How did your Northwestern interview go? Forum

[slamp]

Completed mine recently with an admissions officer and thought it went very well. No real problems or surprise questions. Anyone else out there on TLS had their interview yet? If so, how did it go.

[Arbiter213]

I may have indirectly called myself an asshole.

I wasn't gonna get in anyway. No WE.

[jtemp320]

Went well - pretty much what I expected - was a little strange that it was in a hotel lobby - we just sat in two chairs next to each other in a corner of a pretty noisy lobby

[arism87]

I met my interviewer in a coffee shop. It felt suspiciously like a blind date from an online dating site (you know, I had already extensively stalked him on the Internet, but wasn't really sure if I'd recognize him, etc).

No real surprise questions. I always appreciate when they don't ask what your biggest weakness is. I mean... don't ask if you don't want to know. He literally said they are just checking to see that we don't drool on ourselves. I said I hope I passed THAT test. He didn't seem so sure... :-/

.. No, really.

[09042014]

I met my interviewer in a coffee shop. It felt suspiciously like a blind date from an online dating site (you know, I had already extensively stalked him on the Internet, but wasn't really sure if I'd recognize him, etc).

No real surprise questions. I always appreciate when they don't ask what your biggest weakness is. I mean... don't ask if you don't want to know. He literally said they are just checking to see that we don't drool on ourselves. I said I hope I passed THAT test. He didn't seem so sure... :-/

.. No, really.

Eh a classmate here at NU smelled of vomit, got called out about it, and she's still here.

[fugitivejammer]

I met my interviewer in a coffee shop. It felt suspiciously like a blind date from an online dating site (you know, I had already extensively stalked him on the Internet, but wasn't really sure if I'd recognize him, etc).

No real surprise questions. I always appreciate when they don't ask what your biggest weakness is. I mean... don't ask if you don't want to know. He literally said they are just checking to see that we don't drool on ourselves. I said I hope I passed THAT test. He didn't seem so sure... :-/

.. No, really.

Eh a classmate here at NU smelled of vomit, got called out about it, and she's still here.

Well it shows character and probably perserverence.

[jtemp320]

I met my interviewer in a coffee shop. It felt suspiciously like a blind date from an online dating site (you know, I had already extensively stalked him on the Internet, but wasn't really sure if I'd recognize him, etc).

No real surprise questions. I always appreciate when they don't ask what your biggest weakness is. I mean... don't ask if you don't want to know. He literally said they are just checking to see that we don't drool on ourselves. I said I hope I passed THAT test. He didn't seem so sure... :-/

.. No, really.

Eh a classmate here at NU smelled of vomit, got called out about it, and she's still here.

Well it shows character and probably perserverence.

And probably great #s?

[Jack Smirks]

Completed mine recently with an admissions officer and thought it went very well. No real problems or surprise questions. Anyone else out there on TLS had their interview yet? If so, how did it go.

Honestly I don't think these interviews have any impact whatsoever on admissions. They're just a vapid and hollow charade if you ask me.

[slamp]

Completed mine recently with an admissions officer and thought it went very well. No real problems or surprise questions. Anyone else out there on TLS had their interview yet? If so, how did it go.

Honestly I don't think these interviews have any impact whatsoever on admissions. They're just a vapid and hollow charade if you ask me.

Interesting, I think just the opposite. I have heard of/seen applicants with great numbers who are far from real-world oriented. Considering that, I would rather go to law school with a large group of people who can at least "pass" a basic interview. They will be, after all, a valuable network to have and more than likely already be proven leaders, as well.

In my experience, that's what matters in the world outside of academia.

[r6_philly]

I think they want to see that you actually have the work experience you say, AND that you have learned and grown from it.

[RTFM]

I think they want to see that you actually have the work experience you say, AND that you have learned and grown from it.

At my on-campus interview they barely asked me about my work experience... it was way more focused on my extracurricular activities in college. A couple other people commented on the same thing. I was super thrown off by it.

[r6_philly]

I think they want to see that you actually have the work experience you say, AND that you have learned and grown from it.

At my on-campus interview they barely asked me about my work experience... it was way more focused on my extracurricular activities in college. A couple other people commented on the same thing. I was super thrown off by it.

As I interview/interact with interns, I can tell you people who have real world experience come off differently than college kids. So even if you weren't discussing WE, you would still come off as someone with WE, by the way you talk to and assess your EC in UG.

