<p>:( I have an interview tomorrow with Duke, and I'm really scared for it, especially after my (negatively) neutral interview with Wellesley last week.
D: I got a pimple from the stress (:P though it's stress from school too, not just the interview).</p>
<p>Can anyone help me with some last minute tips?</p>
<p>At my Wellesley interview, I had said I really <3ed the location and the programs at the school, and then mentioned how I thought the all-girls situation would help me stay focused on my goal... From her expression, my responses didn't seem too swell. After tips of better answers?</p>
<p>Also, would bring my newspaper supplementary material (that I had sent off to my colleges) seem... too much? I brought it to my Wellesley interview, but was a bit hard and awkward to show it off naturally. She had asked me what was my important activity, so I naturally said my school newspaper work, and brought the material out but... As I was showing her my stuff, I felt like ... I was being excessive. :( I just brought an issue and a report folder of a resume and some photocopied examples. Bad vibes from this Wellesley person.</p>
<p>GAH. I'm getting wordy and excessive from being stressed. X_X</p>
<p>Hm. Maybe she thought you were being generic in your responses? I don't think that bringing extra material with you will harm you (isn't it supposed to help anyway?), so I would suggest showing your supplementary items at your Duke interview, unless they say not to.</p>
<p>If you have a specific major or program that you're really interested in, make sure to name that and state why. It shows that you have a sense of where you want to be and that you've done a little bit of research on the school. Also, it is a good idea to say anything special about the school that might help you (for example, facilities, teacher:student ratios, etc). Hope that helped a bit.</p>
<p>you should practice some; everything gets better with practice, butterflies go away, etc. Have a parent or friend play the role of interviewer. You can find sample questions online, or get one of the job-interview type books from the library since many questions are similar.</p>
<p>While th newspaper is a laudable activity, I wouldn't bring them to the interview. This is just my opinion, but the time it would take to read thru and discuss even 1 clipping is an interruption in the flow. And besides the important thing isn't the article (unless it won a major award) but that you're involved in the activity. The key points are why you're interested, what it means to you, how you've pursued it, awards you've won, lessons learned by doing it, etc. If the interviewer expresses interest in the actual articles offer to send a few (and then follow up if you say this!).</p>
<p>I'm not a Wellesley interviewer (I'm a guy), but I think the way all-girls schools see themselves is as a haven free from men who try to jump in and take over discussions, run activities, etc. The idea is to empower women, etc. Reading your comment I get the impression that you're glad it's all-girls so you won't be distracted* by the boys, probably not the shade of meaning they were hoping for.</p>
<p>In closing, here's a tip for you. Rather than preparing for specific questions, its to build a framework to put your answers around on the fly. Think about these questions -- 1) what activities are you proudest of? 2) who have been the most important people in your life? 3) think of 3 problems you've faced. How did you handle them? Would you do it the same way? What did you learn from them? 4) What is important to you in picking a college (5 main things, perhaps)? How does Duke fit with them? And BTW a "perfect" match is unlikely and will be a bit suspect; its better to explain how 4 great matches outweigh problems in a 5th, and how you can work around that 5th thing. 5) "tell me about yourself" because this is a question that almost always comes up. Its up to you to pick what you want to emphasize. This last one IS a specific question, the others are I hope more generalized.</p>