I have an interview with Johns Hopkins on November 2nd at the campus. I’M SO NERVOUS! Any tips?
My Reed interview was Thruday evening and it went AMAZINGLY. It was basically an hour long conversation - I mean, she did ask me questions, but probably only about 4 or 5 because we were talking so much. Very casual. Where do you live, Joycelene? Because I think the rep I met with went back home to Portland yesterday, but I get the impression that even though your interview will be shorter than mine most Reed interviews go like mine did. Just seem engaged and passionate; like for example I don’t have a TON of ECs, but she could tell that I’m really into the ones I have. Don’t talk like it’s a job interview, just generally talk like how you normally do (though you probably shouldn’t swear too much :-D) . And that’s all I really know to tell you. Good luck!
I have my Carleton interview tomorrow! I’m not nervous though, she said in her email that it would be very casual and conversational, “no trick questions” :-D. She’s the director of one of our (many) local Waldorf schools. That seems like something a graduate from a liberal arts school would do, come to a little suburban hippie town and run a Waldorf school. Anyway…I’ll tell you guys how it went after it happens!
I’m from Libertyville, peindre, and I interviewed just an hour and a half ago in Evanston (where Northwestern is located, just a few minutes shy of Chicago). I was a bit late b/c we couldn’t find it at first but Dan Hagan (assistant dean who visited) was really cool about it. It went okay, it could have been better… I was just so NERVOUS and now I have all those second thoughts of what I could hae said and what I forgot to say and eugh!!! I completely blanked out when I was in the hot seat, lol. I’m optimistic, though; I can and will make up for that in my “Why Reed?” essay. Because I know I personally am not the strongest applicant (well, 29 ACT – unless I retake which I probably will lol, SAT 720 V, 630 W, and <em>wince</em> 550 M… XD Retaking that one, too hahaha), but I really do think I fit Reed personality-wise. I find it so refreshing to find a school that really believes that learning should be for learning’s sake!! I just wish I could have conveyed that better but oh well 
Word to the wise: practice, practice, practice! And try not to have your first interview with a college that’s more of a reach (like Reed is for me XD). And don’t despair if it doesn’t go off swimmingly like mine’s did or even if it went horribly; you can probably make up for that in your essays. Don’t be disheartened is my best advice.
Good for you, peindre! I wish mine’s had gone over better… I got so nervous I even forgot to give him my transcript and facilitate my “grades are so stupid, they try and quantify knowledge, and you lose sight of what’s important when you just want to earn a stupid letter” spiel 
Oh well lol. And good luck for your Carleton interview!
And I keep requesting an interview with Bryn Mawr (have for over a month, actually) and they still haven’t contacted me. Any advice? I keep sending the form over and over… XD
They wwanted your transcript? I didn’t have mine and I don’t think the interviewer wanted it. She just asked me what my class schedule was like this year and I rambled on for a while :-D. Your SAT looks fine, don’t worry too much about the Writing score because my best friend who’s the best writer I know got a 630. I think most colleges know it’s bull**** and don’t count it too much. Plus your ACT is really good and Reed really cares more about whether you’re a personal fit way more than perfect grades and test scores, so I think if you write an excellent Why Reed essay and get great teacher recs you have a really good chance of getting in. Good luck!
Haha I sort of went on that same rant when I was talking about my schedule, I was explaining why I had no math or science this year 
and I said that I could really concentrate on subjects that I like and care about instead of doing a half-assed (yep, that’s how I phrased it, she didn’t mind) job in, for example, English and French because I’d have to put all of my energy into AP Biology or Calculus AB to get a decent grade. I also said since my schedule’s not overloaded I have the time to actually think about my assignments and what I’m being taught instead of just rushing through everything to complete 5 hours of homework on time. Yeah. It seemed to go over well with her :-D.
Be patient w/Bryn Mawr because Swarthmore and Barnard told me that they get hundreds of interview requests every year and they’d try to get back to me as soon as they possibly could. They probably have a lot of requests to match up right now. Don’t worry, it’s a small school, they’ll get back to you.
I have my Rice interview at 3:00 this afternoon. Does anyone know if the interviewer expects me to ask questions? I talked with him on the phone and he told me that it would be “informal” and that it is a chance to talk to a “real human being” during the application process" Im a little nervous, but I havent really stressed over it much.
