Part of your admissions process might include a personal interview, and if it does, that’s a good thing.  Interviews almost always go well if you do a little prep work ahead of time, and both parties involved have in common your love for the college you’re applying to.

There are several pointers about interviews that range from what you wear (not all that important, really, as long as you’re clean and not too casual) to how to make good eye contact (also a bit overrated, in my opinion.  I mean, don’t most people make eye contact with the person they’re talking to anyway?) 

What I want to leave you with instead is just ONE piece of advice.  You can always write to me with more questions if you want to, at askjohnaboutcollege@gmail.com, but for now, pay attention to the following idea.  It’s a good one, and you can  use it in any one-on-one situation to your benefit.  

Before the interview, decide what three or four things you want the interviewer to learn about you. Be intentional here.   Think carefully.  What are the characteristics that you want to get across? Are there certain accomplishments you want that person to know?  Make a list, and then narrow it down to three or four points that you think are important for someone to learn about you in an interview process.  Memorize those points.  And write them down in a notebook that you will take to the interview.  (And it’s perfectly fine to take notes during an interview, too, by the way.)

As the interviewer’s questions unfold, keep the points that are important to you in the back of your mind, and work them into the conversation you create. 

For example, let’s say you want someone to know about a project you did for AP Econ--a really fantastic project actually that charted economic trends in non-profit organizations that supported the arts.  And let’s say that you even presented this project to the finance board of your city’s symphony organization, and they liked it so much that they asked permission to apply your findings to their long-range investment goals.  Well, that’s very cool, but it’s also very specific, right?  So how do you get someone to ask THAT question in an interview? 

You don’t, really,  But what you do instead is to look for opportunities to bring it up.  It’s very likely, for instance, that an interviewer will look at the classes you’re taking and ask you how you like one of them--say AP Calc or French or whatever.  You answer that the class is going pretty well, but the class you’ve really enjoyed this semester is AP Econ because of a project that you did that ended up being remarkably useful.  And then you launch into sharing what you were able to do with the symphony board.  Easy.

Little things like that give you plenty to talk about, give you some control over the interview, and also give a terrific impression to the person whose job it is to get to know you and write a summary of who you are for your application file. 

By preparing a list of three or four specific things that you want to communicate, you end up feeling better about the interview and the person who asks you questions learns exactly what you want that person to know. 

All it takes is a little planning, and maybe some practice with a friend or your mom.  Have fun in your interview.  Remember, this is one of those times when you’ll fare better if you are intentional about it before it even begins.  Think, plan, and do. 

Good luck!