<p>I have an interview with a Carleton representative coming up and I’m wondering</p>
<ol>
<li>What to wear
and</li>
<li>What kind of questions she’ll ask me</li>
</ol>
<p>Anybody know? Thanks!</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Dress casually. Maybe wear the nicest t-shirt you have and a clean pair of jeans, but nothing extravagant. I wore a button up shirt from Dickies and some Dickies work pants when I went to my interview.</p></li>
<li><p>They won’t grill you. It’ll be stuff like “Where did you hear about Carleton? Why do you want to come to Carleton? What is your class schedule? What is your favorite class?” Depending on their major they might ask you specific questions on the classes you take. Like I’m pretty sure I had a political science major because when I told him I was taking AP government he asked me what I thought about it and what I think about governments in other nations. I just told him that I don’t know enough about governments in other nations, but it’s a topic that certainly interests me. He also asked me how many total AP classes I took all 4 years. Nothing grilling like I said.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Interview is informal and more informational than evaluative. Usually with an upperclass student if on campus. Go prepared knowledgeable about Carleton but otherwise just be yourself. </p>
<p>Be relaxed and you’ll be fine. Remember this is a place that places a high value on individuality. The only wrong way to handle the interview is to try to make yourself into something you’re not.</p>
<p>I’d recommend wearing whatever you would normally wear to school, unless what you’d normally wear involves terry booty shorts or t-shirts with violent artwork.</p>
<p>Interviews are very laid-back and primarily for the applicant’s benefit. I don’t believe that Carleton weighs the content of alumni interviews heavily in the process - probably the only thing you can say that would truly torpedo your chances is that you have no interest in Carleton. The feedback from interviews with actual admissions fellows (Carleton seniors) or staff members might carry a little more weight than the off-campus alumni interviews, but those interviews are also very casual.</p>
<p>That said, I would still do some minimal preparation for the interview. Your interviewer will be asking you a bunch of questions about what you like both in and outside of school. Don’t bore your interviewer with short dead-end responses; “I like English best, I don’t know, just because” does not give them much to work with. It’s great if you can DECRIBE some projects you did for a class that you really liked, a competition you remember fondly, volunteer work you find fulfilling, topics you like to read about (no matter online or in print, serious or silly), any summer or after-school jobs, how much you love your teammates/musical cast/bandmates, creative things you do with your friends for fun, TV shows or music you can rhapsodize about for hours if given the opportunity – you get the idea. If you can identify these things ahead of time and think about WHY they are interesting or important to you, then your responses will be more informative and your interviewer will be able to do a better job of helping you figure out what would be great about Carleton for you.</p>
<p>I would also look up the departments/activities you’re interested in and see what kinds of courses there are, what clubs are out there, etc. Even though your interviewer will probably not have had your exact same interests, Carleton is a small school and most should be able to tell you about the experiences of friends who did those majors/clubs/sports.</p>
<p>I agree with everything said above; my interview with a Carleton alum was super laid-back and casual. For clothes, I wore black pants and a nice blouse, but my interviewer showed up wearing blue jeans so I probably could have dressed down. It was probably my favorite interview I did out of the colleges I applied to just because he was so nice and made it clear it was low-pressure because it had little impact on admissions. </p>
<p>As for kinds of questions: I can’t speak for all Carleton interviews, though I’d assume most of them are similar, but mine went more like a conversation than an interview - he just wanted to know about me and he was super excited to tell me all about Carleton. I was nervous at the beginning so I told him I was a nerd and then regretted it (my interview for a different college had kind of gone downhill when I said that) and he promptly told me, “We’re all nerds at Carleton!” And he bought me a cookie 
Definitely don’t stress!</p>
<p>My Carleton interview was also great - it was really casual! I had an off-campus interview with a Yale grad student who was a Carleton alum, and we met at a coffee shop. I wore a nice sweater and black pants, and she was in jeans and a t-shirt.</p>
<p>It was pretty laid-back - she started by asking me how I’d heard about Carleton, and the conversation flowed pretty naturally. She did ask me about my school activities, why I thought Carleton seemed like a match for me, what I was looking forward to, etc., but it was all in the context of casual conversation. She was really friendly and really excited to tell me about Carleton. Don’t stress - it’ll be fine!</p>
<p>I had mine this summer, and it was amazing. It seriously did not feel like an interview; just like you were conversating with a stranger about your future lol. Don’t stress anything, I am sure you will be fine. Also, I dressed up even though it was not required or anything; it’s just how my parents raised me so I guess it is your decision. Best of luck.</p>