Let’s talk about admission interviews. Some of us know what to expect, while others may have never experienced one before. But regardless of how much you know about college admission interviews, we can all get a little stuck on the idea of having an interview.
Although some interview processes can feel scary and very intense, an admission interview with URochester is more like a casual conversation where the goal is to get to know you better as a person. And trust me—as someone who was also nervous about their admission interview and now has the opportunity to be a student admission interviewer—it really is a chill process!
But if you’re still worried, which is completely fair, here are 5 admission interview tips to help you feel more confident.
- Be yourself and let your personality shine
As I mentioned before, the URochester interview is a casual conversation where the school gets to learn more about you as a person. So, the tip above is one of the best ways to make that happen. I know it can be pretty nerve-wracking just thinking about an interview, but that’s what the other tips are for—to help ease some of those nerves.
As an interviewer, I will say that the best interviews I have with students are the ones where I can feel their excitement about reaching their next big milestone. I love when I leave an interview feeling like I truly understand the student as a person, like how they move through life, what matters to them, and what motivates them to keep going.
I believe these interviews are the best because the student was able to naturally show me who they are. At the end of the day, all it took was their willingness to share themselves with me for 25–30 minutes.
Also, this doesn’t mean you have to fully know what you want to do after high school or have your entire future planned out. It simply means being able to share with your interviewer:
- Who have you been?
- Why would you say your past is a part of your journey?
- Who are you currently?
- Why do you believe you are the way you are now?
- What are your hopes and dreams?
- And why are these things important to you for your future?
Now, these questions may sound very specific, but you don’t need to answer them like you’re writing an essay. Think of them as guiding questions to help you prepare for your URochester interview. They definitely won’t be the exact questions we ask, but knowing how to talk about yourself, your experiences, and your goals can help you feel more at ease and confident during your interview.
2. Practice your introduction
Your introduction is one of the most anticipated parts of any interview, in my opinion. Personally, I associate interviews with job interviews because I’ve been asked—or prompted—so many times by interviewers with the classic, “So, tell me about yourself?” Not only do I despise this question because it’s so general and vague, but it basically asks you, “To what extent do you want to share yourself with me?” That can cause instant panic for anyone because, well, being a human is a lot! There are so many different parts of us that make us who we are. So, although I’m speaking from a job interview perspective, the same idea applies to an admission interview.
So, what can we do about this? Prepare for it! Think ahead about a general idea of how you want to introduce yourself. Your introduction can be short and sweet or a little more detailed, as long as it gives the interviewer a meaningful glimpse into who you are. The length doesn’t necessarily matter, but you do want to be mindful of how long your interview is. Sometimes, a really long introduction can sidetrack the conversation and leave less time for the interviewer to ask questions that could help them learn more about you. You might also end up forgetting something you really wanted to share because you spent so much time on your introduction.
My advice is to aim for a sweet spot: share enough information to give the interviewer a sense of who you are, but leave enough room for them to ask questions and get to know you better. And most importantly, practice saying your introduction out loud! You can practice with your parents, a sibling, a stuffed animal, your pet, or yourself—literally anyone (or anything) willing to listen. The goal isn’t to memorize a perfect script. It’s to become comfortable talking about yourself so that when the real interview comes around, you feel more confident and prepared.
3. Practice sharing your journey to URochester
This is similar to the tip above about your introduction, but your journey is something you will typically explain throughout the entirety of the interview. Rather than preparing to say everything in one section, you’ll be sharing bits and pieces of your journey as the conversation continues. One way you can prepare is by taking some time to reflect on your life so far and asking yourself, “What do I want URochester to know about me from this interview?” Understanding that an interview is a chance to connect your application to a real person and expand on specific parts of your application without a word-count limit can be very helpful as you prepare to share your journey with URochester.
When I was preparing for my admission interview in December 2023, my college advisor told me to write down the events in my life that were important to me and helped make me who I am today, and then practice retelling those experiences. So, I wrote down and talked through what those events were, while getting comfortable with sharing them and explaining why they were meaningful to me. I feel like this really helped me understand my own life experiences better and recognize why they were essential to who I am and how they shaped me as a person.
Doing this can help you prepare for the “why” questions that I’m sure a URochester interviewer will ask. More importantly, it can help you move beyond a surface-level understanding of your own life journey. You don’t need to have every part of your future figured out. Instead, take some time to understand where you’ve been, how those experiences have shaped you, and what they mean to you now. That way, when you share your journey during the interview, you can speak about yourself more naturally and confidently.
4. Research URochester and find your “why”
Okay, now let’s talk about URochester specifically. When applying to URochester and doing an admission interview, you may be asked in many different ways, directly or indirectly, “Why URochester?” This question can be taken in many different ways. It could be asking why you’re interested in applying here, why you’re applying now, or even why you are interested in URochester over other schools. However you choose to explain it, make sure you understand your “WHY.” My advice is to personalize your “why” because it makes your answer stronger and, most importantly, makes it something that can only be said by you. Again, URochester wants to know who you are as a person, not just who you are as an applicant on a piece of paper or application form.
Personalizing your “WHY” can help you better understand why you’re applying to URochester in the first place. It can even make the overall application process easier and give you a boost of confidence going into your interview. I feel like one of the biggest fears students have is getting stuck on a question an interviewer asks, almost as if the interview is a test or the final boss in a video game. One way to reduce some of that anxiety is to have these answers for yourself before an interviewer even asks, “Why URochester?” You don’t need to memorize a perfect response, but having a genuine understanding of why you’re interested in URochester can make it much easier to talk about when the question comes up.
Researching URochester can also help you develop a better understanding of the University itself, including its culture, community, programs, and what makes the school unique. Doing your due diligence can give you ideas for questions to ask your interviewer and, more importantly, help you better understand your own reasons for being interested in URochester. The more you learn about the University, the easier it can become to connect what you’re looking for in a college with what URochester has to offer.
5. Prepare questions for your admissions interviewer
Questions are another thing people often associate with interviews. When I was younger, I always thought an interview was supposed to be the interviewer asking all the questions. Then, one day, a mentor shared something with me that changed how I viewed interviews: an interview is always two-sided. Even though you may be the person applying for an opportunity and there may be a power imbalance, that doesn’t necessarily mean the conversation has to feel one-sided. An interview also gives you a chance to figure out whether this is the right environment for you. You should be asking questions not only to show your interest and knowledge about the opportunity you’re interviewing for, but also to help you understand whether, if you were offered the opportunity, you would actually want to accept it. Maybe their answer gives you even more reasons to say yes, or maybe it helps you realize, “This might not be the right fit for me.”
Overall, I’m saying: make sure you have at least three questions prepared. These questions should help you better understand URochester or give you clarification about information that is important to you as a person and as a potential student. Don’t feel like your questions have to be overly complicated or impressive. They should be questions that you genuinely want to know the answers to.
Sometimes, you can even ask your interviewer questions that are more personal to their experience at URochester. Asking something like this can give you insight into the University from the perspective of someone who is already part of the URochester community. Remember, this interview is not just about the interviewer learning more about you. It’s also your opportunity to learn more about URochester.
I hope these five interview tips will help you feel more comfortable and confident for URochester interview and just interviews overall. If you have any questions about your admission interview your interviewer’s email is always in the email you received confirming your interview and can be used to ask more questions at another time if you don’t have specific questions. Lastly, remember no matter how your interview goes URochester takes a holistic approach when reviewing admission applications so this interview isn’t a make or break moment just an extension of your application.
Ready for a URochester interview click here.
If you have any questions about interviewing at all please feel free to email admit@admissions.rochester.edu.