The College Interview: What you Need to Know and How to Ace it

If given the chance to interview at a school of interest, make sure to do so, even if the interview is optional. Interviews are an excellent way to 1. Express your interest in the college, 2. Allow alumni or admissions representatives to get to know you beyond your application, 3. Find out more information about the college.

College interviews are either Informational or Evaluative. Interviews are conducted on campus by admissions representatives or in the applicant’s hometown by alumni. Some colleges offer admissions representative interviews on the road as well. Colleges will indicate whether the interview is evaluative or informational.

Evaluative Interviews are a way for colleges to assess candidates. The interviewer will take notes that will be shared with the admissions committee and be part of the applicant’s file. Evaluative interviews often occur senior year or after you’ve submitted your application.

Informational interviews are usually held on campus during your visit and can occur earlier than senior year. These interviews are usually conducted by admissions representatives and are a chance for applicants to find out more about the school.  Some schools offer informational interviews conducted by alumni in the applicant’s hometown. While informational interviews are not labeled as “evaluative,” be prepared to make a good impression, as the interviewer may pass along his or her impression of you to the admissions committee. Information on scheduling interviews can usually be found under “visits” on the school website.

On campus interviews are usually conducted by an admissions representative. This person will frequently be the first reader of your application, so it’s important to make a good impression. Check the school’s admissions website to find out how to schedule. Most schools require the student to schedule the interview online or by phone during a particular window of time. Some schools offer limited interviews so be sure to sign up early in the process.

Alumni interviews take place in the applicant’s hometown by local alumni of the school. For most colleges, the interviewer will contact you after your application is submitted. It’s important to check the admissions website and your emails from the college carefully though because some schools require candidates to sign up for these interviews. In most cases, the interviewer will contact you via email (they receive your email from the school) and set up a time to meet at a coffee shop or some other location that is relatively close to your home.

PREPARE for your interview. It’s essential to do your background research on the school and present yourself as having done so. Researching the school in depth will help you develop a list of intelligent questions (those whose answers cannot be easily found on the website).  If the college requires you to apply to a particular school within it, say, the School of Education, then make sure you understand that and can speak intelligently about that requirement. Know how the college refers to your intended major: is it Business Management or Business Administration, and do they call it a “major” or a “concentration.”  Your interviewer will look to measure your interest level in the school so it’s important to show you care enough about the school to have researched it thoroughly.

WEAR something respectful and appropriate. Think “business casual” or something you would wear to an extended family dinner or to a presentation at school. Avoid sweats, revealing clothing, too much jewelry, but do let your outfit reflect your personal style.

BRING two copies of your resume – one for the interviewer and one for you to speak from. Be one hundred percent confident in speaking about everything on your resume. Remember a notebook and pen to take notes. Write your questions in your notebook to have handy during the interview.

ARRIVE early! Give yourself plenty of time for unexpected traffic or parking issues. You can always sit in the car and review your interview questions for a few minutes.

GREET your interviewer with a firm handshake and a smile. Remember, this person’s goal is NOT to make you feel uncomfortable. Chances are, your meeting will be pleasant and you’ll come away feeling confident.

ANSWER questions about yourself and your reasons for wanting to attend the college. If friends or classmates have interviewed with the school, ask them how it went and what to expect. Be prepared for the following:

• Why do want to attend this college? 

• What would you contribute to this school?

• Tell me about yourself.  

• What are you interested in studying? Why? 

• What do you see yourself doing in the future? 

• What outside activities are you involved in? 

• What do you do in your spare time? 

• What are your strengths? Use specific examples. 

• What are your weaknesses? 

• How would your friends describe you? 

• What makes you different from most people you know?  

• Who is the most influential person in your life and why?  

• What challenges or obstacles have you overcome and what have you learned from them? 

• What is your favorite book?

ASK questions that demonstrate your knowledge and genuine interest in the school. Prepare these questions ahead of time and write them in your notebook.

• What is about this school that has made you so connected to it? (Appropriate for an alumni interview.) 
• What things do think are unique about this school? 
• How would you characterize the student body? 
• What kinds of students do you see thrive at this school? 
• What are your favorite aspects of your own educational experience (good to ask an interviewer who attended the school)? 
• How does the school prepare students for medical school, law school, internships, etc.? What support services are available?
•  How are advisors selected for students? How is housing determined for freshmen?
• Ask specific questions about your program of interest (but make sure the answers can’t be easily found on the website).
• ASK for the interviewer’s contact information

ENGAGE

•  Don’t bring your parents
• Turn off your cell phone
• Maintain eye contact
• Smile
• Sit up straight and act interested in what the interviewer is saying
• Sound genuine, don’t simply recite what you’ve practiced
• Speak slowly and clearly. Take your time and don’t be afraid to collect your thoughts before answering questions.
• Keep the conversation going in lulls by asking your prepared questions.

