Advice for Eminence Fellowship Interview

hardlyimaginary
Wed, 15 Apr 2015 22:09:31 +0000

Hi, I’m sorry to see that no one posted a response in time for your interview! I’m sure you were fantastic though! Have you heard back from OSU about the scholarship?

I know it’s late to answer your question, but I figured I would still reply so that students that want advice can see this in the future.

At the Eminence dinner for finalists, many of the current Fellows told me to just “be myself,” which is cliche but entirely true. The panel that interviews you isn’t looking for any kind of “right answers.” They want to hear about your interests and passion and how you might go about achieving some of your goals. The experience will be a little different for each person because they base their questions off of your application essay, which is unique to each individual. Among other things, they asked me about my interests, career goals, and what I wanted to do at OSU that would qualify “exemplary citizenship,” which is a big emphasis of the Eminence Fellows.

Here are three general tips:

1. Speak naturally. Don't try to use words that aren't part of your normal vocabulary. You'll be more personable and comfortable if you speak like you normally do.

2. It's okay to pause and think for a moment before answering a question they ask. Don't feel like you have to answer immediately - you can contemplate your response before answering.

3. Let your passion shine through! If you're passionate about something, be proud of it and sing its praises! They want to know about you beyond your statistics and your essay, and your excitement for a particular field or cause will show in your voice and facial expressions. If you don't know what your passion is, you can talk about things you enjoy doing and how they might lead to a career path or service project further down the road.

I know this is late for the 2015 interview, but I hope this helps future students. There isn’t much out there yet about this program because it’s only entering its 4th year in 2015-2016. Overall, don’t be afraid! The Eminence weekend was a very positive experience for me - I really enjoyed it!

One final tip: talk to the Honors and Scholars faculty and students at the Eminence dinner. Dr. Linn Van Woerkom and Leo Hoar are incredibly kind and they love talking to prospective students. The current Fellows are also really excited to talk to their future “family” of new Fellows.

I wish you all the best, and I really hope that your interview went well! Best of luck to all future applicants who interview for this opportunity.