What are schools looking for in an admission interview?

A conversation with Boston University, Dickinson College and Vericant

November 6th, 2018

学校在面试中想了解什么?

维立克,波士顿大学 和 狄金森学院座谈会

11月06日2018年

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Do not worry about what we want to hear. Prepare to be genuine, to talk about yourself. The reason why we find these interviews so helpful in the process is because this is our opportunity to get to know you and who you are. And there is nothing you can really do or say that will make us say, “Oh, you were looking like a good applicant but not anymore!” ... We really just want to see what your personality is, what you are like, how you answer the questions. We are not here to judge you. We are not here to make you feel bad about your English. That is not the purpose of the interview. When we are reviewing them we are smiling because we are just happy to see you… Of course you will be nervous, it is OK to be nervous. Just remember we are human beings too and that we are rooting for you!
Samantha Fifield

Associate Director of Admissions , Boston University

不要介意我们想听到什么,展现真实的自己,讲述自己的故事。不要期望我们会对你说:“你是个很棒的申请人”,我们不会做出判断,我们不会让你感觉你的英语很糟糕。面试的时候,我们会保持微笑,因为和你谈话很愉快。当然,你会感到紧张,这没关系。记住,我们都是普通人,我们是来帮助你的!
Samantha Fifield

Associate Director of Admissions , 波士顿大学

Interviews give us another chance to get to know the student as a person. We read your applications. We read your activities, but really what do they mean to the students?  When they have a chance to talk about those experiences and what they learned from those experiences, through the interview, that is a great way for us to get to know them as a real person.
Xue Yan

Assistant Director of International Admissions , Dickinson College

面试给学校一个了解学生的机会,我们会看你们的申请材料,看你们的各种活动,但这些对你意味着什么?当学生们有机会讲述他们的经历以及从这些经历中学到了什么,对我们来说这是一个极好的机会来了解一个真实的人。
Xue Yan

Assistant Director of International Admissions , 狄金森学院

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I think the interviews that make the biggest impression on me are the ones where I can tell the student is very comfortable with themselves and with their answers, and they are not trying to tell us what they think we [universities] want to hear, they really just genuinely are excited to show us their personality, to show us what they think on different topics, they are not afraid to really put themselves out there.
Samantha Fifield

Associate Director of Admissions , Boston University

给我留下深刻印象的是那些对自己充满信心的学生, 他们不是极力证明自己是学校想要的学生,而只是真诚地展现自己,和我们探讨不同的话题,他们勇于进行这些讨论。
Samantha Fifield

Associate Director of Admissions , Boston University

Be you! Be authentic in the process. Really this entire process of applying to colleges… it is all about you and finding yourself. Who are you? What are some things that are important to you as a person? Think about those things, reflect on what is important, and talk about those things.
Xue Yan

Assistant Director of International Admissions , Dickinson College

做你自己!真诚坦率,这在申请过程中非常重要。这是一个发现自己,展现自己的过程。你是谁?你身上最重要的特点是什么?考虑这些问题,在面试中谈论这些问题。
Xue Yan

Assistant Director of International Admissions , 狄金森学院

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Submitting an interview can only help students

"It is really on the margins that the interviews become very, very important. If we have two students who look very similar application wise, and one student submitted an interview and one did not, that can be a factor to which student gets in" 

Who is the interview for?

"Interview is for everyone! Nobody should be scared their interview will harm their application in any way. It will not! And, I think maybe students might worry about English, or maybe they are a little shy, not really comfortable sharing about their personal experience with a stranger who they just met five seconds ago. But I think students need to have faith in us, admission counselors, because we have seen a lot of applications and seen a lot of type of students as well. Some are shy, some are more outgoing… and we get that! As well, different regions, different cultures have different ways of talking about things… Really, don’t be scared!" 

What should students talk about in an interview?

"The good thing about these interviews is that they ask you a lot of personal questions too. So, nobody knows you better than yourself. As long as you can talk about yourself and show us your thoughts on things, that is exactly what we want to see. Introvert, extrovert, strong accent, native-level accent, all of those things make for an interesting human being and that is really what the point of the interview is. Show us what you have, show us what you got, and that’s what we want to see." 
Xue Yan

Xue Yan

Assistant Director of International Admissions - Dickinson College

Deadlines:

Early Decision 1: November 15

Early Action: December 1

Early Decision 2: January 15

Regular Decision: January 15

 

Admissions website: https://www.dickinson.edu/info/20045/admissions/1176/international_student_admissions_information

Financial aid and scholarship info: https://www.dickinson.edu/info/20045/admissions/1179/international_student_financial_aid

Contact: Xue Yan, Assistant Director of International Admissions, yanx@dickinson.edu

Samantha Fifield

Samantha Fifield

Assistant Director of Admissions - Boston University

Deadlines:

Early Decision 1: November 15

Early Decision 2: January 2

Regular Decision: January 2

 

Admissions Website:

http://www.bu.edu/admissions/apply/

Contact: Samantha Fifield, Assistant Direction of International Admissions, sfifield@bu.edu

Are you ready to interview?