Chapter 10 (Part 3): Tackling Miscellaneous Interview Questions About Your Personality
Written by Kaashvi, Dartmouth College
Welcome back to The College Countdown! If this is your first time stopping by our blog, I am Kaashvi, your friendly neighborhood college admissions enthusiast and your guide through this series. Whether you’re a returning reader or a newcomer, I’m pumped to have you join us for this exciting journey. In our previous issue, we discussed common interview questions that focus on your reasons for being excited about the college you’re applying to. Now that you know how to respond to those kinds of questions, we’re in a great place to kick things off with our next article.
In every interview, there’s a point where the conversation shifts from your background and college preferences to more open-ended questions. This is your chance to actually connect with your interviewer and show them who you are as a person. These questions might seem tricky to answer at first because they don’t have a single correct response, but that’s where you can set yourself apart.
I remember during my interview for Georgetown, my interviewer asked me a bunch of these questions. One question that really caught me off guard was, “What’s a movie that has changed your perspective on something?” I had to take a pause before answering because that wasn’t a question I had come across before. I decided to talk about a television series I had recently watched called, ‘Beef.’ It’s a show about how the lives of two strangers completely blows up after they get into a road rage incident. I explained how it made me realize that behind every outburst or reaction, there’s often a bigger reason. Even though my interviewer wasn’t familiar with the show, with a little bit of context, we were able to have a great chat about showing empathy to people.
With these types of questions, don’t stress about giving the ‘perfect’ answer. You don’t have to give a generic answer so that it’s more relatable, or a contrived answer to sound smart. In this week’s episode (which is the final installation in a three-parter), I am continuing from where I left off last time and talking about the miscellaneous questions that are likely to come up in your college interview. This way you’ll be more prepared than I was going into your meeting.
Question: What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced in life and how have you overcome it?
Steer clear of saying something that can come across as out of touch like, “I haven’t really experienced any challenges, I’m pretty privileged.” On the other end of the spectrum, if you’ve had a very difficult life, you have to be a little careful while talking about it. You don’t want to open up a can of worms or trauma dump by bluntly saying stuff like, “Well, my mother is a narcissist.”
Most 17-year-olds haven’t really overcome a big hurdle or obstacle in their life, and if you fall in this category, you can answer this question in one of two ways. First, you can talk about a smaller challenge you’ve overcome, like not being selected to be a member of the student council, so you joined the editorial team of the school newspaper to voice your concerns
instead. Or alternatively, you can admit that you’ve been fortunate enough to not have experienced too many challenges, and describe what you’ve done to remove obstacles for others and make their lives easier. For example, “I’ve been lucky enough to have supportive parents who have always backed me up. Because of that, I try to help others who might not have the same support. I started a tutoring program for orphaned kids in my community who struggle with mathematics. Seeing them improve and gain confidence has been really rewarding. It’s taught me a lot about using what I have to help others succeed.”
But if you have experienced significant hurdles in life like, physical or mental abuse, neglect, health issues, poverty, racism, homophobia, homelessness, death of a loved one, immigration, learning disabilities, or parents’ divorce, be sure to talk about it in a way that highlights your resilience without turning it into a therapy session. Here’s how you can do it:
“When my parents separated, my younger siblings were only nine and seven years old. It was tough on all of us but being the oldest child, I had to step up and support my younger siblings through it. I tried to become a source of stability for them by helping them with homework, listening to their worries and making sure they felt loved. Juggling school and home responsibilities was tough, but it taught me how to manage my time and stay strong for the people I care about.”
Stating the facts and focusing on how you’ve become a better person as a result of the challenge is a very mature way to handle this question without oversharing unnecessary personal details. You can explain how you’ve come out stronger on the other end, how you’ve become more mature, or how you’ve become more empathetic.
Question: What three (or five or one) words best describe you?
This question is basically asking you, “What words describe your strengths and values?” Avoid using common cliches and try not to be repetitive with your adjectives. Replace words like, ‘friendly, smart, unique’ with more specific synonyms like, ‘approachable, witty, non-conformist’. Don’t list three adjectives that will convey the same thing about you.
If you’re having trouble finding adjectives that you think describe you well, you can easily find a detailed list with a quick Google search and then select the words that you think apply to you. From there, just whittle down the list to five to ten adjectives that strongly resonate with you. You don’t have to stop at just listing your words, you can go the extra mile and tell your interviewer in a short sentence why exactly you chose that word. Maybe someone has used one of these words to compliment you? Or, maybe you’ve developed that trait over time? Whatever your story, this is the time to tell it.
Question: Describe a time in life when you experienced a setback. How did you respond to it?
