In the college application world, many selective institutions will use the terms “strongly recommended” or “optional” when referring to the application materials, such as interviews, that accompany the main application. The main application most often consists of the Common App (or the school’s application), the school’s supplement, your transcript, standardized test scores (SAT/ACT), and recommendations.
However, notice that the main application materials are all numbers or words on paper, lacking any breath of life. Well, your essays have voice, right? In the end, even essays are just words on paper. Enter interviews.
If the college or university says that interviews are “optional,” they truly are optional. You don’t have to schedule an interview, but it never hurts to. Often times, interviews for larger universities are optional due to the enormous amount of applicants.
However, when colleges say that interviews are “strongly recommended,” they are just as “strongly recommended” as homework. You don’t have to do your homework, but you really should in order to increase your success rate in class. Therefore, “strongly recommended” interviews become almost “mandatory.” You won’t get rejected just because you didn’t have an interview, but you’ll definitely “be at a competitive disadvantage in the admission process,” as one college states.
You cannot underestimate an interview’s importance, especially if the school strongly recommends it. For many applicants, the interview is the only way for the admissions counsel to get a taste of the applicants’ true personalities. Therefore, if you want to show your interviewer who you really are, here are some tips and important facts.
1. Visiting campus is useful in countless ways. It can give you ideas about the atmosphere. You can also check off the box on the school’s supplement indicating that you visited campus, showing commitment to the school. Most importantly, for this article’s purpose, it can give you an opportunity to schedule an interview on campus. From personal experience, my on-campus interviews were the most successful and probably most effective because my interviewers worked in the admissions office.
2. What if you live on the other side of the country? You can always request an alumnus interview where you live. Depending on the school’s system, the alumnus will either contact you, or you’ll have to contact the alumnus. Some schools will even have you interview after you apply, particularly the case with larger universities.
3. The interview is just a friendly conversation, even if you may be peeing your pants the whole time. It’s natural to be nervous, but the interviewer is just another person. Interviews usually range from thirty minutes to an hour, so the “pain” will be over in no time.
4. You know you want to look good. You’ll be tempted to brag about yourself... so brag away. As long as you watch your tone and you don’t get to the point that you look pretentious, you’ll be fine. The interviewer will expect you to talk about yourself and for most of the time.
5. Don’t talk about anything that is outlined or explainable in the main application (ie. your grades, essay subject). You probably shouldn’t try to share interests, either, like seeing whether you both like watching House, unless it’s relevant. Instead, you want to highlight aspects of yourself that you think are interesting, not what admissions will think is interesting. Perhaps your hobby is jumping out of planes whenever possible. Your passion for skydiving, rather than the skydiving part, will be more exciting to the interviewer. There are also some stock questions about your favorite class or extracurricular, for example. Expect to be asked to describe in detail.
6. So when do you get started? You can probably start requesting interviews from springtime of junior year to wintertime of senior year, but I wouldn’t recommend either of the two extremes. Interviewing while you’re still a junior might be too early unless you have your heart set on applying to the school. Wintertime of senior year can be a busy time. In my opinion, the ideal time is summer (for schools that require roadtrips to get there) and early fall (for schools that are closer). I really recommend scheduling an on-campus interview so that it coincides with a campus tour, but if that’s impossible, that’s okay. Off-campus interviews can be done just about anytime.
Take advantage of your interview because it’s a chance to really be yourself. Additionally, always remember to thank your interviewer!
