College admissions interviews are an important element of the application process. However, there are several different types of college admissions interviews. This post provides important tips to help you prepare for the different types of college admissions interviews so that you can demonstrate your abilities, show your enthusiasm for a college, and share your sparkling personality. With a bit of solid information, combined with some forethought and research, you’ll be able to nail the college admissions interview.
Why Offer Different Types of College Admissions Interviews
Colleges have three motivations for offering interviews for prospective students. First, they want to gain more information about you as an applicant, and to assess your suitability for admission. Second, they want to give you more information about the college, and ensure that you leave with a favorable impression. In other words, interviews are as much a marketing strategy as an evaluation tool. Third, they want to gauge your interest in their college. Admissions officers want students who have a particular desire to attend their institution, and the interview is a way to learn how their school ranks on the student’s list of choices.
Regardless of the motivations, you want to take the opportunity to present yourself as a candidate for admission. The interview is a chance for you to humanize your application, and for a representative of the college to learn more about you beyond your grades and test scores. It’s also a great way to learn more about the college from someone who knows quite a bit about it. An interview—even a relatively bad one—rarely hurts your application. A good interview could help your candidacy considerably. So if an interview is offered, take it.
Why Don’t All Colleges Offer Interviews?
Generally, the issue is volume of applications: schools like New York University just have too many applicants to make interviews practicable. Highly selective schools with a very high volume of applications—including the Ivy League universities—never schedule an on-campus interviews, but will offer alumni interviews to those who have completed their applications. State universities have too many applicants or have admissions procedures that are designed for efficiency. Generally the smaller colleges and more selective universities are the ones that will offer interviews as a way to get to know their applicants better, and as a way to offer a more personal touch in the admissions process.
Types Of College Admissions Interviews
Most colleges will be clear about what sort of interviews they offer. We generally find three different kinds of interviews.
- Evaluative: Usually offered by admissions officers or highly trained current students, these are generally the most formal interviews.
- Informational or Non-Evaluative: These are offered as ways for prospective students to get to know a college better. And at the same time to give the student the opportunity to share information that may not be easily conveyed in the application.
- Alumni: Selective colleges may offer alumni interviews to applicants after they have submitted their applications.
Types of College Admissions Interviewers
Your interview experience will depend, in large part, upon the type of interview. As well as the person doing the interview. If a university offers an interview, the interviewer will either be a professional member of the admissions staff. An alumnus or alumna of the university, or a current student specially trained by the admissions office.
Admissions Officers:
These interviews are relatively formal. And obviously, the admissions officer has a high degree of influence over the decision of whether to admit you. So whether this is an evaluative or information interview, you definitely want to be on your toes. However, bear in mind that admissions officers meet with hundreds, if not thousands, of students every year. So they are probably less sensitive to your appearance and language than a professor or other adult might be.
On the other hand, the admissions officer has access to every bit of your current admissions file prior to the interview. If you already have submitted the application, she might already have read your essay and consulted your teacher’s recommendations. If you have not submitted the application. She will at least know that you met her colleague at a college fair or filled out a form on the college’s website requesting more information.
Finally, an admissions officer will have a pretty good knowledge about the college. Including information about various majors, academic programs, the composition of the student body, and the housing options available.
Alumni:
An alumnus or alumna of a college will likely keep the interview relatively informal. But sometimes these interviews can feel a bit more formal to the student, depending on where the interview takes place. And different alumni may have somewhat different ideas about how to structure the interview. But generally, they are pretty relaxed conversations.
However, alumni can sometimes be the most sensitive to a student’s appearance and language. This is especially true of older alumni. Who may not have very much contact with young people on a regular basis? An alumnus or alumna has very little influence over the ultimate admissions decision.
Their only job is to complete a form describing their impressions of the candidate. And to send it to the admissions office. Where it carries relatively little weight in comparison to your transcript, test scores, and teacher recommendations. Moreover, the alumnus or alumna interviewing you has absolutely no prior access to information about you.
Usually, all they know is your contact information and the school you attend. Thus you have an opportunity to explain your involvement and highlight your academic strengths in the interview. You won’t likely have to say too much about your grades or test scores. On a final note, alumni may not be the best sources of information about the college, especially if they graduated ten or more years previously. And what knowledge they do have is limited to their own, unique experience on that campus.
Current Students:
Many admissions offices hire and train a group of “ambassadors” to interview prospective students. Often this is because the volume of prospective applicants who want interviews is greater than the capacity of the staff to offer them. Students can often be excellent interviewers, and they have been schooled in asking appropriate questions and helping applicants feel relaxed.
These ambassadors do not have a direct influence on the admissions decisions, but if they really like (or dislike) an applicant, their opinions can sometimes make a difference. Ambassadors generally do write up a report of the interview, often following a prescribed template. One good thing to know, however, is that student interviewers are not likely to be too sensitive about your appearance or your language (unless you are a complete slob and speak in gibberish), and the tone of the interview is likely to be very relaxed.
The student interviewer might know a few things about you prior to the interview if you have already submitted an application. But they generally do not have access to your entire admissions file. One good thing about a student interview is that you can likely get the low-down on the campus vibe and social scene at the college because these ambassadors are current students.
However, do keep in mind that the one student you meet in the interview does not represent every individual on the campus. Try not to generalize your impressions of this one person–positively or negatively–and ascribe those impressions to the entire student body.
How to Prepare for the Different Types of College Admissions Interviews
Not matter which types of college admissions interviews you may encounter on the road to college, you need to be prepared. The best way to be fully prepared is to think through the sorts of questions you might be asked in each interview, and to plan responses for those questions. Additionally, you want to be very clear about the topics and messages that you want to transmit to the interviewer.
The best way to get a full sense of how to prepare for the different types of college admissions interviews is to consult our comprehensive E-book on the topic: Nailing the College Admissions Interview. This is a free resource that provides comprehensive guidance on how to prepare. Learn how to craft your “elevator pitch,’ how to prepare for different kinds of questions you might be asked, and how to come up with your own questions to ask the different kinds of interviewers you will encounter.
Get your free copy and you’ll be well on your way to nailing all the different types of college admissions interviews. Good luck!
Mark Montgomery
Educational Consultant
