By: PAIGE FOSTER
Staff Writer
This application season, many colleges and universities are offering optional interviews for prospective students. However, students know that when colleges offer something as “optional”, it is rarely a good idea to miss out on it. That leaves students only one choice – to take the interview. Interviews can be stressful and uncertain, so here are some of the best tips to help you prepare:
#1: Look up common interview questions and write out answers to them.
This step is perhaps the most obvious, but it is also one of the most important. Writing out your answers to prospective interview questions is vital because it will give you more confidence and also allow you to appear more polished. However, make sure you actually write out your responses. Merely “thinking through” the questions is a good way to prepare five minutes before your interview begins, but putting words to your thoughts engages your mind in a higher level of processing and solidifies your line of reasoning.
#2: Have someone interview you.
Awkward as they may be, mock-interviews are incredibly helpful. Do your best not to break character or answer questions casually. Respond exactly as you would if it were a real interview. This will reveal to you the questions you struggle most with, and can also teach you to improvise if your interviewer asks you questions off the cuff. This is great practice, because no matter how many lists of interview questions you go over, there will always be at least one question you have not thought out beforehand.
#3: Pick out your outfit in advance.
This one may seem superficial, and that’s because it is. No matter how unpleasant, it is true that your clothes are a choice, and every choice says something about the chooser. Dress in a way that makes you feel both confident and comfortable, and that also communicates that you are taking this interview seriously. Don’t wear gray if you are prone to the nervous-sweats. Don’t arrive in a rumpled button-up you dug up from the dark depths of your closet. Iron your shirt, brush your hair, and, if possible, wear a pair of shoes that click on the floor when you walk. The confidence that clicking shoes instills in a person is positively remarkable.
#4: Power pose (credit to Mrs. Perez for showing this method to her AP Language students).
Amy Cuddy, a professor at Harvard, performed extensive research on body language. Her discovery? That maintaining “high-power” postures for a minimum of two minutes begins to change a person’s bodily chemistry, instilling them with confidence, and subconsciously altering the way other people perceive them. Before your interview, power pose for two minutes. It will probably feel silly, and pointless, but the science behind it is solid. As someone who has power-posed before every AP test, SAT, and ACT, I highly recommend it.
#4: As much as possible, relax.
Remember that your interviewer wants the interview to go well also. It is merely a conversation, and your task is to provide a sample of your genuine self. Preparing for your interview can reduce your stress and help you to relax into the process. Interviews will probably always be scary, but following these simple tips to prepare will markedly improve the quality of your interview and your confidence in yourself.