How to Not Suck: Dispelling Myths About College Interviews

Reading Time: 7 minutes

The interview: where you must simultaneously “be yourself” and make a favorable impression. I hate to burst your bubble, but what if you, well, suck?

Fear not, for between being your sucky self and being someone else, there is a third option: you can become a more awesome person. With millions of ways to accomplish such a nebulous goal, what should you do? Because there is no shortage of good tips on college interviews on the Internet, I will go in a different direction. I will suggest a few books that may help you become less sucky, debunk some misinformation I encountered about college interviews, and briefly cover the interview requirements and recommendations of two schools, Princeton and MIT.

Suggested Readings

On Being Awesome

First, read a book like philosopher Nick Riggle’s On Being Awesome. As its title implies, it outlines what it means to be awesome and what it means to suck. It also has a taxonomy of various types of awesomeness and suckiness. Keep in mind, however, that Riggle is an academic philosopher. This means that his theory of awesomeness faces objections from his peers. At any rate, here is a taste of the book.

Can’t Hurt Me

My last book recommendation is less theoretical. If you haven’t read David Goggins’s Can’t Hurt Me, do so. Goggins, an African American who lived near klansmen and endured extreme abuse from his father, was, by all accounts, a loser. Morbidly obese and working a dead-end job killing cockroaches, he lost 100 pounds in 2 months, taught himself how to swim, and joined the Navy SEAL–but not before becoming the only person who endured three hell weeks (the test to become a Navy SEAL), in which he duct-taped his shin splint and continued training.

After his military career ended, Goggins ran an ultramarathon a week for eight weeks (totaling 800 miles), broke the world pull-up record with 4,030 pull-ups in 17 hours, and earned the title “Toughest Man Alive.”

Goggins’s message? If some below-average loser like him can accomplish these feats, what’s your excuse for not reaching your goals?

College Interview Myths

As you become a more awesome, incredible person and avoid being a sucky asshole, make sure you boost your admission chances by understanding essential college interview facts.

First, note that college interviews can be categorized as “informational,” “evaluative,” or both. Informational interviews aim to enhance your understanding of the school and its culture and do not impact your admission chances. On the other hand, evaluative interviews, as the name implies, do affect your admission chances.

The reason I bring this up is that I have encountered on some major websites some misleading information about the nature of college interviews. For instance, though I often enjoy the resources found at PrepScholar, the website has claimed that all Ivy League institutions’ interviews are evaluative except Cornell’s, which are evaluative or informational, depending on the applicant’s intended major.

The reality is that colleges usually do not explicitly state whether their interviews are informational, evaluative, or both. Furthermore, the weight that colleges place on interviews depends on whether the applicant is applying as a first-year or transfer candidate. To complicate matters, what colleges state on the Common Data Set may contradict what they say on their websites, as is the case for Princeton. We will take Princeton as an example and see what the Common Data Set, the Princeton website, and Princeton interviewers have to say about the matter.

Princeton’s Common Data Set

First-Year Applicant Interviews

Very Important	Important	Considered	Not Considered
		X

Transfer Applicant Interviews

Required of All	Recommended of All	Recommended of Some	Required of Some	Not Required
				X

Other Princeton Interview Facts

From Princeton’s website: “You may choose to opt out of the interview in the Princeton Supplement, and this choice will not put you at any disadvantage in the admission process.”

Duration: 30-45 minutes

Attire: not specified

Evaluative or informational: Hard to say

Other Observations on Princeton Interviews

While Prepscholar claims that all Ivy League interviews are evaluative, it is hard to see how they are so if Princeton states that “applicants are not put at any disadvantage in the admission process” for opting out of an interview. To complicate matters, Princeton remarks in the Common Data Set that interviews are “considered.”

So, Princeton’s interviews hover in a gray area – possibly evaluative, but probably primarily informational. So, approach Princeton interviews with caution and confidence. Don’t stress too much about impressing the interviewer. Instead, focus on presenting your thoughtfulness, flexibility, and authenticity. In short, try to be awesome and avoid being sucky.

MIT

I don’t want to belabor the point, so let’s move on to some amusing anecdotes. An interviewer for MIT (which, incidentally, strongly recommends evaluative interviews and rejects almost all students who opt out of one without a waiver) reported that an interviewee constantly picked their nose. The same interviewer claimed that interviewees have asked stupid questions like “Does MIT offer a mechanical engineering major?” and “What is the weather like at MIT?  I could never go to college any place where it snowed.”

On the contrary, good questions demonstrate you’ve done your homework, show insight into complex issues, or display positive personality traits such as inquisitiveness or an interest in contributing to society. For example, a better question might be, “As a Spanish speaker interested in Professor So-and-So’s work on the interplay between generative AI and mechanical engineering, how can I contribute to Engineers Without Borders’s current efforts to improve health and sanitation in Tanzania?” This question shows that you’ve done some research and showcases your curiosity and academic prowess. It also suggests a desire to benefit humanity instead of being motivated solely by MIT’s prestige.

Anyway, MIT provides a clearer picture of their stance on interviews than Princeton.

MIT’s Common Data Set

First-Year Applicant Interviews

Very Important	Important	Considered	Not Considered
	X

Required of All	Recommended of All	Recommended of Some	Required of Some	Not Required
				X

Transfer Applicant Interviews

Very Important	Important	Considered	Not Considered
	X

Required of All	Recommended of All	Recommended of Some	Required of Some	Not Required
				X

Other MIT Interview Facts

From MIT’s website: “Most Early Action interviews will take place in November and most Regular Action interviews will take place in January. If we are unable to offer you an interview, it will be waived and your application will not be adversely affected […] Just be yourself!”

Duration: Typically 1 hour, but ranges from 30 minutes to 2 hours

Attire: Casual

“Be yourself”? For MIT, interviews are not an affair for you to come off as a nose-picking dimwit. So if “being yourself” entails an intelligence-insulting affair and booger galore, that suggestion does not apply to you. Snarkiness aside, remember that MIT interviews are a critical part of the school’s admissions process, as reflected in the Common Data Set.

But don’t let this intimidate you. Think of it as your chance to show that you’re more than just a walking calculator. MIT interviewers are keen to discover the human behind the transcript – someone who can handle a Mars Rover’s joystick with as much finesse as a conversation about Proust or the latest meme. As one MIT interviewer put it, “We may be the university of nerds and geeks, but we are PASSIONATE nerds and geeks.” So, in your interview, be ready to demonstrate not only your intellectual prowess but also the intensity and will to redirect apocalyptic asteroids (or whatever it is you are dying to do).

Conclusion

So, here’s the deal: We’ve touched on some reading materials that may enhance your awesomeness and reduce your suckiness. We’ve also waded through the murky waters of Princeton’s interviews–they’re giving us the old “maybe-we-care-maybe-we-don’t” routine. Meanwhile, MIT is on the hunt for “passionate nerds and geeks.”

It’s not just about flaunting your smarts; it’s about peeling back the layers of your application so you’re not a boring list of extracurricular achievements and test scores. So go into your interviews with all the natural charm you have (and if you don’t have any, try making some), and don’t try too hard to impress. That makes you what Aaron James would call a “fake-ass person,” and fake-ass people suck.

Are you anxious about college interviews? Are you seeking a leg up in the admissions process? Book a college application guidance session with Milestone College Consulting’s founder, Raymond, now! Raymond has landed jobs with his unorthodox moves, such as strategically dropping mild swearwords in an interview. He can’t wait to share his insights with you!

Lastly, leave a comment about your thoughts on college interviews or if you would like to have us cover the college interview policies of other schools in more depth!