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Dartmouth interview tomorrow..any advice?

G

gypsyman

Senior member
My daughter has an interview for Dartmouth tomorrow. She will be interviewing with a doctor here in California. Any advice on how to present yourself and what to say would be helpful. She is a 4.0 all thru high school with honors classes. How much weight does the interview carry? Thanks for any help.
 
Interviews are important. Tell her just to be her herself, but dignified. No BSing, butt-kissing, or anything.
 
And it's a good idea to not wet yourself. Puddles are bad in interviews. 😉

Eye contact is good, be proud to be herself, etc.
 
grades are the least important in an interview, she must be sociable, well dressed, confident and happy. i would do a mock interview with your daughter, ask her questions like what do you want do in the future, why dartmouth, what are your interests. etc.
 
The Dad of one of my High School Football/Track & Field buddies was an interviewer for Dartmouth.

I would say confidence is number one. Tell her not to be intimitaded, be confident, and personable, forget that "be yourself stuff" if she's easily intimidated.
 


<< I might be able to give your daughter some good advice, but first ...

pics???? >>



There's a limit to everything man.
 


<< My daughter has an interview for Dartmouth tomorrow. She will be interviewing with a doctor here in California. Any advice on how to present yourself and what to say would be helpful. She is a 4.0 all thru high school with honors classes. How much weight does the interview carry? Thanks for any help. >>



My wife interviewed (and was accepted) at Dartmouth ... this would have been in winter '94. She is a NH native and had her interview in Nashua. Hers was a team interview -- 1 alum, 3 admissions office people. She remembers it was the toughest of the three interviews she had (Harvard, Tufts, Dartmouth), but that was probably due to the fact it was a multiple-person interview.

I'm guessing that format is something they only do with locals. It sounds like your daughter will be having a more "typical" alumnus/a interview (my Harvard interview in Florida was a one-on-one alum interview like what you've described.) The real key she should remember is that alum interviews are really designed to only help the candidate. Admissions offices look primarily at high school transcripts (how well the applicant did in, as well as how hard the courses were), college board scores, activities, and recommendations. But, a solid interview with an alum can push a borderline candidate over the top into the admit pile.

An alum interview will typically be either just "good" or outstanding. That is, either the interviewer thought, yeah, this candidate could do the work and would have a good experience there, or, wow, this is a great candidate and I'd love to see her at my alma mater! The key is engendering that second type of reaction... which, of course, does not and will not happen in every case or with every interviewer. As I understand it, it rarely hurts you to have a so-so interview... but the upside can be terrific.

In my alum interview for Harvard, I hit it off very well with my interviewer, and we talked for two hours longer than we were scheduled to. I think it really helped me in the admissions process, especially since her last name was the same as one of the major buildings on campus. 🙂

One last bit of advice for your daughter: she should remember that alums aren't drafted into doing these interviews--they volunteer to do them, and they do so because they have fond memories of their alma mater and want to see good students go there. Many alum interviewers see their job as one of selling the school as much as evaluating the candidate. They want her to succeed; it's not a zero-sum game among the candidates.

Good luck, and let us know how it goes. 🙂


 
Be herself and be confident. Answer in a forthright and honest manner. Being nervous is ok, but don't be a basketcase or she will not get in. Pretend to be her interviewer and ask her questions ahead of time like:

1) What are some of your best qualities?
2) What makes you want to come here?
3) What can you bring to the University?
4) If you had to change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

So she will be practiced at answering them and doesn't freeze up during the interview.
 
College interviews? I only applied to big state schools, so I managed to avoid that trauma.

Grades will probably be the last issue on the interviewer's mind. If your daughter has an interview to begin with, her grades are obviously good enough...what they want to know is what she's like as a person.
 
I had my Darthmouth interview earlier this year and it was very easy. I met a couple who graduated in '96 at their home and the interview lasted about 45 minutes. First they told me their experiences at the school and information they thought i should hear, and then answered some questions I had. Then they asked me about my goals and why i liked the school and fields i may be interested in- things of that nature. Just tell her to be polite, smile, make eye contact, and if she's meeting the interviewer at home, when she first enters the house, ask if the person would like her to take her shoes off, people always appreciate that when you come into their home. All that being said, the school is very hard to get into, and the interview is more for her benefit to gain knowledge of the school, not so much for the school to grill her with questions. I applied to Darthmouth ED this year and was rejected in December. I have a 4.1 through high school, 1480 SATs, and i play 3 varsity sports along with other extracurricular activities and volunteer work. Of the 3 kids from my school who were accepted, 2 were recruited lacrosse players and one was the son of an alumnus. Its very hard to get in without some special ability or connection, but goodluck with it all.
 
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