BAM! You’ve finally clicked the “submit my application” button on the Common Application portal. While you can pause for a moment of relief, your journey through the college application process is far from over. Before you can hop aboard the ‘Senioritis Train,’ you need to make it through the college interview process. While not all colleges facilitate interviews, it’s important to know the ins and outs of the college you’re applying to so that you can prepare accordingly. Generally speaking, most competitive colleges and programs offer an interview.

What is the College Interview?

The college interview is a process where applicants  are paired with interviewers who are primarily alumni or admissions officers. For the most part, college interviews are more informational than they are evaluative, and they usually last somewhere between 45 minutes and an hour.  Generally, interviewers want to have a conversation with you. They want to learn who you are and why you’re interested in being a part of their collegiate community.  You should consider college interviews as being a wonderful opportunity for you to add important context to your candidacy.

Why Does the College Interview Matter?

The college interview primarily personalizes you as a prospective candidate by providing you the chance to share additional information about yourself beyond your transcript, test scores, essays, or extracurricular interests. The interview also gives you the chance to speak to the breadth and depth of your high school experiences. During this interview, which is typically very cordial, you will likely share your goals and the variety of reasons that you want to enroll in that college. Having a successful interview can turn your interviewer into one of your biggest advocates in support of your application.

Preparing for the Interview

Preparing for a college interview can help with your confidence and overall composure.  As every interview and interviewer is different, there are no set guidelines to follow…instead, being aware of the following tips and suggestions from our resident expert interview coaches should serve as excellent preparation:

• Research the School/Program: Develop three key talking points on why the school/program is a great fit and note the aspects of the school that excite you the most. Avoid grand generalizations and refrain from mentioning the obvious: “I want to go to Princeton because it’s a great school.” Saying that Princeton is a great school tells the interviewer nothing about your interests other than you’ve not researched the school all that well. Everyone knows Princeton is a great place; you don’t need to flatter the interviewer by mentioning it. Be granular…be honest: “I really like Princeton because it’s close to home and that way my parents, who love to come watch me perform onstage, can continue to do so.” If being close to home is important to you and your family, that’s a reason worth mentioning. Hopefully there will be others, those that show you’ve done your homework and are excited about a school beyond its reputation and ranking.

• Small Talk Before the Interview Is Good Talk: If you are feeling nervous before your interview, one of the best ways to reduce tension is to identify potential connection points with your interviewer. Before opening up the formal interview conversation—for example, when waiting in the Starbucks line for your interviewer to order their drink, you might consider commenting on the handmade bracelet that your interviewer is wearing.  Not only will you feel more comfortable because the conversation has already started, but your confidence will also be evident.

• Create a List of Talking Points About Your Academic and Extracurricular Background: For the most part, alumni interviewers do not have access to your academic record or your extracurricular record.  Speaking about your high school experience from those two perspectives is a great starting point because it puts you in control of the dialogue.  So when you get the question:  “Tell me about your high school,” you can start by highlighting some of your best academic and extracurricular achievements.  Feel free to talk about your favorite courses you have taken in high school and your favorite topics to study within these courses. In doing this, consider why this subject deserves further studying and how you would like to contribute as a scholar and researcher. Are you passionate about lichen or psycholinguistics? Great!  The same holds true for those things that you’ve taken part in away from your classes.  Tell your interviewer about how you hope to further explore your interests in college!

• Feel Free To Discuss Your Personal Background: Sharing personal details could be especially compelling when they are stories of your overcoming something very difficult that your interviewer may relate to or empathize with. At the end of the day, remember that this interview works to humanize you as an applicant and to add more depth to your candidacy.  The interview may be a good time to share it. Of course, should you choose to bring up personal information, make sure that it is something that you would be comfortable in sharing.  Please ask your advisor or another trusted adult if you have questions about the appropriateness of a topic.

Here is a list of common interview questions for you to practice

Quick tip: Try and practice them with a family member or friend by having them play the role of an interviewer. Alternatively, look into the mirror and make an audio recording of yourself speaking and answering these questions.

Questions about your personality

Why They Ask: Colleges want to see if you would fit in with their social culture and if you have the maturity to reflect introspectively. 

Example Question: “How will you contribute to the college community?”

Purpose of Question: During your college interview, the interviewer might ask you this question as a way to gauge your involvement and commitment to the school. Your answer to this question also attests to the kinds of roles you take on in group settings.

Example Response : “I was very involved with my high school political science club. Since I will be majoring in political science, I hope to join the club here, too, so I can continue developing my skills in that subject, while creating another branch to the program where we can think about the intersections between political science and effective altruism—another one of my passions.”

Other similar questions to prepare responses for are:

• What three adjectives best describe you?
• What are your strengths and weaknesses?

Questions about activities, interests, and goals

Why They Ask: They want to get to know you better and learn about what’s important to you. They also want to learn about what you are passionate about and whether you are willing to invest more time into it. 

Example Question: “Why are you interested in pursuing your major?”

Purpose of Question: College students may enter their educational programs with no idea of what they will study. The interviewer most likely wants to know you at least have a plan for your college career. Answer honestly with your reasons for choosing your major. If you have yet to narrow down your choices, you might discuss two or three majors that highly interest you and your reasons for choosing them. Specifically consider what experiences you have had inside and outside of the classroom with your major interests of choice.

Example Response: “I am interested in a career in political science because I feel like my generation should be involved with the development of our nation. I saw first-hand how important it was to encourage young voices to become civically-minded when I led voter engagement events for my town’s mayoral election. I feel that my generation has an equal responsibility to contribute to our nation, and I hope by studying political science that I can inspire more young people to take part in our country’s governmental processes.”

Other similar questions to prepare responses for are:

• What activities do you find most rewarding?
• What is your favorite book?
• What do you want to do after graduating from college?

More college interview tips

• Prepare guestions for your interviewer: Remember, this is a conversation, not an interrogation. Interviewers want to make sure you aren’t a robot and are able to carry a conversation back-and-forth. The best way to demonstrate this and keep your interviewer engaged is by asking a question. For example, you might consider asking your interviewer about some of their favorite restaurants in town. You can then follow-up with them on your experience in your thank you note (see below).

• Dress nicely: You want your interviewer to know that you are taking the invitation seriously by dressing to impress. 
  • Clothing should be modest, simple, clean and crisp.
  • Avoid jeans, t-shirts, sneakers, and flip-flops.

• Don’t forget to send a thank you email to your interviewer: Don’t mess up all of your great work in the interview process by forgetting to send a thank you note. This can be a short sentence thanking them for their time. You might even consider following up with them on a certain discussion point you had in your interview, such as “I tried the bagel shop on the college main street that you recommended, the sesame bagel was just as good as you said!”

We hope you enjoy meeting with your interviewer—this is truly an exciting moment during the college application process. If you are feeling anxious about the time leading up to the interview, remember that your interviewer is someone who has also gone through their fair share of interviews. There is nothing to be worried about! We wish you the best of luck!