviewers. The exception might be if an applicant decides to reveal illegal or unethical behavior to a student interviewer.</p>

<p>For instance, a student who helped interview merit scholarship applicants at his school, told me that some applicants had asked him how to get fake IDs. Those applicants weren’t offered merit scholarships.</p>

<p>" but I wouldn’t shoot yourself in the foot by saying you might be choosing another school. Frankly, the school would reject you and throw your application away in a heartbeat if they thought chances were good you would affect their precious yield."</p>

<p>Saying that another school was the preferred choice might result in some desirable applicants getting excellent merit aid offers.</p>

<p>A student might truthfully answer the question by saying they’re still making up their mind, and the interview will be part of what they consider.</p>

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<p>So would people like me, on the autistic spectrum. I have Asperger’s. I think better sometimes if I see it on paper first, my writing is better than my speech. If I didn’t tell you I was autistic (and you can’t always tell), how would you know? You would just think I wasn’t a good interview!</p>

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<p>Thanks so much for this. I’m one of those borderline applicants in desperate need for a tip factor, and thankfully conversations are my forte, so I’m hoping the interview will do just that for me, when the time comes. Much appreciated! :)</p>

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<p>I found your writeup a good checklist for how to prepare for difficult interviews. Best is for everyone who applies to selective colleges to be thus prepared. It seems like it’s just too easy to “trip” up somewhere along the line. And being interviewed is nerve racking for many.</p>

<p>I also have the impression that you’re someone who is a critical and difficult interviewer. When I read your checklist I immediately recalled a perspective student I met when I was the tour guide for an open house last year. He and his Mom arrived late, so they got a one-on-one tour. The perspective student was clearly overwhelmed: perhaps he felt intimidated and out of place at this school. I can’t see how he would have survived a critical interview, where all questions are game, and the interpretations of answers are quick. He certainly wasn’t one who would have known how to prepare with or without a checklist.</p>

<p>I think that especially when students are doing the “interview” a softer touch than usual is needed. Isn’t that the intent of having students interviewers? Shouldn’t the “interview” be more of a discussion – without a touch of attitude from either side?</p>

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<p>My daughter recently interviewed at a LAC and instead of 25 mins was in with student interviewer for an hour and 20 mins! I hope that was a good sign!? </p>

<p>Can you explain how that works ie you volunteer to do prospective student interviews and then you write a quick report on how much interest, academics, ec’s, ‘personality’ and the like, then it goes in the student file until the application is received then it’s all reviewed together? </p>

<p>I was happy to note that you recommend a hand written note - she did that! Yay!</p>

<p>Thank you for your post, very helpful.</p>

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<p>"I also have the impression that you’re someone who is a critical and difficult interviewer. "</p>

<p>I didn’t get that impression at all. I got the impression that the OP is very thoughtful and is interested in having applicants do their best. If the OP wasn’t a helpful, open type of person, the OP wouldn’t have spent the time to make the checklist. The OP simply would have spent his/her free time thinking about the missteps some applicants were making.</p>

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<p>Is there anyway I can bookmark this thread into my account? so useful!</p>

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<p>This would be a special case. I would make sure whomever interviews you knows that this school is the only one you are willing to leave your home country for and that it is the only other school you are applying to outside of your safety. That improves your chances of acceptance as you will be seen as someone who would truly like to come here and they might very well choose you over someone else with similar “numbers”</p>

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The real question is, how important really are interviews in college admissions?</p>

<p>It depends, some selective colleges base a lot on the interview if they can get one. Remember that WE want just as much to have an interview with YOU as you do with us. Some public schools with a huge number of applicants don’t really have the resources to write and read all of those interview reports when they will accept a lot of the students anyways, so the interview there is designed as s screen just to make sure no one is too psychotic! At other places, the interview forms a better part of the process and has a lot of input into the process. I was told a couple of times to watch a few buzzwords I put into my reports because while the overall report was satisfactory, those few things I didn’t like as much caused a lot of discussion in the boardroom due to the way I phrased it. I was coached and told not to use those words unless I meant things a certain way as they thought the words were invoking a certain picture.</p>

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<p>We weigh on campus interviews the same as we do off campus interviews. Many schools, like the top private universities, will offer local interviews if you apply early enough. A lot of students don’t interview and do just fine like you did, but the interview usually can only help! That being said, if you can’t interview due to other circumstances such as distance or time commitments, don’t feel like you have to interview to get in!</p>

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<p>It is tough! Which is why we’re taught to talk longer if we see them opening up more later and then base our comments primarily on the latter portion of the interview. This is a high pressure situation! And on top of the stress of getting into college, we’re going to throw you at someone you’ve never met before and put the stress of meeting someone new for the first time on you too!</p>

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<p>It started as a “wish list” of things I wish I didn’t have to deal with anymore, because there are some students who clearly don’t have the ability to do well here at my institution, and their parents are hoping that they are close enough that the interview would bump them over the edge, but ends up just confirming for us that the student is not who we are looking for. So yes, on that account, some of that advice is geared toward helping me (especially the resume thing, every time I see one of those, which is much less often than you would think!, it has just made my job a lot easier). But, if you are helping your interviewer out, aren’t you helping yourself out! The rest of it came together as I am going through the admissions process again myself (this time for Med school!) and I have gotten great advice from friends. Thinking back, I decided to come up with a list of, “Golly, I wish I knew that when…” type things. College interviews are a unique aspect of the process that I thought my advice would be helpful in!</p>

