<p>A seemingly frivolous but deeply serious question from a young man about to have his first few interviews (LACs in New England and midwest). Are khaki pants and a polo shirt with loafers appropriate? Button-down shirt and nice trousers? All insights appreciated!</p>
<p>I would say the button down shirt and khaki pants with loafers is the way to go. You want to look polished, but not overly stuffy. </p>
<p>And I don’t think it’s a frivolous question - it’s an important one.</p>
<p>My son wore nice shorts and a polo shirt to his Wake Forest interview. He seemed to fit in with the other candidates.</p>
<p>(We saw another kid there wearing shiny gym shorts and a Duke t-shirt. Yup. Duke! :eek: That didn’t seem to fit in. )</p>
<p>Just want to add that we were talking to a former admissions officer and she told my daughter to most definitely leave the flip-flops at home. She said she knows they are ubiquitous now, but that it always annoyed her when kids showed up in flip-flops.</p>
<p>Button down shirt is probably safer than polo shirt. For some people, polo shirts are hardly distinguishable from t-shirts and would be worn on the same occasions (that is, casual ones); for others, polo shirts are more “dressy” than t-shirts. But button down shirt is unequivocally more dressy (on a relative scale, of course).</p>
<p>Polo shirt is fine. S has a grand total of 1 button down shirt because one of his roommates insisted on getting him one. khaki and polo shirt have seen him through college interview, job interview, grad school orientation programs. All this in buttoned-up Northeast.</p>
<p>I tried to insist that he wear more formal clothes, then I saw his advisor, a very famous prof, wearing cargo pants and a plaid shirt on top of a T-shirt. The maternal lecture on proper attire was not delivered.</p>
<p>You can’t go wrong with dressin’ classy. I believe ZZ Top put it best in ‘Sharp Dressed Man’ when they said," every girl [is]crazy."</p>
<p>So true…</p>
<p>my kids wore a bit of apprehension and nervousness over the top of confidence, humility, and their individual inquisitive nature. don’t know if this outfit helped or hurt, but they were both accepted to their first choice schools. in light of the Harvard/Gates/Cambridge incident it’s good to remember that how one looks matters less than how one behaves. looking the interviewer in the eye, being polite, and honest, will get the interviewer’s attention. judging a book by it’s cover never works in academics.</p>
<p>seriously, with S1 it was summer during both his admissions interview and his alumni interview. both times he wore his usual shorts and t-shirt, or whatever he puts on each day–in other words nothing special–but he shows a lot of respect to adults and folks in authority. both interviews went well b/c of his personality rather than his clothes. my humble advice is to allow them to wear what they feel most comfortable in and encourage them to be themselves. best wishes.</p>
<p>Thanks to all. In the end, he felt most comfortable dressing up: button down shirt and khakis for tours and info sessions, adding a blazer for the interviews. But I think feeling comfortable is key.</p>