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How do your kids prepare for college interviews?


Sebastian (a lady)
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I'm asking because I keep having students show up for interviews who seem to have only the most glancing understanding of what life at a service academy or in the Navy is like.

 

Some of that I will blame on the academies. Decades ago they would send out hard copy catalogs, even to younger students who inquired. So much is online now that they keep the expensive full catalogs for guidance counselors.

 

But that means that students actually have to exert some effort to get info, like spending time online, downloading the catalog and browsing it on the computer, checking out the website to understand the application process.

 

I have students coming to interviews who can't tell me what they'd like to do in the Navy, what they'd like to major in at USNA or what restrictions they might be under as freshmen.

 

I know I was naive as a candidate, but work with me guys.

 

So how much time do your kids spend prepping for an interview?

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My dd who was not at all that enthusiastic about visiting colleges still did look at the websites before she went. (SHe was entering 11th and these were tours and information sessions rather than interviews). She still was curious why someone would even visit a college that didn't have their major. I am absolutely sure that before she interviews with anyone, she will have known about the institution.

 

WHen we did interviews, almost all of the kids did know a lot about the institution. I am really surprised by this and hope this isn't a general trend.

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Your post arrives at an interesting time. My son is applying to five colleges (maybe six). He has read websites for the schools, but is far more focused on reading departmental pages for fields that interest him. There is an overwhelming amount of material on the Internet.

 

Between the specific essay questions these colleges have, separate scholarship or honors essays, assorted dates, etc., I have been wondering how students who apply to a dozen or more schools can keep the threads straight. Do you think that this is part of the problem? If a student is focused on a single school (which admittedly is hard to do in these economic times), perhaps he can keep his eyes on the prize. But when students are creating lengthy applications to a number of institutions, is it possible that they are having a hard time envisioning themselves as members of each of these communities?

 

Another thing that I wonder about: my son's online Latin course had a chat session the other evening about the course itself. The instructor explained that he is treating this AP course as a college course--students need to self check work, students need to appreciate that there is no one "correct" answer, etc. Yet most of the questions were about grades, maximizing points, getting that 5 on the AP exam. I think that students treat many of their classes as spread sheets: check off the boxes, get those points. Perhaps they see college apps as something similar: check off the boxes, display those scores and activities, make a spread sheet of oneself. What is lost is that most colleges want more than a spread sheet. We have all known students who have performed activities not for their true interests but because it would be good for those apps.

 

Another thing that comes to mind: do these kids really want to attend the institutions to which they are applying or is it Mom or Dad that wants them to attend? A friend of mine who does local interviews for an Ivy has commented that students rarely think about what they will contribute to the institution--it is all about their numbers.

 

Want to share some interview tips with our students, Sebastian?

 

Jane

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Hi Sebastian- Great point about the catalogs. I made a point of getting one for each academy from the liason officers, because my daughter probably wasn't going to ask for them. Having them around the house with the nice covers and great pictures just invites you to read them. I also wanted her to get a look at a college catalogue and how you see the number of classes offered, prerequisites, and sometimes they might say "offered every other year" which means it may be a small department, etc. (just some common sense things you learn yourself in college) It's just not the same when you have to go on line, and the kids are being diverted to the social sites. (girls anyway)

In her position I wanted her to choose between at least 2 academies and not just take the first one that took her! Since she didn't know what she wanted to major in I don't know if she really had an interest in looking at the different courses, but it didn't hurt.

 

For interviewing--give her a list of every crazy question anyone has asked you about homeschooling, that's a good start.

 

I would also say the college essay writing helps focus them. ( we had an outside tutor for this) It helps them identify their strengths which they can explain in detail during an interview. For the SA's it was a lot about "you and leadership" and she was able to discuss this in regards to her outside activities, sports, etc. Then also having the self discipline to complete an independent high school course of study isn't anything to sneeze at. I think we under- estimate how outside people can be impressed with a hard working homeschooled candidate. (they do see a lot of non hardworking homeschool candidates, also) In fact they told my daughter that---they had never had a HS candidate that even could pass out of the committee.

