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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm an interviewer.

What do you want to know?[/quote]

I guess since this is my first college kid, and this is his first choice school-any tips?
My son is quite shy, and I'm wondering how to help him prep, if that's even possible.
Should he wear a suit? Shirt and tie but not a full suit? 
And how much influence is the interview in the bigger scheme of admissions?

[/quote]

Sorry, I forgot to come back and check this thread.  As an interviewer, we are given guidelines but there are no specific questions that we have to ask.  I don't think there is any way to prep since every interviewer will ask different questions.  He needs to be able to hold a conversation and tell the interviewer about himself.

Since I'm local, I get a lot of TJ applicants in my pile.  Statistically, they all look the same.  Multiple APs high SAT/ACT scores and significant extracurricular activities.  My role as the interviewer is to find out something about the candidate that isn't conveyed on paper.  When I interview, I try and set up a mutually convenient time or a time that is more convenient to the student.  I try for Sunday mornings but that's not always possible.  Unlike the other interviewer, I don't like to interview during the work day.  I'm pretty casual and I won't be showing up in a suit or in heels.  I'll be in jeans and a nice top with flats.  It doesn't phase me one way or another if a student shows up in a suit or in cut offs---again, I'm trying to provide insight into who this person is.  If they normally wear a suit to church on Sunday mornings, then that's who they are.  If they normally, roll out of bed, and throw on a wrinkled shirt, cutoffs, and flip flops, then that's who they are.

I don't ask questions about course work.  I do ask what is the most interesting project you have worked on---some kids tell me about a school group project and others kids tell me about the project they're working at NIH.  I also ask what the kid did on Sat night---I want to know if they are social or if they spend all their time studying.  I ask about the the last book they read.  Some kids can only tell me about school reading and other kids tell me about the latest teen vampire book.  I ask about the interesting extras on their resume---how long have they been involved in the chess club, band, SGA etc.  I want to know if they're really involved or if it was just a college resume building activity.

The other, probably pretty standard questions, I ask is why Georgetown and why should Georgetown want you?  I tell the story of why I picked the school....I toured the school on a Wed afternoon.  It was a beautiful spring day--warm and sunny.  The tour guide took us up to Village A.  The students were on the rooftop desk bbq and having a keg party at 2 in the afternoon.  Yep---that's why I picked Georgetown.  Good atmosphere.  Then I listen to why they want to go--some say mom and dad think it's a good idea, some talk about SFS, others talk about having always seen the spires as they drove down the parkway.  Everyone has a reason.  What I'm not looking for is its the best blah blah blah.

To your last question---how much influence does the interviewer have---I don't think much.  I get a summary after admissions of the student decisions.  One kid I interviewed dropped out of Harvard 2 months in.  I had to ask about that decision.  I was really hoping he was going to say something along the lines of my family circumstances changed or he had to come back to the DC area for some reason.  But nope, he just said he wasn't "feeling Harvard" and he left.  Certainly that's his right.  But who doesn't at least finish out the semester?  His HS grades and scores were amazing.  Personality wise, he was a dud.  I didn't recommend him but he was accepted.  I suspect the interview reports are only important if a student is on the bubble.

Good luck to your son.  Just tell him to be himself.  That's the best prep.

[/quote]

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