College Interview? What Questions Should You Expect?

College interviews are another chance for you to tell the admissions officers more about yourself. You will want to take the interview seriously because it helps paint a better picture of you as a student.

Although it’s not a good idea to over-prepare yourself for a college interview, you should always anticipate certain questions that interviewers are prone to ask. These questions are designed to find out about your interests and passions. The following are some of the interviewer’s favorite questions:

Tell Me Something About Yourself

This is by far the most obvious thing the interviewer asks. It doesn’t really count as a question, but more of a request to introduce yourself. Colleges ask this because they really do want to get to know you better, they want to get an impression of what kind of a candidate you are and are you confident about yourself. For this, the only thing to keep in mind here is to be yourself. The more you try and sliver coat this, the worst is it going to get. The key is to be confident and firm about yourself.

Why Do You Want To Come To This College?

This question is to gauge how well you know about the school; i.e your level of interest. Some schools track interest and use it as a criterion for admission, so you’d do well to do research on the school you’re applying to. Read up the college’s literature and website, and tie it with your interests. Mix those with some reasons of your own, like the fact that it has a close-knit student community. If you can give some specific examples, the interviewer is likely to be impressed with your research.

How Would You Contribute To This Community?

Colleges want givers. They want people who are able to add life to their campus. So make sure you let them know how you are going to do it. Talk about your skills, your experiences, and your contributions. A good tip is to tell them how you plan to give back to the community; whether it’s tutoring fellow classmates in a subject you are strong at, chartering a new community chapter in the campus, or sharing your ideas with fellow students.

Which Activities Are Most Meaningful To You?

Like the essay, you would want to mention activities that are your passions. You want the interviewer to know what makes you tick. But unlike the essay, you can discuss your activities at length without word limits. Resist the temptation to brag though. Talk with a natural style, and if you’re passionate about what you do, it’ll show. Talk about specific anecdotes; interviewers like hearing about personal stories. For example, if you are a music enthusiast, you can talk about your first performance and how you nearly fumbled on stage because you were too nervous. Don’t makeup stories though.

What Books Have You Read Lately?

A lot of applicants think that this is a trap question that they must give a book that is either intellectual or have good values. It doesn’t have to be. Just talk about a book you did read. Avoid the usual cliche titles that you read in English class though. Since part of the purpose is to gauge your initiative and creativity, it’s better to pick a book you found rather than the one assigned to you. Don’t lie about the books you read though; if the interviewer happens to be familiar with a particular book you fabricated, you’ll be in trouble.

But the bottom line is, the reason why colleges take such student interviews in the first place is that they want to get to know their student. Hence at the end of the day the most important thing is to be yourself.