What are admissions officers looking for during an interview?

Answered

College admissions interviewers can be either an admissions officer, a member of the administration, an alumni and sometimes a upperclassman or graduate student. Each school chooses who interviews potential admits so it's hard to say what kind of interviewer you will encounter.

Mathematically speaking, I don't think the interview amounts to a big slice of the pie say 5%-max in the positive but if you irk the interviewer, say something that causes them to make copious notes in the negative, then a failed interview can mean something more than 5% in the negative, sometimes the final nail in the coffin. Does that make sense? Let me give you an example.

Example. Let's say you apply to Cornell RD. Then a month into the application review you get an email from Mr. Alexrod, who is a Class of 80' Alumni who lives in your town. You set up a date and time to meet at a Starbucks. You know some important data points because you did some investigative work up front. Mr. Alexrod was a cheerleader captain, belonged to Sigma Pi fraternity, graduated with a degree in Economics and played ultimate Frisbee. You know that he just retired from Morgan Stanley after 22 years and is a devout Catholic and votes Republican. So the first thing Mr. Axelrod asks is "tell me about yourself". Since you know this is the most common 1st question an interviewer will ask you come prepared.

"Thank you Mr. Axelrod for coming out in the rain to meet me today. I'm @snowyowl8485 and I'm thinking of majoring in Economics or Philosophy. I enjoy thinking about the big picture, solving big problems and challenging the way I think about things. Please forgive me for my stutter. I'm a bit nervous today and when that happens my mind races faster than my body. Sometimes I don't want to come across like I don't have anything to say, so I use filler words like "ummm", "welll", "mmmmm" and the like. But my real strengths are less about public speaking. My writing and research really are my forte' and I hope over time I can join some social clubs or maybe even debate where I'm forced to confront things I haven't been able to mange perfectly. I see you are wearing a Sigma Pi pin on your tie. I hope that I too can join a fraternity so I'll feel more comfortable with a tight knit group of friends that has my back and me theirs. Tell me something please Mr. Axelrod, did you have it all figured out when you applied to Cornell? Or did it take some time to find your like minded people and have your own community? Can you share your time at Cornell with me and your fondest memories of being on the Hill in Ithaca NY?"

This is a good start to a successful interview because you were upfront, honest, straightforward and gave Mr. Axelrod an opening to talk about Cornell. You respected his tenure and wanted to hear his perspective from a position of wanting to learn something. He probably thought you were a kind, prepared, thoughtful person and make lots of good notes about you.

Now, the worst kind of interview you can have is to answer the question this way, "Hi, I'm so and so, and I'm ranked #5 out of 450 and I've taken 12 APs and have a 1550 SAT and a 4.5 GPA, and am the President of this club and that club and play lacrosse and I'm the best player on the team. And I'm applying to Cornell because I'm going to work with this professor and that professor in these departments to do this kind of work because I really want to go to Harvard Medical School. I'm also applying to Harvard but Cornell is my safety Ivy if you know what I mean. Sure I'll be happy to go to Cornell if I get rejected by Harvard, Brown, Yale, Princeton, and Columbia, but I'm pretty sure with my ECs and Stats, I'll get into Harvard since my Uncle and Grandfather went there. Let me ask you something, what do you think of the quality of food and housing at Cornell. I heard you can move off campus after 1 year in the dorms/dining halls. I'd really like to do that since I need my own space, plus I'm not really the kind of student that is going to school for social reasons. I mean I'd never join a Frat. They are antiquated and ridiculous. They should be banned. And why do Ivies spend so much time recruiting athletes, I never understood why I should do a sport in HS. It's just a waste of time if you know what I mean."

If you went into the interview, with no preparation and spewed that vitriol, I'm certain that Mr. Axelrod would go out of his way to remark that you were definitely the wrong type of student Cornell was looking for and highly recommended passing based on you personal character lack of social skills.

I hope this helps you understand that interviews are opportunities to connect to the community of people that are part of the college regardless of whether they work there today or attended 40 years ago. It is your opportunity to put your best food forward and show the interviewer the best version of yourself in the capacity of your own ambassador.

Good luck.