FOLLOW UP after the interview with a hand-written thank you note. An email will suffice only if you don’t have the interviewer’s physical address. Thank the interviewer for meeting with you and reinforce your interest in the school. Note something specific from your conversation to help the interviewer connect to your meeting. The thank you note is an excellent way to demonstrate interest.

A Midwest College Counseling Student’s Wake Forest Interview Anecdote:

“I think it was the interview partially that helped me be sure that Wake was the place for me. I was lucky because I had a great interviewer who had recently graduated. It seemed like Wake cared about me more than schools that weren’t doing these in-person, on-campus interviews. He first asked me about where I came from: family, community etc. He asked me about my interests and what I had as far as a life plan thus far. Then we talked more about school. He asked me what my favorite class was, what my favorite general area of study was, and about my school itself. I was also asked about my favorite book and why, as well as my least favorite book and why. Then, finally, as one would expect, I was asked what attracted me to Wake and why I believe I would be a good student there. It was truly a great experience. Not once did I feel like some sort of suspect in a dark empty room with an interrogator pointing a lamp in my face. It felt like a conversation between friends, casual, yet substantial in content.”

Deferred? Time to Take Action

The dreaded deferral, not the decision any college applicant likes to receive. The good news is, the college decided you are a qualified candidate for admission and will review your file with the regular decision applicant pool. If you applied early decision, this decision means an acceptance from that college is no longer binding. Whether you applied early decision or early action, your application will be reviewed again. So, what should you do to improve your chances for acceptance?

1.    Check the college’s website for instructions for deferred students. If there is not an express plea to refrain from calling the admissions office, then do so. Tell them politely you’ve been deferred and ask if you can find out why. If the college is your first choice school, tell them.

2.   Read any letter or email the college has written you in its entirety for instructions. Some colleges require deferred candidates to let them know they wish to be considered in the regular decision pool or their application will be automatically denied.

3.    Write a letter outlining any major accomplishments since your application. Include your first quarter or first semester grades if they were good. Include any improved test scores if you have not sent them already or think they may not have arrived in time for your application review.

4.    Send the college your mid-year report as soon as it’s available. Send additional test scores if available.

5.    Email (and call) your regional representative. Ask why you’ve been deferred and what you can do to strengthen your application at this point. Attach your letter.

6.    Ask your guidance counselor to reach out to the admissions office on your behalf. Communicate any changes in your credentials to your counselor. Were you named a captain for your winter sport? Did you win a photography, art or DECA award? Were you named the lead in the school play?

7.    Ask another teacher or other person to send a recommendation. Make sure the new recommendation highlights qualities not previously communicated to the college. Ask your guidance counselor for help in ensuring the letter is unique since he or she has likely read your other recommendations. If the college is your first choice, ask the recommender to include that in the letter.

8.    Send supplemental materials if allowed by the college and if you have pertinent materials to send. A newspaper article highlighting an accomplishment, a video, writing sample, or addition to your art portfolio for example.

9.    Make a back-up plan. Take a close look at the remaining schools on your list. Reevaluate Early Decision 2 options. Plan to visit schools that you have not yet had an opportunity to see.

Demonstrating Interest in the College Search

What do college applicants and the stealth bomber have in common?

If you’re a soon to be college applicant, you don’t want to find out. Designed to avoid detection by using a myriad of advanced technologies, the stealth bomber was intended to fly under the radar. College applicants should do just the opposite! Colleges have no way of gauging your interest if you don’t make your interest known. And when your application arrives on the desk of admissions, in many cases you’ll be taken more seriously if it isn’t the first they’ve heard of you.

 Demonstrated enthusiasm or interest in a school is measured in many ways, and in today’s digital world, interest is easy to show. Good old campus tours are the most obvious way to show interest; if you visit and can’t do the formal tour, stop in the admission office and give them your name. Schedule an interview if the college offers them, and be sure to write a hand-written thank you note when you get home. Attend the visit session if colleges you like come to your school.

 Many colleges now have sophisticated software that monitors whether students open emails they send, follow them on Twitter, like their admission Facebook page and so on.

 If your busy schedule prevents you from visiting all your colleges of interest in person, visit their websites, look around, do a virtual tour. If you like what see, let them know by signing up for their mailing list. Follow them on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram – you’ll probably end up with some helpful tips on the college application process along the way. 

