Crushing Your College Interviews

Webinar Transcription

2023-12-14 – Crushing Your College Interviews

Stacey: Hi everyone, my name is Stacey Tuttle and I am your moderator today. Welcome to, “Crushing Your College Interviews.” To orient everyone with the webinar timing, we’ll start off with a presentation and then answer your questions in a live Q&A. On the sidebar, you can download our slides and you can start submitting questions in the Q&A tab.

Without further ado, let’s meet our panelists. Over to you, Lily, for An introduction.

Lily: Yeah, thanks so much Stacey. Hi, everyone. My name is Lily Xu. I’m really excited to meet you guys and talk to you as more about college interviews just to give you guys some background about myself. I graduated from Washington, St.

Louis. in 2020 with degrees in biomedical engineering and computational biology. Um, while I was there at Wash U, I was part of the campus interview team, so I got to see the other side of college interviews, which was really exciting for me. Um, and then since then, I’ve started my PhD in microbiology at Stanford University, and then at CollegeAdvisor, I’m also part of our interview team here, where we work with, uh, different students, and we prepare you for your specific, your school specific college interviews.

That’s

Stacey: amazing. Um, so now let’s get to know all of you in the room. What grade are you in? You’re going to see that poll pop up right in front of you. So 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th grade, seniors, uh, and then other for those of you who might be here, parents supporting your students or perhaps your post grad, whatever category you fall into, let us know.

Um, and Lily, the most obvious question off the top of my head is, did you interview? Uh, for your undergrad institution when you were applying.

Lily: Yeah, I totally did. Um, it was, I think maybe like my first or second college interview at the time, so I was super nervous about it. Um, but yeah, I feel like I was really cool, like just learning about the WashU interview first as an interviewee and then as an interviewer later on.

Um, yeah. Yeah, I thought it was a great experience for both, but definitely a little bit easier on on the interviewer side.

Stacey: The pressure’s off, right? Um, I also, I was telling you earlier, I also interviewed. For my undergraduate institution, and it’s definitely an interacting experience. So I’m excited to get some key tips from you, as I’m sure everybody in the room is today.

So just looking at the poll results, it looks like most folks in the room are seniors or fall into this other category. So perhaps you are supporting a student through the process. Welcome. Um, and I’m going to turn it over to Lily now to start off the presentation, Lily, over to you.

Lily: All right. Yeah. So I guess first off, um, students always ask, you know, what is the purpose of your college interview?

What is your interview going to look at from the outset? Um when you think about college interviews, it’s going to be a place where you can learn so much more about the school Um, that’s usually because you’re going to get interviewed by someone who is really closely tied to your to the university So whether they’re a current student or an alum or if they’re on the admissions committee or if they’re a dean for students And then on the flip side the school also definitely wants to know who you are beyond You know what you’ve submitted in your essays beyond your grades and your stats They really want to get to know who you are and what your personality is like.

Um, and so, from that, um, I guess, when you look into how college interviews will play, um, into your application process, it’s also a really great way for you to show your demonstrated interest. And so, uh, one way that you can try to set yourself apart from other students is to show how interested you are in this school.

And so, for any schools that, um, are some of your top schools or even your first choice school, I would definitely recommend taking the opportunity to interview if you’re able to. Um, sometimes this is going to be within your control where you can go on the school’s website, you can request an interview, whether that’s in person or virtual, and sometimes you have to just wait, um, for the college to contact you, and each school will have a different process for how they choose their interviewees.

Um, in terms of, you know, can your college interview hurt your application in any way, I would say for the most part, as long as you, you know, try your best in the interview, usually it’s not going to have a negative on your application. Um, I would say the main times where your interview could be hurting you is if If you have something that really doesn’t line up with your application or if you say something really out of line or, um, you know, inappropriate, um, those are really the times where your interview will end up hurting you, um, but I would say for the most part your interview will be something that will, um, supplement and really enhance your application just because the school gets to know so much more about you.

Um, in terms of preparation, um, Um, I would say definitely do your research before you go in. Um, some things that, you know, there are always a few common questions, which I’ll talk about in some later slides, um, that will tell you more about just, like, you showing the school that you’ve done your research about the school, that you are really interested in them, and, um, there are just a few general questions that will, will be pretty common, like, you know, why do you want to go to that school in the first place?

Um, for places to look at, um, I would say, um, if you’re able to visit the college, that’s going to be a really great place to get more information in person where you can talk to current students and usually, um, different, you know, tour guides or, um, students who are representing the school will have a lot more information about the school and they’ll know answers to a lot of frequently asked questions.

But also in case you aren’t able to visit, um, you can definitely also research the school online. Um, I always start personally with the school’s website. And that’s it. Um, and I usually do a general overview of what info they have about just the school itself. So in terms of information about what majors you can pursue or what extracurriculars you can, um, be a part of.

But then I also look to see if the school has a specific page about how to conduct the interview. Um, I would say school websites usually have pretty good information. Some of them will even give you like practice questions or give you a gauge of how formal the interview process might be. But then outside of school websites, if you can’t find any of that information, I would also just check some online forums and just see what other people have experienced in the past when it comes to see how long the interview will be.

Or is the, are the questions going to be more challenging? Are they going to be more exploratory? Um, usually from the school website, I also just check whether or not you should plan to prepare a resume. Um, usually whenever, um, I help prepare students for their college interviews, I also make sure that they have a resume ready at hand.

Um, a lot of the times your interviewers don’t, you know, typically ask you for a resume anymore just because they either have your application or they just want to get to know your personality outside of, you know, how you are on paper. Um, but I think it’s still something that can be really handy to have in case, um, your interviewer wants a quick rundown of all of your extracurriculars or the things that you’re involved in.

Um, going back to researching the school. Um, I would say these, uh, the points that I have on the bullets are some of the key things that I would look for. Um, and also when you’re looking for things like, you know, majors, um, courses, clubs, I would also look for things that are going to be specific to that, that college.

So say if you are interested in majoring in chemistry, um, and you want to look at what kind of courses, um, that school specifically has in chemistry, maybe you’ll look at some specific electives within chem. So maybe you’re really interested in synthesizing compounds, you want to look for courses in that.

That’ll give you a little bit more specificity than if you look for just, you know, every school’s general chemistry class. Um, and so I would try to look for details that that specific college can offer you. And I would say the more schools that you end up researching, the more you’ll find these different, like, these differences between the schools.

Where you can really pick out those details that help each school stand out. Um, along with that, um, part of the research process, I would also just research your interviewer really quickly. Um, you don’t need to do, you know, a deep dive in the internet and learn everything about them. I would say the key pieces of information that I usually look for here are, what did your interviewer major in?

Um, and that’s just to see if they majored in something really similar or something completely different from what you majored in. And then also, how recently did they graduate? Um, I’m, I’m, I graduated back in 2020 and I would say, even now, it’s You know, only been a few years, um, but there are some details that I can’t remember super clearly anymore, even as a more recent college grad.

