Should You Interview with a College for your Application?
Jump to information about What an Interview Is | Are they Mandatory? | Should I do an Interview? | How Should I Prepare? | What to Expect | Takeaways
Applying for colleges is a huge endeavor with a lot of different parts. While it may be tempting to skip some of the ‘optional’ ones, here’s what we recommend on one of the most common choices you’ll have to make – whether to do an interview at the college you’re applying to.
What is a College Interview?
An interview is a common part of the college admissions process. Not all schools offer this, but for many that do, it’s an optional part. Frequently, these interviews are conducted by current students, alumni, or admissions officers. Interviews can either be online, or sometimes, if you live near the college, in person. Interviews are almost always conducted one-on-one, so even if you have someone visiting with you in person, you’ll be on your own for the interview itself.
Are they Mandatory?
Interviews as a part of the college interview process typically are not mandatory. Schools who require the college interview often do so to consider you for admissions into the school as well as admission into certain specific programs, scholarships, or class placements. Often the colleges which require interviews are considered prestigious meaning that the interview may be a necessary means of distinguishing yourself from other applicants.
A frustrating part of college admissions is the fact that parts of the application listed as ‘optional’ aren’t always considered optional by the college. A good rule of thumb for whether or not something is actually optional is to look for the term ‘recommended’ – it’s a solid indicator that not doing that part will hurt your chances of getting in. Not taking the opportunity to participate can send a message that you aren’t interested in the school, even if you had entirely opposite reasons not to do the interview.
Another way to tell if interviews will really count is if the words ‘evaluative’ or ‘informative’ are listed anywhere. Evaluative interviews are ones that will factor into your application, usually weighing about 5% of the overall submission. Informative interviews will not weigh in numerically but will give admissions counselors a better idea of who you are and why you might benefit their school.
Should I do an Interview?
While interviews are most often not the deciding factor in whether a college will accept you, they offer an opportunity for you to represent yourself in ways that might not have come through in your application thus far. It’s expressed most often as a chance for the college to get to know you better.
While there are reasons why it might make sense not to interview, for instance if you’re not confident in your interviewing ability or if you are super busy with school, it is generally worth it to interview.
Scheduling an interview, whether it’s actually optional or not, is a good way to show the school that you are motivated to attend and to give your application a natural boost. One of the most important reasons why this is true is that it allows you to demonstrate more of who you are and to elaborate on what makes you a good candidate. College essays are severely limited in word count, and while you can add many extracurricular activities to your application, you don’t get a good chance to expand on them, why they matter to you, and what you’re passionate about. It’s likely that the questions asked in an interview won’t be things that could be found elsewhere in the application, so you can go into significant detail about things you haven’t been able to yet in the process.
The last reason why you should do a college interview is that the process often less stressful than it may seem. The interviews are often designed to be more of a conversation than a formal interview. There will be a chance for you to ask questions as well, so you can get some more detailed, one-on-one answers for any particular questions you might have. These conversations let you help the college put a face to your application as well as showing off your personality, which will help both of you decide if the school might be a good fit for you – and if you’d be a good fit for the school.
How Should I Prepare?
Once you’ve scheduled an interview, the next most important step is to be prepared. One of the more important questions you may be asked is why you want to attend that specific school. Before the interview, you should be sure to do research on the school and have an answer prepared for this question. To reiterate a previous point, you’ll have the chance to ask questions of the interviewer as well, which you should take advantage of. The research you might do to answer some of your own questions can actually help to prepare you as well – you might be asked what kinds of clubs you might like to join, which departments excite you, if there are any classes that spark your interest, which can all be answered better if you’ve looked into these a bit beforehand. And if this is a school you can really picture yourself at, it’s important topics to know for yourself as well.
Additionally, there are a lot of free resources available which can give you a good idea of the types of questions that will be asked, and it’s important for you to practice. Interviews are generally a nerve-wracking experience for anyone, whether they’re for college admissions or a job. So practicing answering the questions in a timely manner might take away some of the nerves and make it easier for you to keep your cool. If you’re able to, we’d recommend you ask a teacher or someone else who has successfully been through the college application process to give you a mock interview. That way, in addition to the practice, you’ll also get to hear about their experience, how it went, and what suggestions they might have. The interview is in a strange conversational space – while it is a friendly conversation as we mentioned earlier, it is also more formal than if you were just talking to your friends. Even if your interviewer is a student close to your age, your responses have to be intelligent and direct and typically not littered with any lingo.
If you end up having to travel to the college to interview, another good idea would be to register for a campus tour and/or a campus information session that same day. This will save on travel costs and give you an in-depth experience at the school. When the day comes to do your interview, we recommend dressing business casual and arriving with plenty of time to spare.
What to Expect at an Interview
Most interviews run from 30 minutes to an hour, but the quality of the interview is not necessarily determined by the length. Some questions which are common might relate to your favorite subject, what you might want to study, what you like to do when you aren’t in class, an obstacle or mistake you’ve learned from, and what they might want to know about you that they couldn’t find on your application. While all of these questions can be good to practice with yourself and in your mock interview, don’t memorize answers or formulate your response around what you think the interviewer will want to hear – this, again, will make you seem disingenuous. The point of the college interview is to help the college get to know you for who you are, which can best be accomplished by you giving honest answers. If the interview is happening online, there is only a slim chance that it will be recorded, so that isn’t something you should worry about. A great way to close the interview is to ask for a business card or some other form of contact information. Using this, you’ll easily be able to send a thank-you and ask any questions you may have forgotten.
Lastly, the interview is supposed to be a good experience for you and the interviewer. If you feel that something was off or went wrong, don’t hesitate to reach out to the admissions office! Interviews are a time when things can get personal and, in addition, an interviewer’s attitude shouldn’t put you off the college entirely. In addition, if there is a real reason you can’t do an interview, mandatory or optional, get in contact with the college to explain it – that will help mitigate any negative effects not doing the interview might have.
Takeaways
College interviews are extremely valuable for you to ask specific questions and for the college to get to know you as an individual
If an interview or other optional part of an application is ‘recommended’ you should do everything in your power to complete that part of the application as not doing so might hurt your chances
Don’t sweat it! Interviews are rarely the deciding factor, so while they’re important to complete, if you feel like you did horribly, it probably won’t affect your overall odds
