Either of the sweater - shirt combos sound fine. Personally I would go for the cream sweater with blue shirt. However, I would change the jeans to khakis. Many people consider black jeans a little dressier, but many do not. Play it safe. If the khakis are too close in color with the cream sweater, change to the blue sweater and white shirt. (This is totally all my opinion - feel free to wear what you want - it sounds like no matter what you choose you’ll look professional and put together.) Good luck on your interview!
The best piece of advise I have received regarding this issue is that one should dress in such a way so that the interviewer does not remember what you were wearing
I love white and cream sweaters – and always regret it with a misplaced spot. I would vote for a blue sweater! ESPECIALLY since you are meeting at Starbucks.
Wow. I interview for my college, a top-half Ivy. I’m 54 years old and pretty buttoned-up (that is to say, stodgy - I’m @Hunt 's old fogey). I interview my applicants at Starbuckses in the Los Angeles area. I do not care what you wear. Honestly. I care what you have to say and whether you can carry a conversation for half an hour. If you are wondering whether your cream sweater goes better with the blue shirt or the striped shirt, your priorities are misplaced. Jeans? fine. T-shirt? fine. A kilt? I’ll probably remember you but it won’t count against you.
Ok, I’ll be the fogey.
When I interviewed in the LA area for MIT about ten years ago, I did notice if kids wore jeans or anything ripped/messy. I think it shows lack of respect. (I also was annoyed if kids were rude when setting up an appointment, “Hi, I need to see you tomorrow for an interview. My name is xxxxx.” - when this happened in any serious way, I asked the Alumni/ae office to assign a different interviewer because I feared I would be biased unfairly.)
As a mom of boys and former interviewer, I suggest khakis, collared shirt, sweater (whatever color you like). I might even vote for a tie, but not necessarily. Check colors in the mirror to make sure they don’t make you look ill or anything, and make sure you’re comfortable so you will feel self-confident. Practice your hand-shake etc. 
Thank you all for the help!! Unfortunately I don’t own a pair of khakis and my slacks are a bit ill-fitting, so I think I’m going to wear my black jeans.
The interviewer’s profession may matter. A banker might have different dress expectations compared to an artist or a computer software writer.
I agree that the interviewer’s position may matter.
You will be compared to other students who will wear suits and khaki’s. Students don’t know what to expect, but they like to make an impression and be remembered. I work part-time at a high school and at a shelter. In both locations, interviewees are told to dress for success and no jeans. Since you like your jeans and want people to tell you that you should wear them, this has not been the place to do that since the majority of people here speak from experience.
If you can’t afford a pair of khaki’s, which should be standard in a young man’s wardrobe, then you should shop at a secondhand store and find my husbands really good Dockers that he outgrew. For a couple of bucks you could find a decent pair. Wash them and see if your local dry cleaner will press them for a couple of bucks.
My advice, stick with khaki’s, jeans are considered too casual.
Daughter always wore dark jeans tucked into nice leather boots, a light sweater and a blazer. She did not own any pants other than jeans. The blazer gave it a very polished look.
I wouldn’t rock the school colors. It’s misplaced buddy-ism. You’re not a member of the xxxx tribe quite yet.
Let me put it this way: there are no interviewers who will think ill of you if you wear khakis. There may be SOME interviewers who will think ill of you if you wear jeans. It’s probably not a very big risk, so if you really don’t own any pants that are nicer than jeans, you can certainly roll the dice. It probably won’t matter.
But if you get into Penn, you’re probably going to want to have a pair of khakis anyway.
By the way, the idea that you can atone for wearing jeans by adding a tie is kind of silly. It’s like asking if you can go barefoot to the interview if you also wear a top hat.
dress pants with a nice sweater or button down.
