Preparing for College - Page 14
You will probably be allotted only about a
half-hour for the interview so it is impor-
tant to prepare your personal message that
presents your personality and potential, and
fit it in somewhere in the course of the
interview. You might use a well-placed question
to move the interview in a direction that is in
your favor and allows you to come across
most effectively.
Remember that the basic goal of the interview is
for the admissions personnel to get
to know you better and exchange thoughts about
getting an education at their college.
Your responses should be in this context. If
you can establish a favorable rapport with
your interviewer right away, things will most
likely move along more smoothly. Two
elements to attain this goal are to be as
relaxed as possible and respond to questions in a
thoughtful and accurate manner--if a question
is asked that you don't know the answer
to, you should say so rather than try and
obfuscate when responding.
To help your interview skills, you
should
· maintain eye contact throughout the
session.
· avoid brisk, one-word, or
one-sentence, answers.
· get involved and demonstrate interest,
thereby generating a dialogue.
· ask about school strengths, but don't
ask for comparisons.
· don't try to explain deficiencies in
your record (unless specifically asked).
· have a transcript and test score
reports with you, but do not present them unless
requested to do so.
RECOMMENDATIONS
______________________________________________
Recommendations in support of your application
are usually expected by colleges. It is
your obligation to arrange for them to be sent
to the schools to which you are applying.
The usual sources for recommendations are
current or former teachers. The expectation
is to receive an evaluation of your academic
skills in the teacher's subject and an assess-
ment of your level of maturity as well as other
personal assets. The college will com-
monly ask the applicant to arrange that
specific recommendation forms be given to the
individuals to be completed.
You need to take care when selecting teachers
to give recommendation forms to be
completed on your behalf. You should realize
that the comments provided should
enhance the impression generated by your
transcript and related data. This can be the
case if the individuals writing on your behalf
hold you in high regard. There are situa-
tions that provide teachers at a large school
with an opportunity to get to know their stu-
dents better, such as when you are a member of
a small class where individual student
interaction with the instructor is high, if
more than one course has been or is being taken
with the teacher, or if the teacher also serves
as a coach in some area and knows you
also in this context. All of the aforementioned
assume that you have performed well in
courses whose instructors are writing your
recommendation.
As to the teachers' subject, what is expected
is a recommendation from one (or two)
from the traditional courses in the social or
physical sciences. Where you have special
interests that you wish to pursue at a college,
a solid letter from a teacher in the same
field may well serve to strengthen your
admission chances. Other considerations in
choosing a subject are how recently the course
was completed. The more recent, the
more valuable will be the teacher's opinion of
you. Finally, a recommendation from an
instructor of an advanced course will surely be
more impressive and indicate effectively
your intellectual assets in that
field.
A potentially good source for a recommendation
is a guidance counselor who
knows you well. This means that he or she has
had contact with you over an extended
length of time. Such individuals should be able
to write in depth about your abilities and
your academic progress and personnel growth
over the years.
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