 

Lastly- get the clothing right. Look good, but not too grown up business (ie black suit) especially when interviewing during nice weather. I watched the kids come in from the parking lot and I saw a little of everything. This one kid in the new black suit looked visibly very anxious, and you know if the parents made the effort to buy him a new suit; that's it's very important to the parents....

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My dd prepared for a good two months. She reviewed the site/catalog, made sure she was highly familiar w/ the dept she wanted to major in.

 

She did about six mock interviews w/teachers and a coach. I think she was prepared, but of course it is a whole other ball game, when you are sitting in the chair.

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Want to share some interview tips with our students, Sebastian?

 

Jane

 

Interview tips:

Don't be afraid to talk. The interviewer isn't there just to hear themselves talk (well, most of the time). But they are passionate about their school, which means if you don't talk, they probably will. Unfortunately, that will leave them with nothing about the student to evaluate.

 

Dress neatly and professionally. Schools run a gamut. I wouldn't expect someone applying to music school to show up in the same attire as someone applying to MIT or an academy. Specifically for service academies: if you are a woman, dress modestly. Don't overdo makeup or jewelry. That doesn't mean wear none. It just means that lots of makeup or jewelry may make the interviewer wonder if you will hang in there when you have 12 minutes to get from morning exercise to morning formation (and have to squeeze a shower, dressing in uniform and straightening your room into that time). For guys: leave the earrings at home. If you have a tatoo, wear a shirt that doesn't flaunt it. These just fall into the category of knowing your audience.

 

Answer questions with some detail. There isn't a magic formula. I've heard stories about biking up mountains, building tanks for fish farming and heading up class play projects. But have some answers about what makes you tick, what is important to you, what you want to do at that school, how attending that school would help you attain life goals and why the admissions board should pick you. Again, this is a know your audience moment. I'm looking for examples of leadership, perseverance, determination and other qualities that will get someone through a demanding four years and might mark them as a potential officer. A friend's son applied to music schools. His interviews were about performance, composition, playing solo, playing in a group, production experience etc. Other schools might be looking for imagination, out of the box thinking, initiative, examples of diversity (racial, economic experiential). But in any event, give the interviewer some sense of who you are.

 

Have some questions for the interviewer. One of my favorite interviews, the candidate took notes when I mentioned things. Other candidates have had good questions that showed they had done some reading or online research. But the questions shouldn't be something that is answered on the first couple of pages of the school website. That will make them think that you really haven't looked into the school.

 

The last thing I can think of (befor running of to school my own hooligans) is that you do need to be ready to clarify things about homeschooling. Competitive schools especially, need something to go by. You can provide test scores, but grades and class rank, not to mention things like student government and clubs. So you need to give them some alternate way of evaluating you. Be ready to highlight group experiences and areas that show off your ability in competitive areas (speech competitions, Poetry Out Loud, robotics, sports, youth group, scouting, homeschool honor society, etc). [i don't think that schools should necessarily require homeschoolers to provide extra documentation. But I also don't think that homeschoolers should provide one set of average test scores, and grades given by a parent and expect competitive schools will find that to be enough to measure. If my own kids apply to highly competitive schools, I plan to provide some outside measures of their experiences and abilities. Some of those will probably be extra testing. FWIW, I found it just as hard to quantify the application of a student from a prestige international school that didn't do grades or class rank.]

 

Be ready to explain jargon. I got tripped up by a student who was doing Saxon Advanced Math because I didn't know where that fit in a math sequence to prepare him to take calculus as a freshman. It would have been good for him to give me a gloss like, "Saxon Advanced Math, that is a pre-calculus course." I wouldn't assume that an interviewer would know what a coop is or sattellite school or Omnibus or the trivium or . . .

 

Enough for now. It's morning here, so I have to go.

