Application Interview: Sample Questions

QUESTIONS YOU MAY BE ASKED

• Why are you considering this college?
• How did you come to include us among your choices?
• What makes you think this college and you are right for each other?
• Where else are you applying and why?
• Which is your first choice?  (Don’t answer if you are not sure. If you are at the school you think is your first choice, then confirm that - but never give another name  Wesleyan doesn’t want to hear “Vassar ”)
• What do you hope to major in? Why?
• What are your plans for the future?  What do you expect to be doing ten years from now?
• What have you liked or disliked about your high school?
• If you were the Head of your school, what would you change?
• What would you like to tell us about yourself?
• What newspapers and magazines do you read? How often?
• What books not required by your courses have you read recently?
• What TV shows do you watch?
• Tell us about your family.
• How do you spend a typical afternoon after school? Evening? Weekend?
• What extracurricular activities have you found most satisfying?
• What are your strengths? Weaknesses?
• Do you have any heroes, contemporary or historical?
• How would your best friend describe you?
• If you could talk with any one living person, whom would it be and why?
• How do you feel about: the nuclear freeze, nuclear power, use of drugs and alcohol, advertising, gun control, the election?
• What events have been crucial in your life?
• What is the most significant contribution you’ve made to your school or community?
• What is the most important thing you have learned in high school?
• What do you consider to be your strongest majors or departments: What are the most popular majors?
• What are other distinctive majors or programs, or other programs, off-campus (ie: study abroad, internships, Washington semester, etc )?
• What are your admissions criteria? (ie: how much weight is given to courses and grades, test scores, activities, essays, the interview, etc ?)
• How many (# and %) freshmen return for the sophomore year?
• What is your policy concerning the granting of credit and advanced standing for AP tests?
• What are some of your “overlap” colleges (other institutions which your applicants also consider)?         
• Explain the freshman advising system.
• What percentage of students lives in campus housing? Describe the various types of residence halls.
• What percentage of your students continues on to graduate or professional schools?
• What do students do on weekends?
• Do you have “no-need” or merit-based scholarships? What kind of student would be competitive for such scholarships?
• Is it possible to return for an overnight visit on campus and/or visit classes?
• How are these arrangements made?
• What role does the personal interview, or alumni interview, play in your admissions decisions?
• How important are extracurricular activities in the admissions process? How important is community service to you?
• Many people get to attend exciting summer programs and travel, but I have to work; will that work against me when I apply?
• What is your financial aid policy? Do you package preferentially? Is there a chance that I will be admitted, but denied aid?
• How are you able to distinguish between the variety of transcripts you see?  How can you tell the difference in grading policies?
• Do you make admissions decisions based on perceived level of interest, and how do you assess that? What kinds of things can I do to make sure you know the level of my interest?
• If I am submitting tapes of my acting/music, is that allowed? Should they be sent to a specific professor to review first?
• What’s the one thing students say they wish they knew about this college before they enrolled? 

Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at any time.  
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