Interviews can be an important component of the college admissions process. They help schools determine whether applicants are a good fit and, in the case of prospective international students, evaluate English language skills, experts say.
“There’s only so much that you can understand from paper,” says Jennifer Kelley, the international admissions and retention coordinator at the University of North Carolina–Greensboro.
International students looking to study in the U.S. may worry that they’ll miss out on this step. But even when applying from thousands of miles away, they can still interview with a U.S. college representative.
[Discover six trends regarding international students in the U.S.]
While some admissions interviews take place in person — whether on the college’s campus, at a student’s U.S. high school or in a student’s home country — some schools offer them via video chat, using services such as Skype and WhatsApp.
Whichever format, these interviews tend to last about 30 minutes, experts say. Admissions officers or alumni typically conduct the m.
Admissions interview policies differ by school, and not all institutions offer interviews.
For example, UNCG only requires interviews for international undergraduate applicants who are age 24 and older and have been out of school for more than two years; whose English language test scores are more than one year old; and who are transfer applicants with a lower GPA, Kelley says. Otherwise, interviews are optional for international UNCG applicants, as is the case at many other U.S. colleges and universities.
Schools also weigh interviews differently. Ken Dunbar, director of international admission at Ohio Wesleyan University, says an interview is not the most important application component for his institution. But if an applicant has a good interview, he says, that may tip the scales and help them get admitted.
“We just want to know that you know who you are and you know what you want to do,” Kelley says. “Once you have those foundations down, you’re going to be pretty well-prepared to respond to any sort of question that comes at you.”
As prospective international students prepare for the U.S. college interview process, here are four questions they should be ready to answer.
1. Can you tell me a little about yourself?
Students need to answer this question by succinctly bragging about themselves, says Betsy Cotten, associate director of admissions at McDaniel College in Maryland. This includes discussing academic achievements but also how they spend their free time.
Raissa Kanku, a sophomore at Ohio Wesleyan who was born in Congo and completed high school in South Africa, says she sought input from others when preparing to answer this question. She asked friends, teachers and a coach for feedback about what they viewed as her best qualities.
“They gave me clear phrases that actually described my personality or even the things that I’ve done” Kanku says.
[Learn tips to help international students excel at U.S. interviews.]
2. Why do you want to attend our school?
Kelley says she’s looking for prospective students to show they’ve done their homework by sharing reasons why the institution would be a good fit for them.
To do just that, Kanku says she explored the OWU website — beyond the fun facts — before her interview. “I went deep down into finding out exactly what is it that I really liked,” she says.
During her research, she discovered the school’s Wesleyan in Washington program, which sends students to Washington, D.C., for internships. This appealed to her because she’s interested in government and international relations, so she brought up the program during her admissions interview.
3. Can you explain the grading system at your high school?
For prospective international students, “U.S. colleges might not know as much about their high school and about their environment as maybe they would like,” says Mandee Heller Adler, founder and president of Florida-based International College Counselors.
Students may need to define some of their accomplishments in greater detail during the interview. They may, for instance, have to explain the grading scale their high school uses, says Dunbar from OWU. And Adler notes that they may want to explain the details of other types of achievements, such as any awards they’ve received.
[Learn to show these five traits during college admissions interviews.]
4. Do you have any questions for me?
Experts say students should avoid asking questions for which they can readily find the answers on the school’s website. Asking well-thought-out questions is another way for students to demonstrate they’ve researched the school, but it also ensures that both the interviewer and the student maximize their time.
Cotten, from McDaniel, says examples of more in-depth topics to ask about include the culture of a college’s location and how a college’s students spend their time outside the classroom.
“More of the touchy-feely, rather than the more statistically driven stuff is a better use of their time,” Cotten says.
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International Students: Prepare for College Admissions Interview Questions originally appeared on usnews.com
