I woke up on a Sunday well-rested and ready to start my day. I got out of bed and got dressed in a gray jumper, beige shirt, with a red sweater to compliment. You might think that I am getting ready to go to brunch with Grandma, but I was actually getting ready for my college interview, and not just any college, my top choice.
As I sat in the car on the way to the interview, I went over in my head the kind of questions they might ask. I thought about which celebrity I would want to go to lunch with, what I was passionate about, or what I wanted to be when I was older.
When my mom and I finally found the building, I walked upstairs only to find that I was the first person out of everyone interviewing that day. Joy. I sat down in the waiting room and a man walked over to me. He introduced himself and said he would be conducting my interview, and to add to my nerves he looked like Freddy Prinze, Jr.
He first asked me to tell him about myself.
“Well, I’m a senior, obviously. I’m 18, I like watching Glee and my favorite baseball team is the Boston Red Sox,” I said.
He took notes as I spoke, leaving me to wonder: when they review my application, will they take into consideration my television preferences?
As we got deeper into the interview, the more thought-provoking questions came up. What is my most memorable moment in high school? What don’t I like about my school? How would your friends describe you? What are you most passionate about in life? I was able to come up with answers for those questions: getting into National Honors Society, there is a lot of pressure to do well, I’m down to earth, and I am really passionate about being an editorial editor.
However, for some questions, I had no idea what to say. When asked, “What would I bring to the University?” it took me a little longer to answer. How was I supposed to answer that? I finally responded by saying, “Well, I would bring a laptop, some clothes and pencils.”
Just kidding; I didn’t say that. But really, how do you answer a question like that? Do I say that I am a nice person and so I’ll make the atmosphere pleasant? I do well in school so I will make sure that their academic admissions numbers stay consistent? I ended up saying that I am hard worker. I let him interpret that statement however he wanted to.
After every statement I made, my interviewer said “Interesting.” No joke. I would say something along the lines of “If you get suspended from school you can not get into National Honors Society.” “Interesting.” Or, “In my free time I hang out with my friends.” “Interesting.” The way he said “Interesting” was as if I had just explained to him the chemical balance of the universe.
The interview wrapped up and he said that he was a senior at the university who helps out in the admissions office. Great, so he is not even an admissions counselor who will be reviewing my application. I started to feel as if that half an hour was a waste. Then I realized that it wasn’t.
I came to a conclusion that the purpose of college interviews are for them to see that you are not a weird student who will not fit in or that you are not an axe murderer. It’s one extra note on your application to show that you are really interested in the school. And although I felt as if I could have answered the questions better, I got my point across that I am a normal kid who would love to go to school there.
So if you are faced with the option to get interviewed, go for it, it could be that one detail that sets you apart from another applicant. And hopefully, being a Red Sox fan won’t affect my admissions.
