<p>Hi - My daughter has her MH interview coming up - any tips? MH is one of her top choices. She is interviewing on campus so will have a senior interviewer - does this have the same weight as admissions officer interviews? Thanks!</p>
<p>I enjoyed my MHC interview. The student was very nice and didn't ask any trite (e.g., "Which 3 adjectives describe you best?" or "if you had a million dollars what would you buy?") questions. She just asked about my activities and interests. I recommend going on a little "rants" about the things she loves (when prompted). The interviewer wants to be able to say that your daughter seems passionate. Also mention any unique interests. For example, I was involved in many activities, but in most of my interviews I made sure to mention working as a clown. It will probably intrigue the interviewer and lead to more conversation. She should not be afraid to talk to the interviewer in a casual (but respectful) manner. I cracked (PG) jokes and shared (related) anticdotes during my interviews, so if your daughter is good at reading people and gauging the appropriateness of a joke relative to a setting, then that's fine. The best advice I can give is to generally know how to verbalize/summarize goals. She should practice beforehand, either with you or, if possible, in an interview for some place for which she doesn't care as much. Oh, and she should be prepared to ask questions about the college because the interviewer WILL ask if she has any questions. Even if she knows a lot about the college (she should know the basics, like size of the school, etc.), she should ask a few questions. Examples: What were the interviewers favorite and least favorite things about Mount Holyoke? How are dorms assigned? How many clubs do most students join? How late does the PVTA run? and so on...</p>
<p>MHC doesn't offer admissions officer interviews. It probably holds about the same weight, but remember that interviews only count for so much anywhere. They help to convey interest, and anything else a person wants to express verbally rather than in her app, but the application is always the most important part. :)</p>
<p>Also, she should definitely mention that moho is one of her top choices and why she loves it so much. Good luck to her!</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice! I know I'm not the OP but I'm having my interview at MHC in 2 days! Very timely. :-)</p>
<p>I had my interview, and I think it went great! I had a senior interviewer who was really articulate and passionate about MHC, and we had a really good conversation about women's colleges, the international component of MHC, and my interests. Thanks for the advice, frazzledmaybe, I kept it in mind! </p>
<p>If anyone wants to know the kinds of questions they apparently have been using recently...let me know. I'd be happy to share :-)</p>
<p>Love to know what they asked :)</p>
<p>Okay, the whole thing flowed well enough that she was just asking spur-of-the-moment questions, but here's the basic topics of conversation we talked about (in no particular order): </p>
<ol>
<li>What classes I took this past year (I think what was implied was that they were looking for me to expound on one that I liked). </li>
<li>What classes I was taking my senior year. </li>
<li>What academic areas I hadn't yet been able to explore in high school and wanted to investigate in college. </li>
<li>If I had any future plans after college. </li>
<li>Extracurriculars that I was passionate about. </li>
<li>What classes/subjects I was passionate about.</li>
<li>If I had any other questions about MHC or anything else I wanted her to know about me that wouldn't necessarily come up in the application (I talked about why I really felt drawn to the international part of MHC).<br></li>
</ol>
<p>Oh, and by the way, they send you (or at least my interviewer sent me) a personal note thanking you for coming, etc. I was pretty impressed with how much she remembered about our conversation! </p>
<p>Good luck to your daughter!</p>
<p>Thanks so much!- we are off this morning. SHe has done several interviews already so she is feeling more comfortable with the process. I think we will repeat the tour as well since our first one was so crowded we couldn't hear most of what the tour guide was saying!</p>
<p>I've found it really helpful to do the whole visit again, plus the interview, too...it's so much better to get another tour guide's take on the school and to review what had been said before! :-) Glad your daughter's comfortable with the process--maybe I'll be seeing her some day!</p>
<p>We actually did do the tour again and she had a much more positive response this time since the tour group was small and we could hear much better. Also had a nice admissions helper who chatted while we waited for tour. She thought the interview went well but not the most open ended she's had. her school is pretty different in how they teach AP classes etc so she has to explain that although I know the admin dept knows her school well the student interviewer didn't. Anyway she will definitely apply.</p>
<p>It's good to have an answer to "Why Mt. Holyoke?" My D was asked that. The school doesn't want women who really want to attend Smith and are just interviewing at Mt. Holyoke because they're in the area.</p>
<p>I will say that Mt. Holyoke and Smith both have different feelings which we saw more on the subsequent visit.</p>
<p>I'll say. It's kind of funny how two places can feel so different and yet be so similar on paper.</p>
<p>I'd take a look at the thread at the top of the Smith site.(differences between the student bodies). I think the places are vastly different. It goes both ways but my daughter had zero interest in Smith even though my sister went there and loved it. Anyone wo visits one and not the other is doing themselves a disservice I think. The difference between this site and that one is that no one here bashes Smith. They're a bit edgier and I don't think quite as nice.</p>