<p>i dunno, i just cant really imagine many students who are competitive ivy/equivalent students who dont impress during an interview. i can see how some students arent confident and all that, and surely that is fine, but I do think that most of the kids who are competitive for these schools and are in that tier of student will show it during an interview or conversation. </p>
<p>i have mine tomorrow, im sure i'll do well in it, though im not sure how much i'll be able to avoid the cliche reasons to want to go to penn. its a big school in an urban environment, which i definitely prefer over smaller more rural schools, ts full of smart kids, its prestigious, and i loved the campus and people when i visited. theres no real secret answer...</p>
<p>Skierdude (and Newedition as well), I agree with what you said. But see, there's a difference between the confidence that you're talking about and the confidence that I am talking about. There are two kinds of confidence: confidence in yourself, and the confidence that you display around others. It does not follow that if you have one kind of confidence, that you have the other one; I could be confident around others and pretend to know what I'm doing, when honestly, I have no clue. Likewise, I could believe in myself and my ability, but not be confident in a way that would make others believe in me. In your post, your implication is that you need to have confidence in yourself; I wholeheartedly agree because it is that kind of confidence that will keep you going. However, in my post, it is the confidence around others that I am refering to, the kind of confidence that puts others at ease when they are around you, the kind of confidence that lets you do good in an interview; It is this kind of confidence that I think is overrated. I feel this way because, this kind of confidence (although a plus) is only really NECESSARY because others are looking for this quality. But does it mean that if you don't have this kind of confidence that you can't succeed? I certainly think not. If you have the talent and the confidence in yourself, then I think that's good enough to get you somewhere- with those two factors you could invent something that will be a necessity to mankind for instance... and if that doesn't constitute "getting somewhere," then I'm not so sure what does. Even in business, this confidence around others could only get you so far. In marketing for example, which is more important for a company- your ability to present your idea OR the content of your idea? I believe that it is not your ability to present your idea to the people at work, but rather, the content of your idea that will actually allow you to sell a product to your consumers. It may of course be hard for you to get the people at work to listen (without this confidence around others) but I think that that is exactly what we all should work on- learning to see through confidence (around others) that may not necessarily be backed up by talent. If it is all confidence, and no talent, what are the chances that your marketing campaign will succeed in terms of raising sales revenue? However, with talent (and not necessarily the confidence around others), isn't it still possible to come up with a great idea that could indeed be the cause for greater profits? Nonetheless, confidence in yourself is always a must.</p>
<p>wow as i was in the middle of reading this thread, penn called me to schedule a phone interview for tomorrow! gosh im so nervous! any tips guys? oh and my interviewer said that penn is really overwhelmed this year by all the applicants so thats why some of the interviews are being conducted super late...oh she also said that interviews dont play THAT much of a role in the admissions process</p>
<p>Interviews do matter but not that much unless you are interviewing for Nursing, then it probably matters more becuase your interview is with the school representative. </p>
<p>Anyways, dont freak out over it for those of you who havent had interviews yet. There is no specific form that the alums are required to fill out. They basically write "I really like this person because she is intelligent and kind" or something crazy like that. I imagine it would be just like getting an alum from the school to write you a recommendation letter. </p>
<p>You are not gonna just screw up and the interviewers are acutally quite nice. I mean remember, they volunteered to interview ppl so they have to be at least somewhat interested in what you have to say. Make sure you prepare questions so you dont run out of things to say. Otehr then that just be yourself. If you happen to be a complete total soulless barbie or machine, then you wouldnt be posting here.</p>
<p>what did u expect? a guarantee letter from ur interview saying "dont worry ;) I got ur back" trust me, most interviews are like that.
It actually sounds like u had a pretty good interview. [my interviewer made me cry during hte interview] He's gonna write u a good recommendation so in case ur application indicate you are antisocial, they might flip to that.</p>