Undergraduate admissions / Interview prep
College Interview Prep
Mock interviews and a question bank to prepare applicants for alumni and admissions interviews.
How college interviews work
Many colleges offer interviews, and most are optional. Some use alumni volunteers who meet the applicant in the applicant’s own area, and some use admissions staff or current students. An alumni interviewer usually writes a report for the admissions office. Some colleges cannot offer an interview to every applicant because of volume.
What interviews cover
Interviews are conversations, not quizzes. Questions usually cover the applicant’s interests, activities, and reasons for choosing the college, and interviewers expect applicants to ask questions too. An interview is one part of the file and rarely decides an application by itself.
How applicants prepare
Preparation usually involves:
Knowing the application well, including activities and essays
Researching the college so questions are specific
Practicing answers aloud until they sound natural, not memorized
Preparing two or three questions to ask the interviewer
Timing
Applicants who apply early often interview in the fall, and interviews for Regular Decision applicants can come later. Each college’s instructions say how to request or schedule an interview, so applicants should check them after they apply.
How we work with applicants on it
We run mock interviews with feedback and give each applicant a question bank to practice with. We prepare the applicant for the format of each college’s interview. We do not script answers.
Interview answers draw on the activities list and the essays, so we prepare them together.
What to Expect
In a free consultation, we review the applicant’s profile, goals, and school list. Interview preparation then follows three steps.
Know the Format
We confirm which interviews each college offers and what the format is.
Mock Interview
The applicant practices with a full mock interview and receives specific feedback.
Question Bank
The applicant works through a bank of common questions and prepares questions to ask.
A near-peer advisor on every application
Every applicant works closely with a near-peer advisor, a recent graduate of a top university who has been through the process. Before anything is submitted, it goes through review by our senior team. Meet our advisors, see where our students have been admitted on the results page, or read the FAQ.