Tips on how to excel in a college interview

College is viewed as an important pathway to build up our future careers. Through extracurriculars, volunteering, opportunities, and internships, students constantly take part in various activities in order to improve their chances of getting into college. People often try to impress colleges by signing up for interviews in which they can stand out from everyone else who is applying.

“The interview is not meant to make or break your application; it’s just to make sure you are a real person. The only thing people should be cautious of is trying too hard. If you answer the way you think they want to hear it, then they will see right through you,” senior Sara Johnson said.

College interviews are not as difficult as many people perceive them to be because the environment throughout the whole event is casual. In order to understand how the interviewee acts on a daily basis, so the interviewer tends to make the environment comfortable by meeting up at places such as Starbucks.

Interviews are often portrayed as nerve-wracking events that will decide whether or not you attend the college; but, in reality, the most important thing is to know yourself beforehand and understand exactly what you want.

“During the interview, it really shouldn’t seem like an interview. It should be a conversation. Never have awkward silences. In all of my interviews, I ended up carrying conversations and asking them a lot of questions about their own experience. Befriend them. You want to walk out feeling like you made a new friend,” senior Kimberly Saavedra Gonzalez said.

In addition, the questions are directed towards helping the college find out more about the interviewee, as well as if their college is best for them. The questions are easy to answer as long as you understand your future goals in life and why that college is meant for you.

Although creating a basic idea of what you want to say in the interview can help calm your nerves, it is important to remember that you can be put on the spot with an unexpected question from the interviewer.

However, remember that everything in the interview is directed towards you, therefore the best you can do is understand what you want and how that college can help you achieve your goals. In other words, the interview is not based on how well you impress the interviewer; it is based on your confidence and understanding about yourself.

“You shouldn’t worry about it because the interview is about yourself, so as long as you know yourself, you should be able to do a college interview,” senior Sebastian Gold said.