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interview is a contrived situation that few people enjoy, of
which many people misunderstand the value, and about which
everyone is apprehensive. However, no information from a
college website, no friend’s friend, no high school guidance
counselor’s comments, and no parental remembrances from
bygone days can surpass the value of your college campus
visit and interview. This first hand opportunity to assess
your future alma mater will confirm or contradict other
impressions and help you make a sound college acceptance.
Many colleges
will recommend or request a personal interview. It is best
to travel to the campus to meet with a member of the
admissions staff if you can; however, if you can’t, many
colleges will arrange to have one of their representatives,
usually an alumnus, interview you in your hometown.
Even though the
thought of an interview might give
you enough butterflies to
lift you to the top of your
high school’s flagpole, here are
some tips that might make it a little easier:
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Go
prepared. Read the college’s website or catalog so you
won’t ask, “How many computers are in your computer labs?”
or
“How many students do you have?” Ask intelligent
questions that introduce a topic of conversation that you
want the interviewer to know about you. The key is to
distinguish yourself in a positive way from thousands of
other applicants. Forge the final steps in the personal
process you have been building
since your first choices in
the college admission process back in middle school.
The
interview is your chance to enhance
those decisions.
-
Nervousness
is absolutely and entirely normal. The best
way to handle it is to admit it, aloud, to the interviewer.
Richard Shaw, Dean of Admission at Stanford University,
sometimes relates this true story to his apprehensive
applicants. One extremely agitated young applicant sat
opposite him for her interview with her legs crossed, a clog
dangling from one toe. As she swung her top leg nervously,
the shoe went flying off her foot, hit him in the head,
ricocheted to the desk lamp and broke it. She looked at him
in terror, but when their glances met, they both dissolved
in laughter. The moral of the story – the person on the
other side of the desk is also a human being and wants to
put you at ease. So admit to your anxiety, and don’t swing
your foot unless your shoes are tied on! (And by the way,
she was admitted!)
-
Be
yourself. Nobody’s perfect and everyone knows nobody’s
perfect, so admit to a flaw or two before the interviewer
goes hunting for them. The truly impressive candidate will
convey a thorough knowledge of self.
-
Interview
the interviewer. Don’t passively sit there and allow
the interviewer to ask all the questions and direct the
conversation. Participate in this responsibility by
assuming an active role. A thoughtful questioner will
accomplish three important tasks in a successful interview:
-
demonstrate interest, initiative, and maturity by taking
partial responsibility for the content of the conversation;
-
guide the
conversation to areas where he/she feels most secure and
accomplished; and
-
obtain
answers. Use your genuine feelings to react to the
answers you hear. If you are delighted to learn of a
certain program or activity, show it. If you are curious,
ask more questions. If you are disappointed by something
you learn, try to find a path to a positive answer. Then
consider yourself lucky that you discovered this particular
inadequacy in time.
 5.
Parents
do belong in your college decision process as your advisers!
They can provide psychological support and a stabilizing
influence for sensible, rational decisions. However, they
do NOT belong in your interview session. In essence, the
sage senior will find constructive ways to include parents
in the decision-making process as catalysts, without letting
them take over (as many are apt to do) the interview
process. You may want your parents to meet and speak
briefly to your interviewer before your interview and that
is fine, but parents may not accompany you into the
interview session. Arrange with your parents to meet
somewhere out of the interview building after your interview
is over. You do not want the interviewer inviting your
parents back to the interview room. As intelligent as
parents may be, they do not perceive the answers to
questions in the same way you do. The worst scenario I can
imagine is the interviewer asking your parents some of the
same questions that were asked you, and that is highly
likely. Parents just answer questions differently than
teenagers. At best, the scenario creates a long, long ride
home, and when you get home, you can’t punish your parents
by grounding them for a week. At worst, the scenario has
caused a blight in your admissions file. This is your
time! Keep it that way!
6.
Practice
makes perfect. Begin your interviews at colleges that
are low on your list of preferred choices, and leave your
first choice colleges until last. If you are shy, you will
have a chance to practice vocalizing what your usually
silent inner voice tells you. Others will have the
opportunity to commit their inevitable first blunders where
they won’t count as much.
-
Departing
impressions. There is a remarkable tendency for the
student to base final college preferences on the quality of
the interview only, or on the personal reaction to the
interviewer as the personification of the entire
institution. Do not do yourself the disservice of letting
it influence an otherwise rational selection, one based on
institutional programs, students, services, and
environment. After the last good-bye and thank you has been
smiled, and you exhale deeply on your way out the door, go
ahead and congratulate yourself. If you used the interview
properly, you will know whether or not you wish to attend
that college and why.
-
Send
a thank-you note to your interviewer. A short and
simple note or email will do – and if you forgot to mention
something important about yourself at the interview, here’s
your chance. But do NOT write a long letter! This is a NOTE!
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