I been an alumni interviewer for years (and years). I interview for Penn. I don’t care what students wear.I really do NOT take much notice of what a student is wearing. I conduct interviews in a local coffee shop - so it is a very relaxed atmosphere. I’m generally wearing dark trousers and a blouse. It’s what I wear to work, but it’s also my “uniform” for interviews that happen on the weekends. I don’t really notice what someone is wearing unless there’s something very unusual about it. I’d remember if someone came wearing a kilt! I take into account the time and day of the interview. Sunday midday? Someone coming from services might be a little more dressed up. Right after school? Well, someone might be a little less dressed up. I’ve only ever had one student show up looking like they just came from a sport practice. Despite what I’ve said about not caring, I would not recommend that look. As it is, I remember that outfit and not one single thing about the interview.
As a general rule, you can’t go wrong with ‘business casual’. Khakis or dark jeans are fine. A collared shirt and a sweater is just a very nice look. You certainly don’t need a jacket and a tie! I don’t expect a suit - even from Wharton applicants. Most of the students I interview wear some version of the khaki/polo ‘uniform’ although when I interview students from some of the private schools they tend to wear school uniforms (which is STILL a version of the khaki/polo look) with either a school blazer or a school varsity jacket. So long as you look put together, you’ll make a fine impression.
You know what I DO notice? Manners. Did the student follow up with a thank you email? Were they polite?
@Hunt - sort of agree on fashion atonement, but for women there is this thing someone described earlier where a blazer and boots can dress up non-ratty jeans so they get a different look.
I can’t opine as definitively on what “business casual” is for women.
I am also an alumni interviewer and I don’t need the student to wear a suit, but I don’t want them to come in sweat pants either. Something that says “I take this seriously” (But not too seriously) and that is not distracting (as in making me think why the heck did they wear that!) If you had shirt/sweater/jeans with not sneakers, i think that would be fine but khakis even better.
Agree with plmdin above.
I also alumni interview for an Ivy (with my husband, a physician), and I honestly can say what the student wears makes no impression. Heck–my husband probably wears khakis and a sweater, but for myself? I think I wear jeans more often than not-- Oops!
Most of our interviews are after school/early evening and so we expect kids to be wearing whatever they wore to school. We usually meet at a cafe or Dunkin Donuts.
I have interviewed a kid in creased khakis and a tie who couldn’t string three words together and a kid in Uggs and jeans who was incredibly entertaining and who showed a lot of interest.
Clean, presentable, polite—you can be these things in jeans (not ripped) or in a 3 piece suit. In the end when I make my report, what the student was wearing is not something I mention, nor does it influence me either way.
PS I am out of college almost 25 years, so I don’t know if I qualify as an “old fogey” or not.
From reading various dress threads around here (not just the college interview dress ones), it does appear that male and female dress expectations do differ. There seems to be a greater expectation of women putting more effort into dressing nicely, but there is also more latitude for creative dress for women than men.
There’s not a different standard (or expectation) for females although there is more variety in what they tend to wear to the interviews. The female students I interview tend to dress pretty much the same way the boys do - except sometimes they’ll wear a (casual) skirt instead of trousers or they’ll wear a (casual) dress with a jacket or a sweater. Lots of times they wear boots. Often they wear nice jeans. It really doesn’t matter - what matters is the conversation. I have NEVER mentioned what a student was wearing.
FWIW, I’m of an age with Bearpanther - so I am close to ‘fogey’ if not there already.
I think the whole goal - even if you’re meeting at Starbucks where people do wear jeans - is to go for a business casual look. Polished and professional. For a young woman, a blazer over dark jeans / boots can serve that purpose (if the overall look / presentation is polished and structured), but for young men, I think it’s a lot harder to dress up jeans. And so I think a pair of khakis is a staple for a young man’s wardrobe - to serve in those situations to be a bit dressier than jeans, but not so super-dressy that it looks out of place in a casual setting. After all, you could wear khakis to go to the movies in - it’s hardly “dressy” in the sense of suit and tie.
It is amazing to me how many young men’s parents apparently fail in ensuring their son has one decent pair of khakis / pants other than jeans, though. It’s simply a basic clothing need, just like having a pair of black pants is a basic clothing need for a young woman. Life is full of moments other than everyday jeans.