Tips for college interviews | Quick guide for high school students

Hey there!

I recently started interviewing students for college. I talked to my other interviewer friends from different universities and thought I should write up a few tips for college interviews. Friendly disclaimer: I am not a part of the admission committee and these are my personal views.

What to wear for an interview?

Personally, I couldn't care less, but feel free to check with your interviewer. If they work for McKinsey, they might feel strongly about you wearing a suit. TLDR: whatever makes you confident and is reasonable for an interview / your interviewer is ok with.

How to prepare for an interview?

"Why this school?" What's your first thought? Okay, now don't use that as your answer. 1st thoughts are often half-baked and more importantly very common answers. While you are not competing with other interviewees directly, hearing "because of school culture" for the 10th time gets a little annoying. To be clear: culture is definitely an important part, but you need to explain why specifically you two. Explain how you SPECIFICALLY will benefit from it and how you in turn plan on shaping it in the future.

Again, be specific. Take the time to install the school website in your brain. Talk to current students, professors, alumni, etc. to learn more about the school. Based on your answers alone, I should be able to tell which school you are interviewing for. You simply can't use the same answers for Penn and Brown.

Additionally, prepare a list of 5 accomplishments you would want to talk about. Why is it important to you? What impact did you have? What problems did you face? What did you learn? This will help you answer a lot of the interview questions.

What questions are asked?

There are no surprises here. If you were interviewing a high school student, what would you talk about? Their background, academics, extracurriculars, future plans, passion, etc. We are also looking for a good fit between you and the school culture.

Any other tips?

Don't be shy; tell us about all the amazing things you did. For most schools, the interviewer doesn't have access to your application. Don't make the interviewer feel that you may not be on par with other freshmen from their year. With that said, don't just openly brag either. There is a pretty clear distinction between throwing resume details and passionately talking about something you really care about and have done well. Moreover, be confident and well prepared but don't be overly scripted or fake. When you have interviewed 100+ students, it is fairly easy to spot someone saying the "right" things and pretending to be someone else. Be yourself - be genuine.?

"Do you have any questions for me?" A lot of interviewers will evaluate your questions. Come prepared with good questions. Try to tailor them to the interviewer or some news about the school. Asking for advice is almost always a safe bet too. Please never say you don't have any questions or ask super generic questions.?

Example:?

(Good) I saw on your LinkedIn that you were the Chair of Entrepreneurship for Wharton Healthcare Club. How did this leadership experience help you get internships?

(Bad) Is there a healthcare club? [You can Google the school directory of clubs.]

Good luck!

You got this. We want you to do well. While we judge all candidates objectively, it is natural for us to have the feeling of "I hope they get in!" This is to say, think of us as someone on your team. Tell us all the things that can help us convince the admission team to accept you.