American Experience | 体验美国

Interview with Ivy’s: Columbia

February 11, 2014 3:25 am | By Nadia

columbia university

We talked about how each college is different. There’s no more truth than that. What also is different is the interviews you will be asked to attend. My Columbia interview was one like I’d never experienced before.

I was contacted by email to meet with the Alumni about a week ago. I had to postpone the original date though, so I was able to have more time. (You can do that if they email you and you stay in touch. Sometimes you can set up the date yourself, move them around, and postpone them, whatever you may need.) Anyway, he happened to be working downtown, so I went to his office to meet for the interview. When I arrived, I had to sign in at the lobby and was brought upstairs. It was in a big building, with a site of the New York skyline that could make a postcard. I sat down in the empty office, with the exception of the interviewer and I, and the interview began.

First off, we were both dressed casually. Jeans and a regular shirt. That was one contrast from the Harvard interview. Second, instead of two Alumni, there was only one. Third, it was after a long day of school for me and a long day of work for him. Finally, the interview was more like a conversation. It wasn’t about the questions – it was about what I thought I should talk about. And the interview went like this:

“So, why don’t you tell me about yourself?”

That’s all he had to say. From that, I went into my extracurricular activities, hobbies, and passions. That’s what really interested him – clubs, like the Harvard interview, made up the discussion. He didn’t ask for grades, he didn’t ask what classes I was taking, he only wanted to know about life outside of the school, “someone beyond what the Common App tells me”.  Then he asked for my favorite book, subjects, what I like to do in my free time, the “Why Columbia question”, and then, suddenly,

“Do you have any questions for me?”

As quickly as it started the interview was over. Short, sweet, and to the point.

Of course, not all interviews for Columbia are going to be like this. But you may get an interview for any school that could be like this. There are different ways to be interviewed, and this “casual, conversational brief meeting” is just one way. Don’t be surprised if an interview goes this way – different people have different styles. You may end up with an interview like this one, or the one I had with Harvard. You may have an interview like this for Harvard, and a long one for Columbia. It doesn’t matter which school, what matters is the interviewer themselves. I just want to make sure that anyone reading this understands that one concept: you never know what type of an interview you’re going to be thrown into. Just know that this is one style and you need to prepare for whichever way you may get.

At any rate, the main thing to remember is that you’re always going to be asked about life outside of school. If anything, that’s one thing the Common App has a hard time projecting. You want to talk about something that doesn’t have a grade, like your passions, motivations, and hobbies.

Good luck!