Prepare for These College Interview Questions

Today we’re talking about some of the common questions you should be ready to answer if you have a college admissions interview. Some colleges offer and some colleges require an interview as part of their admissions process, and if you get the opportunity to do an interview with a college, you should take it. Most students who’ve done interviews describe them as pretty relaxed, laid back conversations.

That said, there’s some common questions you should be ready for, including: Why are you interested in our college? So make sure you’ve researched the school and have specific things to point to that make it a good fit for you. They might ask: Why are you interested in your major? So make sure you have an anecdote to tell about an experience you’ve had or what you’d like to accomplish in that field someday, maybe even something about their school that makes it great for your major.

Another common question is: Tell me about your activities or what keeps you busy. And looking over your résumé or your activities in the Common App in advance of that meeting can help you refresh and make sure you have a bunch of things to talk about. You can also look over all of your essays before your appointment, whether it’s essays for this college or any college.

And if you’re interviewing with an alumnus (somebody who graduated from the college and doesn’t work there now), they don’t have access to your essays or your activities, so it’s all news to them. But if you’re interviewing with somebody who works there, who works in the admissions department, they may have read your essays already and looked over your activities, so you can certainly say, “As you may have read in my essay,” or, ”As I included on my résumé,” and then tell them the same stuff.

Also, very important to understand, a college interview isn’t the same as a job interview where they decide whether or not they’re going to hire you. In this case, it’s a sales pitch. This is an opportunity for them to market their college to you, to get you excited about going there if you’re accepted. So make sure that you have questions of your own ready to ask.

Ask about your major and ask about what opportunities there are if they’re a graduate from the college. Ask how they feel this college prepared them for their career. You can even ask soft questions like: What’s your favorite place to be on campus or your favorite place to eat off campus? Really anything qualitative that’s based on their opinion as opposed to facts you can easily search on their website.

So do the research, practice with your friends, and if you have questions, call us at 732-556-8220. We are here to help.