College Interview Can Be Scary

Hey Harlan,

Quick question: I am planning on having a college interview this week, and I am very scared. Could you give me some tips?

Scared Senior

Hey Scared Senior,

One tip: Think of it as a conversation, not an interview. Forget about the college accepting you — find out if you want to accept it. Change your attitude from "WANT ME! TAKE ME! PICK ME" to "Is this the right school for me?" With this mind-set, create a list of "take away" questions that will help you take away information to help guide your decision-making process. Once you know what you want, think about what the interviewers want. What they want is to know YOU. Give them YOU. Be YOU. If you're not you, and you're accepted, you'll have to be the person you're pretending to be for the next four years. And that can be exhausting. Practice interviewing with a counselor at school, parents and friends. Remove all the crude, lewd and questionable pictures (and photo tags) from your Facebook and MySpace pages (no alcohol, craziness or sexually suggestive poses — this includes tags). Checking out applicants on Facebook and MySpace often is standard procedure. Bottom line: Forget thinking of this as an interview, and think of it as an exciting conversation. Share your best qualities and give the college rep permission to know you. If the interview doesn't go as planned, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Not all schools are the right fit. See what fits and move on.