And so I would say graduation year can really help you gauge what kinds of questions you might want to ask your interviewer. So for instance, maybe for an older alum, you won’t ask them something like, what was your, you know, favorite coffee drink at the coffee shop around, like next to campus, just because they might not remember that anymore.

Um, and even some questions like, you know, who is your favorite professor or what was your favorite class? Those details can definitely get hazy maybe after you’ve graduated, like. 10 years ago or so. And so, um, I would say for really recent alums or, you know, current students, I feel like most questions are going to be pretty fair game where you can ask them things about their favorite classes or what clubs, um, are, are they’re currently involved in what kind of, um, topics are really, um, yeah, what, what topics are really prevalent across campus.

But then I would say for some older alums, I’d recommend questions maybe related to their career or about the alumni network at the school, just because those are some questions that they’ll be in a better place to answer at that point.

Right with it, I think we have our 2nd poll.

Stacey: Yes, thank you. Sorry. It always takes a minute for my camera to come back on. Um, so you’re going to see a 2nd poll up here in front of you. Now. Um, it actually looks like, unfortunately, Lily, this. Question didn’t. With the polling process. So I’m gonna have everybody in the room all this over for a moment.

Have you ever completed an interview? Um, are you currently in the process preparing for one? Have you not done one at all? Or yes, have you completed some? And this includes those of you who might be supporting your students. Have you actually gone through the interview process? Right? Um, and think about where you are right now and what resources you’re really looking for.

Hoping to get from the rest of the presentation today. And so Lily, during your application process, did you complete many interviews or was it primarily just the one of your top choice?

Lily: Yeah, I think I didn’t do a ton, but I also just tried to take every opportunity to interview that I could. Um, I would say a lot of the schools that I applied to, it was more the situation where they choose you for interviewing.

And then I think a lot of that will depend on just, you know, how many applicants there are from your area. And just how, how much time, you know, does the alumni network or people who are interviewing, how much time do they have to interview current students?

Stacey: Yeah, I totally agree. And the landscape is so I was telling you this earlier so different than when you and I were applying even a short time ago.

So I’m definitely interested to hear more from your perspective about the different types of interviews and different approaches. Approaches to those. So let’s get back to the main part of the presentation. I’ll turn it back over to you.

Lily: Thanks, Stacey Um, so with that I have a bunch of different example questions And these are questions that you can use to prepare for the interview process I break these down to different categories starting from you know Going from questions that should be a little bit easier for you to answer going to some of the more challenging ones Um, I would say this list of questions are very very common interview questions where they should be totally fair game You for someone to ask you and they should also be on the easier side for questions that, um, you’re able to answer just because they’re really just about you, the things that you’ve been doing in the past three or four years or so.

Um, starting off with the first question, I feel like a lot of interviews will start off by just asking, tell me about yourself. Um, out of this list, I would say this is just a little bit trickier of a question. Um, especially if you haven’t done some practice about how you’re going to put together this answer.

Um, when it comes to me about yourself, I usually look for a few different things. You know, obviously tell them your name, tell them, you know, what year you are in high school. Um, and then usually I try to list a few things like, say, if you know what you want to major in, you can definitely talk about that.

Um, if you don’t, that’s also totally fine. You can talk about what general interests you have. And then I usually try to list anywhere from two to four different topics, um, where you talk about any kinds of extracurriculars you’re involved in or any things that you’re really passionate about. Um, leaving enough detail to talk about those activities where they can figure out what you’re talking about but not so much detail where, you know, they don’t have any time for follow up questions.

Um, I would say for your tell me about yourself, um, answer, this is one where I would definitely practice a few times but not over practice it. Cause you also don’t want it to sound like your answer is completely rehearsed just because it’s like you sort of know what, um, answer, what question you’ll get at the very beginning.

Um, I would say the tell me about yourself, um, question and answer is also really important just because, um, the interview really starts at that point and so any things that you talk about in your answer here can definitely be, um, follow up questions for the second question that you’ll get. And so for me, from the interviewer’s side, I always listen really carefully to what students say, um, and what, you know, is really important to them when they talk, when they tell me about themselves and then usually I’ll maybe, you know, pick up on any kinds of activities or interests that they might have.

Maybe sometimes I’ll ask a follow up about, you know, why they wanted to major in a certain topic or, you know, how involved they are in a certain activity. And sometimes if I just hear an activity that I’m also part of or that I’m really interested in, um, I’ll just ask some follow up questions there and that will really shape the direction of the interview.

Um, along with that, um, there are additional questions like, you know, more things about your high school or your course load, um, more about academics. Um, these are definitely questions that I would, um, just, you know, take some time to, to skim over and make sure that you do have an answer for all of these.

Um, I would say for, you know, what classes you’re taking, definitely be able to do a quick rundown of your classes that year. Um, I remember in, I think my very first interview, I had this question and I completely forgot one of my classes and it caused me to stumble a little bit as I suddenly remembered, Oh my God, I forgot to talk about like the physics course that I was taking that year.

Um, and so I would just do a quick rundown of that just so you can make sure you remember it. Um, afterwards, um, there was also just some general questions about, you know, what kind of activities, um, you’re a part of. And I would say for this, throughout your interview, um, try to talk about a mix of different extracurriculars.

And so you can talk about things that are extracurriculars that are more academic, extracurriculars that, you know, you do for fun, different athletics, different musical activities that you do. Um, I would try to talk about a different variety of things, um, cause your interview will also help show that, um, you aren’t just a person who wants to go to that college to major in something, you also want to be part of the college community, and also just enjoy college.

Um, I would say from this list there are also just a few questions so I want to point out the what’s your favorite slash least favorite class and then also what are your strengths and weaknesses. I would sort of put these in similar categories just because These questions have to do with something that’s a little bit more negative.

And so when someone asks you what’s your least favorite class or what is your weakness? People always ask how do I approach this question? The trick here is instead of you know, just saying oh my god, I hate history and just stopping say oh my god I procrastinate so much. You really want to turn your answer into something that you know It does answer the question at the beginning, but then turns it into a positive And so for that, you can talk a lot about your upward journey, or talk about some of the positive elements that go with your answer.

So say, for the least favorite class question, you’ll say, Oh, you know, history really is a more difficult class for me, but, um, I’ve been working on it a lot by, you know, doing extra practice problems, or, you know, doing some extra readings, or getting peer tutoring if I’m really struggling, and really talking about what your upwards journey has been and how you’ve addressed that class maybe being your, you know, not, just not being your favorite.

All right. Um, and then same thing for the weaknesses, um, answer, say if procrastination is your weakness, you’ll talk a little bit more about what you’ve done to address it. Maybe you, um, make sure you study with the Pomodoro Method, or you have study buddies who will really make sure that you are studying and not just, you know, doing other things.

