CHAMPIONSHIP COLLEGE INTERVIEWS by Dodge Johnson, Educational Consultant
from his Philadelphia Inquirer Column "Countdown to College"
College interviews are a sport almost anyone can learn to play competently, even gracefully. As in tennis or badminton, quality of performance depends on the skill of both sides, and a sparkling volley is exhilarating.
But unlike many sports, players are not adversaries. Each helps the other display his best – and learn in the process if a student and college are right for one another. And both can be winners – even if one or both conclude that the answer is 'no.'
College interviews may sound about as thrilling as root canal work if you've never tried one. But actually, most are a lot of fun.
You are deciding where to invest time and money. You can win an ally on the admissions staff. And you can hone killer skills you'll use for a lifetime when you want someone to bet on you – landing a job, making a sale, persuading someone to see your point of view.
Championship play means knowing the rules, so here are some tips to sharpen your game:
Plan to enjoy yourself. Admissions people are among the friendliest around. They want you to feel good about their college, which among other things means simply feeling good. Their big thrill is discovering a wonderful student. So when you light up their doorway, relax, smile, make their day.
Dress comfortably and appropriately – as you might when you want to look your best at school.
Forget jingly jewelry unless you want to sound like temple bells. Forget three-piece suits. Even business schools want students, not kid copies of corporate execs.
Forget perfume. I once watched an admissions man air out his office so his next visitor wouldn't wonder if that come-hither aroma was his.
Do your homework. Knowing about their college signals that you're interested, that you care. Smart candidates make an impression not by showing off what they know but by asking sophisticated questions – about things the literature didn't tell them.
Who would get your vote – the young lady who asks if there's a January Term or the one who asks if she can use January to experiment in something she's never tried?
And you want to avoid the embarrassment of the tycoon-wannabe who asked the Dean of Admissions if grading is harder in the business school – only to be told gently that the college didn't have one.
Do some scouting. Try to schedule your tour before you interview – or at least walk around campus to sight-see and mingle. You may find the answers to some of your questions and discover new ones you didn't know you had. And you won't be tempted to draw conclusions about people solely on whether you loved or loathed your interviewer.
Learn to be fluent about yourself. Some themes are likely to surface – what drew you to their college, intellectual and career interests, what you contribute to things you're involved in, how you spend spare time.
What do you want to say, to convey? If your interviewer opens with "Tell me about yourself," what will you share? What three questions do you dread most? Insure deftness now by deciding how you'll handle them later.
Whatever you do, don't memorize a spiel. Canned and fresh don't taste the same. And losing your place can mean losing your cool.
Recognize that interviews are a two-way street. A college decides only whether to admit you. You have to decide a lot more: Does it have what you want? suit your style? Should you apply? accept an offer?
Unless you make headway on answers, the interview isn't really a success. Besides, your adroitness in probing will tell a college much of what it wants to know about you.
Your homework will spark questions. Some may come up in conversation, others may not. Feel free to dig – about teaching, personal attention, intellectual and cultural opportunities, sports, social life, housing, being black on campus if you're black. Nothing is off limits if you ask tactfully – meaning if you weigh the impression your phrasing will make.
Write a short thank-you note – nothing elaborate, artful, or self-seeking, just genuine. It's nice to do and it can't hurt your chances. (You did get your interviewer's name, right?)
If you live too far away to visit or there aren't enough admissions staff to go around, you may be interviewed by an alumnus.
Alums are a mixed bag. They're volunteers whom some colleges choose and train carefully, while others don't. The best are terrific – knowledgeable, enthusiastic examples of what you might be in mid-career. All will care about their school and hope you will too. And only rarely will their report make or break an admissions decision.
Don't expect expertise on the minutiae of the math requirement. Instead, ask how their college prepared them, what they learned of lasting value, why they love their school.
How much do interviews count? That's hard to say. It's only one piece of the picture a college calls 'you,' but it's a very human piece.
On one hand, a championship interview might put a reach school within your grasp. On the other, just a whiff of a hint that you think you're slumming can kill you dead at a 'safety school.'
Just care enough to be prepared. Be yourself, be interested and interesting, and keep the ball in play. In the sport of college interviews, these are the secrets of how rookies become stars.
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