Many, if not all of my interviewers, have commented on my abundance of ECs. Let’s just say that I have a ton of things and I have reached a far point in all of my ECs. For example, I have a ton of math competition awards, skipped two grades in math, violin awards, played in venues such as the United Nations, member of a prestigious chamber orchestra, 1 second away from qualifying for the Junior Olympics for swimming, qualified for states, debate awards (1st in final tournament), cross country awards, chamber music, leadership commitments, will do track, etc. etc. You get the point.
So whenever they ask me for an introduction, I ramble on and on about my ECs. My Choate interviewer asked me “How do you de-stress yourself?” I was flustered. Many of my interviewers asked me how I managed my time, that I gave them “a lot of things to put in the system”, what time do I sleep, how I find time to do homework and tests, how I have energy, you sound very enthusiastic and energetic, so is that how you do this?, how busy are you???, etc. Some looked impressed, such as my Lville and Andover interviewer, but many such as Milton and Choate seemed very apprehensive of me (if you get what I mean). One of my interviewers even asked me if I had a social life!! I tried to reassure them that NO, I am not a human machine, and I have free time to talk with my friends, (and check CC. :P) I recall a mom talking about how she had to tone down her child’s application, and now I’m wondering if I should have done this in my interviews. I’m worried that my interviewers will mark me down as this machine that doesn’t have a life. My Choate interviewer, although I got the sense that he liked me and was impressed, told me at the end that “talking to me stressed him out, but in a good way.” I have no idea what that means.
Was I way too overkill in my interviews? Is this a negative?
^ @mathman1201 - “I ramble on and on about my ECs.” It is my understanding that the interviewers are trying to get a sense of who you are, not so much just what you do. You are very accomplished but I hope the interviews are more of a conversation than just a litany of your activities.
I had almost the complete opposite experience! In one interview, we discussed my ECs very briefly. (perhaps not enough time to really understand them?) And then we spent the majority of the interview discussing philosophy and life and religion and the universe and such. If your ECs are your real passion, then maybe it was a good idea to discuss them. It would have been better for you to ramble about your ECs than to stare at the interviewer awkwardly with nothing to say. At least you let them know that you weren’t just an EC machine!
@mathman you need to chill! There is nothing you can do about this now and I feel like cc is not helping you out. Maybe spend some more time on some of the ECs you love and a little less obsessing if you can. I know its hard but I am starting to worry about you!
@JustOneDad But I have no idea what to talk about other than my ECs. Basically my interview is this: answer questions about academics they have from them, talk about ECs, then ask questions to show that I love the school. All of this goes from anywhere from 19 to 80 minutes.
I have no idea how to divert the conversation to things such as religion and life, unless the interviewer diverts the conversation. @goldenfygg How did you do it?
And yes, the past is the past. @stargirl3 I won’t (or I will try) not to worry!
I have never tagged so many people in a post before.
I didn’t expect my interview to go in that direction but my interviewer asked me to list all of my interests, and I very briefly mentioned philosophy. And then he was like “Cool! Let’s talk about that!” Then we ended up having a relatively deep conversation about life. I prefer having conversations as opposed to standard interviews. It’s a lot less nerve wracking.
Interviews are conversations. What you discuss depends on you and it also depends on the interviewer. When I met with an English teacher, we talked about The Odyssey and my love for grammar. When it was the hockey coach, I mentioned wanting to step on the ice out of my comfort zone. The chatter goes where the chatter goes. Don’t worry about it.
You guys sound like you had cool interviewers. Most of my interviewers asked me bland questions and just took notes, with no “Cool! Let’s talk about that!” That’s mostly why I had to ramble on about my ECs, to avoid awkward pauses.
My interviews were a lot like yours, mathman. They mainly just asked me questions and I answered them. My interviewers and I always stayed on-topic (as in getting to know me as person). Then I asked them lots of questions and they answered them and that was it. It was conversational, but we didn’t have any deep discussions about life, philosophy, and religion like goldenfygg and maybe stargirl had.
Well, you can do some guiding of the conversation in the right direction.
For example, when the interviewer says, “Tell me about yourself, mathman.” It sounds like you typically launch into discussion of your ECs.
Instead, you should take a 1-3 second pause, and choose carefully what you want to lead with. A simple answer like… "I love swimming ", "I want to be an astronaut " or “My favorite hobby is fishing”. It will guide the discussion into some area that you want to highlight about yourself.
You aren’t doing a thing to convince us that isn’t completely true.
You also have a remarkably rigid view of how things “should be”, for example, where you imply that religion and life are the exceptions to all this.
I’m also unsure why you don’t realize that extra-curriculars are something you do for yourself, not to be impressive. If you understood that, the swimming would be a great competitive release along with hours of laps, pushing harder and harder at the wall to get frustrations out. Music can be soothing and rewarding, not just a lot of hard work rushing to and from practice and recital.
And, all of these activities can encompass a rich social life.
I agree with @VSGPeanut101. When the interviewer says “tell me about yourself,” don’t launch into an incredibly long monologue about your extensive list of ECs…the school already knows what you are capable of from your application. Show the interviewer who you are as person. Instead, talk about your passions, not what you are capable of doing.
I am very impressed at how accomplished you are. You are quite active on CC, so I almost feel like I know you. However, I would never of known what an impressive resume you hold. You are always humble, kind and unassuming. You also are quite open which leaves you vulnerable to criticism from other posters, which you always handle with grace.The interviewers will see these qualities as well. I think you will have good news on March 10.
