Son applied for a Weber Honors College scholarship and received the below invite for an interview. Has anyone been through this before and know the format of the “virtual interview” is?
“Congratulations! Based on your Weber Honors College Scholarship application, you have been selected for an interview. We would like to set up interviews for April 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th. The virtual interview will be about 10-15 minutes long. Interviews are available on the following days and times:”
Did he receive the invite today? My son applied and has not heard anything yet.
Best of luck to your son!
@sddanr: Perhaps PM @Fish125 whom could give you some information. Son was a WHC scholarship recipient.
Hi, @Gumbymom! Thank you for including me. My Aztec was an SDSU Merit Scholar - they’re automatically admitted to WHC, but the scholarship is administered through the university. From my son’s experience with WHC, I’m guessing their interviews are similar to the Merit Scholar ones (though those were in-person). They’re looking for students who are engaged and on-fire for SDSU and their education. They want articulate people who want to make the most of their time at SDSU. Often, the major scholarship recipients like these represent the university/WHC at donor and community events, so they want to make sure these students are comfortable talking about their academic and extracurricular experiences with others.
If it is a skype-type of visual interview, I’d make sure my kid was dressed for an interview. If wearing a tie, I’d find a black and red one. Show the school spirit. I’d encourage my kid to completely study everything online about WHC including their core values, mission statement, students, and staff, and have him be prepared to talk about how he, his academics, and his interests embody these values and mission.
Know the 7 honor societies and Honors Council. Look at ways he wants to get involved on campus. Review the Student Life & Leadership section of the SDSU website, especially their Leadership Certificate program for students. Check out the Associated Students, Ambassadors, the Greek System, Zura Hall (houses WHC freshmen), absolutely anything about SDSU. He doesn’t have to join these things, but he’ll be familiar with the various opportunities. It doesn’t take much time to check out the info. Basically, he’ll want to look at his past leadership experiences and see how he’ll utilize those at SDSU. WHC students don’t just join clubs, they are officers and very active participants, and look for research, internship, and other opportunities.
I can’t say enough about the nurturing environment of WHC and Stacey Sinclair and her staff. They’ll make the interview a fun and comfortable experience.
@Fish125: Thank you for the clarification regarding the scholarship your son received. I was hoping that you would have some good information for the OP and as usual you have come through.
Thanks @Gumbymom and @Fish125. That is super helpful advice!
@chicomama - Son received an email on Friday evening.
We attended the WHC open house yesterday afternoon and it was a very impressive presentation. During a break, my wife asked Dr. Sinclair about the Virtual Interview and it sounds like it will just be a phone call. I will definitely share Fish125’s post with my son and encourage him to prepare as suggested.
Son has a chancellor’s reception for UCSC in Anaheim this afternoon, so he will get a first chance to compare the schools ahead of a visit to UCSC in mid-April. He is very fortunate to have two schools showing him a lot of love - SDSU with the interview invite and acceptances to CS and the WHC, and UCSC with an acceptance to CS, an invite to their College Scholars Program, and a Merit Scholarship. He is a bit discouraged that he has not heard back from UCI yet, which was originally his first choice, but I don’t think he can go wrong with either SDSU or UCSC. They seem to be quite different geographically and culturally, and it will be very interesting to see which he decides is the best fit for him.
Thanks again for sharing your experiences. I will re-post here after the interviews are done to share his experience for future reference by others.
Yes, those were informative, detailed and interesting suggestions for preparing for the WHC scholarship interview. My freshman D is an SDSU Merit Scholar and member of WHC. As was mentioned, it’s a different scholarship and I wanted to point out that no formal interview was required for that selection. That was lucky for us because I think my D would have been intimated by all that information. She represented her interest and candidacy by attending on-campus events such as the merit scholar banquet and also kept in touch with the scholarship contact Gina Kim through phone and email.
I agree that the selection team is looking for passionate, model candidates who will be successful at SDSU and able to advocate for the school at future events such as for the next crop of candidates. My D was invited to speak at this year’s merit scholar banquet where it is assumed that all admitted students attending will have multiple offers from top schools. How can SDSU acquire some of that top talent? Speakers need to be able to engage with candidates who might not even have SDSU on their short list. Speakers have to be personable, caring, interesting, motivated, articulate, persuasive, etc.
The selection team now has to find those candidates. An interview question might be - Outside of a class and lab setting how are you going to contribute to the SDSU community?
I have a feeling that while no formal interview was needed for my D’s selection that her interactions with her scholarship contact may have served that same purpose.
@Banker1 - Thank you for your update about Merit Scholars. My kid was in the inaugural class of Merit Scholars about five years ago, and he did have interviews during an all-day tour, lunch, and interview session. It was a very exhausting day. Since it was the first year of the Merit Scholar program (with a different coordinator), they did it differently. My kid had a great time meeting with the then president (who was instrumental in creating the scholarship), deans, and professors. Their in-depth questions and discussions were part of what sold my child on the university, He was very fortunate to continue many of those relationships as a student.
@Fish125 thanks for the additional information. Hearing that helps reinforce the strength of the school and honors program. It’s incredible to think just how many opportunities await. Cheers and Go Aztecs!