 A few highly selective schools make it abundantly clear they do not factor demonstrated interest into the admissions process. But for many schools, especially private ones, interest level is a critical factor in admissions because it helps protect yield (the percentage of admitted students who enroll). While schools such as Harvard and Stanford may not need to be concerned about yield since most of their accepted students do enroll, most schools don’t have that luxury.

So don’t be a stealth applicant. Let the schools you’re interested in know you’re there.

Liberal Arts Colleges vs. Universities

Liberal Arts Colleges vs. Universities

How do they really differ?

Degrees Offered

Universities and Liberal Arts colleges both offer BA (bachelor of arts) and BS (bachelors of science) degrees, but Universities award graduate degrees (masters and doctorates) as well. While some Liberal Arts schools do have graduate students, the focus at these colleges is on undergrads.

Size

Liberal Arts colleges are usually much smaller than Universities. While there are exceptions, typical Liberal Arts schools have student bodies of 2,500 or so students and are frequently located in rural or suburban settings.

Choice of Major

In addition to offering a broad scope of majors, Universities frequently offer   pre-professional programs such as law, business and engineering. Liberal Arts schools offer a breadth of majors as well, but might offer one or two choices of majors within, say within the biological sciences, while a University might offer several additional choices. Liberal Arts schools do not traditionally offer pre-professional programs. The Liberal Arts focus is on critical thinking and lifetime learning skills and to that end, many schools have core curriculum requirements in the arts, humanities, social and natural sciences and mathematics.

Research Opportunities

Research is intrinsic to Universities. With more available funding and well-equipped facilities, research occurs on a large scale, frequently with faculty at the frontier of their fields. Opportunities for research can be more limited at the undergraduate level however, particularly in the first two years. Liberal Arts colleges often have more accessible opportunities for research, albeit usually much smaller in scope and variety.

Class Sizes

There’s no hiding in the back of a large lecture hall at a Liberal Arts college. Classes at Liberal Arts schools tend to be smaller and focus on discussion-based learning. Universities tend to offer larger lecture-based classes, especially during the first two years, with breakout discussion or lab groups taught by T.As.

 Extra Curricular Activities

Liberal Arts colleges tend to compete in Division 3 athletics while Universities house Division 1 competitions. You’ll find lots of athletic opportunities at Liberal Arts schools, but you won’t find the pomp and circumstance of Big Ten or SEC University athletics. Both offer an array of extra-curricular opportunities from intramural and club sports to theatre, a capella groups, Greek life, community service and a myriad of special interest groups and organizations.

The College Essay

Hives, profusive sweating and anxiety attacks need not be part of college essay writing. College essays are not five paragraph English class papers. They are more like telling a story. Sit down at your computer and tell the reader something about your life just as if you were telling it out loud. Let your first draft go, don't halt writing to perfect your punctuation or that captivating opening. The important thing is to get the ideas flowing.

And when that idea starts to flow, use these tips as a guide.

Top 10 Dos

1. Do create a bond with reader.
2. Do be honest writing about yourself so the reader learns something about the way you view yourself and the world.
3. Do develop a main event with lots of narrative and specifics
4. Do show humor if it’s natural in your writing.
5. Do show a weakness (did you learn something from it?). A touch of self-deprecating humor can be endearing.
6. Do reveal something important about your character.
7. Do demonstrate that you can create new ideas and that you have the practical skills to implement them.
8. Do spend time finding the right idea. It will take less time to write the essay.
9. Do let the first draft pour out of you. Go back and perfect it later.
10. Do have a trusted adult or English teacher review your essay and make sure you eliminate all misspellings and grammar mistakes. (But see Don’t number 9).

Top 10 Don'ts

1. Don’t brag. Don’t try to impress the reader.
2. Don’t list your resume.
3. Don’t tell the reader something that’s already in your application.
4. Don’t be overly verbose (using vocabulary for the sake of including big words).
5. Don’t use slang, text talk, ampersands (&), etc. and other abbreviations.
6. Don’t stick with an idea that isn’t working.
7. Don’t make yours a college essay cliché. Go ahead and Google that.
8. Don’t think longer is better. Quality is more important than length.
9. Don’t let others over edit your essay so it’s too perfect and no longer sounds like you.
10. Don’t wait until the last minute! Give yourself time for 3-4 drafts.

Summer College Planning for Rising Juniors

Summer Activities

Choose your activities purposefully. Think about your interests and your passions. Are you on the rowing team? Maybe there’s a camp that could use you as a volunteer. Love to read and think you might pursue a degree in education? Maybe your church can help you find a tutoring job in center for needy kids. Consider a summer course at a nearby college. Most importantly, use this time to reflect on your interests and pursue them. Think quality over quantity and reassess your activities for the school year if necessary, taking on leadership roles in the areas you love and perhaps scaling back on the activities you don’t.

