What should I know before Banneker/Key interview day?

Colleges & Universities University of Maryland - College Park
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Hi CC! I was recently emailed about being a Banneker Key semifinalist at UMD!! Obviously I’m super thrilled about this, but I still have a few ?s for anyone who might know/has gone through this process before.

  1. How much of the full vs partial status is decided ahead of time? Full would make such a huge difference for me and would pretty much completely seal UMD as my top choice, whereas if I received the partial it would most likely shoot down my list. I intend to spend the next few weeks practicing and preparing for the interview, but if this doesn’t have much bearing on my decision then I’ll probably spend much less time on it.

  2. Building on the last question, how much does interview date matter? I know of one other person that was invited to the interview, and his interview date is a week before mine. Does that mean he is more likely to receive the full and I am more likely to receive the partial? What determines interview date, anyway? This one’s super important to me because I’m really intrigued by this.

  3. What can I expect on interview day? Is it a full-day event, and is there more than just the brief interview?

Any and all help is greatly appreciated! Go Terps!

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I think you’re overthinking. I’ve not been involved with BK but I’d have to assume:

  1. Unknown

  2. None - although you don’t know the mood of the interviewer that day - did they have a bad night or wake up on the wrong side of the bed.

  3. They should provide you an agenda

Good luck.

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Number 1 - No one knows

Number 2 - The date does not matter

Number 3 - There will probably be some Presentations and Tours

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Are you getting scholarship notifications through the UMD e-mail? My daughter was accepted, but hasn’t set up her email yet.

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  1. No one besides the BK committee knows how they decide partial vs full

  2. Interview dates doesn’t matter

  3. It will be a day where the school impresses you and your child. You will walk out of there feeling great. As for the interview, I don’t know that there’s a way to prepare for it - just have your child be themselves.

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One thing I think you can do is to prep - and that’s what you’re asking.

My daughter went through a similar program and we prepped her using the STAR method. My son used for his job and my daughter for internships - and we’ve had some success.

The big thing is to give you confidence walking in - and flexibility.

STAR is Situation, Task, Action, Result.

If you come up with 3-4 scenarios, such as a time you struggled with something, how did you overcome it. Or a time you face conflict, how did you overcome the conflict. When you have a few scenarios, you can usually use them to pivot to most any questions.

Take a second or a deep breath before you answer.

It can also be other things - favorite subjects in school, subjects you struggle with and how you succeeded.

Examples of leadership or what you want to study and why.

Don’t overload your brain - but have some clear cut examples of accomplishment and struggle - and then also be prepared to answer things such as favorite this, career choice, and what you will add to campus (talk about what you’ll do - clubs you’ll participate in or start, study abroad, research, etc., not what you’ve done - they know that).

Best of luck to you.

How to Use the STAR Method to Ace Your Job Interview | The Muse

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@anony12345 , if you can share it, when is your interview and your friend’s interview? Best of luck. Thank you