Interview Attire

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Last year, my son had a tour followed by an interview. He wore sneakers, khakis and a button down, and threw a hoodie on over top. After the tour finished, he dashed outside to the car to put on a jacket and tie and swap sneaks for dress shoes.

An admissions staffer who saw the before/after commented favorably on the effort he put into dressing up for the interview portion. Sometimes the nonverbal messages mean a lot.

He was admitted.

Wow! Great tip!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've been interviewing for Georgetown for ~18 years. I would say roughly 50% of the kids I interview these days wear jeans. I think for them, hard pants are considered dressy.

That being said, I recommended to my son that he wear khakis/chinos. (I would say the same thing if I had a daughter.) Also, a collared shirt.

Good luck to your child

Funny, and also true

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Long time Ivy interviewer. Jeans are fine. There is a lot of implicit bias though everywhere so I’d try to look attractive, but no need to be fancy at all.

I know. I don’t judge people that way in interviews but I’ve been trained in implicit bias and it happens everywhere at all levels. I’m actually hoping people read this and check their own bias when conducting interviews. When we parents applied, a lot of these schools wanted photos. I don’t think the schools are actively considering that now, and interviewers certainly aren’t asked to evaluate that. But I’d make extra effort to be clean and presentable.
Also, if an in person interview, reschedule if you’re sick. People don’t like contagious people and studies show you’ll likely be perceived poorly in the interview, regardless of performance.

Clean and presentable is not the same as attractive. I find your advice very troubling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Long time Ivy interviewer. Jeans are fine. There is a lot of implicit bias though everywhere so I’d try to look attractive, but no need to be fancy at all.

I know. I don’t judge people that way in interviews but I’ve been trained in implicit bias and it happens everywhere at all levels. I’m actually hoping people read this and check their own bias when conducting interviews. When we parents applied, a lot of these schools wanted photos. I don’t think the schools are actively considering that now, and interviewers certainly aren’t asked to evaluate that. But I’d make extra effort to be clean and presentable.
Also, if an in person interview, reschedule if you’re sick. People don’t like contagious people and studies show you’ll likely be perceived poorly in the interview, regardless of performance.

Clean and presentable is not the same as attractive. I find your advice very troubling.

Look, I’m overweight. If I had to interview for jobs now, studies would show I’m at a massive disadvantage due to bias. I think there are strong arguments for getting rid of college interviews altogether, as some schools like Wellesley have. I think bias was a reason for discontinuing them, iirc. The social economic bias comes through in things like straight teeth. Why do you think we pay so much for our kids orthodonture? Or acne treatments?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Long time Ivy interviewer. Jeans are fine. There is a lot of implicit bias though everywhere so I’d try to look attractive, but no need to be fancy at all.

I know. I don’t judge people that way in interviews but I’ve been trained in implicit bias and it happens everywhere at all levels. I’m actually hoping people read this and check their own bias when conducting interviews. When we parents applied, a lot of these schools wanted photos. I don’t think the schools are actively considering that now, and interviewers certainly aren’t asked to evaluate that. But I’d make extra effort to be clean and presentable.
Also, if an in person interview, reschedule if you’re sick. People don’t like contagious people and studies show you’ll likely be perceived poorly in the interview, regardless of performance.

Now some schools want videos.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Long time Ivy interviewer. Jeans are fine. There is a lot of implicit bias though everywhere so I’d try to look attractive, but no need to be fancy at all.

I know. I don’t judge people that way in interviews but I’ve been trained in implicit bias and it happens everywhere at all levels. I’m actually hoping people read this and check their own bias when conducting interviews. When we parents applied, a lot of these schools wanted photos. I don’t think the schools are actively considering that now, and interviewers certainly aren’t asked to evaluate that. But I’d make extra effort to be clean and presentable.
Also, if an in person interview, reschedule if you’re sick. People don’t like contagious people and studies show you’ll likely be perceived poorly in the interview, regardless of performance.

