My interview guide:
<li>Dress nice, but not too nice. Think polo and khakis.</li>
<li>Be polite. That includes being ontime, aka 15 or 10 minutes early if it’s at an admissions office. Be punctual if it’s a meeting at someone’s house, or a prearranged phone conversation.</li>
<li>Be confident, not arrogant. You need to display yourself as an excited outgoing person, but not a snob.</li>
<li>Keep talking: I had 4 or 5 interviews, and at none of them was I asked any of those wierd questions like “What do you think is one important step toward world peace,” or “what is your favorite color;’ why?” These questions are ice breakers, they’re meant to 1. give insight to your personality, and 2. make you think so much to find an answer you forget to be nervous.</li>
The general pattern of an interview I’ve found is:
- Whats your school like? (atmosphere/people)
- Describe your academic interests and courses
- Describe your ECs and non-academic passions
- Anything else I should know about you?
- Do you have any questions for me/about this school?
(these are all paraphrase of course)
that seems to be the gist. I had a FEW of those see inside your head questions (“At lehigh, there are many opportunities. Some students expand their knowledge base to new heights in their current field. Others search for and grasp at new interests to enjoy. Which of these types best describes you?”) I naturally answered both after 8 or so seconds of thoughtful expressions. (I really was thinking). Be honest unless your answer is going to be “Well my favorite thing to do on weekends is rape men in the butt” or something like that. You always have the “I don’t feel comfortable answering that” option, but in that case the admissions officer probably shouldn’t have asked the question.
Pick 2 or 3 intelligent but OBSCURE books if you haven’t read any books outside of class recently. If they ask you to list all the books from the past year, list like, all 2 you read and then go off on a tangent about one being awesome and how you “loved ____ character’s interactions with _____ character and how thought provoking it was with regard to the modern day issue of________.” But, don’t make 5hit up, that can get you in trouble if you forget it later on.
On that note: Be yourself. Talk like a normal intelligent teenager. Neither the East Compton nor the Windsor Palace dialect/diction is a good choice. Don’t be excessively verbose, though descriptive adjectives, etc. you would use in REGULAR SPEECH with perhaps a teacher are good. Don’t lie, or inflate the grandure of your activities. College don’t wan’t a. to accept, as I said before, arrogant narcicistic snobs, or b. to read your app and find something totally contradicted by your interview notes. So, yeah, don’t lie, theres a good chance it will come back to haunt you. You can be humorous, but don’t tell the joke about the gay iguana your 14 year old brother told you yesterday that you ACTUALLY though was funny. In fact, don’t joke at all. You can be humorous without joking.
Come prepared: If you want to give them a resume, it’s good. If you don’t thats fine too. Unless you don’t bring a resume and they’ve requested you bring one, it won’t hurt. However, if they know what to ask you about, like the year you spent as a ghanain goat herd’s assistant, thats helpful, and helps prevent you from having to answer bullshi+ questions.
Also, read up on the school. know the general requirements, programs, and some useful stuff relating to your areas of interest. Don’t talk about wanting to join the taekwondo team there to continue your passion and how TKD is essensial for a school you’ll apply to if you don’t know if they have a taekwondo team. They might not have one…
Have a few questions ready, too.
THIS SAID, some school’s interviews are informal; they don’t count as an admission factor. They let you know more about the school. And the interviewer files an “alumni report” in which they say some good and bad things about you. But unless you’re an applicant teetering on the edge of a pin between the acceptance and wait list pile, it should not cary any effect. Have fun.