Begin Your Research

Get yourself a copy of the latest edition of Fiske Guide to Colleges. Keep it on your coffee table or kitchen island or any place you’re likely to leaf through it regularly. Visit college websites and spend some time exploring. Many schools have virtual tours. Take a look at the many online resources for college research as well.

Start to Think About College Visits

If you’re headed on summer vacation with your family and there’s an interesting college on the way, ask them to stop. While it’s ideal to visit colleges when school is in session, you’ll benefit from any and all visits (even if it’s just to say, “Yuk, I’d never go there.”).

Make a College Calendar

Devote a calendar solely for college planning. Ask your parents to set aside time now for visiting colleges during your junior school year, even if you don’t yet know what schools you’d like to see. Schedules fill up quickly for families who juggle multiple kids and their activities, so help your parents plan accordingly. Think about when you’ll take the SAT and ACT. How does the testing schedule fit in with your other activities?

Use Your Resources

Talk to your parents, relatives, older siblings and their friends about their college experience. What did they like and dislike? Why? Would they do anything differently if they could do it all over again?

Relax!

The college planning process is best tackled one step at a time. It’s an exciting time in your life, but don’t forget to experience the present. Begin your college exploration, but enjoy your friends and family this summer as well!

Decision Time: What to do About the Dreaded College Deferral

 High school seniors whose paths have felt littered with pins and needles these past few months will be relieved to hear of their college admission fate. And while the tulips might not realize spring is on the horizon, college admission decisions are rolling in. Unfortunately, those decisions mimic the rest of the college admission process in that they are not always straightforward. If you hear from your first-choice college that you’ve been deferred or placed on their waitlist, the absolute WORST thing you can do is nothing.

If a college puts you on the waitlist, it means they like you and believe you qualify for admission but other applicants have been placed ahead of you. If you’ve been deferred, it generally means they need more information about you to make a decision. They might ask for senior year grades, more test scores or other updates to your qualifications. In either case, it’s essential to take action if the decision is from a school you really hope to attend.

1)    If you were sent a postcard asking if you wish to remain on the waitlist, send it back (maybe with a handwritten note)! You’d be surprised how many students never respond.

2)    Ask your school guidance counselor to reach out to the regional admissions representative for that school to express your interest in attending. He or she can ask what steps you can take to improve your chances of earning admission.

3)    If anything has changed in your credentials, let them know! If your winter team made it to the state finals, if you were named a captain for your spring sport, if you won a DECA award or an award for a photograph, tell your guidance counselor and the admissions office.

4)    Write a letter to the admissions office and your regional admissions representative (you can usually find this person on the admissions website) expressing your interest in attending the school. Tell them why they should admit you (politely of course, but make in convincing). And make the letter a good one. Show it to someone you trust to proofread.

5)    Did you have an alumni interview? If so, ask for this person’s help in making a case for you.

It’s true that some schools don’t end up taking students from the waitlist and many deferrals turn into denials, but the best way to improve your odds is to take action.

Diversity on Campus

You’re filling out a college fit questionnaire and come to the question: Is diversity on campus important to you? “Hmm,” you think as you check the box YES, “I’m really not sure.” Colleges undergo conscientious recruiting efforts to attract diverse students, reporting statistics on diversity as they do graduation rates and freshman class profiles. But for many high school students who’ve grown up in culturally homogeneous neighborhoods, diversity is an intangible. 

So why check that YES box? Why is diversity important anyway?

1. Developing as a culturally competent individual will improve your social skills and future ability to collaborate. Interaction with students from different backgrounds promotes intellectual sophistication and worldliness.

2. Diversity fosters innovation. Similar to how academic stimulation can prepare students to be creative thinkers and problem solvers, exposure to diverse perspectives allows you to view problems from multiple viewpoints when making decisions.

3. Diversity prepares students for the increasingly global workforce. The diverse population of future co-workers, bosses, clients or suppliers may not mimic the culturally similar environments in which some students were raised. College is the time to become familiar and comfortable interacting with diverse groups of people.

4. Exposure to diversity encourages greater sensitivity and appreciation of people with different backgrounds or opinions, spawning both self-awareness and the ability to view the world and others from a wider lens.

SAT vs. ACT - Which one is right for me?

ACT originally stood for American College Testing but shortened its name simply to ACT in the mid nineties to reflect the broader base of services they began to offer.

Here's a question you won't find on the SAT (as printed by Time Magazine at time.com): What does SAT stand for? A) Scholastic Aptitude Test. B) Scholastic Assessment Test. C) Slimy and Atrocious Torture. D) Nothing.