Um, and so that way you can talk a little bit more about how you’re addressing these negatives, and really turn that answer into something that’s positive while still actually answering the question. Um, alright, there’s another whole category of questions where instead of, um, these, um, Answers being about year, they’re going to be about what you know about the school

Stacey: and

Lily: also just about, you know, what interest level you have.

And so I put all of these in another category and then wherever it says, you know, college in brackets, you can really swap this out for any of the colleges that you might be interviewing for. Um, I would say the first one, um, how did you first learn about this school? Um, this is something that I would sometimes ask, but more to gauge, um, what kind of connections you might have to the school.

Or, um, what kind of, you know, interest you might have shown already. Um, this is also a great place where, in your answer, if you, um, you know, say you have any kind of family connections to the school, or if you visited recently, um, or you’ve just been doing a ton of research about the school, this is a great way to talk about your own demonstrated interest here.

Um, after that, I feel like there are a lot of, it’s, it’s gonna be pretty common for the interviewer to ask you why you want to go to that school specifically. Okay. Great. Um, for here, I usually like to break down my question, my sorry, my answer into multiple parts. Um, just because there could be multiple reasons why you want to go to that school.

And if there are, you can definitely talk through all of them and really use that to supplement your answer. Um, in this case, um, I feel like a lot of students will either be really interested in, you know, the academics of the school, they’ll be really interested in pursuing their major there. They might be really interested in the community there, they might be interested in things related to their career, so, say if your college is going to help you find summer internships, or help you find a job after college, or it could be all three, and I would say if you’re interested in the school because of multiple reasons, definitely talk about all of those.

Um, I would say those are just some common answers that I like to go off of when talking about why I chose a college. And I remember, for me specifically, when I was interviewing, um, I guess starting out as a Biomedical Engineering major, I was really interested in the college I ended up going to, Washington St.

Louis, just because of its research, uh, research rigor. Um, and that’s actually something that I do now. Um, okay, so along with that, um, so going, let’s say, to the fifth bullet, so what does this school offer you that another school cannot? Um, here, I guess you really want to make sure that you’ve done your research about the school.

Um, this is an area where, um, looking into the specific details about what that school can offer you are going to come in handy. Um, and so an example of this is, you know, say you want to, um, major in English, um, and you have been looking at English majors and really comparing the curriculums across different schools, but, you know, maybe freshman year, everyone’s really taking really, really similar courses across different colleges.

In this case, I like to look at things like what are the special perks that a college can offer you. And so maybe for your English major, there is a seminar series where there’s a speaker or a writer who comes into your school and talks to you about the major or talks about their own career. Or maybe there’s some kind of social every year where different students will give a presentation about a topic of their choice.

Um, I would look for these kinds of opportunities that are offered to people from the major that you’re interested in and then see if those are opportunities that are really just unique to that one school that you’re interested in. Or if it’s something that you can see across different schools. Um, with that I would just see basically what perks does that college offer you.

And then those are some of the things that I would talk about, when you talk about what that school can offer you compared to other schools. And that’ll not only show that you’ve done your research about the school, but it’ll also show that you’ll get really interested in the school as well. Um, alright, along with that, um, I would say for the second to last question on this list, so what, you know, extracurriculars are you thinking of joining?

Um, I would say this pairs really well with some of the questions from the previous slide, Where, um, you can always talk about wanting to continue some of your extracurriculars from high school and college. So say if you did ceramics as a class in undergrad, or sorry, in high school, you could be really interested in joining the pottery club in college.

Um, here I would just cross check and just make sure that the clubs that you’re really interested in actually do exist at the college. Um, that’ll make it a little bit easier to convey your interest here. And then you’re also totally, um, welcome to talk about new, uh, clubs that you want to join. And so say if you have zero theater experience, but you want to, uh, be one of the school plays in college, you can definitely totally talk about that as well.

Um, lastly, um, so usually at the end of the interview, your interviewer will ask you what questions you might have for them. Um, here I would definitely think of a few different questions. Um, this can really depend on maybe what your interviewer’s background is. So I know for me, usually if, um, as someone who’s applying as a STEM major, if my interviewer is also someone who majors in STEM, I might have other questions that are more specific to some of the STEM courses or to research if they’ve graduated pretty recently.

Um, otherwise, um, I really like to ask alumni just, you know, how is that school helps them, um, with their career now. Um, you know, whether or not they’re still in touch with the alumni network or also, you know, their college roommates from, um, when they’re in school. And then I would say when I was an interviewer, one of the most common questions I got was, what advice do you have for someone who is, you know, in your shoes right now?

So someone who is a high school senior applying to colleges. I mean, so that was a question I always liked getting. I feel like it’s, it’s a pretty nice one. Um, otherwise, a lot of students will pretty commonly ask, you know, why did you choose that school? Um, and it’s also a great way to hear about, you know, what.

someone who is a current student or alumni really highlights about that school.

All right. With that, I have a list of questions where I call them more challenging questions just because these are questions where, um, I feel like if you maybe haven’t thought about the answer, it’s going to be a little bit harder to think of your answer on the spot, but I would say it’s pretty common for interviewers to maybe have, you know, that one question that kind of just like takes you by surprise or stumps you.

I would say that if that happens, that’s totally normal. Um, I feel like even after preparing for so many interviews and coaching since interviews, There’s always been some kind of question where I’ve been totally taken aback, but then you really learn how to adapt and really craft stories, um, for your answers, no matter what the question is.

Um, for these, I would maybe just go through this list and use it as a way to practice, um, answering any kinds of surprising questions. Um, I would say one that can sometimes stump students a lot is the last question, where, um, if you get the question of what’s the last book you read, sometimes students will either completely blank, or sometimes, you know, you just, you know, You just don’t read as many books anymore just for fun because you’re reading so many books for school.

And so, I feel like, for these, it’s always nice to have, you know, something that you can talk about. It could be your favorite book, or, you know, you could think back to what, what is that, like, you know, the last book that you read last month or last year or so. Um, and so I would just take a look at this list of questions, do some brainstorming.

Um, and then, of course, if there are any, um, questions that seem really challenging to you, either from this list or from somewhere else, You can always put them in the Q&A, and I can give you some advice on how to handle them.

Alright, um, with that, um, this really leads into, um, the next slide, where, um, we talk about, you know, how do you actually either answer a question that’s gonna be more negative, or just a question that is really, really difficult. Um, I would say, first off, if you have a question where you’re completely blank, you know you definitely need more time, it’s totally okay to ask your interviewer for time.

Um, a lot of the times, like, your interviewer will know that it’s gonna be a harder question, Um, and you’re definitely, like, allowed time to collect your thoughts and put together your answer. Um, we talked a little bit already about turning these negatives into a positive. Um, I would say this definitely goes for any questions where you feel like the question is going to be more on the negative side, um, or just a question that’s going to be a little bit, um, harder to talk about.

