College – Excursion 5: Interviewing

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Excursion 5: Interviewing

Congratulations on completing the Applying Excursion and Welcome to Interviewing.

Interviewing is your opportunity to make an impression on a representative of the college that you’re applying to. You may meet with an admissions officer, a school representative, or alumni—depending on how the school handles interviews. You may meet on campus in the admissions office, or with alumni, you may meet at their workplace, home or a restaurant. This is also an important experience as you enter the professional world and can be a very valuable learning opportunity for your career exploration process.

Remember that the interview starts as soon as you walk in the door. The people that you come in contact with (the receptionist, restaurant hostess, member of interviewer’s family) are just as important as the interviewer. The interviewer may use these interactions as a way to assess how you act in different situations and with different people, when you’re not “on” for an interview.

The goal of the interview, on the part of the college, is to get to know you beyond your application. Clearly some of the topics of discussion will also be presented in your application, but this is your opportunity to let the college get a sense of what you’re like as a person and distinguish yourself from other similarly-qualified candidates.

Some of the topics you may discuss with your interviewer include the following:

Personal background (family, where you’re from, etc.)
Academic background (high school academic programs, including AP courses, GPA, honors you’ve received, etc.)
Extracurricular activities
- Clubs, sports, etc.
- Level and significance of involvement
- Leadership roles, awards, honors
- Travel experience
- Work experience
- Community service/volunteer experience

Academic and career interests

Exposure to and interest in the college

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