If your answer was A you were correct, but not anymore. Scholastic Aptitude Test was deemed controversial many years ago because critics felt it only measured aptitude for aptitude tests and was not a true measure of college preparedness.  If you answered C, well you too may be correct as a matter of opinion, but the correct answer is D.  Just like the ACT, the SAT stands for nothing.

At Midwest College Counseling we recommend high school juniors take both tests and then focus on the one they feel most comfortable with.  Here's what the Princeton Review has to say about the test differences.

ACT questions tend to be more straight forward.  ACT questions are often easier to understand on a first read. On the SAT, you may need to spend time figuring out what you're being asked before you can start solving the problem.  For example, here are sample questions from the SAT essay and the ACT writing test (their name of the essay): 

SAT: What is your view of the claim that something unsuccessful can still have some value?

ACT: In your view, should high schools become more tolerant of cheating?

The SAT has a stronger emphasis on vocabulary.  If you're an ardent wordsmith, you'll love the SAT.  If words aren't your thing, you may do better on the ACT.

The ACT has a Science section and SAT does not.  You don't need to know anything about amoebas or chemical reactions for the ACT Science section.  It is meant to test your reading and reasoning skills based upon a given set of facts.  But if you're a true science-phobe, the SAT might be a better fit.

The ACT tests more advanced math concepts.  In addition to basic arithmetic, algebra I and II, and geometry, the ACT tests your knowledge of trigonometry, too.  That said, the ACT Math section is not necessarily harder, since many students find the questions to be more straightforward than those on the SAT.

The ACT Writing Test is optional on test day, but required by many schools.  The 25-minute SAT essay is required and is factored into your writing. The 30 minute ACT writing test is optional.  If you choose to take it, it is not included in your composite score - schools will see it listed separately.  Many colleges require the writing section of the ACT, so be sure to check with the schools where you are applying before opting out.

The SAT is broken up into more sections. On the ACT, you tackle each content area (English, Math, Reading and Science) in one big chunk, with the optional writing test at the end.  On the SAT, the content areas (Critical Reading, Math and Writing) are broken up into 10 sections, with the required essay at the beginning.  You do a little math, a little writing, a little critical reading, a little more math, etc.  When choosing between the SAT and ACT, ask yourself if moving back and forth between content areas confuses you or keeps you energized.

The ACT is more of a "big picture" exam.  College admissions officers care about how you did on each section of the SAT.  On the ACT, they're most concerned with your composite score.  So if you're weak in one content area but strong in others, you could still end up with a very good ACT score and thus make a strong impression with the admissions committee. (The Princeton Review)

Many schools Superscore, or take the best individual score from each test sitting and combine them to make a brand new score for the SAT. While once uncommon, many schools are now starting to Superscore the ACT as well.  With regard to the ACT Writing Test, we recommend you take it if ANY of the schools to which you are applying require it.  Your test results without the Writing Test will be no good for those schools and you might be stuck taking the test more times than you planned. Check each school's admission site carefully to find out their policies.

A new version of the SAT is planned to be unveiled in the Spring of 2016. The College Board has announced the revamped test will include fewer arcane vocabulary words that students will likely never see again, a math section that is better aligned with high school curriculum, and an essay section that might be more analytical in nature. Midwest College Counseling will keep you posted on the new SAT.

Make the Most of College Visits

If you're applying to a school far away, you might only get one chance to visit before you make your final decision on which college to attend. Even if the school is close to home, you might not find the time to squeeze in an extra visit. Junior and senior years, after all, are busy times. Here are a few tips on maximizing the time you spend looking at colleges and on leaving an impression after you go home.

Plan to spend 3 hours to half a day at each school to allow enough time for an information session or meeting with admission officer and a campus tour. Having a friend on campus show you around is often a helpful way to view a campus.

Arrange your visits several weeks or more in advance by scheduling information sessions and tours online and arranging interviews if required or offered. Depending on your interests, include plans to sit in on a class, speak to a professor or coach, or eat in a dining hall.

If your plans change when you are visiting and you decide not to attend a tour or information session, check in with the admissions office to let them know you are there and visiting a different way. Some schools keep track of visits as demonstrated interest. If you decide to return to a school for a second visit, stop in the admission office to ask a question, pick up information or add yourself to their mailing list.

Email or mail a thank you note to those who were helpful on your visit. This could include an admission officer or professor you met with. In particular, if you had an interview, whether evaluative or informational, be sure to follow up with a thank you for the person’s time and mention some detail of the meeting that left an impression on you so the person will have something to remember you by.