And then I would say for any, um, questions where I’ve personally had a lot of trouble answering, I had a great bit of advice where someone told me, If you’re told to talk about a tree, you know nothing about the tree, tie a cow to the tree and talk about the cow. Um, so the way to interpret that is for me, I know there’s a lot of topics, especially when it comes to extracurriculars, that I know I can talk about really fluidly.

Um, and so for a lot of my clubs that I was a part of in high school, I could definitely, I had so many stories to tell about each one. And so sometimes if I would have a question that kind of caused me to blank, Um, if I knew I could maybe connect it to an activity that I was a part of, I would start off by talking a little bit about that activity, explaining it, explaining what my role in it was, before getting into a story that actually does answer the question.

And so, for an example of this, say if someone asks you, when was the last time that you failed? Maybe if, you know, I’m either deciding between a few different topics, or I just, you know, I haven’t really thought of something yet on the spot, but I know I’m going to talk about, say, something related to the math team.

I can start off by giving an intro about the math team, maybe how many students are in it, what’s the context that I’m talking about, um, what’s my role on the team, before I get into a story that talks more about the last time that I, that I had a failure.

Um, okay, so that was a lot about, I guess, preparing for interviews and what, what kind of questions you might get during the interview. But what happens after the interview itself? Um, definitely, so at the closing of your interview itself, it should always end with you thanking the interviewer for their time.

Um, and then afterwards, I always recommend sending a thank you email afterwards. And so I would say if you have like a Zoom interview, you can send it maybe, you know, an hour or so after your interview itself, but definitely send by the end of the day. And then if you end up having like an in person interview, I feel like a great place, a great time to actually send that email is, you know, whatever time it takes from you to get from the school or your interview location.

back home or like, or to your hotel room if you are, um, visiting that school on campus. So, um, and then again, try to send it by the end of the day. Um, here, um, these thank you emails, um, they aren’t going to be, you know, something that’s going to make or break your application, but, um, they can always be another way to show that you, you know, one, are courteous, um, but then also, um, still showing your continued interest, um, in the school itself.

And this can be a really, really, uh, quick email. I left an example here. Um, but you can really You know write it just to thank them and then just jog your interviewer’s memory a little bit about what topics you talked about And that’ll also just help remind your interviewer to fill out a write up if they have to do that afterwards

All right. Um, I guess towards the end of my advice for you guys. Um, just for um general advice I would say for in person interviews definitely arrive early, especially if you are visiting a college campus for your interview I feel like college campuses can be especially hard to navigate And so definitely take your time confirm your location once you’re there Um, for other in person interviews, so say if you’re meeting at a library or a coffee shop, also arrive early.

I feel like there’s always been stories where you’re having an interview and it’s at a Starbucks, and you get there and you realize that you’re at the wrong Starbucks. Um, and so definitely build in some time for just getting lost or, you know, maybe needing to change up the directions. Um, I would say for Zoom interviews, I would actually arrive almost exactly on time or a minute early.

Um, just because some people don’t have Zoom rooms or like Zoom waiting rooms, uh, set up. And so that’ll just help, um, make sure that your interview is gonna be on time without having, um, an early start. Um, along with that, um, so for the second bullet point here, um, I would also just prepare some small talk.

Um, usually, like, your interview isn’t gonna start, you know, with, you know, some going, Okay, now tell me about yourself. Usually it’s going to start with something where they ask, you know, how you’re doing. Maybe they’ll ask you how school’s been going, if you’re excited to be senior, and then especially now with the holidays coming, they could ask, you know, how, how, you know, what you’re going to do for the winter holidays, or if you’re interviewing, um, in 2024, what plans you have for the new year.

Um, and so I would definitely prepare for some of these, um, easier questions where they probably will never make it into your interview write up. But they’re really great, uh, time to set the tone and set the pace of your interview and really get things started before you get into the official interview questions.

Um, along with that, definitely remember to smile. Um, I feel like something that I always look for in interviewees, um, just to gauge how excited they are about their activities, is just whether they smile when they talk about them. Um, and I feel like, you know, you can definitely tell when someone is super passionate about something that they do just because they’re just all smiles when they tell a story about an activity that they love.

Lastly, I would say, I know interviews are really, really stressful. Um, it feels like, you know, your whole application’s on the line, but this really isn’t the case. Um, you can think about it as, you know, your interviewer as being someone who is on your side. Um, I remember for, like, my most stressful interview, Um, when I was applying, my interviewer at the end, she sat down and she was just like, Okay, what other stuff can you talk about?

Like, how can I really make your application shine as much as possible? And that’s when I really realized that my interviewer wasn’t here to, like, grill me or challenge me or, like, scare me. She was really there just to, like, try her best to, you know, enhance my application and, uh, make my interview something that would really help the admissions office, uh, make that final decision.

And so, yeah, I think with that, that’s the end of the advice that I have. I’ll turn it back over to you, Stacey, to start the Q&A.

Stacey: Thanks, Lily. That was fabulous. So that is the end of the presentation part of the webinar. I hope you all found that to be as helpful as I did. And remember that you can download the slides in the handouts tab.

Now we’re going to move on to the live Q&A. I’ll read through any questions you submit in the Q&A tab, and I’m going to paste them into the public chat so you can see them. And then read them out loud before Lily gives us an answer as a heads up. If your Q&A tab isn’t letting you submit questions, just double check that you join the webinar through the custom link in your email and not from the webinar landing page.

So with that, I’m very excited to get started with some questions. Um, I’d love Lily eventually to go over maybe How you would prepare for some of these more challenging question responses, but I first like to start with kind of more basic questions that I think might be at the top of some folks minds.

So, first and foremost, and I know I know you touched on this a little bit. Does everyone get an interview? And if you are not asked for an interview. Should you request one?

Lily: Yeah, I would say not everyone gets an interview. Part of this is just because schools aren’t able to interview everyone. Um, a lot of this is going to be more school specific where if you have a specific school in mind, you can definitely look up just like what percentage of students who apply versus students who are admitted, what percentage of those students are doing the interview process.

It’s definitely possible to get into a school if you haven’t interviewed at all happens all the time. Um, and so I would say it. Like, for most schools, I would just quickly check on their website. If you Google literally the school’s name and then interview, um, you’ll be able to find out if, um, the interview process is something that you have to initiate versus if it’s something where they have to contact you.

And then this, um, interview scheduling could happen before you submit your application. It could happen after you submit it. Um, and so there’s different just like stages where the interview could occur. Um, and then I would say if you don’t get an interview, don’t fret. And then I would say if you are really interested in that school especially and you’re able to interview, um, you know, either by scheduling yourself on the calendar on the school’s website or by reaching out to your regional admissions officer, um, definitely take the initiative to at least ask for the interview.

And the worst thing they say is, you know, is no.

Stacey: That’s great advice. Um, And you also answered another question I had for you, which is how do you request it? So, the best way to do that would be to contact, um, your regional admissions officer or check instructions on the website, like their FAQ page. Okay.

