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Hey ya, I'm wondering what was the college interview like for all of you? What were some of the questions they asked and how long did it last? What are some good pointers to know prior to going in for one?

By Xiaoxia (Xiaoxia) on Thursday, December 18, 2003 - 09:43 pm: Edit

My friend who got into Yale EA said that her interview was great. She said that she prepared for her interview the night before with her mom. She said that you should be enthusiastic about the school that's interviewing you and also to not answer with dumb answers (duh).

Also, she was quite lucky b/c her interviewer was actually the history teacher of one of her roommates from some Model Congress thing (I'm not making this up, she figured out that he was the guy that her roommate had talked about during her interview).

She was also lucky that she and her interviewer both had seen this play, Arcadia, so he and she talked about that for a while, and she said that her interviewer really really liked a question that she asked concerning some strikes at Yale.

Her interview was supposed to have been 30 minutes, but it lasted for an hour and a half.

So basically, be enthusiastic about the school, make the interviewer think that you really care about the school, and know what news is currently affecting the school.

Hoped this helped

By Me1 (Me1) on Thursday, December 18, 2003 - 10:16 pm: Edit

Mine was a little over an hour. I got the basic questions, why I wanted to attend, what activities I was involved in & why I liked them, how I spent my free time/summers, etc. Just make sure you have specific answers about why you want to go to the school & that you're really enthusiastic about your activities. Good luck.

By Yellowcard05 (Yellowcard05) on Sunday, December 21, 2003 - 02:57 pm: Edit

I've had eight interviews and they have all been different. First of all, only two have been female interviewers, but that really doesn't matter that much. Some were more formal than others--my Skidmore interview was very formal and to the point, but my Hamilton interview was very laid back...I talked to the guy about ski racing for like 20 minutes! At Wellesley we talked about different Oprah episodes we'd liked lol, and Bates--probably my best interview, very laid back, lasted about an hour--was with a student.

They always ask about your high school and the classes you've taken, what was your favorite class, extra curriculars, etc, etc. At Connecticut College the guy asked me which fictional character I identify with the most...caught me off guard lol I ended up saying Atticus Finch. At Holy Cross my interviewer talked as much about Holy Cross as I did about myself, and then had my dad come in for like 30 minutes.

So it really seems to be different everywhere, but I think as long as you be yourself and don't show off you'll do fine. Also don't ask questions like "Whats your male to female ratio", ask good questions...specifics about a certain department, etc.