Don’t say, “When I wasn’t selected to be in the school play, I decided to never audition for another role ever again.” This response doesn’t paint you in the best light because it shows a tendency to give up easily. Instead, you should choose a setback where you faced disappointment or failure but were able to bounce back from it and learn something as a result
of the entire ordeal. I was asked this question when I was interviewing for Dartmouth. This is how I responded:
“Despite weeks of planning, the first cleanup drive I had organized was riddled with logistical problems. First, the attendance for the drive was significantly lower than we had anticipated. So, we ended up paying for more disposal bins and safety gear than we needed. That aside, we also faced some difficulty in transporting the collected garbage. As you can imagine, it wasn’t very seamless. What made it worse was that I could see the frustration in my disheartened team members, but I couldn’t do anything to console them.
But looking back, I think we’ve learned our fair bit from this setback by being receptive to feedback. We switched up our marketing strategy and started using social media and local collaborations to promote events. For the logistical issues, we partnered directly with the local waste management authority for a much smoother process. We also made a pre-event checklist that helped us pre-empt potential issues and side step those.”
Question: Describe a time when your viewpoint was challenged.
Don’t say, “This one time, my friends didn’t agree with me on my favorite fast food chain, but I proved them wrong.” This response doesn’t show any instance of you rethinking your perspective. Here’s a better example:
“This happened quite recently. So during the Parliamentary internship I did over the summer, we used to have a lot of internal zero-hour debates on different topics of public policy. In a debate on the topic of education equity, my colleagues and I were discussing the education gap that exists for sidelined communities, like children with disabilities, orphans and those who come from low-income households.
My viewpoint was that an increased funding in economically-challenged areas was an obvious fix to the problem. But when I said that, almost all the other people in the room disagreed with me, saying that there was a need for a systematic change in the curriculum, infrastructure and teacher training. Their arguments made me understand that often a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t really work well in the practical world.”
Question: What is your greatest accomplishment?
I would avoid simply naming obscure award titles that wouldn’t make much sense to a layman. For instance, instead of just saying, “I won the Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes,” you could say, “I was overjoyed when I was selected as one of twenty-five recipients across North America for an award recognizing young leaders in community service and environmental activism. This honor not only acknowledged my efforts but also motivated me to keep pushing for change. It made all the hours of work worth it.”
Now, you don’t have to worry if you haven’t won any fancy awards. Your greatest accomplishment doesn’t have to be something that has received public recognition; it just needs to be something that matters to you, no matter how big or small. It could be helping a friend
through a tough time, having 100% attendance at school or raising your grade in AP Calculus by going to your teacher’s office hours.
Question: Are there any world events that have been on your mind lately?
The general rule of thumb is to avoid talking about politics in your college interview unless you’re majoring in a related field like government or public policy. This is because there’s no way for you to know your interviewer’s political leanings. Black-and-white statements like, “The Trump administration was the worst period of American history” or “The leftists cannot take a joke” can be polarizing at best and start an argument at worst.
The best way to prepare for this question is by keeping up with the news such as the introduction of a new program in your state to combat hunger or the humanitarian crisis in Yemen. If you can, try to talk about an issue that connects to your major or an extracurricular activity you’re involved in. Something like this could work really well:
“I am concerned about the increasing rates of anxiety and depression among teenagers, especially after the pandemic. As someone who benefited from counseling during a tough time in high school, I know how crucial mental health support can be. It worries me that many schools are cutting back on mental health services due to budget constraints. This inspired me to start a peer support group at my school to provide a safe space for students to talk about their struggles and find resources.”
This is a great example of staying polite and showing your opinions and awareness without getting into divisive debates.
Question: What is your favorite book?
For all the bookworms out there, this is a fairly simple question to answer (although it can be difficult to pick just one favorite book). For the rest of you, who don’t really enjoy reading for fun or don’t have time in their busy schedules to do so, I’ve got you covered. Instead of outright saying that you hate reading or choosing a book that you read as a child, you can pick a book that you’ve read in class, such as ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, ‘The Catcher in the Rye’, ‘Animal Farm (personal favorite)’, etc.
If your interviewer hasn’t read the book, give them a short synopsis and mention what you took away from the book. You could also tell them a couple things you liked about the book, from the style of storytelling to the subtle themes you noticed. Here’s how I answered this question:
“My all-time favorite book is ‘The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 3⁄4’. I love witty writing and this is a very charming book. I’ve read it three times throughout different periods of my adolescence and I picked up on a new thing with every read. It is a timeless book because despite being written more than forty years ago, it’s still very relevant because it talks about a universal experience. I love how heartfelt, amusing and wholesome the writing is when talking about a lot of relatable awkwardness that comes with growing up.”
Question: What is your favorite movie?
You can go about answering this in a very similar manner to the ‘favorite book’ question. Avoid talking about movies with explicit themes, movies that are controversial, movies that you barely remember watching or ones that are too mainstream (superhero movies), unless you have a very personal reason for loving them. Looking back, I think my answer was a bit too quirky but you can decide:
“I am a big fan of whimsical movies, either in terms of visual imagery or having a funky concept. Wes Anderson is one director who has a very distinctive visual presence. I really liked his movie ‘The French Dispatch’ which is about a newspaper company going defunct. I like a good story and an original medium for its delivery and that movie managed to do both.”
