I recently was notified by my regional selection committee person about having an interview in January. I guess that is the first of 3 rounds of interviews? I assume everyone nominated gets the initial interview but how many make it to the second round? Anyways, maybe I'm missing a cc post about the jefferson scholars, but does anyone have experiences with the process they'd like to share?
Thank you in advance, I would really appreciate hearing more about it because my counselor who nominated me didn't really seem to know much about (I don't think anyone from my school has ever gotten in before).
It was your high school that would have nominated you so this may be their first year in being a participating school. You will have a first round interview with other students in your region with a panel of interviewers. They want to get to know you and will ask different questions that gives them an overall understanding of you as a person/student. Just be yourself and you will be fine.
In advance make sure you know where you are going for the interview, where you should park and dress nicely.
If you are chosen to move on you will receive a call with the time and place of your next interview. If you are not chosen then do not worry it is an honor to be chosen by your school to be their Jefferson nominee.
Being nominated by your school has no bearing or reflection on your admission to UVa. The UVa Office of Admissions and the Jefferson Scholars Foundation are two separate entities.
I was nominated as a Jefferson Scholar and made it to selection weekend last year. The process is different for every region. For mine, there were two rounds of interviews: the first was local and the second was the top few (six? out of about 50) in the region with the entire committee. From there, they chose one representative and one alternate - both of us got to attend last year.
The weekend was fun, but there is definitely a specific type of student who makes it to the weekend and wins the scholarship that is difficult to explain, but definitely helps you decide whether UVa is the right school for you. It was not for me, but I have friends from the weekend who are attending and thriving. If you have any more specific questions about the process or the weekend, I would be happy to answer them.
I was just updated with my first round interview time and location, and I am unbelievably excited for this opportunity.
I was looking at another thread (from '08 I think?) and they said that the interview questions were really personal and made directly from your application and essays.
They also said that the interview questions were specialized to find out what the interviewee's got out of their experiences rather than what they did, with questions such as: "What is your biggest failure?" and even several questions incorporating modern day politics and personal beliefs into their midst.
Anyway, I was just wondering if you could elaborate on your experience in the first round and if you had any advice for the interviews.
The interview questions are posed in a manner for the interviewers to truly get to know you beyond a quick response. So basically you need to elaborate on your answers. My suggestion to you is to practice your answers. Also think of your body language, do you fidget, smile, etc. Give complete answers, do not ramble, watch your ums, above all else be yourself. If you have to think of what or how to answer, say, 'great question let me think about that for a moment.'
This is a link to questions that are very similar to those asked:
To woosah: Thank you so much for the possible interview questions. What I had heard about interviews in my region was that they were pretty brutal, but I'm sure preparing for those kinds of questions will really help!
To met2238 and pineapple9: Congratulations! I got my letter today for my regional finalist interview and I'm really excited! Where are you guys from?
Congratulations to all the Jefferson Scholar nominees! I have my interview next Saturday at 8am. I am very excited but nervous too. It is nice to share with others going through this process
Mine isn't until January 21st...I did get in contact with a previous Jefferson Scholar from my high school and she said she read the newspaper to prepare. She said they're not going to quiz you or anything on current events, but it's good for just chatting with the interviewers before the official interview starts.
Hi, all! I made it to the second round of interviews last year, so I thought I'd share a little bit of my experience. Both of my interviews were with committees. The first interview consisted of about 5 committee members and I think the second interview consisted of 7 or 8.
In regards to the questions I was asked..
There were the classic: What would you change about your high school experience? What classes did you like best? etc.
There were also a number of questions referring back to the essays I submitted: What did you learn from this/how did it impact you? Please elaborate on essay #1.. etc
There were also some questions are very challenging, but there's no "right" answer to most of them. The interviewers want to be able to see that you can formulate a good, succinct response without getting flustered. A few of the questions I was asked or my friends were asked: Do you think marriage is still a viable institution? If you were President Obama's economic adviser, what would you suggest he do to help our economy? What figure from history would you most like to meet and why? What makes a good leader? etc.
The Jefferson Scholars interviews were my favorite interviews by far. The committee members were amicable, interested in my views, and fun to interact with.
Ok, so my interview is at the end of the month, but my family was invited to a reception the Thursday before. What is the reception like?
Also someone above mentioned they look for certan types of people. What kind of people, even the slightest insight into this would be useful. I'm not going to change for them, but I am interested in what they are looking for.
Thank you for all of the advice, everyone!! I had my first interview this morning! I think it went well, but now I guess I just have to wait and see... Really interesting questions they asked! The hardest- what two things do you want to do before you die? I mean, can you get any more general or difficult? The regional committee people were great though! That were friendly and laughed a lot so that was nice. Anyways, I wish the interview was longer, mine only last for half an hour.
Hello to Emily! I'm from Montgomery county in md, how about you?
I had my interview yesterday morning. It was very brief as each interview was scheduled for only 20 minutes. They asked about my interests and the activities I participated in. They also asked what I feel is the greatest issue facing our world today and what should be done to address it. They did ask what other schools I had applied to. I think the interview went pretty well but it was a little hard to read the reactions of those interviewing me. They were all very polite but I honestly don't know how I did. I wish I knew when I could expect to hear if I made the next round... anyone else interveiw in Louisville, KY yesterday?