Yeah. Great. Um, would it be in this kind of goes back to what you were talking about earlier in terms of the types of questions you can ask in response. to what can I help answer, tell, what can I add for you after the interview, the major interview questions are over. Is it okay to ask more conversational questions?

And I know you said like, don’t ask them about their favorite coffee shop, but is it okay to ask more conversational questions versus more professional questions? How does that, how is that interpreted by the interviewer?

Lily: Yeah, I would say, I feel like you could definitely ask, you know, whatever you’re interested in, but I would definitely try to still aim to be professional.

Um, I know I’ve had interviews where students, we just really vibes like personality wise. We ended up realizing we watched the same TV shows. I would say those kinds of questions, you know, they’re definitely more on the fun side. Um, I would say make sure to answer, ask the questions where you want to find something out about the school first.

And then definitely if there’s time afterwards and if it seems like your interview is able to stay a little bit longer, feel free to ask some of those more fun questions. Um, I would say, you know, the interview, it’s, it’s supposed to feel like a conversation in the end. And so I feel like that’s just how conversations naturally are.

So feel free to, feel free to ask.

Stacey: I agree. And I think some of the best interviews that you’ll experience will be the ones that feel organic, like a conversation. Um, so absolutely, I totally agree with that. Can you talk a little bit more about, um, the timeline for interviews? When would you expect to be offered an interview if you’re going to be offered one?

Lily: Yeah, so this also is very school dependent, but I know from a CollegeAdvisor’s side, we can also just see like, how frequent different interviews are, like, just based on the current timeline. Um, Um, I would say there’s a lot of interview requests. It’s around January going into spring, um, and so a lot of this is going to be a little bit right after when you submit your regular decision applications, but then before they actually get evaluated and before early decisions come out, I would say that’s probably our peak interviews.

Um, but students can get interviews, you know, as early as October and also as late as like April. Um, so it really depends on the school and the program. Um, I would say for, you know, where we are right now in mid December, um, I would definitely check all of the schools that you’re applying to and just check, you know, what the interview timeline usually is.

Sometimes schools will even say that they’ll release interviews by a certain day or that they’ll get in contact by a certain day. And so you can maybe put those dates in your calendar and then reach out to your regional admissions officer if you haven’t heard by then. Um, but I would say a lot of interviews will be coming, um, probably in after the new year.

Stacey: Yeah, amazing. Yeah, and of course, you know, for those early decision, early action, early decision one, Students, um, are you seeing a lot of interviews for early action, early decision students these days, or is that not as common?

Lily: Yeah, we’re definitely seeing, um, interview requests coming in right now for like students who are either applying early, whether it’s binding or non binding.

Um, but I, I’d say, I feel like just not as many students are applying super early, especially if it’s binding these days. Um, so it really just depends on. Yeah, how many students are actually applying ED or versus EA and then initiating that process.

Stacey: That makes a lot of sense. And it’s interesting to hear that kind of difference in the volume of those early applications.

So, okay, in terms of logistically preparing, how do you figure out how you’re going to address? What’s the dress code for these sort of things?

Lily: Yeah, okay, so I feel like a lot of, so always check the school website, check what your interviewer is saying, um, and then I feel like a lot of places will say it’s either casual or it’s professional.

Like, I feel like it’s, it’s usually one of those two options. I would say when something says casual, what does this actually mean? I would look up business casual online, and you can usually see a bunch of examples for girls and guys. I mean, you can sort of use that as inspiration for how to dress. I would say for a lot of times for business casual, um, sometimes like what you wear to school is okay, but it depends really on what your school’s dress code is.

Things that I would usually wear as a girl, I would wear something like a nice blouse, just something that doesn’t have any kinds of distracting graphics, um, nothing with like huge logos on it. Basically try to avoid graphic tees, but wear a top that you’re going to be comfortable in, but that isn’t distracting.

Um, for guys, usually, you know, plain shirt, button downs are totally fine, but if it’s, if they say it’s casual, don’t come in wearing like a suit and blazer, um, that’s gonna be a little bit too formal. Um, pants, I usually just wear, you know, socks, khakis, I feel like, are, are usually a pretty safe bet. Um, and then, depending on how casual that interview is, sometimes you can wear jeans, but, you know, make sure that they’re not like ripped jeans or jeans that are, are really, you know, wacky in design, um, cause I think the biggest thing is you want to be comfortable but not have your outfit be distracting to the interviewer.

Um, on the flip side, if they say that it is a formal interview, that’s the case where, you know, you break out the blazer, maybe you borrow one from your parents or from a friend, if you don’t have your own, um, and you will, if you look up, you know, business formal, try to try to follow that example for what you’re wearing.

Stacey: Yeah, I think that’s all really great advice. This is a very tricky question, right? It’s really hard to answer. It’s very school and interview dependent, um, given the guidance that you’re getting on at the end of the day, if you’re concerned, you’re going not formal enough, go a little more formal. I think it’s always better to err on the formal side.

Um, then on the, the opposite end of the spectrum, um, but, you know, also be very wary of being overly dressed because that does not translate well either, as Lily was noting, um, my next question for you, and this is also a tricky question. In your opinion, what can a person do in an interview that would be, okay, this is not good, automatic no, red flag, immediately.

Is there anything like that in terms of, The answer is being provided in terms of the way the person is approaching the interview, anything that comes to mind.

Lily: Yeah, I would say in this case, I feel like the easiest thing that can happen by accident, uh, which, you know, it’s not taken super heavily, but sometimes you’re in an interview, you’re thinking well, and I’m saying, Schools, and you completely say a different school’s name for like the school that you’re interested in.

And I know this can sometimes happen if you’ve, maybe you’ve been traveling or you’ve just been zooming for your interviews and you know, maybe you’re really interested in Northeastern, but you say Northwestern or something like that. Um, I feel like sometimes that’s the interviewer. I will take it out that and be like, maybe they aren’t completely sure, you know, which school they’re interviewing for right now.

Um, and, but it definitely happens. I would say it’s maybe the most common thing that can happen by accident. Um, but because of that I would definitely do your research about the school and then make sure that. You know, when you talk with a school, you definitely know what school that you’re interviewing for.

Um, I would say outside of that, um, I would say sometimes, like, attitude can be something that could end up being a red flag, and this is more if you end up being really disrespectful to your interviewer, or if you just seem like you really hate this school or don’t really want to be here right now. I know sometimes this can happen if maybe there’s a conflict where a student’s parent wants them to apply to this school, but they don’t really want to, and, you know, sometimes that can show up in the interview itself.

Um, I would say outside of that, um, topics wise, at least from my side as the interviewer, I generally try to avoid topics that are prevalent in like politics or really controversial. And so sometimes if I have students who really want to talk about those topics, um, I might try to divert the conversation, but if they keep coming back to it, that can sometimes become a red flag, especially if they’re looking for something that’s like more of a controversial opinion or some kind of like reaction for me as the interviewer.