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Know the general information about the schools you're applying to. It is telling to me when a student doesn't know, for example, what state a school is in or calls their team by the wrong name (if they are well known for sports) or hasn't picked up on some of the distinctives of the school. Even if the comment is about a school that I don't represent, it makes the student sound like they don't really know what they are talking about.

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It is also very easy to allow the academy attendance to become the goal, rather than becoming an officer. I knew several new ensigns who seemed rather at loose ends after graduation because they'd had a mental stake in finishing the academy, but had trouble making the transition to the next step. This sometimes comes out in interviews.

 

You can tell when someone hasn't really thought about what it means to have a 5+ year committment after graduation. Sure on one hand, it is a guaranteed job. But it can also feel like a bind, depending on your situation.

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I feel sometimes like I spend a lot of my contact time with student talking up ROTC because so many have never heard of it or haven't considered it. It is a great program, as are the academies. I think that the era of careerists coming from the academies only is well past. There are some good degree opportunities that exist only outside the academy offerings.

 

It is well worth looking into.

 

Also, FWIW, there are some Navy ROTC scholarships earmarked for historically black colleges and universities that go unclaimed nearly every year. The stipulation is for where the scholarship is used, not on the ethnic/race background of the student. There are some quality schools on the list and the scholarships can't be beat. I don't know if the other services have similar programs.

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Well, he sent his SAT score to ROTC but I wouldn't go so far as to say he's looked at it. The problem is he has to apply at a specific school and he hasn't found any civilian schools he likes. We're still working on that. (He's pretty confident he'll get in but I keep telling him about the candidate who broke her leg a week before R-Day and had to do a year at Cornell and reapply.)

 

So, what civilian college has the small classes, emphasis on education and organized lifestyle of an academy and has ROTC? So far, he's mostly interested in flying, computers and politics, but hasn't picked a major.

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In regards to ROTC (or OTC as my husband did), I don't think it hurts in the career depending on the service and your particular career choice. My husband is a scientist and I have seen that the fact that he went to a college that had a extremely strong physics program helped him much better than if he went to the academy. Overall, he was able to quickly learn the leadership skills but the students who went to the Academy were not as advanced in the science skills and that did hurt some of them.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I think this very much depends on what your military specialty is.

I was an engineering division officer (served both as boilers officer and as Damage Control Assistant), despite having an English degree. All of my captains said that I wrote really good military messages, but they were mostly confined to casualty reports on my equipment.

On the other hand there was an officer on one ship with a masters degree in math. He was hopeless as a practical engineer; he just couldn't seem to "see" what was happening behind all the insulations on the pipes and pumps. I actually really like the undergrad that I got, because I had exposure to so many different things, literature & languages but also science and math through the core program.

 

On the other hand, a dear friend of ours recently retired as an Air Force civil engineering type. He was using his engineering background daily, where a pilot would not have referred to his undergrad work much in his daily duties.

 

Having said all that, I don't think there is a knock against you if you aren't an academy grad. There are pros and cons to either and I've met good and bad (in fact super and horrible) officers who came through both systems.

If anything, there might be a slight bias against academy grads because some arrogant grads have left a bad taste in other people's mouths. Or maybe that was just my perception and ROTC grads would tell you just the opposite.

 

Military life isn't for the faint of heart. It can be quite stressful all around.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I think having conversations, such as at the dinner table every night, with your student is one of the best ways to really prepare. You be the interviewer (without anyone knowing you're even "practicing") by dialoging about the various schools that are on the line-up, listening to your child share his/her heart, finding out what he/she has researched online, etc. about the schools. Talk about their interests with them. Get them talking about where they'd like to be in 5 yrs, 10 yrs, 20 yrs. Ask them things like what they liked most about homeschooling and what things were difficult about it.

Get them to talk honestly about what they view as personal strengths and weaknesses, and what they feel they could contribute to student life on a given campus.

These are some of the types of things that get asked of them in interviews.

 

HTH!

Jo

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