How to prepare for a school or scholarship interview

Prepare your stories, not scripts

You cannot predict every question, but most interviews circle the same few themes: a challenge you faced, something you are proud of, why you want this place, a time you worked with others, and what interests you. Instead of memorizing answers, prepare three or four real stories from your own life. A good story can be reshaped to fit many questions, and it always sounds more alive than a rehearsed paragraph.

Tell those stories with STAR

When you answer with an example, a simple shape keeps it clear and stops you rambling. STAR is four quick steps:

• Situation. Set the scene in a sentence.
• Task. What you needed to do.
• Action. What you actually did, the heart of the answer.
• Result. How it turned out, and what you learned.

Most students spend too long on the situation and rush the action. Flip that: get to what you did quickly, and let that part carry the answer.

Know why you are there

Almost every interview asks some version of why do you want this. Have a real answer, specific to this school, this program, or this scholarship. Name something concrete: a course, a value, a thing they do that you cannot get elsewhere. Generic praise (it has a great reputation) tells them nothing. A specific reason tells them you actually looked.

Practice out loud, with a real person

Reading your notes is not practice. Ask a parent, a teacher, or a coach to run a mock interview and answer their questions out loud. The first time you hear yourself answer, it will come out messier than it did in your head, and that is exactly the point. Two or three mock runs will do more than a week of silent worrying.

On the day: small things that matter

• Arrive early and take a few slow breaths before you go in.
• Pause before you answer. Thinking looks better than rushing.
• It is fine to say I have not thought about that before, then work it out aloud.
• Have one or two questions ready to ask them. It shows you care.
• Be honest. Interviewers can tell when an answer is real and when it is a performance.

If the stakes are high, rehearse with a coach

For a big admissions or scholarship interview, a couple of mock interviews with an experienced coach can change how you walk into the room. Our Interview & Presentation program runs realistic mocks and gives you a second run, so the real thing is not the first time you have answered out loud.

Common questions