When you go for a college interview, you want to not only make sure you are on your A-game, you also want to make sure you are completely prepared and confident.
College interviews can be tough. If you aren’t prepared, you may not nail it. Also, preparation breeds confidence, which you will need a big dose of when you are sitting in front of a college admissions officer. The truth is that a college admissions officer or representative is looking for something very specific, so you want to be sure that meet that expectation.
However, it is very important to not be intimidated. The golden rule in these situations is to try to relax and be yourself. Here are some ways to crush your college interviews.
Get Plenty of Sleep
Before you go on a college interview, you want to be sure that you get a full night of sleep. If you don’t get enough sleep, you will be miserable the morning of your big interview. Sleep will help you reset and recharge, so that when you are in the interview, you are completely focused. When you are tired, you may not be answering as concisely and persuasively as you should be.
Be Confident Even if You Have to Fake it
If you have some social awkwardness, you want to be sure that you fake your confidence, because confidence will really help you crush your college admissions interview. If you are or don’t seem like you can answer basic questions, it will reflect badly on your application. Of course, you don’t want to force confidence, but you do want to sit up straight, project your voice and you want to smile a lot. This will help the college admissions officer know that you are serious and motivated to get into the college.
Prepare
Being prepared could mean something different to everyone. However, at a minimum it means that you need to put in order and bring any paperwork you need. When you sit down for the interview, you want all of your application pages stacked up neatly and you want your transcripts tucked away crisply in a folder. The last thing you want is to arrive at your interview not prepared – it will cast you as irresponsible, which is the last thing that a college wants in its new students.
Do Your Research
On top of getting a full night of sleep, you also want to do your research about the college. For instance, if you are interested in getting USC’s library science degree, you may want to explore the library and learn about its history. College admissions officers respond well when a student has done his or her research and can talk about various topics about the school during the interview. Plus, it makes you look like a much more willing applicant.
Dress the Part
When you go on your interview, you want to dress like a college student and not like a high school student. You need to look like you are ready to take on the challenges of college. In the end, this means you want to bring semiformal clothing – just like you would on a job interview.
