the college essay guy interview

College Interview Tips and Strategies

This episode is an interview… on interviews! Monica James--whom you may’ve heard previously on the podcast in the episode on Demonstrated Interest--absolutely crushes it in this interview, offering more practical advice than you’ll find in most weekend workshops on this topic. And it’s no wonder: for years she’s been teaching people (and in particular high school students) how to give great interviews. We cover, among other things:

• Why do colleges give interviews?
• Can a bad interview actually hurt your application chances?
• How do you prepare for the interview?
• What’s the one thing that colleges are looking for above all else?
• How do you answer the “Why this college” interview question?
• How do you answer the Strengths and Weaknesses interview Question?
• How do you answer the Tell Me About Your Reading Life or “What books have you read recently” question?
• What is the hardest interview question and how do you handle it?
• What if you get a “bad” interviewer?
• What if you’re asked a question in an interview that you truly don’t know the answer to?
• How much does body language matter in an interview?
• What should you wear to an interview?
• How do I handle a Skype or Phone Interview?
• How do I set up an interview?
• How should I practice?
• What about Scholarship Interviews—are they different?

Information

• Show The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions
• Frequency Updated Monthly
• Published December 28, 2017 at 4:27 PM UTC
• Length 1h 2m
• Rating Clean

To listen to explicit episodes, sign in.

Stay up to date with this show

Sign in or sign up to follow shows, save episodes, and get the latest updates.

Africa, Middle East, and India

• Brunei Darussalam
• Burkina Faso
• Côte d’Ivoire
• Congo, The Democratic Republic Of The
• Guinea-Bissau
• Niger (English)
• Congo, Republic of
• Saudi Arabia
• Sierra Leone
• South Africa
• Tanzania, United Republic Of
• Turkmenistan
• United Arab Emirates

Asia Pacific

• Indonesia (English)
• Lao People's Democratic Republic
• Malaysia (English)
• Micronesia, Federated States of
• New Zealand
• Papua New Guinea
• Philippines
• Solomon Islands
• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• France (Français)
• Deutschland
• Luxembourg (English)
• Moldova, Republic Of
• North Macedonia
• Portugal (Português)
• Türkiye (English)
• United Kingdom

Latin America and the Caribbean

• Antigua and Barbuda
• Argentina (Español)
• Bolivia (Español)
• Virgin Islands, British
• Cayman Islands
• Chile (Español)
• Colombia (Español)
• Costa Rica (Español)
• República Dominicana
• Ecuador (Español)
• El Salvador (Español)
• Guatemala (Español)
• Honduras (Español)
• Nicaragua (Español)
• Paraguay (Español)
• St. Kitts and Nevis
• Saint Lucia
• St. Vincent and The Grenadines
• Trinidad and Tobago
• Turks and Caicos
• Uruguay (English)
• Venezuela (Español)

The United States and Canada

• Canada (English)
• Canada (Français)
• United States
• Estados Unidos (Español México)
• الولايات المتحدة
• États-Unis (Français France)
• Estados Unidos (Português Brasil)
• 美國 (繁體中文台灣)

The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions

124: college interview tips and strategies.

• All Episodes

Dec 28, 2017

This episode is an interview… on interviews! Monica James--whom you may’ve heard previously on the podcast in the episode on Demonstrated Interest--absolutely crushes it in this interview, offering more practical advice than you’ll find in most weekend workshops on this topic. And it’s no wonder: for years she’s been teaching people (and in particular high school students) how to give great interviews. We cover, among other things:

• Why do colleges give interviews?
• Can a bad interview actually hurt your application chances?
• How do you prepare for the interview?
• What’s the one thing that colleges are looking for above all else?
• How do you answer the “Why this college” interview question?
• How do you answer the Strengths and Weaknesses interview Question?
• How do you answer the Tell Me About Your Reading Life or “What books have you read recently” question?
• What is the hardest interview question and how do you handle it?
• What if you get a “bad” interviewer?
• What if you’re asked a question in an interview that you truly don’t know the answer to?
• How much does body language matter in an interview?
• What should you wear to an interview?
• How do I handle a Skype or Phone Interview?
• How do I set up an interview?
• How should I practice?
• What about Scholarship Interviews—are they different?

About the Podcast

Practical, up-to-date interviews with experts in college admissions, financial aid, personal statements, test prep and more. Ethan Sawyer (aka College Essay Guy), interviews deans of admission, financial aid experts, and veterans of the admissions field to extract, then distill their advice into practical steps for students and those guiding them through the process. From creating an awesome college list to appealing a financial aid letter, Ethan skips the general advice and gets right to the action items, all in an effort to bring more ease, joy and purpose into the college admissions process.

Share This Episode

Private premium login.

Having trouble logging in?