Hi everyone,
My D has an interview tomorrow and I just realized there is an issue we don’t know how to address. Due to personal reasons that she would not feel comfortable discussing, she really didn’t do much over last summer. Might the interviewer ask her how she spent her summer? If so, how should she handle that question?
If she’s asked that as a conversational gambit, she could say that she just took it easy last summer, but that her plans for this summer are X.
Yes it’s a very likely question and she needs to practice how to answer. Did she have a job?
She needs a way to answer the question without lying and without saying “I didn’t do much of anything.”
Whatever you have to work with, you need to put a spin on it, phrase it positively, etc.
Reading. Then be prepared for: “Oh, and what did you read?”
Working around my home in order to help my mom & dad. Be prepared to explain what type of work/chores you did.
If she’s asked, start with a positive, add in the not so positive thing, finish with a positive.
Such as:
“ Last summer was very interesting one for me, it was definitely not typical because I chose to focus on myself and some issues I felt were very important to me. As I look back now, I’m so glad I took the summer to do this. It gave me time to reflect and think about the direction I want my life to go, and because I took this time, I’m really looking forward to…fill in the blank…and learned how important it is to fill in the blank**.
Maybe some vague activities (nothing they could check)
I spent a lot of time with my family, read some books, and did research and wrote essays for my college applications.
These are wonderful suggestions. Thank you all.
I do alumni interviews and I look at the resume of the student and work from there. I ask about what is there, not what isn’t there. So I wouldn’t ask about the summer because it wouldn’t be on the resume.
Also try to figure out if this is an evaluative or informational interview…evaluative means they are evaluating her. Informative is more to have a conversation about the university so she can learn more.
If she was reading, for example, you could use that to highlight intellectual curiosity.
“Due to family circumstances, I was not able to get a job or internship last summer. But I enjoyed having the time to read…I found some new authors in the genre to explore.”
Different colleges handle interviews differently. I also do alumni interviews. My college instructs students, “Please do not bring resumes, transcripts, test scores or other supplementary materials to share with interviewers.” If students provide resumes, interviewers are instructed to either return it or turn the paper upside down during the interview. In this case, resumes clearly do not guide the interview direction.
At my school, the interview is supposed to an informal conversation without required questions or directions, in which the interviewer tries to find examples of the criteria the college says it is looking for on their website, and the student learns more about the college by asking the interviewer questions that interest him/her. I’ve never asked a student about what they did last summer, but some have shared information about summer activities in response to other questions. If I was asking a conversation starter type question about out of classroom activities, it would a broad question it which I try to get the student to describe an activity they are passionate about and related achievements/contributions, rather than limiting to a narrow time range like the last summer.
I would certainly include researching colleges (specifically that school in detail, use deep examples), but also include something like maybe she helped the family out (choirs?), job? Must be something. Unless it is an Ivy League school,. just having a simple conversation with the interviewer should be fine.
Thanks everyone. The interview went beautifully, at least according to D! It was with one of the admissions counselor and an intern. They made her feel very comfortable and did not ask specifically about the summer. We were prepared just in case and that made the whole thing less stressful. I thank everyone here for the wonderful advice. This is a very generous and giving place.
Was it a health issue? Just thinking that while she dodged it in the interview, it could raise questions in the actual application. (That is where they decide whether to admit her, not really in the interview). You need to consider whether it is something the GC could handle in their rec, whether she should put it in Additional Info somehow. or just ignore it. A health issue can be kept vague, but mentioned.
@intparent Will anywhere in the application ask her to detail what she did over each summer? I just assumed that she would present her activities and accomplishments but not necessarily the dates of everything.
The app asks for date ranges for activities and average hours spent. Admissions officers are skilled at parsing that out. They may very well notice.