LizzyBee Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 My daughter is a finalist in the Scholars Program (a scholarship program) at UNCG. The interview process starts with a reception on Sunday evening and ends at 4:45 on Monday. On Monday, she has a mock class, group interviews, and individual interviews. There is a parent's program that run simultaneously with the kids' interview process. She's our oldest, so this is our first run at this process. She wants to get a skirt set that she saw in the jr. dept. at Macy's. Macy's jr. clothes are not well constructed, but this line of clothes is supposed to convey a young hip professional look. Since the interviews last all day, I'm concerned about her being comfortable - including wearing comfy shoes. So, I'm thinking her black dress pants with a nice blouse would be a better choice. She has two pairs; one is longer for wearing with heels that she could wear for the reception on Sunday, and another pair that she could wear with flats on Monday. What do you all think? What do other students wear for these things? Also, what kind of shoes? She has ballet flats, but I don't think they're very comfortable. She has fake sperries, but they go with jeans and khakis, not dress pants. She has Tom's, but they have a bold pattern on them that I think is too loud. I'm thinking we should probably look for new shoes that are dressy but comfortable. Maybe ballet flats with elastic in the sides so they fit better than her other ones. For dh and me, we were thinking khakis with a button down shirt and possibly a tie for dh. Should he wear a suit for the reception on Sunday. I was thinking dark dress pants with a nice sweater for me. I have a nice dress that I could wear for the reception on Sunday, or I could wear a different pair of dress pants with a blouse or sweater. What do you think? We could really use some scholarship money (who couldn't, right? :-), so I don't want to mess this up for her. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barbara H Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 How exciting! For general college interviews students don't need to be too dressy, but for scholarship interviews it really should be conservative business type attire. That usually means suitcoat and tie for the guys, and a suit or dress for the girls. It is fine to look contemporary but it really should be something she'd wear for a job interview and her hair and make up should also be appropriate. If she's going to be walking a lot on Monday she could swap out her shoes, but no sperries for sure. Best of luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizzyBee Posted February 23, 2012 Author Share Posted February 23, 2012 How exciting! For general college interviews students don't need to be too dressy, but for scholarship interviews it really should be conservative business type attire. That usually means suitcoat and tie for the guys, and a suit or dress for the girls. It is fine to look contemporary but it really should be something she'd wear for a job interview and her hair and make up should also be appropriate. If she's going to be walking a lot on Monday she could swap out her shoes, but no sperries for sure. Best of luck! Ok, looks like a shopping trip for an entire new outfit is in order for Saturday. If she gets a skirt suit, does she have to wear pantyhose? I mean, I know pantyhose are out these days, but what do people with very white legs wear for job interviews? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gwen in VA Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 My kids tried to look conservative and business-like, but we were concerned that if they dressed TOO conservatively they would look "homeschooler-ish" and make people concerned that they wouldn't fit in with the college culture. For ds, choosing clothes was easy, but for dd we went with a fashionable blazer and coordinating-but-not-matching skirt. Have fun shopping -- and good luck to your daughter! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alice Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 This was a long time ago, but when I was interviewing for med school and residency one thing that I think helped was that I did not wear a navy or black suit. You don't want to go with hot pink but since every single person shows up in the same very basic colors it helps them to remember you if you have on something slightly different. It might sound silly but every single place I went someone commented that I was not wearing black. (The suit I wore was brown and cream so still pretty conservative.) I was also on the admissions committee for med school and residency and while we never said "oh, I liked that girl's dress, let's let her in" it did help in remembering people if we could say "oh, yeah, that was the girl with the blue scarf." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithManor Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 If you can find a woman's pantsuit, one of those business dressy ones in black, gray, or navy, I highly recommend it. She can wear a nice white blouse, simple jewelry, and flats during the day. But, you can turn this into something charming for evening by adding heels, more elaborate/dressy jewelry, and if she has long hair...down during the day, pulled up for evening. A ruffled blouse instead of plain is a quick change that really takes the outfit up a notch and anything with a shimmer for evening is a plus too. This is what we did for dd. It worked, very, very well. She had the comfort of pants for the day with the appropriate business look, and yet looked very classy in the evening and it took about 15 to 20 minutes in the bathroom before the reception to pull off. Quick change of blouse and accessories, hair pulled into a quick twist, a little heavier eye make-up and voila, evening wear. I don't know how much money you have to spend. All I can say is that if you can splurge, Nordstrom's can make it happen. I ended up having to take dd there because a woman's dress suit that had this quality, look, and versatility wasn't available at JcPenney or any other standard department store in an 85 mile radius. Thankfully, Nordstrom's employees were UNBELIEVABLY fantastic and found the exact thing and in a price I could eek out. They threw