“Reed really cares more about whether you’re a personal fit way more than perfect grades and test scores”
That’s true to some extent, but you are in competition with applicants who are a good personal fit and who <em>also</em> have high grades and test scores. Use the Common Data Set to get a rough idea if a school is a reach/match/safety for you.
You guys keep saying how you’re expected to ask questions during the interview. I have done my research big time- student’s review, princeton review, fisk guide to colleges, and student’s guide to colleges. Seriously, what more can ask them? Everything seems to have been addressed in one or more of these books, so why should I fake stupidity?
I have an interview for URochester on the 4th of November because somehow the wires got crossed when I visited for my overnight and they were then unable to schedule me…
I still don’t get how that happened.
I had an interview for Wellesley today. It was very down-to-business; she kept throwing question after question at me about myself and my good and bad experiences. At the end, she talked to me for about fifteen minutes just on her experience and what she liked. It lasted 45 minutes. I smell like coffee now.
I had my Reed interview this morning in Minneapolis.
Not much to say really. I believe it went very well—we basically just sat there and talked for half an hour about any and everything. We ended up having alot in common, especially art and theater, which made our conversation quite interesting. She even introduced me to a new artist (after I expressed my love of Klimt).
Although my first interview, I have no worries about how it went. Carleton and Macalester next week. Yeah!
My Carleton interview went about the same as the Reed one.
In 2 weeks: Wesleyan!
what questions did you ask ?! Sorry, but I don’t like being ignored, not even on a message board.
The original message-
You guys keep saying how you’re expected to ask questions during the interview. I have done my research big time- student’s review, princeton review, fisk guide to colleges, and student’s guide to colleges. Seriously, what more can ask them? Everything seems to have been addressed in one or more of these books, so why should I fake stupidity?
I have an interview for URochester on the 4th of November because somehow the wires got crossed when I visited for my overnight and they were then unable to schedule me…
I still don’t get how that happened.
"why should I fake stupidity?
You shouldn’t. It shows them a high level of interest that you have done so much homework, so let them know. But, go over everything again, and see if you don’t find yourself asking some questions. “Do you have the results of any surveys which show students’ attitudes about life at the school?” “What criteria are used to assign dorm roommates?” “Is there an active Parent Council?”
"I have done my research big time- student’s review, princeton review, fisk guide to colleges, and student’s guide to colleges. Seriously, what more can ask them? Everything seems to have been addressed in one or more of these books, so why should I fake stupidity?
"
If you’ve found “everything” about a college in those guides (which it is great that you’ve read!), then try being even more curious. Just look at some of the situations that students post on CC about their college experiences. Think about some of the things that you will encounter for the first time in college. Then, think about questions that are related to those things.
The more you’ve researched a college, the better quality your questions should be about the college.
I have conducted these alumni interviews for 25 years for my alma mater, Brown. They are not inquisitions, just conversations. You should view this as an opportunity to present things about you that just didn’t fit into the application. Another dimension about you. And also for you to learn a bit more about the school, who has gone there, what THEIR experiences were, and what they (the interviewer) were able to do with their education. How did Brown (or other school) influence their life? Ask questions and be an advocate for yourself, but diplomatically. Like any other meeting for the first time, it is also important to be interested in the person who is talking to you, too. Just make sure you know why you might want to go to that school: do your homework on that.
As to the importance of these interviews, I feel they serve primarily as public relations for the school with the prospective students, not for admissions decisions. Oh, when you are on the edge of admission or not, they might take a glance at them to see if there’s anything in there to help them learn a bit more about the candidate. As I said, another dimension not on the application. Overall, I’ve never seen any direct relation between these interviews and admission. Admissions reality is NOTHING like portrayed in the movie RISKY BUSINESS! Other stuff is more far more important. So relax, and try to enjoy the process of having a school make a fuss over you!
The school has her academic qualifications so that, in my opinion, in no way leads to either trying to interview or trying to avoid an interview. To me that would depend much more on how the person presents themselves … will they come across as mature, energetic, interesting, have a spark to them, and as someone who would add to the school’s community? If so, then interview so the school can see those positive personality traits … or will they likely be pretty quiet and not show their personality and uniqueness in the interview? If so, then the interview may well hurt them.
