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Admission Interviews: Purpose and Preparation

Courtney Stricklin Burgan

Sr. Associate Dean of Admission at Occidental College

Cindy Montgomery

Associate Director of College Counseling at Hawaiʻi Preparatory Academy

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Admission Interviews: Purpose

OCCIDENTAL INTERVIEW STATISTICS

  • 1000-1500 interviews conducted per year out of 6500-7500 applications
    • 2025: 8 students from Hawaii requested interviews out of 74 applicants (9th most popular state for applications)
  • 35-40% regular decision acceptance rate at Occidental
  • 55-60% acceptance rate of students who interviewed with Occidental (as high as ED!)

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Admission Interviews: Purpose

COLLEGE PERSPECTIVE

  • Evaluation of the candidate
  • Public Relations for the College

STUDENT PERSPECTIVE

  • Self advocacy
  • College Research
  • Demonstrated Interest

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Admission Interviews: Purpose

INTERVIEW TIMING

  • Before the application is submitted
  • After the application is submitted

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Admission Interviews: Purpose

INTERVIEWERS

  • Senior Fellows/Admission Ambassadors
  • Alumni Volunteers
  • Admission Officers

INTERVIEW LOCATIONS

  • Online
  • On-campus
  • Off-campus

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Admission Interviews: Purpose

INTERVIEWER TRAINING AND PREPARATION

  • Volunteer & staff training, in-person and online
  • Interview specific guidelines, provided in advance and at time of first interview
    • Including sample interview questions & sample interview reports
  • Limited student details collected in the interview request form
    • Academic interest, extracurricular interests, questions about the college
    • Interviewers do not have access to the application materials

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INTERVIEW REPORT FORM

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Admission Interviews: Purpose

SAMPLE INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

  • Why Oxy? What brings you here today?
  • How would you describe your high school?
  • What classes are you most excited about this year?
  • What class has been the most challenging during your time in high school?
  • If you could repeat high school, is there anything you would do differently?
  • If you could change one thing at your high school, what would it be?
  • How do you spend your time outside of class?

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Admission Interviews: Purpose

SAMPLE INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

  • How do you typically spend your summer? OR What are you doing this summer?
  • If you could only do one of your activities/hobbies/extra-curriculars, what would it be?
  • If Aliens landed on earth, what song/book/movie would you recommend to introduce them to humanity?
  • Do you have any questions for me?
  • Is there anything you didn’t get to tell me that you would like to share before you go?

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Admission Interviews: Preparation

WHY IS PREPARATION IMPORTANT?

  • Getting the most out of this opportunity!
    • Admission interviews are not the same as job interviews, so even students that have previous interview experience may not be prepared for this process
  • Having a plan for asking questions in a one-on-one setting
  • Being ready to advocate for oneself

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Admission Interviews: Preparation

HOW TO PREPARE FOR A COLLEGE INTERVIEW

  • BE GENUINE!
  • Go over possible questions beforehand
    • Good idea to prepare an outline but avoid memorizing a script
  • Make a list of questions about the college/university and the interviewer’s experience
    • Two to three questions is plenty!
  • Dress nice, but not necessarily formal
    • Students will be most themselves when they are comfortable in what they are wearing

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Admission Interviews: Preparation

WHO SHOULD INTERVIEW?

  • Everyone!
  • But… more specifically
    • Students who are really interested in the college/university
    • Students of color and/or students of any marginalized identity (traditionally have lower participation rates in admission interviews)
    • Students with lived experiences that would benefit from additional explanation

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Admission Interviews: Preparation

WHO SHOULD NOT INTERVIEW?

  • Students who struggle with in-person interactions
  • Students who are not applying to colleges with a holistic admission process or only to colleges that do not offer interviews
  • Students who do not take the time to prepare

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Admission Interviews: Preparation

FINAL THOUGHTS

  • Rarely will drastically change an admission decision in a negative way but can absolutely have a positive impact on a student’s application
  • A positive interview experience will also allow a student to learn more about the college/university and can support them to be better prepared in their application

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Thank You!

Courtney Stricklin Burgan

cstricklin@oxy.edu

(323) 259-2540

Cindy Montgomery

cmontgomery@hpa.edu

(808) 881-4062