Now some schools want videos.

Yeah. I’m concerned about that trend. I’ve been wondering if they want students who present well on camera - maybe they’re more likely to be successful and prominent alumni.

[Anonymous]

DS wears khakis and a collared shirt when he goes to job fairs and applied for on campus job. He said the majority of the students were in athletic wear at the job fair.

I think it also starts the pattern of dressing for 'real life' interviews post graduation. I interview a lot of new grads and the attire can be wild (hello, guy that interviewed in a white tank, I am looking at you!) We are an industry that is 100% in person so I need you to dress as if you were coming to work - business casual.

[Anonymous]

I think it's fine, but I will say this. I alum interview for a top college, and I was talking to another alum at an event. She said she met a student for an interview before school at the school library (I always did coffee houses but apparently this is a thing you can set up). She complained that the student was dressed informally in her field hockey uniform. I was like-- well if that's what she's wearing at 7 AM, I could deduce that she has a game and it's a spirit day and that's what she is expected to wear at school that day and she doesn't have time to change. Not good enough for this alum! The alum also complained that the girl did not bring a resume when THEY ARE SPECIFICALLY TOLD NOT TO.

It's a crapshoot. You never know who you are going to get. The good news is the alum interviews don't tend to move the needle. The bad news is they sometimes can, more than people want to acknowledge in my experience.

If you want to be very, very safe, you can do more of a business casual thing. 98 times out of 100, the interviewer will not think anything is wrong with a kid neatly dressed in jeans.

[Anonymous]

DD wore black slim pants + sneakers and sweater. So casual, but slightly dressier than jeans.

[Anonymous]

Former MIT alum interviewer here. I had some kids who showed up in professional dress and then looked uncomfortable throughout the interview. She wants to convey that the interview is important and you're taking it seriously, but she should absolutely be herself. If she wears something that she isn't comfortable and confident in, it will come through. Nice jeans are probably fine. Black pants are a good item to have in the wardrobe anyway so worth a shopping trip to buy them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Long time Ivy interviewer. Jeans are fine. There is a lot of implicit bias though everywhere so I’d try to look attractive, but no need to be fancy at all.

I know. I don’t judge people that way in interviews but I’ve been trained in implicit bias and it happens everywhere at all levels. I’m actually hoping people read this and check their own bias when conducting interviews. When we parents applied, a lot of these schools wanted photos. I don’t think the schools are actively considering that now, and interviewers certainly aren’t asked to evaluate that. But I’d make extra effort to be clean and presentable.
Also, if an in person interview, reschedule if you’re sick. People don’t like contagious people and studies show you’ll likely be perceived poorly in the interview, regardless of performance.

Clean and presentable is not the same as attractive. I find your advice very troubling.

Look, I’m overweight. If I had to interview for jobs now, studies would show I’m at a massive disadvantage due to bias. I think there are strong arguments for getting rid of college interviews altogether, as some schools like Wellesley have. I think bias was a reason for discontinuing them, iirc. The social economic bias comes through in things like straight teeth. Why do you think we pay so much for our kids orthodonture? Or acne treatments?

Schools like Brown are moving in the opposite direction by strongly recommending a video.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughters wore skirt and blazer, heels. Professional attire

Another interviewer - this is atypical

That’s why they were memorable

[Anonymous]

Jeans are probably ok but personally would wear business casual.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Former MIT alum interviewer here. I had some kids who showed up in professional dress and then looked uncomfortable throughout the interview. She wants to convey that the interview is important and you're taking it seriously, but she should absolutely be herself. If she wears something that she isn't comfortable and confident in, it will come through. Nice jeans are probably fine. Black pants are a good item to have in the wardrobe anyway so worth a shopping trip to buy them.

+1 once she gets to college there will likely be a lot of times she needs to do presentations in "professional attire." DD wears her black pants + jacket for these things. Seems to be the only time she wears those pants.