The Thread for College Interviews - Page 2

futurenyustudent · 10-07-2006, 11:28 PM

Did anyone interview for Wesleyan? Can you share your experiences?

I have quite a bit of experience interviewing...I interviewed to get into the private school I go to now, and I interviewed for school secretary sophomore year (this, however, didn't go too well, as I didn't get the position) but I usually can be lively and strike up conversation pretty well...for my high school interview it was like "What's your hobby?" "Why do you want to come here?" kind of thing....and for my stuco interview it was like "How can you be an asset to student council?" "What kind of ideas do you have?" etc (to the second question I thought about responding "I could tell you, but then you might not pick me and just use my ideas. I'll answer that if you pick me." but I resisted...hehe)

fingersxed · 10-08-2006, 11:45 AM

i'm interviewing for wellesley soon and i'm really nervous.

jdhutchin · 10-08-2006, 03:32 PM

Back when I was applying for colleges, I did my MIT interview, which I don't think went so well. My biggest problem was that I didn't have any questions- I really knew about all I needed and wanted to about MIT (I'd visited campus, read about it, etc). If I could do it again, I would have forgotten about that and thought of some questions to ask anyways. I think that would have made it go much smoother.

bkstg_mt · 10-08-2006, 03:56 PM

I had my Skidmore interview--evaluative, not informative--at the end of the summer. My interviewer was an assistant admissions dean, very nice, we talked for almost an hour. basic questions--asked about HS, ECs, what do you like about skidmore, what are you looking for in a school, etc. the one that caught me a bit off-guard was "tell me about your family"--wasn't really expecting that, but whatever-everything else went extremely well.
Two of my friends who interviewed at Yale and Manhattanville said to beware of the "what words would you use to describe yourself" questions--they just want adjectives, no explanations. I'm glad they didn't ask me that!

verbalizing · 10-08-2006, 04:01 PM

My U Chicago interviewer didn't show today.

WealthOfInformation · 10-08-2006, 11:10 PM

ouch.

(

VandyHopeful · 10-08-2006, 11:38 PM

omg .

mikemac · 10-09-2006, 07:14 PM

Quote:

My U Chicago interviewer didn't show today.

If you have an email or phone number to contact this person, by all means do so. It's likely there was just some miscommunication, and if you approach it with this attitude (rather than a "hey dude, we had a meeting scheduled and you didn't show!") you can get it rescheduled with no impact.

Northstarmom · 10-09-2006, 07:34 PM

"My U Chicago interviewer didn't show today."

Earlier this this year, there were posts about two similar sounding experiences with interviewers from different colleges.

In one case, the student was supposed to meet the interviewer at a Starbucks, but there were 2 Starbucks in close proximity, and the student went to the wrong one.

In another case, the student was supposed to meet the interviewer in a coffee shop. The student got there early, and sat there reading a book. The interviewer came on time, looked around, saw no one who appeared to be waiting for her (e.g. if you're waiting for the interviewer, look around. Don't stick your head in a book like you're simply studying), so the interviewer went outside to wait, waited a long time and then left.

Clearly, the lessons are: Be very clear about the meeting place, even get the interviewer's cell phone # and give them yours just in case. And certainly, be active about finding the interviewer.

Simran · 10-09-2006, 08:57 PM

Has anyone been interviewed for Oxford?? Please do let me know. Thank you

jai6638 · 10-09-2006, 10:57 PM

How does one go about setting an interview? I am applying regular decision to some ivies ( Columbia, UPenn, etc ) and other competitive schools. Do I turn in my application online by the deadline and wait for them to contact me or do I have turn something in before the deadline that guarantees me an inteview?

KrazyKow · 10-10-2006, 09:50 AM

With MIT, one gets something in the mail after turning in some paper, with a name and number of an area alumni interviewer, since interviews are mandatory. Mine was a train wreck - I didn't have any sort of chemistry with the interviewer, and he hadn't been at MIT for a long time, so he didn't have much to say on the topic of current campus life.

To set up an interview for Carnegie Mellon or Rice, you contact the admissions office and they give you information of an alum so that you can set up an interview.

Northstarmom · 10-10-2006, 01:24 PM

In the admissions section on most colleges' web sites, you can find info about interview policies and procedures. That's a more accurate way of getting that important info than asking anonymous strangers, who may be well meaning, but misinformed.

devaaki · 10-10-2006, 01:54 PM

Oh, sorry, MIT and WUStL were both alumni interviews. The WashU interview I had was yesterday, and when I checked up on this thread, I noticed someone saying two coffeeshops in close proximity together... Similar to what happened to me. Thankfully, I found the Dunn Brothers that I was supposed to be at, and NOT the Starbucks next door! And I had to wait around abit, so if this happens, keep your head up!

The interview with WashU was short, and very imformal. Mostly just talk of stuff on my activities... A specific questions include "If you had one extra hour a day, what would you do with it?" DO NOT answer this question with "sleep". Apparently a lot of students do.

And of course, coming prepared with questions helps a lot, too. I was glad I had a few on my mind because the "Do you have any questions for me?" question caught me about halfway through the interview.

Overall, WashU's interview was very quick.

nyc · 10-10-2006, 02:26 PM

D had one "Starbucks" interview and almost missed the interviewer, who :
- had only given the Starbucks phone number, not her cell number
- had noting ont he table w/ the college's name, signaling that she was the interviewer.

I wish colleges would eliminate the public place intervies - - too many mistakes and no privacy. Fortunately, D2 has had only one such interview (Hobart).

D2 had a terrible on-campus interview at Trinity (CT). The interviewer was a trainee, arrived late, rushed through the questions and then dashed off w/o giving D2 a card. D2 overlooked this, in light of far more favorable interactions w/ coach and Dean.

Other interviews (Kenyon, URoch, Hamilton, Case, Oberlin, Wheaton) were all great (especially Kenyon and URoch) - - though D2 described the Wheaton interview as "tepid" and "scripted."