Princeton Interview Tips

Colleges and Universities A-Z Princeton University
1

I have an interview with Princeton coming up either this weekend or the next. This is my first college interview, so I really am in the dark as to what to expect.

I’ve heard that it makes a good impression to ask the interviewer questions. What kind of questions should I ask him?

What should I know about how to dress? Also, I have several cartilage ear piercings - would those make a poor impression? I’m unable to take them out as they’re still healing, but they’re easy to cover up either way.

What else can I expect, and are there any tips I should know? Thank you! (:

2

Ask them questions that cannot easily be found on the website. Stuff about their experience- their major, did they study abroad, what made their experience enjoyable?

I would recommend dressing somewhat conservatively- nice dress and sweater, pants and a blouse.

Expect some questions like “Why Princeton?” and my interviewer asked me “Why should Princeton accept you?” Be prepared to talk about your activities and your courses.

3

What the above poster said is all correct. When I prepared for my interview in fall (Not Princeton, but Yale) I used the following page to see what interviewers were looking for. I think it helps regardless of which ivy.

http://asc.yale.edu/samplereports

I had my Princeton interview a week ago and it was very similar to my Yale interview, although of course its emphasis was slightly different, simply because the schools do have some differences. In my experience, the only way the interview can help you (if anything) are two aspects: 1. personal traits that aren’t reflected in your applications and your LoR (especially social & communication skills) 2. achievements you weren’t able to get to in your application (For me that was details about a few piano concerts I played in, because I didn’t have space in the common app)

4

I had one today and it was really casual. The interviewer was really nice–we met in a cafe. He asked me a couple of questions about my experiences --we talked a lot about my experiences abroad. He asked me if there was anything I want included in the report he has to send to Princeton. I just wore a long-sleeved shirt and black skinny jeans and a jacket. Just smile a lot and be polite. Since I’m interested in studying abroad, I asked the interviewer if he ever studied abroad in college. Be ready to talk about your extracurriculars in detail, and about your school as well. Mine lasted for around 30 minutes–he had another student after me. Overall, it was actually pretty fun.

5

I almost always schedule interviews at a coffee shop, so my expectation is that the interviewee will dress casually, but nicely (jeans are fine if they are clean, not torn; polo shirts, sweaters, pants, skirts, blouses are fine). For a coffee shop interview, a suit and tie or a formal business outfit for a woman might be a bit off putting. If the interview is set for a “downtown office”, you might want to up the dress a bit, and then definitely not jeans. The most important thing is that whatever you wear or how you look should not create a distraction. You and the interviewer both want to be comfortable so that the focus is on the interview.

Each interviewer will have their own style and questions they like to ask, but I think most experienced interviewers will try to make the interview more of a conversation than a series of Q’s and A’s and let the interviewees take the conversation to areas they are most interested in. While I interview for Yale, my kids’ experience (including with Princeton) suggest the interview experience is pretty similar among the highly selective colleges that do alumni interviews. For Yale, suggested areas they want interviewers to look out for:

• Intellectual strengths and energy
• Academic interests
• Flexibility in thinking, openness
• Expressive abilities
• Nonacademic interests or talents
• Personal qualities
• Distinctive or unusual talents
and/or circumstances

We do not receive grades, test scores, resume or lists of EC’s. There may be a note relating to a particular area of interest. Personally, I do not ask about grades or test scores or ask for a resume because I don’t want to have any preconceptions about the candidate, and I want to base my report entirely on the interaction with the candidate. My kids have walked into interviews where the interviewer has asked for a resume or it is evident that they have some form of resume in front of them.

