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5 Things College Interviewers Wish You Knew

3/30/2017

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to interview two IVY League graduates who perform interviews for prospective students. They do this voluntarily for their alma mater, Brown University.

I asked them what they wish students knew when preparing for their interview, and they were both forthcoming with information that will help you understand the interview process better.

Their answers might surprise you!

They want to recommend you.

Do you want to know what both interviewers I spoke with had in common?

Out of the several dozen interviews they’ve held over the years, neither of them had ever declined to recommend a student to their university.

Although they admitted that there were a few candidates whom they didn’t recommend as strongly, they promised that this was a rare occasion. Where did these candidates go wrong? “They didn’t know basic things about the school, and it showed me they weren’t invested in finding out if our school was the best fit for them,” said one interviewer.

College interviewers want you to do well, and they will likely give you many opportunities to bring your best self forward. They’re on your side. And, it’s nice for them when someone they interviewed gets accepted.

       2.    The process is unforgiving and isn’t personal.

Both interviewers I spoke with described the admissions process as “unforgiving.”

If they were clear on one thing it was this: it’s a numbers game. “If 30,000 students are interviewed, 10,000 might fit in perfectly at our school, and there may be room to accept only 2,000,” said one of the IVY league interviewers.

Therefore, they stressed that applicants should not take a rejection letter from a highly selective school personally. It doesn’t mean that you wouldn’t perform well there, and it certainly doesn’t mean you received a bad review from your interviewer. What it means is that the numbers simply didn’t work in your favor.

       3.     Their first impression of you isn’t on the interview

When I asked one interviewer about her biggest interview pet peeve, she was quick to reply with “a lack of response to my emails.”

If the interviewer sends you an email to set up your interview, then consider that your first chance to make a good impression.

Respond promptly to the interviewer’s emails to show that you respect her time. Your language may be casual and friendly, but the overall look of your email should be professional. Double check your email before you send it.

Be sure to use an email address that you check frequently. An interviewer should never have to spend time trying to get in contact with you.

        4.     You should be authentic instead of impressive.

At certain universities, interviewers are given prompts to ask applicants on the interview, and they are trained to look for certain qualities. For example, they might be asked to look for joy, curiosity, or integrity. The interviewers are looking for qualities in you that match the vibe at their school.

One interviewer said she wished students didn’t try so hard on the interview because it often comes across as insincere and forced. The rest of your application serves as your way to impress admissions officers. Your interview is a chance for the college to see your character.

The best way to perform well on an interview is to be true to your character--be authentic; this is how the interviewer will be able to determine if you fit. Answer the prompts honestly. The interviewers know how to read between the lines to see the qualities they are looking for.

       5.      You should also interview them.

Words of advice: get your interviewer to talk.

Both IVY League interviewers said their best interviews were ones where the prospective student also interviewed them.

“I want the student to show me that he is also looking for a good fit for him,” said one interviewer.

While the goal of the interview is for the interviewer to determine if you are a good fit for their school’s community, they also want to know that you are looking for the same thing.

Come prepared to the interview with questions you’d really like to know about the graduate’s experience at the school. If you do get in, your interviewer’s answers might help you make the right decision about whether or not you’d like to attend!

Have you had success with these strategies on an interview? If so, we’d love to hear about it! E-mail Jackie at info@thecollegeessaycaptain.com or the LAC team at info@leonardandrew.com.

Written by Jaclyn Corley, founder of The College Essay Captain, a private tutoring company that develops online courses and runs workshops for the writing components of college admissions. The company is a tremendous resource for students, and Jaclyn has made it her mission to inspire people to tell empowering stories. The College Essay Captain now offers a free online mini-course that teaches students how to write their admission and scholarship essays by focusing on the science of success and the art of writing. The College Essay Course is available at thecollegeessaycourse.com/overview.

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The #1 Trick Guaranteed to Boost Your Confidence on a College Interview

3/13/2017

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When I was a year out of graduate school, I was substitute teaching full-time. I also waitressed a few nights a week at a restaurant and was a hostess and cashier on the weekends. In addition, I worked another 15 hours a week for a social media company, and I did freelance journalism in my “free time.” Man, was I exhausted, and praying to the student-loan-forgiveness fairies didn’t make my loans disappear.

So, when I landed an interview for a teaching job that paid more than my 5 jobs combined for about a quarter of the amount of hours, I promised myself that there was no way I was leaving the interview without that job.

But, how exactly did I plan to do this?

I had no idea.

All the advice I read online about interviews basically said the same thing: prepare. They also said the best way to prepare was to answer practice questions until I became comfortable, to know the interviewer’s name and position, and to research the school and how I’d fit in there.

I saw a big flaw in this logic: what would I do if they asked me a question I didn’t know how to answer? What would I do if I got flustered? What if I forgot the brilliant answer I had prepared? What if I forgot the interviewer’s name? What if...the list my brain came up with was endless with worst-case scenarios. Thanks brain.

That got me thinking.

If the problem was letting my nerves get the best of me, then the solution was feeling more confident. How could I feel more confident on my interview in face of the potential issues that could arise?

Then, I had an epiphany.

I was going to beat my anxiety at its own game.

And, I did.

I walked into the interview with the odds stacked against me: I had the least experience of all the candidates, I’d be teaching students just 5 years younger than me, and the position was at a religious school for a religion I didn’t belong to nor knew much about its customs.

Three people interviewed me that day, and I left with the job.

I was called back for a follow up meeting because the principal wanted to discuss what I had done differently on my interview that left him so impressed.

I’m going to share what I did for the interview and how you can do it for your college interview.

It’s so simple, it may seem ridiculous.

So, what’s my #1 interview trick?

Are you ready?

