<p>kelsiface-- Have you tried chloriseptic? It's that red spray. WalMart usually has it, and it's wonderful stuff. There's drops, too, but those tend to numb your tongue and not your throat. </p>
<p>Good luck, and tell us what happens!</p>
<p>Agh...I wish my interviewer would contact me already.</p>
<p>How did your interview go kelsiface? I tried to wish you luck but I've been having trouble posting to this thread (a message calling it an invalid thread keeps popping up)...</p>
<p>Anyway, I really hope it went well!!</p>
<p>I have a couple of questions concerning the interview, so if anyone could answer some of them I would be really grateful!!!</p>
<ol>
<li>Does it feel more like a conversation/discussion or answering a series of questions?</li>
<li>Does anyone know someone from CC who did theirs by phone?? I'm curious as to how not being able to see your interviewer changes the tone/atmosphere of the interview...</li>
<li>Does anyone who's gone through the process of applying to TASP in previous years have any tips or general advice regarding the interview?</li>
<li>Something that really increased my interest in one of the seminars came up, and I was thinking about mentioning it to my interviewer. Do you guys think that's a good idea, or should I just stick to the topics he/she brings up?</li>
</ol>
<p>By the way, is it just me, or is anyone else curious about what TASP interviews are like? I mean, from what I've heard about them they're supposed to be really hard but also very unique.</p>
<p>Thank you for the advice and for the good luck. I ended up just drinking a lot of ginger ale throughout the interview, which perhaps isn't the most polite thing to do, but was sort of necessary in order to be able to keep on speaking. Even then, my throat had sort of regressed in its healing by the end of the interview.</p>
<p>And now what you're all actually curious about-- the interview! It was indeed quite the grilling-- wow, I don't think I've ever been questioned so thoroughly and so intensely before-- but honestly, that's how it should be for a program like this. They targeted some of my logic, asked me to more clearly define some of the terms that came up both in my essay and in my speech, and just generally used the essays as a launching point for any number of difficult questions. It was all pretty much essay based for me (and I think we touched everything but the book list, though they did mention that in passing in relation to another idea that had come up), which was a little bit surprising to me. I was expecting it to mostly be about the essays, but I definitely wouldn't have minded elaborating a bit about myself or my history and how that's shaped who I am and how I think, you know? It didn't come up, though, for better or worse. Bottom line, however, is that it wasn't indeed so terribly awful. The two interviewers were incredibly intelligent and very nice, and as a result, in an odd sort of masochistic way, perhaps, the interview was almost enjoyable. (Almost enjoyable, mind you-- it was still very grueling, and upon arrival home, I still was in no way or shape eager to engage my brain at all.)</p>
<p>I don't know how it really went-- I guess I'll find out May 2-- but I did my best and that's all that I can do, so I'm okay with that. It's out of my hands at this point. If anyone has any more specific questions, I'll do my best to answer them. Good luck to everyone!</p>
<p>Ooh, and green<em>day</em>fan:</p>
<ol>
<li>Does it feel more like a conversation/discussion or answering a series of questions?
Both? For me, it was, in essence, a series of questions, but the questions led off of each other and were, for the most part, related. It was tough.</li>
<li>Does anyone who's gone through the process of applying to TASP in previous years have any tips or general advice regarding the interview?
Clearly I'm not someone from previous years, but I have gone through this now. So, know your essays (even that one you may hate-- that was more or less our entire focus during my interview) and be yourself. Think deeply about what you've said. Try to think as quickly as you can during the interview</li>
<li>Something that really increased my interest in one of the seminars came up, and I was thinking about mentioning it to my interviewer. Do you guys think that's a good idea, or should I just stick to the topics he/she brings up?