Northstarmom!!
You were an interviewer for Harvard right?
I’m really nervous about my interviews next week. I applied EA to Harvard about a month ago, and I have an on-campus interview on Monday as well as an alumi interview on Friday. Do you have any advice or tips about interviewing for Harvard? I plan to bring my transcript and a resume, along with a list of questions about things I am interested in. Are there any curveballs I should be prepared for?
Thanks so much for any input you could provide. Any help you can offer would be EXTREMELY appreciated.
I had a really, really fun one at Swarthmore with the lady in charge of admissions. It lasted almost an hour. it was really just talking about my passions and interests, so we basically talked about politics, high school journalism and other stuff.
She sent me a post card later telling me to contact her if I wanted help in my Swarthmore admissions process…and she sent me a Swat newspaper and newsletter.
Relax about interviews…be natural and talk about what you love. if you’re yourself, the conversation will flow naturally. Look them in the eye, smile, and show them you’re more than GPA and class rank 
Sorry if this shows up twice, my computer is being evil…
I interviewed for Harvard last year, and it wasn’t scary or stressful at all. It was with an alumni at his office and it was more of an hour-and-a-half long conversation than the interrogation I had pictured. I got a talkative interviewer so there was a lot of give and take, we mostly talked about my activities, what activities I could do at Harvard, what his best Harvard memories were, etc. For some reason he found it particularly astounding that my mom and I agreed that she should have no part in my education or college search unless I asked her to. It’s kind of a weird thing to hear from a college bound senior, I guess, and it helped me make the point that I’m really independent,which he apparently liked. We talked a lot about my job, and, since at the time I wanted to study government, my feelings about No Child Left Behind and the Patriot Act. I didn’t end up being accepted to Harvard, but at least I know it wasn’t because of my interview. Looking back on it, I probably shouldn’t have done this one first, since I was really nervous at the beginning of it, but it made me a lot more confident for my other two interviews.
Next was Yale, which was with another alumni in a nearby town. It was supposed to be in a coffee shop but the place was closed when we got there, so we sat outside it in the dark for an hour. Still, we had very similar backgrounds so it was easy to talk about things. One thing he said was that it’s nice to get kids who talk a lot, since sometimes he had to interview kids who just gave short answers that made it hard to write a good enough report about them. This conversation was the same topics as Harvard, school, work, what I want to do, etc. Be ready for the “What sets you apart?” question. My interviewer really tried to write down as much as possible for this one and I think it may have helped get me in.
Cornell was my last alumni interview, it was in another coffee shop, which thankfully was open this time, that my friends worked at and I went to almost everyday. Because of this, I had a bunch of free coupons so when my interviewer offered to buy me something, I bought her coffee instead, which definitely set the right tone. I don’t remember as much of this one but we were both really liberal and ended up talking about politics more than Cornell. It was really casual and not stressful at all.
That’s my entire experience with college interviews, I only did three so I don’t have any disaster stories to share. One strange thing I noticed was that most of the questions the books told me to prepare for (I spent soo much time practicing making Memoirs of a Geisha and Wicked sound classic enough to answer “Describe two books you’ve read recently”) never actually turned up. I never brought a transcript or resume, since they aren’t really necessary to keep the conversation going. My interviews were actually kind of fun, not intimidating at all,but that might just be because I got awesome interviewers. Overall, I think the things that worked for me were being talkative, being enthusiastic about my activities, and generally just giving an accurate presentation of who I was, not saying just what I thought they wanted to hear. And thank you notes. And coffee. Coffee changes lives.
I found this website and it has a few helpful entries for college interviews. Gives some perspective.
<a href=“http://firsttimeapplicant.blogspot.com/[/url]”>http://firsttimeapplicant.blogspot.com/</a>
Strange question…
I’ve got this makeup art thing
and usually for school I’ll do my eyes in bright colors or designs
I mean, I’m not like a cake-face or anything, its just different
So my mom said I have to do neutral and normal for any college interviews, but its me and I think it will make me stand out more…
Opinions?