<p>I am from the "Piedmont" Region (I go to a school in Woodbridge, VA) and I was just notified via e-mail of an interview on the 15th.</p>
<p>Well...here goes nothing!</p>
<p>Does the National Selection Committee have any say as to who advances to the National Selection Weekend, or is it only the Regional Selection Committee that decides that?</p>
<p>I'm pretty sure it's the regional who do the interviews and advance one, or in some cases, two people.</p>
<p>so basically everyone gets an interview and if they do well enough, another and then if theyre in the top two in the region in the 2nd interview, its on to finalist weekend?</p>
<p>I can only speak for myself. I was interviewed last January with around twenty-five others and chosen to go forward as my region's rep for Finalist Weekend. Then I was chosen after the Finalist Weekend, which was a challenging but exciting three day event filled with essays, seminars, tests, and more interviews.</p>
<p>Thanks so much!</p>
<p>My region had 60 nominees, 41 of which are getting to the first round of interviews. Of those 41, 12-16 are being called back for a second round. Of those 12-16, 3 are going to the Finals weekend. Don't know why we're 3 and everyone else is 1 or 2.
My interview is tomorrow morning, my 18th birthday!</p>
<p>president let us know how it goes!!! good luck i'm sure you'll do great!!! and happy birthday :)</p>
<p>I will make sure to tell you all... as soon as I know myself :-)
And thanks.</p>
<p>how was the interview??? what kinds of questions did they ask you?</p>
<p>It was kind of scary. They began by asking me about things I had written about in my essays. Then they asked tangential questions, as I said before. For example, if you write down that you were a delegate for MUN and that you represented Israel, they might ask you about the current situation in Israel and how your research led to your interpretation of the developing conflict. Or they might ask you about Fatah v. Hamas. If you wrote about interning in a chemistry lab, they might ask you to reflect on some of the global problems facing the scientific community. Or they might ask you about a particular scientist. Does that give you an idea? They want to know more than what you did. They want to know what you know and how you interpret information.</p>
<p>Interview went great--I think. Who knows, every interviewee might be amazing and every group of interviewers enthusiastic about every candidate... but who really knows.</p>
<p>Just so you can picture the situation: I interviewed in an office in Baltimore City. There was a little waiting room on the fourth floor where we (the nominees) sat around and chatted with each other or with two current Jefferson Scholars from Maryland. I was called into my interview about ten minutes early (good thing I'm punctual!). The interview itself was conducted by three people: an older gentleman, a woman, and a young-ish guy. There were about two or three interviews going on at any given time in different rooms.</p>
<p>Funny thing was that they asked what other schools I applied to, like right off the bat. Kinda funny and all. Also it being my birthday helped a little I think.</p>
<p>They mainly asked questions relating to the five activities I listed on the application to start, and really built off of that, asking related questions and stuff like that.
Other than that, they asked random questions like what books have I read recently that have had an impact on me, favorite historical figure, current political topics that interest me.
Their questioning revolved a lot around what I took out of certain experiences rather than what it was exactly that I did. For example, they asked what my biggest failure was.</p>
<p>One of my essays was written entirely in questions, and I submitted that to the Jefferson. Right at the end of the interview, the one interviewer posed one of those questions that I'd written right back at me... so I was on the spot trying to answer an obscure question that I had written myself. Very interesting.</p>
<p>After the last question, the interviewers gave me the floor and said basically: tell us something more about yourself that makes you worthy / tell us something we don't know and that will make us remember you by. I said:
"Well, my name is Tyler Dunn obviously... remember that name. In 2048 I'm running for President!"
Then I shook all their hands and left.</p>
<p>I just made sure to smile, sound enthusiastic, maintain eye contact, and be funny. Those are the keys.</p>
<p>On the way out of the interview, the older gentleman told me that I would find out at the end of the week whether or not I was going to be called back. I'm so nervous!</p>
<p>They asked me that same question about my failure at the Finalist Weekend. I loved that question. Good luck, President Dunn. Hope you move forward.</p>
<p>So it hasn't yet been the end of the week, but they already got back to me. I'm onto the second round of interviews! Now the region is down to about 12-16 candidates, and I'm one of them. We're sending 3 to the finals, so my chances (statistically) are between 25 and 33.3%. Ahhhh! This is so exciting!!!</p>
<p>congrats and good luck in the next round! Where are you from?</p>
<p>Thanks!
I'm in the Maryland region.</p>
<p>Hey, I'm just posting to let everyone know that if you haven't heard anything about regional interviews yet, there's still hope. I got a letter in the mail today (dated the 6th) notifying me of my interview. I just thought you guys might want to know, because up until now I had pretty much given up the hope of continuing in this process.</p>
<p>Btw, I'm in the central and upstate SC region.</p>
<p>Hey czhao
i'm from the piedmont region also (manassas) and my interview is in the morning of the 15</p>
<p>where do you go to school?</p>
<p>I'm really not sure what to expect</p>
<p>presidentdunn im in md and i have my first-round interview tomorrow, how do you know the region is down to 16-20, or are there 2 md regions?</p>
<p>There are two Maryland regions. One is just simply called "Maryland" and the second one is something along the lines of "D.C. and Suburban Maryland." If your first-round is today then you're most likely in the latter, as I'm in the first.
Good luck with your interview!</p>