This post covers how important college interviews are to international students applying to highly selective U.S. colleges and universities.

This post was written especially for College Essay Guy by

Gloria Chyou Crawford, Co-founder and COO of InitialView

How important is the college interview…for an international student?

You may have heard that college interviews are “not that important”. While this might be true for an applicant applying to college from a typical high school in the U.S., it almost certainly is not true for international students.

When one considers the recent COVID-induced changes in the U.S. admissions process, it’s likely that now every applicant to a selective college should take interviews more seriously.

Here’s what we’ll cover in this post:

How interviews help admissions officers
Options for interviews
Strategies for interview preparation

For the past ten years, I’ve asked admissions officers, “What is the purpose of the college interview and what are you looking for?” The answers vary and have evolved over time, and I am happy to highlight some key insights for international applicants.

But first, let’s define “international student”. From the standpoint of admissions officers, this term could be either (a) a non-U.S. passport holder studying in high school in the U.S. or (b) a student who, regardless of their passport, is studying outside of the U.S.. As you’ll see, my advice applies regardless of which category you fall into.

(Sidenote: If you are reading this as someone who has been homeschooled or who has a nontraditional high school experience, then much of this applies to you, too!)

4 Ways College Interviews Help Admissions Officers Understand International Students

Communication Skills

At a bare minimum, admissions officers, particularly if they are interviewing someone from a country where English is not one of the official languages, are looking to ensure that all of their students have the level of English communication skills necessary to be successful at their institutions.

There are many ways that schools gauge this ability as highlighted here. However, at the end of the day, admissions officers aren’t using the interview for another score. What they really want to know is: Can this student “hang” when it comes to participating fully in college life? What will they be like as a roommate? Will they be able to contribute in class? When they open their mouths to share their opinions, will professors be impressed? What better way to prove your ability to “hang” than by having a conversation!

“InitialView is a great way to not only see that a student has the high level of communication ability that sets them up for success on our campus, but also a great opportunity for the student to show what they are passionate about.” – Georgia Tech

The Diversity of International Applicants

“It was crucial to my application because one of the major barriers for international students to education abroad is the distance. What InitialView does is bridge that distance.” – Anjali, student from India
“We don’t get to visit all high schools around the world and the interviews give us a better sense of students’ backgrounds and communities.” – University of Virginia

Admissions officers do the best they can. However, even before COVID, opportunities for international applicants to visit campuses and engage with admissions officers was limited. With travel now even more restricted, admissions officers are looking for new ways to better understand the diverse experiences and backgrounds of their international applicants. Interviews are a great way to do this.

Of course, many institutions review applications by territory. The admissions officers reviewing your file have hopefully over the years developed some familiarity with your high school. But even with the resources institutions might have, admissions officers do not always have the most up-to-date information about the various regions providing them with applications.

More critically, admissions officers are less likely to understand how you and your complex personal story fit in your high school. Having a conversation with you provides context and nuance to help them connect the dots of your story.

Three-Dimensional Context

“You are not a two-dimensional being. Admissions officers need to know who is going to show up on that first day of college.” Gizem, student from Turkey

The U.S. admissions process prides itself in being “holistic”. This means admissions officers are not just looking at one aspect of your application, and they are given a broad range of discretion when reviewing applications. Your ability to be academically successful at their institution is important, but admissions officers are also looking to build a class of students who will contribute to the community, both inside and outside of the classroom.

Almost everything an admissions officer receives from you is “on paper” or “two-dimensional”. The interview not only brings two-dimensional materials to life, but it ties all aspects of your hard work together.

In particular, admissions officers often mention phrases like “intellectual curiosity” or “intellectual depth”, or as Ethan calls it, “intellectual vitality”—but whatever the concept it’s something that is hard to measure in just a test score or a transcript. An interview gives you an opportunity to explain what you did with your academics, what you did with your activities, and what you did with your curiosity.

You get to tell the story, fill in the details, and provide nuance to every other piece of your application.

“We can read about an activity on an extracurricular list, but it means a lot more when we hear the student talking about it from their own perspective.” – Hamilton College

Imagining Success and Valuing Authenticity

Why does all of this matter? Admissions officers want to make sure that you are going to make the most of your college experience. They are looking to assess how well you are going to engage, both inside and outside of the classroom. Will the student be able to thrive in a discussion-based class or collaborative environment?