Um, I would say students also ask, um, you know, if you’re really involved in activism or politics just for your own extracurriculars, definitely feel free to talk about those. But I would say maybe don’t try to ask your interviewers opinions on certain situations, especially if you think they might be somewhat different, but you can definitely still talk about your own involvement in those areas, especially if that’s important to your application and important to who you are.

I would say those are probably some of the more red flag areas.

Stacey: Yeah, absolutely. I totally agree with you. And again, a harder question to answer because I think Sometimes that red flag is a very individual thing for the person in question, and so it will really vary from interview to interview. But I would say as long as you’re being genuine and putting your best foot forward, and you’re making sure that you are interviewing at the right school, right?

Yeah. You should be in good shape. So, is it appropriate? This is a simple question. Is it appropriate to ask, um, questions about campus life, campus living to your interviewer, even if they are an admissions officer or an alumni versus a current student?

Lily: Oh, yeah, for sure. Um, I would say, like, current students definitely know a lot about campus life because, you know, they’re, they’re students there right now.

Um, I feel like admissions officers definitely. Do you make an effort to, like, know, like, what are some of the popular clubs? What are the school traditions on campus? Like, if there’s a hot topic on campus, what’s that? Um, and then a lot of the times you ask them something that’s like really, really specific.

So say like you’re an architecture major and you really want to know about how hard it is to get, like, get into a specific design course. If they can’t answer that question, they might connect you to a current student who can. Um, and so I would say, try to ask questions that, you know, are about student life that aren’t just things that you can just find on the website online.

Um, where it, I totally understand, like you’ll, you’ll have so many questions about the school because you want to go there eventually. Um, I would say feel free to ask your questions, um, if it sort of seems like the person, um, who’s interviewing you doesn’t really have the capacity to answer those questions, maybe because it’s been super long since they graduated or just because they’re not like a current student and not involved in some of the things that you’re asking about.

Um, there’s definitely opportunities where you could also get connected with a current student to ask some follow up questions. Um, and so I would say if this is the case, maybe try to pivot some of your questions to be a little bit easier and then maybe feel out if there’s maybe going to be an opportunity where you could connect to a current student and maybe have your interviewer help make that connection for you.

Stacey: Awesome. Yeah, that’s great. That’s really great advice. And, um, I often find that this is an easy question to ask as well as you start to kind of wrap up the interview and really get to know, um, that person’s perspective on their time at the school. You know, what was valuable to them when they were there.

They are an alumni or current student. I think it’s just helpful for you in terms of learning more about the school. Um, practice interviews, practicing. Lily, what advice do you have? What are your top tips for preparing for the interview process and finding practice opportunities?

Lily: Yeah, I would say definitely try to do a mock interview if you can beforehand.

Um, I would say mock interviews. It’s always hard because like you need to have someone who sees the questions, but like you need to provide them with questions somehow. Yeah. Um, I would say you can definitely use any of the questions in these slides as practice and, you know, have your mock interviewer use those for inspiration.

And then also for a lot of schools, if you Google, say, like, the school’s name, interview questions, sometimes either you’ll see example questions from the school’s website, or you might see questions from various forums that you can try to piece together. Um, otherwise, at CollegeAdvisor, we also do mock interviews.

Um, and so if you are a student with us, you can request interview coaching where you’ll go through a strategy session about how to approach the interview and then do the mock interview afterwards and get feedback. Um, and so I would say whether, you know, you’re using CollegeAdvisor or doing your own setup for mock interviews, um, you know, say a sibling, your parents, even a teacher can help you with preparing that mock interview.

And I, I feel like usually a lot of times people are very open to wanting to help you with, you know, your, your college app preparation process. Um, so you don’t have anyone who can help you in the process. Other things that you can do are also compiling different questions and just either trying to practice those questions out loud by yourself.

Um, I know sometimes you can end up going through a lot of different questions though. So I know some people will also just write down a few bullet points or maybe write out some parts of their answers if they’re going to be harder, but sort of leave the rest, um, where they can really just sort of skim the question, acknowledge that they know how to answer it, and then move on for preparations.

Otherwise, I’ve also seen a bunch of other methods where sometimes people will make a voice recording of them answering the questions and listen back to it. But I know me personally, I don’t like listening to my own voice from recordings afterwards, I don’t really do that. And then you can also definitely use zoom as well for a video recording if you want to try that as well.

And so definitely a lot of options for preparing by yourself versus with someone else. But I would say for mock interviews, it’s really helpful to have someone else in person who can help you with those preparations.

Stacey: I completely agree. I think the video tool, in addition to doing at least one mock interview with another person to get that feedback is, it’s so valuable.

Um, so I do want to take a second to talk about some, um, opportunities here at CollegeAdvisors. So, CollegeAdvisors team of over 300 former admissions officers and admissions experts, like, Lily and myself are ready to help you and your family navigate the college admissions process in one on one advising sessions.

We’ve already helped over 6,000 clients in their college journeys, and after analyzing our data since 2021, we have found that CollegeAdvisor students are 3.6 times more likely to get into Stanford University, 4.1 times more likely to get into Vanderbilt University, and 2.7 times more likely to get into Harvard University.

So increase your odds and take the next step in your college admissions journey by signing up for a free 45 to 60 minutes strategy session with an admission specialist on our team using the QR code on the screen here. It’ll also stay on the next slide. So you’ll have opportunity to scan that when you’re ready.

During that meeting, we’ll review your current extracurricular list and application strategy, discuss how those align with your college list, and outline the tools you need to. Stand out in a competitive admissions world, including during the interview process. Right? Um, so with that, let’s get back to the Q and a, um, I want to talk a little bit more about interviews in specific circumstances that are not just completely relevant to the application.

So, the 1st situation would be, if you are interviewing for a particular scholarship, you’ve already been admitted. Is there, are there any differences in your tips and approach to the interview process in that case?

Lily: Yeah, so this is one of those cases where do as much reading as you can about like the scholarship and what that interview process is going to be like.

Um, I would say one big difference that I sometimes see is for your general admissions interviews. You have things called open book versus closed book interviews. I would say a lot of more general interviews. A lot of these are going to be closed book. Yeah, it’s the one where they haven’t seen your application materials in advance where you can really talk about anything that you’ve already written about in your essays.

Yeah. Um, and it’s like totally okay to overlap topics, but then sometimes for your scholarship interviews, like, because you’ve gone through the selection process and your scholarship committee has specifically chosen you to, you know, do the interview, they might know a lot about your application. And this is something.

where you want to make sure that your answers are going to be consistent with your application, but then also you want your answers to really enhance your application. And so maybe if in your application itself you only had space to talk about maybe like two extracurriculars that are important to you within your essays, but you have like another one that’s really, really important, maybe that’s going to be the time where you talk more about that within your interview, um, but then use that to supplement what you’ve already submitted to the scholarship committee.