<p>And I hope I don’t come off on anyone I interview as going off on a power trip! Our goal is to leave them feeling that they can ask us any further questions about the school, and should they attend, have a friend and mentor in us.</p>

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<p>I’m sure people get away with all sorts of things at the interviews, but there are some egregious cases. It’s fine to list being a president even of there are 14 presidents, but don’t talk it up as if it were your most important achievement and that you were THE most important person there. Steer me towards what is your passion and what you like the most. If you start talking about one of the clubs, I’m not going to grill you on the other 15 you listed, most people are honest and we assume that most people are honest. But if you have something that you think will interest the college just because it has a big name, but you didn’t actually do that much, don’t blow smoke that way. Now you’ve used a good chunk of your time talking about something that doesn’t impress me!</p>

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<p>I’ll actually tend to believe you more if you say it’s your number 2 choice! But it just gives us a gauge. If you say it is your number one school and I don’t really believe it, I may state so on the report, or I may just state “strong interest.” I have done enough interviews to really tell when #1 means #1. If you tell me, strong interest, you’ll get the same result but it lets the interviewer know you are sincere. Frankly, someone telling me #1 when they don’t mean it doesn’t bother me that much, but back in the breakroom, I have heard conversations between interviewers about people who said it who clearly didn’t mean it. And I’m also not a professional who does this for a living, so please excuse my lack of knowledge, but what do you mean by “a school like WashU?” Notoriously difficult interviews?</p>

<p>I also won’t then ask who number one is, but if you think it would help your chances to see who number one is, then go ahead and tell me. Maybe when you are admitted, my school will want you enough to try and out bid the other school and give you more money! But whether or not this is a good idea is something you must really consider with your counselor or other sources and not general advice I can give here.</p>

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<p>Very true! Like someone mentioned earlier, as much as I hate to admit it, the admissions process is somewhat of a game, and if conversations are your weak point (through no fault of your own, as in your case, or otherwise) then perhaps interviewing is not something you want to do. Then again, if you can bring that up and swing it to your advantage in an “overcoming challenges question” it might add to your application. Remember that rarely does a bad interview cause someone to be denied right there.</p>

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<p>It’s funny you should say this! At the get go, when I first started, my average score was far below others’ scores. This is why we have a lot of training! After a few weeks of shadowing and then interviewing students whom the admissions staff already knew they were going to accept or reject, we went back for additional coaching and now my averages are on par with everyone else’s. One of the perennial challenges is how to train your interviewers so that they are more or less standardized, but I think my school does a good job with this.</p>

<p>And when it comes to finding new tips, fogcity is the winner for finding number one (or number 11 if you view it that way!). I’ll add it to the original post as soon as I find the edit button!</p>

<p>An aside: does anyone know how to edit a post here?</p>

<p>11) Try to let the interview flow like a conversation. We are told that we don’t want this to be an interrogation. We want free flow of information so that I can learn more about the student, and the student can learn more about the institution. The ultimate rating one can receive includes the criteria of “This person is someone who I can see myself as friends with should he come to this school.” I don’t want to be intimidating, and although it is easier said than done, I want you to talk to me as if I were a good friend of yours.</p>

<p>All also take this moment to add number 12 as something you said sparked this thought.</p>

<p>12) Don’t rush into things. Sometimes I’ll ask you a question that makes you think. It’s ok to pause and think for a second. What seems like an eternity of silence is only 5 seconds and I didn’t even realize it went by! If being silent and just nodding and thinking for 2 or 3 seconds is too awkward for you (and it is for a lot of people) then say something simple, like “Wow, that’s a good question.” and then take a few seconds. It puts it out there that you are thinking, and some time is being taken, not that you didn’t hear me or are ignoring me (although once again, a few seconds of pause doesn’t make me think anyone didn’t hear me or is ignoring me!)</p>

<p>I’ll save number 13 for later since this is already getting to be a long post!</p>

<p>Speaking of long posts, I’ll pick up in reply to happy64 as soon as I get a chance to! Currently I’m working at 3 different places to simultaneously get experience in the medical field, and earn money to pay for college next year as well as the expenses of applying to medical school, but I’ll try and check back here when I can! If it’s a quiet night at the firehouse, I might be online again tonight!</p>

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<p>If you do take the time to write, make sure you put some effort into it. When I interviewed prospective students at Smith, the vast majority of the notes I got began with “Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to interview me …” As if I had a choice!! I worked there! Most of these notes concluded with one additional generic sentence along the lines of, “Smith has a beautiful campus, and I enjoyed my visit and getting my questions answered.” </p>

<p>Thank-you’s like this really did nothing to advantage the applicants who sent them. Far more memorable --and thus worthwhile–were those that went the extra mile and said something that evoked our session together. Example: “Your description of your field hockey days at Smith reminded me of how far women’s sports have come in three decades” or “My parents and I wandered through the plant house as you’d suggested, and it was the perfect place for a budding botany major to spend time on a cold afternoon.”</p>

<p>When I got personalized letters like that, I usually scrawled Nice note! across them in large letters with red pen, and this would get noticed when the student was evaluated down the road.</p>

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<p>Wow all this is really helpful. Thanks <3</p>