The only time they get to see you actually interact is during the interview. Everything else they see is described, curated, and edited over time. Utilize this opportunity to give them a glimpse of who you actually are, not just how you or others described you in written words.

What ends up mattering the most to admissions officers? It isn’t so much the content of the interview (a lot of people enjoy similar things and have had similar experiences).

Instead, it’s feeling like they really got to know you and want you on their campus. With all of the contemplation, assistance, and crafting that one can apply to other parts of their application, it’s sometimes hard for admissions officers to feel deeply connected to you. Interviews give you the chance to show that you are who you say you are.

And remember: It’s harder to say “no” to someone you’ve “met”!

How to take advantage of interview options

In an ideal world, I think admissions offices would interview all applicants. The virtual world has made this more feasible, but most universities don’t have the resources to interview everyone themselves. Interviews for international applicants sometimes seem few and far between, but there are options and you should grab hold of them!

When and Where are Interviews Available?

For some schools, you can request interviews via their websites as early as June before your senior year. For others, you might need to email their admissions office to ask for an opportunity. And for quite a few, you might need to wait for the admissions office to assign you to an interviewer after you apply.

You’ll often see language on a website that might say something like, “Because of limited interviewing capacity…” or “Because of the high volume of applicants…” Since schools can’t guarantee an interview, they have to make it optional and reassure you that there is no disadvantage to not having one.

The good news is that you do have an opportunity to make sure the interview becomes an advantage. (WARNING: You’re about to receive highly biased information from the co-founder of InitialView—so don’t hesitate to ask questions and confirm what I say for yourself!)

“One of the advantages of InitialView is we can send an interview to as many schools as we want to, which saved me a lot of time and stress.” – Ana, student from Brazil

Practically all selective institutions in the U.S. have received InitialView interviews from international applicants. These interviews are conducted online and recorded so that admissions officers can watch the video in its entirety. The interviews are automatically added directly to a student’s file, along with your transcript and test scores, so that admissions officers can listen to them in the background while they review other parts of the application.

Institutions that don’t traditionally do interviews (i.e., Georgia Tech, Boston University, University of Virginia, just to name a few) mention how having InitialView videos in students’ files during review provides helpful information in the reading process.

InitialView also takes away one level of uncertainty with interviews. Interviews conducted by admissions officers or alumni usually result in a written report that goes in your file. You never see that file, and others in the admissions office never meet you. Your interviewer might have had a bad day, and you’ll never know how it impacted your application! In contrast, multiple admissions officers can always “go back to the tape” with your InitialView interview and make more collaborative decisions.

Perhaps more importantly, you get to see your InitialView interview before you send it. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to send it! (most do send, however, which is hopefully encouraging as well).

Being able to do one interview for multiple schools means:

You can save time.
You do not need to feel the pressure to contort yourself to a specific school.
You can focus on having a great conversation and being authentic without worrying about which questions you should ask a school.
You have agency to tell your story and insert your voice.

“It gives you a chance to talk to someone not connected to the college, so hopefully you are a little more relaxed.” – Earlham College

These interviews are not rated by the interviewer, but they are evaluated within an admissions office. Because the interview is recorded, admissions officers are able to refer to the video at different parts of the review process (i.e., during the first read, in conversation with their colleagues, pulling up a clip during committee).

These interviews do cost a fee (check initialview.com/pricing for up-to-date pricing), but it is an all-you-can-send model. Pay for one interview and send it to as many schools as you wish. InitialView provides fee waivers, so do not hesitate to email us to ask (or to email the admissions office you are hoping to send your interview to).

Should I still request an alumni interview or interview with a specific admissions rep?

If you are interested in the school, then by all means, yes. School-specific interviews are few and far between, so if you have the opportunity, take it! As Ethan has mentioned before, just doing an interview can count for something. You’ll just want to approach these interviews a little differently. Namely, do your research about the institution. Take the time to ask yourself before the interview “Why [INSERT SCHOOL NAME]?”. Refer to Step 3 in Preparing For A College Interview: A Three-Step Process.