Um, along with that, I would just see like what, you know, why, why do students earn that scholarship? What kind of characteristics is the committee going to be looking for? Um, so say if there’s a scholarship where students who get this have done a lot of volunteering in the past Maybe you’ll talk a little bit more about your volunteer experiences compared to some of your more academic experiences And so I would really like try to shift your answers and Tell a complete story based on what the committee is, is going to value, but then also make sure that it’s something that is going to compliment what you’ve already shown them throughout the admissions process.

Stacey: That’s really helpful. And to understand too, that there are different types of interviews where somebody may know a lot about you versus not, it’s really great context. Um, What about sports? This is maybe a little, it’s dovetailing from the scholarship discussion because often those are, are tied together.

Do your interviews different if you are an athlete?

Lily: Yeah. So this, I actually don’t have a ton of background in, but it is a question I get often when it comes to college interviews. Um, for this, I’d actually check out some of the other webinars that CollegeAdvisor has. Um, if you go on our webinars page, we have a bunch just about like college athlete recruiting.

Um, and for that, we have webinars that are, that are going to be hosted by. Um, people who are really involved in the recruiting process, or they recruited athletes themselves. Um, and so I would definitely check out some of those webinars, and I think they’ll be able to answer the interviewing question a little bit better than I can.

Stacey: Mm hmm. I agree, and this I just looking around and this 1 in particular is about writing about sports as a student athlete. And so it might help a little bit, um, in preparing for your applications as a student athlete athlete. So, I just put that in the chat in case it’s helpful, but the CollegeAdvisor has a ton of wonderful webinar and blog related resources that I highly recommend reviewing.

Um, does the interview process change depending on which field you’re going into? Or from an undergrad admissions perspective, is it typically those common questions that you listed, those more challenging questions? Or will it, those questions change depending on which field you are applying into?

Lily: Yeah, I would say this again is like school specific and then major specific, but for the most part, for some of the more general school interviews, Um, it doesn’t change too much, and that’s also why your interviewer could be from a completely different discipline or a completely different major than you are.

Um, I remember when I was applying, I was like, oh, I’m a STEM major, I’ll probably get a STEM major interviewer. And then I remember I had like a history major, and I was like, well, they are taking very, very different classes, but they still have a lot of really great insights about the school. Um, I would say the case where it sometimes does change is for students who are applying to like BSMD programs.

So schools where you’re applying for your bachelor’s and then medical school, um, you Um, and that’s the case where it is, it’s going to be very discipline specific where you might end up getting questions that are very, very specific to medicine itself. And that’s going to be tied really heavily with any of your pre med activities or any of your more academic activities.

Um, and so that’s like the main case where I see the interview process changing a lot because of your major. Um, outside of that, um, usually if it’s, it’s, if it’s a general college interview, it’ll be pretty, it’ll be pretty generalized.

Stacey: Great. Yeah, I, I. Agree with you and you know, you can’t know who your interviewer is on that note.

Mm-Hmm. if you do know who your interviewer is, and, and typically you’ll know, you know, in advance that this is gonna be their name, but you don’t know much about them. Can you request a different interviewer?

Lily: Hmm. So I would say I, I, I feel like I haven’t had situations commonly where students have requested different interviewer.

Um, I would say I would maybe try not to, if, you know, your, your admissions office is going to give you an interviewer and like. Be happy with you know, the interview that you’re getting um, I would say cases where things do come up are is if you already know your interviewer like from Something completely different where there could be a conflict of interest I actually had a situation where you know growing up in st Louis and then going to wash you in st Louis when I was interviewing one of my close friends who was still in high school was going to be my interviewee And for that we both reached out.

We were like, hey, we know each other. We’re like pretty good friends We probably shouldn’t do an interview together. Like that just doesn’t seem like it would be fair to other students um aside from that I would say try to do the interview if you end up having something happen during the interview where I know sometimes you might have a situation where An interview is not being professional Or they say something that is off handed that you don’t agree with and you want to bring it up to someone’s attention Um, that could be a situation where you reach out to the admissions office You let them know what happens and then sometimes they’ll offer you another chance to interview And so I would say that’s a more common situation than you requesting a different interviewer But I would I think a lot of it is gonna be case by case Um, and so maybe get a second opinion if you’re considering switching interviewers and then see if it’s, it’s a, it’s a good reason to try to switch.

Stacey: Great. Yeah, I, I agree. Um, that seems to be the most reasonable situation. Where you might have an unfair connection to the interviewer, um, in order to make that request. Is there ever an instance when you would expect a group interview for college admissions?

Lily: Yeah, I would say group interviews. I see more in the like medical interview setting.

Usually for these they’ll tell you that it’s gonna be a group interview. And then for that I would definitely do some reading on like how to prepare for You know, your answers within a group dynamic. Um, I would say I’ve done a few group interviews in the past but like not for undergrad admissions.

There’s just more in college Um, I think things to look at for here is just you know Making sure it’s it’s going to be harder because there’s a bunch of people there with you and everyone, you know Wants to get into the school or you know get into the program that you guys are applying to Um, I would say in this case, just remember to also be courteous to other students.

And like, you know, even though you might want to, you know, be the person who’s shining the whole time, make sure that other people are also getting opportunities to talk. I didn’t realize that that was actually something that, um, people were also looking out for from the interviewer side, where I remember when I was interviewing in a group interview, um, I was interviewing with a friend and I was also asking her like, Hey, like, you know, what do you think about this?

Or, you know, Oh, that’s a really cool opinion. Like, I wonder what this person has to think about this given their background. Um, and so I think definitely, you know, even if it is a group interview, remember that like I guess you aren’t going to be fighting the other people in your interview for the spots.

Like these could be people that you end up going to school with and then that you need to build a community with as well. But I feel like the group interview dynamic is definitely very different than the typical one on one interviews that we usually see. So I would definitely do some reading and maybe change your mock interview style a little bit for that.

Stacey: Yeah, absolutely. It’s a very delicate balance, right? Making sure that your voice is heard, but also allowing the interviewer to see that you can work in a team based setting and collaborate and discuss. And yeah, it’s, it’s definitely a different approach. Um, a couple more specific questions. And then I do want to throw out a challenging question for us to talk over together.

Um, can you request accommodations for your interviews?

Lily: Yeah, I believe you can. Um, I think it just depends on what accommodations you might need. Um, I would say if there isn’t like a place to request that, you know, on the school’s website or with whoever’s requesting an interview, um, I would definitely either reach, try to just find basically a human that you’re in contact with.

So sometimes it could be your interviewer, it’s, uh, themselves. You can reply the email that they might send you or go through the school’s portal and send them back a message. Um, otherwise, it might be easy to maybe call the admissions office and you know, ask for some accommodations and that way you can talk to a person and then um, get accommodated from there.

