How to Make Your College Interview a Success

Written by Greta Dornbirer

When I interviewed with Hillsdale, I remember being nervous and intimidated by the idea of the interview. What should I expect? What kind of questions will I be asked? How long will it be? How do I dress? Is a college interview like a typical job interview? When I arrived and started the interview, however, I realized that it was just meant to be a deep conversation to understand who I am and the way that I think about things. Matt Sauer, my Admissions Counselor at the time, was so easy to talk to and put me at ease right away. We had a great conversation where I shared about myself and the way I think, and I also learned about Hillsdale. The interview helped solidify in my mind that Hillsdale was my top choice.

You absolutely should take advantage of the opportunity to interview with colleges that offer it. The interview for Hillsdale is “highly recommended” and not technically a required piece of the application. As Hillsdale’s admissions rate has decreased significantly in the past few years, however, including an interview with your application can increase its competitiveness in our pool considerably. We are not only looking for students who are academic fits and want to be challenged by our rigorous classical liberal arts curriculum, but we are also looking for social fits. The interview allows us to discern both academic and social fit of the student and to evaluate some of the intangibles we are looking for that aren’t revealed as easily in other areas of the application, such as your character, your morals and values, your passions and talents, how you think about and approach your education, and why college is important to you.

Now that we’ve learned why you should interview, here are some tips and tricks that I have found to help make an interview successful from the hundreds of interviews I have conducted as an Admissions Counselor at Hillsdale:

Be on time and dress for the occasion. This is an easy one but will demonstrate to your interviewer that you are taking your time together seriously. Be early for the interview so that you don’t feel frazzled and stressed trying to get there when you might already be a bit nervous. You don’t have to be dressed in a business suit, but business casual attire is best. When in doubt, dress up rather than down.
Come prepared with honest and thoughtful questions. Remember, the interview is just as much for you to learn about the College as it is for the College to learn about you. Coming prepared with honest and thoughtful questions is a great way to demonstrate preparedness. I often find as the interviewer that I appreciate questions that ask more than “what programs do you have” or “do you have such-and-such club” and more about the experience of being a Hillsdale student. If you are interested in a specific program, then ask away, but also try to ask about the culture and student experience on campus. Our Admissions Counselors, who conduct most of the interviews, graduated from Hillsdale, so they have personal experience with Hillsdale that they would be happy to share. One of the best ways to get to know a college is through the experience of alumni, so don’t be afraid to ask more personal rather than purely factual questions.
Don’t use the interview as a time to repeat your application materials. Avoid vague answers; dig deeper and use personal examples.The purpose of the interview is not to repeat your test score, to tell me how many things you have on your resume, or to communicate the number of AP classes you’ve taken. We have that information elsewhere on your application. Instead, try to use personal examples and stories to support what you are saying. Don’t expect vague or cliché answers to stand or be enough.
Think about the “how” and “why” behind your answers. As an interviewer, I don’t expect you to have perfect or fully formulated answers to every question I ask. I do want to understand, however, what you believe and why you believe those things. Think about your answers to questions like why do you want to go to college? Why are you interviewing with Hillsdale? What kind of person do you want to be by the end of college? Why do you love the things that you love (could be academics, extracurriculars, etc.)? If you love politics, for example, what is it about politics that makes you excited? Thinking about these kinds of questions beforehand will help you be prepared for the questions you might be asked during your Hillsdale interview.
Understand and be able to articulate your personal reason for your interest in Hillsdale. Do some research beforehand on Hillsdale (or any college you are interviewing with) and know why you are interested in applying before going to interview. Taking the time to understand the context of Hillsdale, its mission, and the Honor Code will help you better articulate your interest.
View the interview more as a conversation than an interrogation. Sure, it will be a guided conversation in which interviewers are asking pointed and specific questions, but the best interviews are those that feel very conversational, where you feel comfortable and confident enough to ask questions back and give your honest thoughts.
Be prepared to talk about high school and college. We’ll want to know how you grew in high school and what you liked about it. You will also want to think through what college means to you and what you’re looking for in a college.
Be confident and be yourself. Don’t say the answer you think your Admissions Counselor wants to hear, and don’t just repeat what our website says—we can normally see through that. We’re genuinely not looking for one right answer; rather, we want to understand the way that you think and process. We are trying to get to know you as a person, so being yourself will be the easiest way for us to do that.
Be humble and respectful. Try to walk the line between humility and conviction. We want to hear what you believe and why you believe it, but we also love to see students who are humble and can acknowledge when they don’t know something or are wrong. Having an attitude of willingness to learn, while also being able to express what you think in a clear manner, will make you stand out in your interview.

In addition to counting for part of the application, the interview is a great way to get a taste of what conversations in and outside of the classroom are like at Hillsdale. If you remember nothing else from this article, remember to be yourself and to be honest. I know it sounds cliché, but we want to know who you are. Go into the interview with confidence and know that the interview also exists for you to showcase who you are and to learn more about the College.

Greta Dornbirer graduated from Hillsdale College in 2022 with an English major and a classics minor. She currently lives in Hillsdale and recruits Ohio and Indiana for Hillsdale’s Admissions Office. In her free time, she loves to go on walks, find cute coffee shops, read good books, and have long, deep conversations with friends.

Published in August 2023