Question: Who is your greatest role model?
Generally, a good choice for this question can be anyone from your family who has overcome a formidable hardship and impacted how you view the world (mom, dad, grandparent, sibling), a pioneer in your desired field (Rudolph Virchow if you’re majoring in biomedical sciences or Madam Marie Curie if you’re interested in chemistry) or people who have made a difference in your local community. The more personal you can get for choosing that person to be your role model, the better.
I would avoid naming someone who is a popular celebrity because chances are, they haven’t personally had a deep impact on your life’s trajectory. I talked about my mom when I was asked this question (against the advice of a majority of sources on the internet) and how she has been battling an autoimmune disorder called muscular dystrophy for the past twelve years of her life. How my mother handled her prognosis has taught me a lot about acceptance and looking for the silver lining even in the worst of situations. I think that answer gave my interviewer a closer look at my thought process and the situations that have shaped me.
Question: What do you like to do for fun?
This question could be a cakewalk for some people and a real nail biter for others. But I’d suggest taking this as your cue to have some fun in your senior year, so you have stories to recount when this question comes up. Yes, I know that you think you don’t have time for fun. I get it, I was the same way during my final year of high school. But it’s important to make time, not just because you might be asked this question by your interviewer, but so that you have some good memories for life.
Do anything that you enjoy—listen to music, garden, read, paint, bake cookies, play board games, take your dog on walks. This is not the place to rehash your organized extracurricular activities, but you could talk about an aspect of it that you like doing even in your downtime. For example, one of my extracurricular activities was owning and managing a small bakery. In my answer, I talked about baking oatmeal cookies every two weeks for my younger brother so he could eat them after his early morning Karate practice. I also talked about walking around in a new city while interning there and trying different desserts to replicate them later.
Question: If you were given an opportunity to have dinner with a public figure—alive or deceased—who would it be?
As with every one of your interview questions, the key is to avoid cliches like Isaac Newton, President Barack Obama, or yourself (yes, I’ve heard people give that as an answer). I would suggest picking someone who is relatively unknown to the common man but who you know a lot about. This is a smart way to sidestep being stormed with questions by your interviewer and focus more on the points you want to cover.
Make sure you have a valid reason for why you want to talk to this person. What would you ask them? How do you think that conversation would alter your perception? Do you think your conversation would be more of a debate? Hash it all out.
Question: How would your peers describe you?
With this question, you’ll have to balance the line between sounding boastful and downplaying yourself. Avoid generic answers like, “Oh, they’d probably say I’m nice.” Instead think about specific qualities that you know your friends appreciate in you. The interviewer wants to know if you’d be a good classmate and this is your chance to show them that you would. Here is an example of a good answer:
“I think the one common thing they’d all say is that I am always willing to help. I’ve also been told that I am creative in my approach to things and that I remain composed in the face of adversity.”
And with that, we are officially at the end of this three-part series, having covered any and all questions you could ever be asked in your college interview. If you’ve read all the three issues of Chapter 10 (and bonus points if you’ve read Chapter 9 as well), you’re well on your way to ace those college interviews. You’ll most likely be asked a mix of questions from these three articles, so the interviewer can understand your background, your interest in the school and your personality.
I want to thank all of you for joining me today and sticking around till the end. I’ll see you soon with a new article breaking down a different part of the college application process: paying for college. Until next time, keep dreaming big!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hey there, college-bound crew! I’m Kaashvi, an undergraduate student at Dartmouth College from India. I’m the brains (and heart) behind the College Countdown series here at The Ivy Institute and I am stoked to be your guide through this process.
So, a little bit about me: I was a STEM kid through and through in high school and all my classes were the highest level ones offered at my school and graduated at the top of my class for three consecutive years. Outside of class, I was involved in activities that let me nurture my love for inventiveness, responsibility and storytelling. From designing a vehicle to aid oil spill cleanup to working as an elected representative for the youth advisory council to volunteering at the local deaf school—I devoted a lot of my time to projects that were true to my values.
When I’m not typing away at my keyboard, dishing out college advice to people in my inbox and on this blog, you can catch me exploring new hiking trails, whipping up some questionable (but oddly delicious) desserts at my bakery or getting lost in a gripping mystery novel.
As an international student, the application process wasn’t just about finding a spot at a prestigious university but also about finding a place that felt like a second home. Now that I’ve made it out alive to the other end (with a boatload of stories to tell), I'm here to spill all the tea on how you can do the same. With some guidance and a whole lot of oversharing, together we’ll crush this admissions game like absolute pros.
Catch you on the flip side,
Kaashvi
