The College Interview
So, you’ve scheduled an interview with a college admissions office. Great first step! Let’s talk about how you can prepare for a great interview.
If you’re interviewing in person:
Try to arrive about five minutes early, or right on time (don’t come too early, as your interviewer may be in another interview right before yours - this is especially important if you’re interviewing at a cafe, but won’t matter as much if you’re meeting on-campus at the admissions office). If you’re stuck in traffic or unable to get there on time for a reason outside your control, just shoot a quick email to your interviewer to let them know you’re on your way. If you’re going to be more than 15 minutes late, they may ask you to reschedule, but just keep an open line of communication with your interviewer and you should be fine.
If you’re interviewing virtually:
Same deal: try to arrive a few minutes early, or right on time (right on time is preferred for virtual interviews, in most cases). Make sure your camera and microphone are working properly before entering the call, as tech issues can make things awkward. It’s even a good idea to have a backup plan ready just in case, like doing a phone interview if your camera or internet suddenly isn’t working.
When you arrive, take a deep breath before entering - try not to be too nervous! These interviews are often not as intense as you expect them to be; your interviewer just wants to get a sense of who you are and what your passions are, and they’re not there to nitpick your responses or try to trip you up.
Introduce yourself to the interviewer, but don’t just start talking about yourself - wait for them to start asking questions, since most often they’ll have a set order of questions they like to ask.
Your interviewer will typically tell you a little bit about themselves, and then they’ll jump into their questions. Usually, they’ll ask you about things like:
Your high school experience
What do you like about your school?
What would you like to see change about it?
What are your favorite/least favorite subjects?
What do you do outside of school?
Why you’re applying to their school
How did you find out about us?
What drew you in?
What could you do at this school that you couldn’t do anywhere else?
And your future goals (both in college and beyond).
What do you hope to study in college?
Is research an important part of your college goals?
What kind of career do you hope to have in five years?
They may also ask unexpected questions, like “If you were a superhero, what would you want your power to be?” - don’t stress too hard about these. They’re meant to be at least a little bit fun, so have fun with your answer and just be honest! They’re really just looking to get a better sense of your personality with questions like these.
So what do interviewers want to hear about?
Most of the time, they’re looking to delve deeper into your academic and personal history. Unless you’ve already had significant contact with them, they likely won’t know much (if anything) about you, so don’t take it for granted that they already know how your high school does things, or what your schedule looks like on a daily basis. Don’t spend too much time explaining your transcript, since they’ll be able to read the transcript in detail when they read your application, but if you had unique circumstances that affected your grades or level of rigor, this is a great time to provide that context.
A great interviewer will take what you’ve said and ask follow-up questions (i.e. “you mentioned you’re doing an internship at a dolphin-training facility - so cool! Can you tell me more about how that came about?”), so if there’s something really cool you’d like to talk about, feel free to bring it up early in the interview and see where the conversation takes you. The more excited you are, the more the conversation will flow naturally. Be cognizant of time – don’t spend too much time talking about one thing – but don’t worry if you stumble on your words or need a moment to think.
The most important thing that interviewers want to see is passion. If there’s one thing you’re more passionate about than anything else in the world, don’t shy away from showing off that excitement! Interviewers generally love it when students spend a few minutes gushing about the work they’re doing that’s really driving their joy, because they’re showing their passion as opposed to just telling their interviewer about their interests.
When(/if) they ask you what drew you to apply to their school in particular, they’re usually just curious about what factors are best at drawing students in. Be honest about what made you add that school to your list - it’s fairly obvious when students have come prepared with an ingenuine answer (e.g. quoting their mission statement, or trying to suck up to the interviewer by saying that the school is perfect in every way).
What do interviewers not want to hear about?
If your activities list on your application names all the cool accomplishments you have (which it should), then you don’t also need to spend your interview listing those accolades. You run the risk of coming across as ingenuine if all you talk about is what you think your interviewer will be impressed by.
Your goal with this, and with the whole application process, should be to set yourself apart from other applicants. Let’s face it - a TON of high school students in this country are doing really cool things with their time! What will set you apart is personality and authenticity, so avoid trying to “sound smart” - just be yourself.
How can I be memorable as an interviewee?
The interviews that tend to stand out are ones where the student is 1. particularly excited about the work they’re doing (and/or the work they hope to do in the future), 2. knowledgeable about the college they’re applying to, and 3. prepared with some specific, well-thought-out questions.
Regardless of what you want to do with your future (or even if you have no idea what you want to do yet), passion is key. Talk about some class projects you’ve done that you’re especially proud of, the art you do in your free time, the group of friends you skateboard with on weekends - really anything that moves you or inspires you.
Some examples that are particularly memorable: one student was in the process of creating a new language from scratch, and talked at length (with gusto) about the many factors that go into constructing languages. Another was working on producing their first original album, and their excitement about the songwriting and production process was palpable in the way they talked about music theory as it relates to human emotion. A third student had recently started an internship at a kombucha brewery, because they just love kombucha - they told the story of trying a new brand at the grocery store and emailing the company to ask about internship opportunities, simply for the love of the product.
These examples are memorable because the students were clearly excited enough about these things to go after those opportunities on their own - and because they weren’t focusing solely on the academic side of themselves.
Your interviewer may also ask you some questions about their academic program or social community to make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into, and while they’re usually happy to explain things to you if you aren’t aware of the specifics, it’s a time-saver to have done that research ahead of time – and it shows them that you really are interested in spending your next four years as part of their community.
Asking good questions
When they finish asking their questions, they’ll ask you if you have any questions for them. If you say, “no, I can’t think of any,” that’s not very conducive to a memorable interview. This is where preparation is super important! Have at least a few questions written down ahead of time, and try (as much as you can) not to ask questions that could be answered with a quick Google search. If you ask something that you could’ve Googled easily, that’s a pretty clear sign to them that you haven’t done your research - and you can come across as uninterested.
On the other hand, if you ask questions that are specific to a program or service at that school, you’ll come across as well-prepared and excited about that school. (E.g. “Can you tell me more about the annual tradition of ____?” or “How does the open curriculum work logistically, when choosing classes each semester?”) You can also ask about student life, housing/dining, climate (“Will I need to bring a winter coat and boots with me when I move to campus?”), or area attractions (“What is there to do in the surrounding area? Do lots of students spend weekends or evenings out in the nearby towns, or do most stay on campus?”), and if your interviewer is an alum or current student, feel free to ask them about their student experience.
And that’s pretty much it! You should end the interview knowing everything you want to know about a school (except maybe the views of the campus itself, if you’re interviewing virtually and haven’t made it to campus yet). It’s also always a good idea to send a follow-up email to your interviewer, to thank them for their time and ask any additional questions you might have.
Best of luck in your interviewing endeavors - you’ve got this!
