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By Jonathan Mayheart
Lets first think of a college interview, what is it really,
why
do they even bother to take the time and personally meet each
applicant, and what kind of power a good interview has. You
have probably conducted your own national college search, and
already know your preferences. Colleges have interviews for
one
simple reason, it works, it works for them – some data shows
them that the applicants they personally meet and talk with,
on
average, succeed in their programs and have been succeeding in
their program for some time now. So they know it works. But
what is “it”? the college interview is the “it”, and it is no
different than a job interview.
The college interview was not thought of as a mean to
intimidate potential students, to keep them away, to embarrass
and humiliate the next graduates of this college, it is meant
for one simple, and very important, reason – to meet and
evaluate the motivation and potential of the young person
applying to the college. And that’s all it is. There is
nothing
personal or evil in it, other from the fact these people want
to
know what you are made of and how serious you are. You need to
think of it as a part of your campus tour.
So a college interview is basically like a thoughtful
conversation with someone you never met before and that wants
to know who you really are, what you went through in your life
and where you are heading. But when talking to a stranger
about
this you can allow yourself to be casual and say some things
that you can not say in a college interview, you have to think
of how you want to present yourself, and how not to get
dragged
to the pleasing “tell me what I want to hear” mode.
Preparation will get you a long way, it is the absolute key in
getting through the college interview successfully. There is
no
such thing as over preparing for this, and in fact, if you do
this the proper way, you will need to tell yourself at a
certain moment that its time to stop preparing.
Let’s go over some of the points in the preparation procedure,
things you will want to look into while getting ready for your
college interview.
Try and know who your contact is – a simple thing, try and get
the name (or names of the persons) that will be conducting the
interview, when you will start the interview you will have a
nicer way to present yourself and greet the interviewers than
most applicants do. It will also show that you prepared in
advance and that you are serious about getting this position,
this will set you off in the right tracks. When you do your
initial national college search, you can also look for the
contacts interviewing applicants. No potential harm here. Only
good can come out of this one.
Research - can I stress this enough? College interview success
– research, research and more research. Lets ask ourselves one
basic questions, if someone wants to get into his favorite
spot
team (any position) will he (or she) not know the names of
past
hero’s? The teams greatest moments? Its accomplishments? Or
course the candidate will know. And you need to show that you
are the same, your motivation and enthusiasm to get in to this
program will shine when you provide enough evidence to prove
you know everything there is to know about the place itself.
Ways to get information, research the college web site, search
engines for other information, people name search will give
you
some knowledge about the teachers and their accomplishments,
any
publications of the college itself are also good. If you are
reading this while doing your national college search, you can
enjoy the opportunity to add something to your list. Even the
ordinary campus tour can give you a chance of finding a little
more about the place.
In researching the college you can study materials of the
college. College’s course book online, find interesting
questions regarding the courses. Some students seem to think
that asking questions at the interview might seem
presumptuous,
but in fact it makes you seem interested and sophisticated.
Here
are some questions you might consider asking The programs you
might be interested in majoring in, construction on the campus
and new facilities, financial aid, How the school treats AP
tests, how they compare this college with national colleges,
the campus tour, school advising, ask interviewers about their
opinion of the school, what they like best, and why the
courses
are better than in other places (no example or names, just say
other places).
Your answers – take a look at our “college interview
questions”
section to familiarize yourself with the potential questions
you
may face, and practice with family member or friend, keep
answers short and sweet, know what you are saying and do not
get too personal. Talk slowly, and think about each question
before you answer, even if you have been practicing for this
particular question for the past two months. Never cut someone
when they are talking, not even if you are extremely excited
about your answer.
Promoting yourself – think about a few strong points you got,
and that you want the interviewer to remember about you, no
need to mention these in every answer, but three or four times
(with reference – “as I already told you, I think I am very
good at managing people… that’s why I took the school paper
publishing project”). If you have a problem identifying traits
you want to promote – read your resume or application form
again carefully and mark the points you think are worth
focusing on. You can also try and add some humor to the
interview, say something about the campus tour, and your
impression of the college.
About The Author: Jonathan Mayheart, specializing in BioData,
has been studying and researching interviews. He recently
wrote
a few articles for www.collegeinterview.zupatips.com/
providing tips and advice regarding college interviews for
students and college applicants.
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