<p>laplatinum: I’m sorry for your kid’s experience. I could see my asking that if the natural flow of the conversation went towards it but – out of the blue? Sheesh.</p>
<p>Please tell your son that many actual Yalies and prospective students don’t encounter what he did.</p>
<p>That remark warrants another thread: “Stupid things an Interviewer has said to me”</p>
<p>Thanks, T26E4! As I said, I used the experience as an opportunity for my son so he learns how to handle such circumstances. I’ll pass on your comments. ;)</p>
<p>I really liked my interviewer. She looked down at her sheet of canned questions and went, ‘Some of these questions are a bit like going on a date. How would your friends describe you?’</p>
<p>My not preparing properly for this question meant it was the 3rd time I’d screwed it up (Jefferson Schol and Penn also asked). It’s actually a very pressurising question so HAVE SOME ADJECTIVES AT THE READY, guys.</p>
<p>Ah, the dreaded same-old same-old.</p>
<p>My Yale interview went well, and there weren’t any particularly distinct questions asked - but that means I had to make my answers more engaging, so as not to bore them. If you can stand out, in a good way, then leave an impression. I was told that the interview was not especially important, but I still did my best.</p>
<p>The “Why School X?” question is easy for me in particular, probably because so many CommonApp supplements asked for this and I recall doing research on all the schools I am seriously considering, to eliminate the ones that don’t really interest me.</p>
<p>For the “Tell us about yourself” one, I like to start with my school - from the general environment to any accomplishments/contributions I’ve made, anything particular I like/dislike (I usually talk about our music program, which IMO is pretty good) and I try to find something upon which I can expand. If the interviewer asks a question in the middle, I will jump on that as a sign of interest and try to describe it in a bit more depth.</p>
<p>It’s great that your daughter got into harvard! (truly) but I think the point JHS was trying to make was that the questions asked by an interviewer are meant to be generic and broad, because it separates those who have the imagination to give a good answer and go beyond the cliche answer and those who don’t.</p>
<p>Just realized the comment was posted on the 3rd page- my above comment was directed at gibby</p>
<p>^^ Loopy: My point in bringing up my children is that even current students of Y and H cannot always answer that question successfully. </p>
<p>Or, look at it another way. The “What’s your biggest failure question” is used most often in work-related job interviews for prospective employee’s who have graduated college and have had several jobs under their belt. The question trips up job seekers so often you can find suggested answers to it on Youtube and other publications. See:</p>
<p>[Job</a> Interview Tips: What is your biggest failure? Example of a good answer. - YouTube](<a href=“Job Interview Tips: What is your biggest failure? Example of a good answer. - YouTube”>Job Interview Tips: What is your biggest failure? Example of a good answer. - YouTube)
[Interview</a> Tips: What is your biggest failure?- the BAD ex. - YouTube](<a href=“Interview Tips: What is your biggest failure?- the BAD ex. - YouTube”>Interview Tips: What is your biggest failure?- the BAD ex. - YouTube)
[Interview</a> Tips: What Is Your Greatest Weakness - YouTube](<a href=“- YouTube”>- YouTube)
[JobtestPrep’s</a> Interview Preparation - YouTube](<a href=“JobtestPrep's Interview Preparation - YouTube”>JobtestPrep's Interview Preparation - YouTube)
[How</a> to Answer Tough Job Interview Questions Correctly | CAREEREALISM](<a href=“http://www.careerealism.com/4-tips-to-answering-tough-interview-questions-correctly/]How”>http://www.careerealism.com/4-tips-to-answering-tough-interview-questions-correctly/)
[How</a> Do I Talk About My Biggest Failure In An Interview?](<a href=“http://www.blurtit.com/q848923.html]How”>http://www.blurtit.com/q848923.html)</p>
<p>When the question trips up so many adults with years of interview experience, I just think it’s an inappropriate question for a 17 year-old kid on what is probably their first interview.</p>
<p>haha i personally have no problem with that question-i think it’s asked in a different nature than if you went on a job interview: because honestly, if you’re a teenager applying to an ivy, there’s a good chance your biggest failure was something that, in the grand scheme of life, doesn’t mean much. i think it’s a great indication of how well students rebound from adversity; the student might say “i failed at X thing and i curled up into a ball and cried for a month” or they might say “yeah i failed, but then i tried something else” or “i failed, but i couldn’t wait to try again! I got a medal next time!” it’s a good judge of character. even if they royally screwed up in the past (say, crime or drugs or whatever) the fact that they composed themselves enough to try for an ivy league school is kind of commendable. it just helps the interviewer to see the whole person, not just the good stuff, because honestly are our live always fantastic?</p>
<p>and if they have no failures? …if the student can’t think of something they’ve screwed up in their life then someone’s been inflating the kid’s head. sorry if that sounds harsh but i’m pretty sure everyone’s fumbled a pass or colored outside the lines or played the wrong note at one point. we’re ivy applicants, not robots.</p>