What about the 2-minute video introduction/profile that some schools ask for?

Inserting your voice anywhere you can in the application process is important. Definitely take the time to record yourself if that option is provided. Do not regurgitate what you’ve already said in the rest of your application (i.e., do not feel the need to list your achievements or resume), but think about what you can add to your story in your authentic voice.

While video profiles do indeed give admissions officers a glimpse of who you are and an opportunity to “meet” you, they barely scratch the surface, particularly for an international applicant. International applicant stories are particularly important to admissions readers as they may not be as familiar with your curriculum, or they might not fully understand the different types of awards, activities, organizations, and classes you’ve been a part of. When admissions officers read your file, they are looking for your story. The interview is an opportunity for you to tie the pieces of your story together.

“As we’re watching an InitialView interview, we’re listening to the stories. It’s a great tool to better understand the humanity of the student.” – Boston College

Preparing for the Soft Skills You Need for the Interview...and for Life!

The wonderful thing about preparing for a college interview is that the skills you are developing are skills you will use in real life. You will be interviewing as soon as you arrive on a college campus—to be a part of a school club, for a research opportunity, for an internship, etc.

Before you worry about how to maximize the time you have with an interviewer, pause and reflect. It’s hard to tell your story unless you know your story. Spend time reading this post. Ethan and Monica lay out some great strategies and exercises for getting at the heart of your how and why.

“As institutions that are looking for the way you go about your work rather than just your academic and professional achievements, the interview is often times a very helpful part of the application.” – Johns Hopkins University

Everyone should be able to answer a first-tier question. What is your favorite subject? How do you spend your time? What is something you are proud of? It’s the second-tier question that will set you apart from another. This is why the exercises Ethan lays out are so important. How do you connect the question to what is important to you? Are you able to go deeper than the face value answer to the question. Predict the follow-up question by asking yourself “so what?” You only have a short time to make an impression, so don’t waste it! Make what you are saying interesting and relatable so that the interviewer wants to know more.

As with many other things, deliberate practice is key. And in the case of an interview, it means having a lot of intentional conversations. An interview isn’t a time to just regurgitate what you’ve written down. It’s a chance for you to be interactive, for you to react, for you to bring someone into your story.

What does this look like? After you’ve developed your message box, throw your pieces of paper away. Find a friend, a teacher, a parent, a friend of a parent, and have a conversation with them. In fact, get them to record the conversation (on Zoom or just with the camera on your phone). Watch the conversation and ask for feedback.

“The interview got me thinking and reflecting even after it was over.” – Aaryaa, student from India

As you continue having conversations, you’ll find that most people want to know similar core things about you. The key is recognizing how different questions can lead to the answers that are most important to you. Ask the people you are talking to if they were able to track what you were sharing. Ask them what impressed them. Ask them what else they wish you shared. Take notes and try again. Don’t be afraid to watch your video. You will be your worst critic, but you will also be able to pinpoint aspects of your conversation that are easily improved.

Some of my favorite moments in interviews I’ve conducted or watched are the most raw and organic moments. When a student pauses to ask a clarifying question or when a student laughs at themselves – those are the moments where I feel like I’m really getting to know the student. I’m able to imagine them in a classroom, in a meeting, or on a campus.

At the end of the day, what admissions officers want are individuals who are willing to take their thoughts and ideas and engage in a contributory way. It’s the interactive piece – the sharing of ideas and experiences – that makes an interview compelling.

* * * * *

Here’s an unfortunate truth about the pressures upon admissions offices: If you’re applying to a selective school, admissions officers want your application—but they don’t necessarily want to accept you. Maintaining selectivity is one way admissions offices please their bosses in the president’s office.

one does not simply accept a student.JPG

Therefore, all applicants must take each part of their application seriously, even parts that might be deemed “optional” or previously considered “not that important”. Unlike other parts of the application that you’ll never need to worry about again, however, the interview is the one most connected to real life.

You may initially see the interview as another hurdle in the application process, but when you’re done you might realize that it was the most helpful part of the process—both when looking to stand out in the minds of admissions officers and in preparation for real life!