Yes, mention it. They're nice people-- they are, after all, giving up their time to do this-- and they aren't going to bite your head off for being a little indecisive.</li>
</ol>
<p>I wonder if my book list was too short. How many books should a deep minded-intelligent person read in a year? How many books did you guys list?</p>
<p>I had just slightly over 30. I left out all the teen novels & magazines that I read. heh. :] Sounds like you did pretty well, kelsiface! I had just one question that I hope you don't mind answering. Did you give an immediate response to all the questions or did you pause to think about them? I have problems with thinking immediately on the spot, as in I can do it but my responses are a lot better if I have a few seconds to collect myself.</p>
<p>hmm i re-read all my essays last night (my interview's tomorrow). i'm wondering: how amazing do we have to be to make it past this point? because i can, i think, defend my essay's ideas adequately. i just dont know if i can totally 'wow' my interviewers. (in athletic terms: can i just defend my goal and make a few great saves, or do i have to run across the field and score a couple points?)</p>
<p>i also feel ( perhaps wrongly) that everyone on this board has a bit of an advantage. we know what we're getting ourselves into- sorta. </p>
<p>g'luck all.</p>
<p>and i listed about 20 books+ magazines total. about half were volumes of poetry. i think the booklist is just another way to get to know you. don't worry.</p>
<p>Oh goodness, I just got a call from my interviewer today. My interview's on Saturday at this cafe. How should I dress? I was originally thinking about a nice blouse and nice dark black pants. I forgot her name, but luckily she said she'd get back to me with the exact address of the cafe. I think it's just her though, and she sounds young and rather nice so hopefully it'll be okay. :] She did say it'd be a 45-minute interview though. How long was yours, kelsiface?</p>
<p>Thanks for the encouragement-- like I said, though, I suppose I'll know for sure how it really went once May rolls around.</p>
<p>I answered more quickly than I perhaps should have-- I think had I perhaps taken a few seconds more to think about some of my responses that I might have been a little more coherent, perhaps, or at least a little less contradicting. My thought processes were very much what was spilling out of my mouth, sometimes uncensored and not fully realized, for better or worse. Honestly, though, I think, in some ways, that's what it has to be (for me, anyway).</p>
<p>My interview lasted an hour and perhaps a few odd minutes. They were watching the clock, so to speak, not that I blame them-- they still had dinner and quite the drive back to Ithaca left after the interview, and I'd want to get home, too.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>I'm sure some of your interviewers have told you to do this already, but the single best piece of advice is: know your essays, and chill out. :P</p>
<p>There's not much else for you to do. Interview styles and questions vary from location to location, and the emphasis, I think, is not on how snazzy you dress or how confident you seem, but on the content of your answers. For these reasons, I think the above advice is best.</p>
<p>(Wow, you guys are really hardcore.)</p>
<p>-Jimmy</p>
<p>kelsiface- good job on your interview! It sounds like it went well.</p>
<p>Did they ask you to relate the topics of your different essays to each other in any way? Because in reading through the TASP interview thread from last year, it seems like interviewers did that to a lot of people.</p>
<p>Though they didn't expressly ask that, their questions very much did pick up on different threads of things and weave them together into more complex questions. I'd say definitely expect your interviewer(s) to connect the essays together-- they are looking to more fully understand you, after all, and you are the sum of many parts taken together, not just the parts themselves.</p>
<p>Thank you, by the way, and good luck with your interview whenever it might be.</p>
<p>mmm i had my interview this afternoon. </p>
<p>lemme just say that my interviewer was a prof. (and expert, i realized) in the same field that wrote about for my career essay. this was good because: we def. had something in common and actually had some of the same opinions about authors, literary styles, etc. she was pretty nice too. however, our discussion was based almost completely off the book list (inevitable) and was full of obscure questions. i felt like i didnt have enough of a chance to show Me as a person, it was more like me as a thinker. i dont think my personality really came through that much.</p>
<p>it was also an hour long (she cut it off) but i wished it had been longer? it wasnt a thrill ride, but i wanted to say more.</p>
<p>Wow... it was based on the book list? That worries me. My list is about 40 titles long (excluding periodicals!) and many of the books are not books that I read critically - you know, I just sort of read them quickly for fun. I don't know if I could answer questions about them from a really intellectual perspective...</p>
<p>well, i dont think you should worry too much.
- my essay topics were pretty obscure and couldnt really feed an hour-long interview, so it was natural to go to the book list.
- it was more coincidental, like i read a lot of plath and she was a plath fan too, also, she taught a course on a book i had put on my list. </p>
<p>so booklist stuff might come up, but i dont know if ur interview will center on it like mine did.</p>
<p>I hope my interview doesn't center on the book list, although there are some books on the list I'd love to discuss for an hour. Some, on the other hand, I have little to no intelligent opinions on. Anyway, i'll see how it goes...</p>
<p>Did anyone else have their interview this weekend? Mine's next Saturday (seems like a lot of CCers have theirs then)</p>
<p>Same with me vegangirl. I've been reviewing some books I read a year ago that I barely remember now, but I don't feel too comfortable with discussing all of them. Anyhow, I'd much rather talk about the opinions I expressed in my essays and current events than just the book list, simply because I feel my essays represent the person they'll be accepting/rejecting better. Plus, the topics are different enough so that it shouldn't be too hard to come up with things to say.</p>
<p>I had one more question about the interview. Did your interviewer propose all the topics or did you propose some of them? As in, did you guys feel it was an equal 50-50 discussion or was it slightly skewed towards your answering questions, defending your essays and opinions, etc.?</p>