Stacey: Yeah, I encourage anybody who is concerned about particular accommodations to ask the questions. Don’t feel like that’s going to negatively impact your application. You definitely should advocate for those needs during the application process. This, this question is interesting. I miss my interview. How will that affect my application process?

Lily: Yeah, so I would say when you miss your interview, it happens sometimes. Definitely let them know that you are still interested in the school, apologize for missing the interview, apologize for, you know, um, you know, taking the interviewer’s time and then request another interview as well. Um, I feel like people, you know, people understand that things happen.

There’s always, you know, scheduling problems or time zone changes. Um, but definitely just don’t ghost the school afterwards. Make sure you do reach out and try to correct it afterwards. And that’s really the best that you can do.

Stacey: Yeah, I totally agree. At that point, you just have to make sure that you are.

Um, covering your bases in terms of expressing your interest and ensuring that you apologize all the things that you’ve outlined Lily, um, on a personal front, Lily, have there been things? In your interviews that are worth mentioning as something that stood out to you, um, maybe traits during the interview process, or the ways that people have approached their questions that you really liked?

Lily: Yeah, I would say, thinking back to some of the best interviews that I’ve like conducted, um, I feel like there are some students where I feel like as long as you’re really willing to talk about yourself, and just talk about what gets you excited, Um, that’s already gonna really just like elevate your interview and just make it a really easy conversation Um something that I like to ask, you know back during in person interviews is just you know How how did you get here today?

Like did you did you fly? Did you did you drive in? Did you go by train? Like how how how was your process of getting to the campus? Um, and some students will just you know, let it be like, oh my god I drove here and then we had this amazing barbecue and they’ll just really just like go off and just Just show me how excited they are Um, and so I feel like, you know, just don’t be afraid to have your personality shine.

Um, don’t, don’t have your nerves, you know, take, take, take a hold of you too much and just be willing to talk about, um, your life and your experiences. Cause I feel like on my side, I love just like hearing about other people’s backgrounds and just hearing like, what’s, what’s the world that you came from?

And then, um, for some students, like, especially if we get along really well, I’m just like, yeah, I could definitely just see them as a student on this campus, like just really enjoying, you know, their studies, enjoying the people there, enjoying, you know, their dorm communities. Um, and so I feel like a lot of it comes down to just really being open to talking about your life.

Stacey: Yeah. Great. Love that. Um, so to wrap up with a final question and then a question that I actually have seen quite frequently in the interview process. So the first question I have for you is how do you manage questions that you didn’t prepare to answer, which would be these challenging ones, right? And I know you touched on it in a previous slide, but do you mind recapping briefly?

Like how would you suggest? Brief tips, you would prepare for a question that you didn’t expect.

Lily: Yeah, I would say if I completely blank, I always ask for a little bit of time. I’ll just be like, oh, that’s a really hard question, you know, can I have a second to think about that? And then take your time to, you know, just really quickly collect all of your thoughts.

Um, I would say during that period, I usually think of, you know, what are some of the go to topics I can definitely talk about. I would say everyone should have maybe two or three topics where, like, if someone just says the name of that, of that topic, you, you know what to talk about. Like, you can describe it, you can tell a story about it.

Um, and so usually I quickly just run through that short list of topics that I can talk about really easily about. And then I just start off with a quick description of what that event is about, what my role in it is. How it somewhat relates to the question they asked and then get into my actual answer.

Stacey: Yeah, that’s great advice. So the question I’d like to end on, um, as a challenging question would be, how would you advise answering the question? What animal? Would you be and why? And again, I’ve seen it a few times. I know that it kind of aligns with your challenging questions list. Would you mind kind of walking us through how you would advise a student to answer that question or begin trying to answer that question?

Lily: Yeah. So I guess maybe this is because I’ve had this question before.

Stacey: Okay. Um, I would say that’s great.

Lily: The answer I like to give is I would be a flamingo. And that is because if you think about them, they’re always standing on one foot. They’re balancing all of these things, but they really look stable from afar.

They look very calm, very poised. Really, there’s always a lot of stuff going on, you know, and so I feel like with flamingos, I feel like for me, I’m someone who definitely likes to take on a lot of different activities. I love to be involved, you know, both academically and also within my community. Um, and so because of that, I love leading events.

I love mentoring. I love working with other people, but there’s always just a lot going, going on and you know, Even though, um, I definitely try to be really ambitious. There’s, there’s just a lot that I try to balance, um, and really make sure that, you know, I’m able to do everything as well as I can and really stand on that one foot in the water while keeping everything really calm and collected.

Otherwise my backup answers, I like to talk about, you know, being a golden retriever, but I think that’s more just cause I’m a dog person and I really love their energy.

Stacey: Yeah, amazing. Um, those are great answers. So when you were thinking about formulating those answers, where did your mind go? Did you have to answer this live during an interview and then gather your thoughts?

Or is it something you prepared for? And then how did you prepare for that?

Lily: Yeah, this is, I guess, more of a situation where I actually had this as like in like a short response to For I think applying to some kind of position in college And so I had a lot more time to think about it I remember when I first saw that question.

I was like, I have no clue

Stacey: and then I was

Lily: like should I put dogs because I really like dogs and I was like Is that gonna be too like generic of an answer? Um, I would say like for more of an interview setting where you’re kind of unsure Um, especially if it’s like more time sensitive if you think of something and you think you can like back it up with you know Some kind of explanation I would just go for it Um, and so, in my case, if I thought about dogs, I’d be like, okay, but then why?

You know, is it because of the energy thing? Is it because I’m just excited about things? And then I would try to connect it to some kind of activity to show that I really have this excitement. Um, I would say that’s probably the answer I would have given if I’d never had that question before. And then I would have tied it to any of my extracurriculars from when I was in high school.

Um, I would say for the flamingo thing, that was more just like, I was like, I want to choose like a more reflective animal or like something that other people probably wouldn’t say and then try to explain it as more of a metaphor. Um, I feel like something I definitely could have done in the answer just now is like given more specific examples.

Um, that would be more like talking about specific extracurriculars or giving details there. Um, but I think for the purposes of the example. Um, as long as you can, you know, first make sure you answer the question at some point, and then you can always have more time to give some more background details.

Stacey: Yeah, amazing. I loved your, um, your advice earlier about, you know, you’re not, you see this tree, you have to talk to the tree. You don’t know how to talk to the tree. So you tie a cat to the tree and you talk to the cow. That is essentially how we are approaching this question, right? And lots of animal metaphors, but all good things.

So thank you for everyone for coming out. Hey, that’s all we have time for. Thank you to Lily for

patiently answering. Um, that is the end of our webinar. We had a really great time telling you about cresting crushing excuse me your college interviews And here’s our December webinar series. There are a couple more coming up So, please be sure to join us for that and lily everyone. Have a great rest of your days wherever you are

Lily: Yeah, thanks so much Stacey. Have a great night.

Stacey: Bye Lily.

Lily: All right. Bye