When applying for college, you are essentially applying for your future. In general, college graduates make more money that non-graduates and they remain more financially secure throughout their life. However, while your actual application is important, you also want to score big in thyoure interview with the admissions officer who is reviewing your application. If you don’t have what it takes during the interview, the admissions officer may not think you are the right material for the college. Indeed, it is in the interview where you really have to shine, which can put some pressure on people. One of the keys to success is to not let the pressure get in the way, because having low self-esteem during this process can have a negative outcome. Here are five helpful college admissions interview tips.
- Be confident.
One of the most important tips is to be confident. When you walk into the admissions office, you want to stand up straight and you want to be ready to tackle any question without stumbling. This is why you need to get plenty of sleep the night before and you want to finish any miscellaneous tasks that may be stressing you out before you walk into the office. You don’t want to have anything on your mind distracting you while fielding questions from your interviewer.
- Rehearse answers.
It can also help to rehearse what you are going to say in the admissions office. If the college offers a specific program, you may want to talk about how passionate you are about the subject and why it is important to you. If you have a personal connection to the subject, then you want to delve into this experience. Also, you want to anticipate some of the questions you are going to get and be ready to answer them.
- Come prepared.
On top of being confident and rehearsing, you also want to be prepared. If you are applying to art school, you want to have your portfolio with you. Not only that, but you want your portfolio to be organized so that you can show the work in an organized fashion. If you are applying to medical school, you want to be able to show letters of references and other documents that are pertinent to the application process.
- Do your research.
Whether you are applying to Pepperdine’s aacsb online mba, or a doctorate program for sciences, you want to know a lot about the school. College admissions officers appreciate when you know a lot about the school to which you are applying. Not only that, but you should go the extra mile and learn a few factoids.
- Don’t underestimate yourself.
On top of everything, you also don’t want to underestimate your worth. Remember: you are your own best advocate. You can think of it like getting elected to office. While you don’t want to be too over-the-top, you do want to be enthusiastic about your potential value to the college atmosphere. In the end, not only should you be lucky enough to get accepted, but the college should feel lucky to have you too.