It’s 7 pm and you’re enjoying you dinner when the phone rings. You read “California” on your phone’s caller ID and decide that it must be yet another telemarketer but you pick up the phone anyways. With your thumb ready on the “hang-up” dial, you mumble a quick greeting to the other end in expectancy for the usual computer-generated voice, but what greets you is far beyond your initial expectations. Two minutes in the call, you discover that you have just been set up for the dreaded College Interview!
For many of us grade 12’s, college interviews are the very first interview experiences that we will encounter in our lives. With so little knowledge about what to expect, it is not difficult to see the paramount stress levels that arises from these “Super Important, Potentially-Future-Deciding” interviews. With some online research and personal experience with college interviews, I have gathered a list of five points that will hopefully help all the nervous grade 12’s out there to gain some new insights into the college interviewing process and relieve some of that stress:
1. The first and most important point to keep in mind is that interviewers are not out to catch your weaknesses. They are not there to judge you on your academic abilities in a particular subject or whether or not you’ve memorized Newton’s third law of motion. They only care about what YOUR interests and strengths are. The interviews that I had, generally started off with the interviewer asking about what I enjoy doing, and leading the conversation from thereon. The interviewer has no initial expectations for what you should be interested in or good at, and as such, you should feel completely free to express exactly what you enjoy doing whether that be dancing, reading or playing board games online.
2.The interviewer WANTS you to gain admission into the college. Every interviewer wants to help the students they are representing gain admission, and will put forth the best image of the students whom they have interviewed. In correlation with the first point, interviewers care about your demonstrated interests and strengths, and will express these to colleges admission officers (this is also why you should reveal your real interests as opposed to fabrications).
3. It is OK to stutter. One of the greatest fears I had prior to my interview was the possibility that I would stutter my whole way through. I practiced for endless hours in front of a mirror to perfect my speech, but when the day actually arrived, nervousness dominated, and I stuttered far more than I did during my practice speeches. Interestingly, although my eloquence had much room for improvement, the conversation still went well and flowed extremely smoothly. It is far easier to speak in a natural manner (interviewers understand that you are nervous) than a fabricated voice that boasts of fake-confidence (of course, if you’re naturally confident then let that shine!)
4. The interviewers are often highly accomplished individuals who can offer great insights. Not only into the university you are applying to, but also to potential majors and career paths. The interview is not only meant for the interviewer to ask you questions, but is also an opportunity for you to ask questions that you have yourself. I gained some extremely valuable information from inquiring into the paths that my interviewers took during and after college.
5. Finally, I have composed a brief list of common interview questions that are almost certain to be asked:
– What do you do outside of school?
-What’s your favorite class?
-Why did you apply to “xxx” university?
-What activity do you enjoy doing the most?
– What has led you to pick the major that you did?