<p>hahah and omg my harvard interview was a nightmare: “name” “intended major” “courses presently studying” “WHAT DO YOU THINK OF NORTH KOREA.” “Do you watch Howard Stern?” i mean i knew enough to sound intelligent with it but that caught me totally off guard. my yale interview was brilliant-it turned into something closer to a really nice conversation and i actually had a great time, don’t think the guy even looked at his question sheet. guess it just depends on the people.</p>
<p>^^Gibby, in all honesty, your children sound like pretentious snobs. If your daughter feels that having a high average makes her flawless, then she will have a hard time in the world. Every teenager has made plenty of mistakes. And at the very least she can probably say that her social life suffered from so much studying. And admitting to mistakes shows that we have grown from them in some way. I think that is a completely wonderful question. </p>
<p>Ive recently been admitted to Yale and I will be joining the class of 2016. My interviewer asked very similar questions to the ones posted and I felt as though they were perfectly fine. Broad and generic questions give all types of applicants chances to set themselves apart with creative answers. And of course, as the interview goes on, the questions became specific to answers I had given. </p>
<p>Interviews dont have to be perfect, and I would never blame the interviewer for asking generic questions. Real and qualified students have the brain power to calming and quickly think of a reasonable response.</p>
<p>Congratulations on your acceptance to Yale! My son is very happy there (much happier than my daughter at that other college)</p>
<p>BTW: no, my kids are not pretentious snobs – sorry, if that’s the impression you got. Maybe you missed my previous post: [How</a> Do I Talk About My Biggest Failure In An Interview?](<a href=“http://www.blurtit.com/q848923.html]How”>http://www.blurtit.com/q848923.html)</p>
<p>“When children grow up in a loving and caring family, a family that is supportive, a family, in which everyone helps everyone else to achieve their goals, big failures do not always happen to them.”</p>
<p>My daughter (and son) were able to talk about their little mistakes, but their responses did not satisfy the interviewer who kept pressing “Come on, you must have made a huge mistake in your life.”</p>
<p>@iqtest - Back off buddy. Neither of us know Gibby’s kids and I think it’s absurd to judge them based on an anecdote or two. I think it’s perfectly possible for kids to be humble, have terrific grades, and never experience any big failures. Not experiencing adversity is not the same as being flawless. For example, it could be possible that the student tries lots of things and is good at all of it, but hasn’t really struggled with anything yet.</p>
<p>Now whether that’s good or bad is another matter. I’m a Yale student ('14), and I also had terrific grades in high school, but I’ve definitely had some struggles and thus I had an easy time answering that question. I think many students here are like that in some way. If a candidate can’t talk about something that they struggled with, that doesn’t make them bad/pretentions/stupid or anything like that, but they might not be the best fit for Yale. </p>
<p>Just my 2 cents.</p>
<p>I think any question can be answered and answered well to the point where there are no bad answers… if the interviewer is good at asking them. Bad interviewers get bad answers. Good interviewers get good ones. my interviews that were done with snobby a’holes went so terrible to where i wanted to cry. my interviews with amazing people went amazing, lasted a long time, and left me wanting to hop on the plane immediately to go and spend my next four years there. I was asked the same questions basically at them all including ones like op and gibby.</p>
<p>ok, i apologize. if someone answered the question with small mistakes and the interviewer was not satisfied, then that does leave room for complaint. I received the impression that they said they had never made a mistake. That, to me, seems ludicrous. But it is true that not every student has made a life-altering mistake, worthy of a talk show. I agree on that front.</p>
<p>If you really look into yourself then you can find a weakness or failure, if not academic, then social or through sports. I definitely fit into this category, as do many applicants and CC members: </p>
<p>“When children grow up in a loving and caring family, a family that is supportive, a family, in which everyone helps everyone else to achieve their goals, big failures do not always happen to them.”</p>
<p>But I can think of errors I have made socially during high school, things I have done wrong as an athlete, if not academic or familial issues. If you have neither social failure nor athletic ones, then the interviewee must not have much of a social (or athletic) life at all. That in itself would be a failure for a humble, self-respecting individual who looks forward to the advantages of starting anew, which is something college is all about.</p>
<p>Humans make mistakes by nature, and those who cannot realize they have made mistakes are not looking hard enough.</p>
<p>Here’s an example of how you might answer the failure question: “In a big basketball game, I took a shot at the buzzer that would have won the game. I missed. I felt terrible, but I’ll never forget the support I got from my team and my coach–nobody else blamed me–that inspired me.”</p>