I brought a binder.

Yeah, that’s really all I did.

More specifically, I brought a binder filled with everything that could possibly make me feel more confident on my interview.

For the teaching job, I included copies of my resume, letters of recommendation, my transcripts, and I printed out my teaching philosophy, favorite lesson plans, and student data. I included the research I had done on the school and wrote down the names of those who would be interviewing me. Then, I neatly organized the binder.

I owed the next 4 years of my career to this binder.

Let me explain why this worked.

First, I answered the question, “what will make me feel more confident during the interview?” I decided that having evidence to back up anything I said (lesson plans/student data) would do, so I spent some time looking through my documents. This ended up having the effect that I was familiar with my teaching documents; I knew what my student data showed, and I remembered what my lesson plans were because I had revisited them a week before the interview. They were fresh in my mind.

When the interviewer asked me how I’d teach a particular lesson, I went to my binder and said, “here’s what worked for me before,” and I’d make a comparison between what he had asked and what evidence I had to show him. When he asked me how I’d handle a specific behavioral issue, I remember what I had included in my teaching philosophy about applying mutual respect to situations. Having it in binder proved to my interviewer that I had already given this question some thought before: I was prepared.

Second, I knew I’d feel more confident having my resume with me as a reference, and I’d have extra copies so the interviewer could ask me questions on that too. I had my research of the school in the binder; I could reference it right before the interview and have it fresh in my mind. I also included a list of questions I had about the school and the position because to date, I have never been on an interview where I wasn’t asked, “do you have any questions?”

Third, and here’s what really helped me: the binder allowed me to stall gracefully. There were a few questions the interviewer asked that I didn’t have an immediate response to, so I said, “I think I have an example of that in here,” which would give me a moment to think as I flipped through. The interviewer watched as I flipped through this neat binder that revealed just how much I had prepared for this interview. I saw him nod his head in approval as I “searched.” I was able to collect my thoughts and leave a good impression. Once I had the answer in my head, I could easily say, “Perhaps I’m thinking of a different document, so to answer your question…”

For a college interview, you can use this strategy too.

Here’s how:

Create a binder with all your research: articles about the school, statistics, reviews, brochures, notes you took at a college fair, questions you have about the school, and lists of your favorite course names.

Set aside a reasonable amount of time to organize your binder and gather information about the school and the interviewer. Put a few copies of your activity list/resume in there. Put in letters of recommendation that people outside of your school have written for you (if you have any). If you’re creative, make a collage of cutouts from the brochures. Consider including an “About Me” section where you outline who you are, what you value, what you want to do with your life (or the type of person you want to be), and why education is important to you. It’s likely that a “tell us about yourself” question will come up, and if you’ve already written this out, you’re ahead of the game.

Creating a binder before an interview is like making a cheat sheet for a test. The act of creating the cheat sheet is your review; you’re more likely to recall the information that you wrote down just as you’re more likely to remember the reasons why you’re interested in the school or the questions you want to ask.

You don’t even need to bring the binder into the interview with you: the act of creating it will naturally make you feel more confident. If you do bring the binder with you, think of it as an added support for you to lean on only if you need to instead of using it as a crutch and burying yourself in it for the entire interview.

The simple act of having created a binder separates you from the competition. It reveals a lot of positive character traits that will be beneficial for a college student: you’re organized, prepared, you research, you ask questions, and you put in the work.

Lastly, the biggest confidence boost should be this: the interviewer wants you to do well. They’re rooting for you! We all are!

Have you had success with this strategy on an interview? If so, we’d love to hear about it! E-mail Jackie at info@thecollegeessaycaptain.com or the LAC team at info@leonardandrew.com.

Written by Jaclyn Corley, founder of The College Essay Captain, a private tutoring company that develops online courses and runs workshops for the writing components of college admissions. The company is a tremendous resource for students, and Jaclyn has made it her mission to inspire people to tell empowering stories. The College Essay Captain now offers a free online mini-course that teaches students how to write their admission and scholarship essays by focusing on the science of success and the art of writing. The College Essay Course is available at thecollegeessaycourse.com/overview.

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What Will a College Coach Ask Me Over the Phone?

3/7/2017

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A number of student-athletes and their families reach out to us asking what to expect when a college coach calls – what will the questions be? How will the conversation go?

First, realize that the timeline for when a college coach can reach out to a prospective student-athlete via phone will defer not only for each sport, but also for each level (NCAA D1 vs. D3, for example).

Below are some of the core questions that you may get from a coach once you have connected with him or her on the phone. Establishing this communication – and relationship – as early as possible in the recruiting process is a key to overall success.

The questions in no particular order (and remember that they can and will ask variations of these):

What do you feel are the strongest parts of your game? What areas are you working to develop?

How are you preparing for next season? What is your training regimen?

What goals do you have for your next season? For when you get to college?

Do you believe that you can play at our school/program? Why?

How are you in academically in school? What are your grades? GPA? ACT/SAT scores?

What is your favorite subject? Do you know what you'd potentially like to major in? What are you passionate about (besides the sport!)?

What other schools/programs are recruiting you?

Do you have any questions to ask me?

Review and consider how you’d potentially respond! We often help student-athletes review best practices when it comes to conversations such as these – running mock interviews so that players know not only the questions coming their way, but how to best answer them!

With any of your own inquiries about the interview, about the recruiting process as a whole, or even to sign up for one of our mock interviews, do not hesitate to reach out to us via email at recruiting@leonardandrew.com.

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5 Things College Interviewers Wish You Knew

The #1 Trick Guaranteed to Boost Your Confidence on a College Interview

What Will a College Coach Ask Me Over the Phone?

Chad Dorman

Jaclyn Corley

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