We talked about me racing motorcycles (it's on my resume) and starting an educational non-profit (what I am going to grad school for). I don't think we talked about my 10+ years of work experience.

[ahduth]

What's been your experience on getting this thing scheduled. I should probably go do it eventually.

[r6_philly]

What's been your experience on getting this thing scheduled. I should probably go do it eventually.

I think the off-campus appointments fill up fast and happen early in the season. I suspect it should be easy on campus. I requested my off-campus one as soon as I saw that they came to Philly, and I got the 2nd appointment I think.

[ahduth]

And since I live in Chicago, they'll probably expect me to walk over there and interview. I dunno, seems like a lot of work. I wonder how late I can delay it and still be free and clear.

[pleasepickme]

Mine was quite odd. I went to the alum's office (as I was far away from Chicago), and we had a two hour discussion about the history of Islam, Marvel Comics, science fiction, and the role of fathers in daughters' lives. Not one direct question about me, my ambitions, my qualifications, or my strengths and weaknesses whatsoever. It was a lot of fun, but really odd.

And then I walked out of the interview to find my JR2 voicemail waiting on my phone, making the whole process pointless anyway.

[eliekedourie]

I had my on campus interview earlier this week. It went pretty well. I've had a pretty interesting job the last four years (my title is "Investigator") so we pretty much talked about that my volunteer work in college. That pretty much ate up the 45 mins.

[slamp]

I think they want to see that you actually have the work experience you say, AND that you have learned and grown from it.

At my on-campus interview they barely asked me about my work experience... it was way more focused on my extracurricular activities in college. A couple other people commented on the same thing. I was super thrown off by it.

As I interview/interact with interns, I can tell you people who have real world experience come off differently than college kids. So even if you weren't discussing WE, you would still come off as someone with WE, by the way you talk to and assess your EC in UG.

We talked about me racing motorcycles (it's on my resume) and starting an educational non-profit (what I am going to grad school for). I don't think we talked about my 10+ years of work experience.

I agree r6_philly. We talked about my 5+ years of work experience, but ultimately the majority of the conversation was about other things. It was more of a conversation that I would expect to have with a prospective employer. I look young for my age and am actually only now completing my undergrad degree, so he didn't immediately realize that I had prior work experience. When I mentioned that, he perked up and actually took an interest (i.e. he looked up from his papers and engaged in conversation for real), even though we moved on to other topics.

[r6_philly]

I agree r6_philly. We talked about my 5+ years of work experience, but ultimately the majority of the conversation was about other things. It was more of a conversation that I would expect to have with a prospective employer. I look young for my age and am actually only now completing my undergrad degree, so he didn't immediately realize that I had prior work experience. When I mentioned that, he perked up and actually took an interest (i.e. he looked up from his papers and engaged in conversation for real), even though we moved on to other topics.

Me too, just got around to finishing this past year. She was very interested in what I did before, since I took such a long break. I had no problem filling in the blanks with colorful stories. I wish all schools interviewed, it would at least make the experience more pleasant because I love telling stories.

[adamdroog]

I interviewed a while ago in Los Angeles. I thought it went well. I interviewed with Assistant Dean of Admissions Johann Lee. My work experience is 5 years as a low level retail manager, starting while I was an undergraduate and continuing after I graduated. He did a better job of making my work experience relevant, than I could have. I think they look for leadership and managing in work experience even if it is only retail stuff.

[bedefan]

I had an interview with an alum, a US atty in a mid-sized city in the Upper Midwest. He had got his BA at ND, and so we talked a bit about the Declan Sullivan tragedy (we met at a sports bar). He asked about 10 questions about where I've lived, where I grew up, my WE, and I gave pretty direct, short answers, since I was trying to get more of a conversation going (didn't feel like orating). But then he ran out of questions and said he had to go back to work. At first I thought this might be a bad sign but then he said he'd do a positive writeup, and that he hoped I got in and attended. Overall it seemed a positive experience.

[ahduth]

I wish all schools interviewed, it would at least make the experience more pleasant because I love telling stories.

This. Although I don't tell stories, I'm just a huge smartass. But I love interviewing, which I know makes me into some sort of congenital freak, but you get to meet someone new, you have to think on your feet, and it's over pretty quickly. This endless redrafting of my personal statement is just retarded in the end, since they're barely going to read it.

Looking forward to OCI...