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Campus
Visits & Interviews
Preparing For Interviews
Educate yourself about the college you’re interviewing
with and the department of your major and know what each offers. Research
and learn what you can about the college; being informed shows that you
have a genuine interest in the college and will make a real positive
impression on admission officers and professors you speak with.
To prepare for the interview with the admission
officer, learn as much as you can about the college:
Read college brochures and review the college's website
(especially the "Prospective Students" section).
Go online to the college’s website and take the
Virtual Campus Tour.
Learn some of the general statistics about the college
(number of undergraduate students, special rules the college expects
students to know, kinds of available on-campus student social activities,
etc.).
If you have already submitted an admission application,
review what you wrote on the application and re-read your essay. Admission
officers may use the information on your application as a starting point
for conversation, so be familiar with what you wrote.
Be able to convincingly demonstrate to the admission
officer that you are interviewing because you’re very interested
in that college, not because you just want to tour the college for the
fun of it.
To prepare for the interview with the college
professor, learn as much as you can about them and their department:
Go online and research the department and professor
you hope to interview with. With the information learned, you will
be able to share knowledge about the professor’s department; this
demonstrates great initiative and seriousness on your part. Also,
read the professor’s résumé if it is posted online. Know
if the professor has certain courses or labs he/she teaches and if he/she
has a research specialty. You’ll leave a lasting impression
if you share some facts.
Some students have been very successful with professor
interviews. One student was interested in bioengineering so she
reviewed all the résumés of the biology professors at one
of the colleges she was going to visit. She found that one professor
in particular had a real interest in bioengineering (the professor taught
the lectures, labs, and was doing research using undergraduate students). She
scheduled an interview with that professor and gave a very strong impression. As
a result, the professor became an advocate for admitting her to that
college and undoubtedly dropped a note to the admission officer recommending
her.
If you have earned impressive grades and your student
résumé looks great, make photocopies of your grade transcripts
and your student résumé to give to each college representative
who interviews you. Providing these documents will be very impressive
and you will be viewed as a prepared student who is serious about attending
college.
Hold practice interviews with your parents,
relatives, or other adults. Practice interviewing and rehearse
the following:
Several reasons why you’re considering going to
this college.
Several things you want admission officers to know about
you.
Questions you should (or want to) ask admission officers
during the interview.
Be ready to be asked by admission officers
the most common question, “Why
do you want to come to this college?”
PARENTS! Help your student by coaching them in
a mock college interview. Your student may be embarrassed to conduct
a mock interview, but encourage them to do it. Give your student
constructive feedback and help them identify their strengths that should
be brought out. In addition, you (the parent) should not go with
your student to the interview; college representatives want to interview
the student, not you. If you insist on going to the interview,
the interviewer will think the student is not ready for college because
they are too dependent on you.
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