in tailoring for free so the suit fit her beautifully. Faith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barbara H Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 She doesn't have to wear hose and a pant suit type of outfit is also fine and that may make the shoes issue easier. My college student son mentioned he had scholarship candidates sitting in on one of his classes this week - all were dressed as I described above. Also, I agree with the poster who said some contemporary touches so as not to look too homeschoolerish. It doesn't need to be a dark suit - but it should look like she's taking it seriously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama Geek Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 I would think the pantsuit would work really well. I have an olive colored pantsuit that I have worn for many different business occasions. It doesn't have to be Navy or Black to look really good. and for her to feel confident and comfortable in. I would worry about getting something that was too trendy though that would go out of style. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
memphispeg Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 A tailored "work" dress and cardigan or jacket with black tights looks nice. Make sure she wears comfy shoes that she can walk and stand in for long periods of time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK_Mom4 Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 DD18 recommends the dress slacks with a tailored blazer or cloth jacket over a dressy tank. She says she would wear her Dansko shoes because they are super comfy for walking and are still dressy. She says if she was wearing a dress or skirt she would pair it with colored tights. In fact (now that I think about it), this is exactly what she wore to her out-of-state college auditions (music) which included walking tours of the campus. She has a nice blazer with a mandarin collar, but a tailored jacket would be appropriate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizzyBee Posted February 24, 2012 Author Share Posted February 24, 2012 Thank you for all the responses! This is incredibly helpful. I'll have to check on whether we have a Nordstrom around here. The closest mall has Belk's, Macy's, Dillards, Ann Taylor, Talbots, and Saks. I think Saks is out of our price range, plus my daughter hates that store, but hopefully we can find something at one of the others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth in OH Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 What I have seen through my dd's auditions/interviews, as well as my interactions with student trustees in my service on a public university board of trustees, is that clothes are secondary. Decision makers are looking for the substance behind the clothes, and it is OK for an 18 year old to dress in her vision of what looks "professional" and age appropriate. Very few young women shop the suit department of Macy's. Have your dd wear what she feels best in--own the look, and work it. Heels or no heels. She can carry a bag with a spare pair of shoes if need be. Here's a picture of the student leadership winners from UNCG.....note the variety of interpretations of "professional": Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizzyBee Posted February 24, 2012 Author Share Posted February 24, 2012 Beth, The picture is great. They all look nice, but I would consider most of the outfits more casual dressy than professional. That takes some pressure off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizzyBee Posted February 29, 2012 Author Share Posted February 29, 2012 Update: We are back and should know in 4-6 weeks whether dd will get a Scholars Program scholarship. They told us that the finalists are the top 82 of ~10,000 applicants for the 2012-2013 freshman class. Scholarships are available for about half of them. We are so proud of dd. She ended up wearing a dress for the reception that is brown with a fun turquoise and cream print. She was one of the best-dressed students there, so it was a good choice. For the interviews on Monday, she wore black dress pants with a pink sweater. She looked nice in comparison to other students, and the bright pink should be memorable, so I think it was fine. She started out in black pumps, but they hurt her feet, so she put her Toms on. I really wish she'd changed back to the pumps before the individual interviews, (and I did tell her she should before we separated that morning), but it's too late to change it now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielle Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 My dd just survived 8 Ivy League type interviews, so fwiw here's what she reports. Interviewers showed up in hoodies (twice), and otherwise were mostly in sweaters and jeans or (for the older ones) nice pants. Based on the questions in every single interview, dd advises that you shouldn't look too conservative as at least in her interviews they were clearly trying to ferret out whether she homeschooled because of conservative beliefs (not a positive, apparently). Her conclusion was to wear a dark rose colored short sleeve fitted jacket (from Coldwater Creek, no less) and a khaki skirt (American Apparel) with a long scarf from World Market and some mid-size earrings. Several interviewers commented on how nice she looked, so I guess it was successful. Certainly it depends on the school. With one exception, all her interviewers were 20s-early 30s (one was 40s). Every single interviewer (these were local alumnae) was female. On the road shows we attended, I saw plenty of admissions counselors with no stockings. Danielle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Thank you for all the responses! This is incredibly helpful. I'll have to check on whether we have a Nordstrom around here. The closest mall has Belk's, Macy's, Dillards, Ann Taylor, Talbots, and Saks. I think Saks is out of our price range, plus my daughter hates that store, but hopefully we can find something at one of the others. If you have a Talbots Outlet nearby, that can be a great resource. All of my favorite suits came from there as separates. I really liked that I could get pants and jacket in different sizes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.