While I do not have a preset list of questions, the vast majority of interviews sequence out as follows:

  1. Introduction/small talk to put the candidate at ease.
  2. Ask how the school year is going – from here, I can get an idea of what the candidate is interested in academically and in terms of EC’s.
  3. The conversation can naturally flow from the above to a discussion about favorite subjects/classes/class projects and if that is what they want to pursue in college and as a career, or I may need to prod the candidate to talk about this. From time to time, I may ask for some details about a class or project, and at times I may challenge them about a particular viewpoint or conclusion just to see how they react. Often during the course of discussion in 3, I will ask why they are attracted to Yale given their interests.
  4. Similar to 3, the conversation can either naturally flow to an EC or I may ask a question to get the conversation to this topic. Here I am trying to get a sense of how deeply involved the candidate is in the activities that the candidate wants to highlight.
  5. If all the EC’s that the candidate chooses to talk about are school sponsored/based, I may ask a question along the lines what do you like to do outside of school, do you have a favorite hobby, what do you do to relax?
  6. 3, 4 and 5 will take up 80%+- of the time. Within 3, 4 and 5, the candidate may ask me questions about Yale, e.g., why did you choose Yale, what did you like or dislike about Yale. There may be very specific questions about Yale, but I'd say the better interviewee questions involve a back and forth about something we are talking about, and it may not necessarily involve Yale. Candidates who show they are paying attention and are engaged in a conversation get higher marks in my book than someone with a canned list of questions. If I feel that the conversation is stagnating or the candidate is getting tired of talking, I will ask, “Do you have any questions about Yale?” as a break. Usually though, the questions about Yale come at the end.
  7. The very last question I will ask is, “Is there anything you would like to talk about that we have not covered?” Most of the time they will say everything has been covered, but at times they may bring up a particular interest or challenge that may be a new topic or it could be an emphasis on something we had previously just touched upon.

After the interview, I try to write my report that evening tying the specific interaction I had with the candidate to the guidelines that the AO has laid out.

Having said all of this, and as posted throughout CC by other seasoned interviewers, these interviews are not going to lift an otherwise “no” candidate into the “yes” pile or sink a candidate that the AO already loves into the “no” pile (absent something totally extreme). I think the AO uses the interviews to confirm if their read on the candidate is consistent with the interview. Also, the AO makes it very clear to interviewers that we are ambassadors representing Yale, and that we should be selling Yale as much as the candidates are trying to sell themselves. I am pretty sure Princeton tells its interviewers the same thing. So don’t stress, be prepared (but not robotic) to have a conversation about what makes you you and to get as much information about the college as possible.

6

Many students mistakenly assume an alumni interview is like a job interview, as in a “make or break” opportunity. Actually it’s just a way to keep alumni involved and applicants focused on the school. Treat it as a conversation, not a test.

7

I totally used my P’ton interview as a way to get a sense of the culture of the university bc time/finances didn’t let me visit. It was tough in that there were absolutely 0 questions from my interviewer–it was very much so an organic conversation, which I didn’t necessarily expect. He was a really cool guy, though and I definitely enjoyed it. (Note–do not be awkward if they offer to buy you a drink! lol)

8

Hi, my Princeton interviewer requested me to bring a resume along. I was anyway planning to bring one, but since she explicitly asked, what’s the protocol for listing academic stuff? Do I include grades, SATs, or carry a separate transcript, etc etc? And while my ECs fit on a page, they’re going to spill over if I include academics, especially several years’ worth of it… Everyone says a resume should be a page long, so what do I chop then?! Someone please help! X_X

9

Shoot for one page and don’t bring a transcript.

Start with your name, address, phone #, and email address. Then add an academic section with W and UW GPA, and consider listing notable classes (AP, IB, any particular focus). Then list standardized test scores.

After that list your ECs. An abbreviated version is fine; the interviewer will just use it as a conversation starter.

10

Just relax and enjoy it! My Princeton interviewer (and indeed all of my interviewers) was lovely and we ended up having some really interesting discussions about the education system in my country and all sorts of things! I’ve also found that after every interview I want to go to that particular school even more, so the alumni do a great job of advocating their colleges (partially I think from just making them appear more personable and human).

The one thing I would strongly recommend you do though, is to quickly go over your research into the school and familiarise yourself with why exactly you want to go there. A good opener for interviewers is ‘Why XYZ college?’ and you don’t want to panic and mush up the answer, which might put you off for the rest of the interview.

Dress comfortably but nicely - I’ve gone for the sort of thing I would wear to a family dinner/lunch for all of mine, so black jeans, nice top etc, and I haven’t walked into any of them feeling under or over dressed.

Best of luck! Tell us how it goes