Yale Interview: Dos and Don'ts

Colleges & Universities Yale University
1

<p>Hi I am so busy with everything I am doing I was wondering what are some dos and don’ts when I go on my Yale interview? What are some of the questions asked.</p>

<p>Also, you can post if you think I can/can’t get into Yale.</p>

<p>I’m a caucasian part Irish-Italian-Jew male junior who lives in central Florida, and I want to apply to:</p>

<p>1)Yale
2)Vanderbilt
3)Princeton
4)Harvard
5)Rice
6)U.S. Air force Academy
7)U.S. Navy academy
8)Duke
9)NYU
10)Boston U
11)Brown
12)University of Florida</p>

<p>Not in order of importance</p>

<p>Safetys are University of Florida, Vanderbilt, & Boston U</p>

<p>Most Important are:Yale, Brown, Harvard, USAFA</p>

<p>Stats:
SAT Scores (cr-670, w-580, m-620) 1870, (I know these are weak) but I’m planning to study and retake
PSAT - 189
planning to take SATII Math lvl 2 (will most likely get 600-760), World History (will most likely get in the 750s and above), Biology (will most likely get 620-770)</p>

<p>GPA: 3.8666 (unweighted) 4.663 (weighted
Class rank: 2/510</p>

<p>I took no AP classes but have taken classes at community college since my freshman year.</p>

<p>Will have an A.S. Degree in Pre-Biology when I graduate from High School</p>

<p>Local Washinton’s Birthday Festival Scholarship winner</p>

<p>I’ll probably have really good letters of rec from my teachers.</p>

<p>ECs: Quiz Bowl (4 years), Flute (4~5 years), Swimming (11th Place a districts 200 backstroke) (3 years) Key club (4 years, treasurer) Music Honor Society, Band officer, Tennis team (3 years) FBLA (3 years, VP and Reporter) </p>

<p>Participation in summer volunteer programs 500+ community service hours; volunteering at a hospital this summer to earn more hours and medicine experience; volunteer every other weekend at church children’s ministry</p>

<p>Other: Eagle Scout (boy scouts 6+ years), Latin (working knowledge), This summer attending Navy and Air Force summer seminars and leadership workshops, Junior Class homecoming rep. National English honor Society member</p>

<p>Please chance me and suggest what I have to work on! Thank you very much !</p>

2

<p>Don’t lock your keys in your car and then have to call triple A and wait 20 more minutes at the interviewers house only to realize your account has expired when they arrive and end up having to dig through your truck for change to get the full amount to pay the man… That will get you waitlisted :P.But seriously, just be calm and yourself, and don’t be stupid like me and you’ll be fine :)</p>

3

<p>I didn’t actually have an interview for Yale. But based on my horrific Harvard interview, I would say: ascertain your interviewer’s home city early on, so that you don’t accidentally spend 10 minutes bashing it. Oops.</p>

4

<p>Make sure that your safeties are schools that you absolutely love and can afford (how solid is their finaid?). Don’t bank on all your tough schools either because there are so many people around the world that have 4.0s, 2250+ SATS, and a stellar list of activities that don’t get in. To be honest, you’re far from a shoe in at many of these schools and I found it more comforting in this process to prepare to attend my worst school in case I could not attend my reaches.</p>

<p>For the interview, make sure that you are dressed well (an absolute must) and that you are at least 15 minutes early. If they ask you to help the arrange someplace, I’d go for a quiet coffee shop. Make sure you buy your coffee before they arrive too. You don’t want them to think that you want them to pay for them.</p>

<p>When it comes to the actual interview, just make sure you loosen up before and that you have a few ideas of what to talk about without planning it all out. Try and find things that you have in common, too. My interviewer and I were born in the same town, studied abroad in the same country, and were interested in politics for example. Smile, and be positive about things you are interested in too because while you may think that Philosophy is utterly pointless, that may have been your interviewers major.</p>

<p>Plus, this is up to your discretion but I would not talk too much about the other schools you applied too or not admit an exact number if its over 8. Make sure that X school is your top school and be prepared to rave about why.</p>

5

<p>Haha, you’re joking, right? Vanderbilt a safety! With your current test scores and unweighted gpa (which colleges take note of), it’s a reach, no doubt and HYP and the like are long shots if not impossible.</p>

6

<p>OP: does your school offer APs? If so, then you MUST take them to even have a shot at most of the schools you listed. Also know that there’s a lot involved in the AFA and Annapolis app process. The Yale interview is the least of your concerns, for what I think is an extreme reach based on your GPA and transcript and scores. Best of luck to you.</p>

7

<p>I’d say that you need to not listen to people on CC who say you don’t have a chance. I agree with them that it is a long, long reach, but you cannot be in that mindset. Confidence, dude, or something like that - you have to be fully convinced that you are Yale material if you’re going to stand a chance of convincing anyone else that you are Yale material. This site tends to pounce on anyone who seems remotely cocky about their admissions prospects, and that is a problem - kids get into the lens of ‘what’s wrong with my application’ instead of ‘what’s right’. I’d say go write a list of 2014 reasons why Yale would benefit from your presence. I’m serious, and practice talking about the reasons indirectly and directly. </p>

<p>I mean, naturally you want to get your SATs to 2100 if possible, which I think you could easily do with a summer self study regiment, but you also have to be thinking about your strengths and how to best portray them, on a daily basis. It will make a difference - good interviewers can tell when they are talking to a person who has direction, focus, passion, and discipline in their lives, and GPA and SAT isn’t what gets you those four qualities. </p>

<p>CC has a habit of belittling people’s accomplishments. I’m not saying it’s bad or good, I’m just saying if you spend to much time around here, you start to think of Eagle Scout as a value, a standardized amount of help that it will give your application. You get the mentality of ‘Oh, I know it’s not much, but I did start this club, I know you’re thinking that everyone starts clubs…’ or ‘Well, I don’t have any great accomplishments, only eagle scout’ … 1st rule of applying for a job is that you never belittle your accomplishments - you focus on what you have done, not your lack of APs.
And do this without any touch of arrogance - you can believe you’re a special snowflake without being arrogant. That’s my advice for how to go into the interview, and the whole college process.</p>

8

<p>i’d say you should stop posting your chances under a guise of a regular question…</p>

<p>this has got to be the 3rd or 4th thread i’ve stumbled upon thinking it may be of use to me but instead its a chances thread… </p>

<p>just saying</p>

9

<p>Just be yourself and prepared to talk in a modest way about all of the exceptional and interesting things you have done over the past few years. Come with questions.</p>

10

<p>A guest speaker at my school told us that your chances of being accepted to a school go up 25% if your able to matain eye contact throughout your interview. I’m not sure if thats true, but I bet it’s important.</p>

11

<p>BeTheChange: your guest speaker is blowing smoke at you. The fact is (for Yale at least), the interview is the slimmest portion of the applicant’s file. I’d say I give warm to hearty recommendations to fully half of the kids I interview. Of the last 14 I’ve interviewed, ZERO got admitted – including one of the best interviewees I’ve had in the ~20 years I’ve done this for Yale. That’s just the numbers.</p>

<p>If you want a more complete picture of the interview process for Y, check out the sticky thread above “RD Applicants Interview Advice”</p>