<p>A close friend's daughter is one of 4 Presidential Scholarship semi-finalists in the area and her interview is coming up in 2 weeks. My hubby is an Alum of GA Tech and she has asked him to help her in a mock interview to help prepare. Her intended major is Biomedical engineering and she hopes to ultimately attend medical school. She is a very active sports and band kid and is president of the NHS. Her SAT's/ACT's were respectable but her GPA and AP's are stellar for our area. I thought the Presidential Scholarship was aimed toward well rounded students who showed leadership. Does anyone have personal experience with this round of the interviews? Any hints at how my husband could help her? </p>
<p>Just tell her to be herself and show her personality in her answers. As far as if your husband can help, they will probably ask if you have any questions at the end. Craft a well thought out question. It really shows that you’re interested in Tech.</p>
<p>Yeah I’m kind of nervous about it too. What i heard was that it was definitely more of a professional interview which is more question based rather than a casual conversation one.</p>
<p>That is very true, ohmygosh09. How you conduct yourself and how you are dressed is part of the evaluation that the interview committee sends to Atlanta. The interview committee is not allowed to ask about academic things (grades, GPA, scores, etc.) but instead focus on things like leadership and goals. They know what activities you participate in because they have your resume in front of them, so they tend to ask very in-depth questions. Normal college interviews are about 50% learning about the applicant and 50% the applicant learning about the college from the alumnus. With the PSP interview, it was more like 75% to 25%.</p>
<p>I had my interview, and it was actually a lot of fun. I talked with several people and all were very nice. They asked about my activities and were interested in what I had to say. I got a lot of good advice about majors and things the school could offer beyond classwork. It was a great experience. I hope everyone is as lucky.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for your replies. My friend’s semi finalist interview is on the 22nd and she is trying to craft good questions for the panel while at the same time preparing to answer all questions about her academic and service achievements especially her leadership roles. Does that sound like a good preparation? Meanwhile, she has been contacted by the track coach who is also interested so I hope that will work out if the President Scholarship does not. BTW: why do they call the recipients Purple snake?</p>
<p>Well between eating, casually talking, waiting on other interviewers, and each semifinalist being interviewed by two people at a time (3 interviews for each semifinalist), time passed in night in no time, but it was enjoyable!</p>
<p>I get the impression that there is no ‘norm’ for the interviews. My son’s interview last year was a ‘regular’ one, lasting about 45-60 minutes, and he talked to a group of two or three alumnis. He said it was very informative and in a relaxed tone. There was no other candidate being interviewed at the same time.</p>