Uh, Mom, Dad? Do you mind stepping outside?

College interviews are a chance for you and a college admissions officer to ask each other questions and decide whether you and the school are a good fit. Having Mom or Dad dominate an interview can ruin the process.

“I think in interviews, parents are very tempted to answer any question that comes up. Sometimes I’ll ask the question directly to the student and hear the answer come from another direction,” says Thomas Weede, director of admissions at Iona College in New Rochelle, N.Y.

Maybe Mom and Dad mean well, but their presence doesn’t impress admissions officers. So how can you ace a college interview on your own? And what questions should you be prepared to ask and answer?
 
Look put together
Dress in business-casual attire and give the admissions officer a firm handshake. 

Get comfortable 
Relax a bit when it’s interview time; the interviewer may be just a few years older than you, says Glenn Ribotsky, master tutor for the Princeton Review.

“Most admissions officers are bright 20-somethings,” Ribotsky says. “It’s usually the first job of a bright liberal arts graduate.”

Ribotsky worked as an admissions officer at New York University and a smaller liberal arts college. He says a poor interview may bias an admissions officer against a student. But an interview is just one part of the admissions process and is more likely to help than hurt you.
 
Keep some stuff to yourself
Avoid making personal comments like, “I just broke up with my boyfriend.” Also keep quiet about your academic weaknesses, and don’t give excuses like, “I don’t test well, so that’s why my ACT score is low.”

Know why you’re in the interview
Weede says Iona sometimes requests an interview if there are questions about an applicant. Are you interviewing with the school specifically to explain your academic performance? Then be prepared to explain and be specific.

“If we have asked you to come to an interview, you need to be prepared to give the case as to why you should be admitted,” Weede says. “So to say, ‘I was having personal problems in 10th grade’ is not enough. We want you to be able to tell us what the problems were. We know it can be difficult, but if you can tell us what the hard time was, how you dealt with it and how it made you strong, that makes a strong case for your admission.”

Ask your questions
Be prepared to ask questions about the college. Don’t ask the interviewer questions about campus nightlife or which fraternity has the best parties. “The admissions person doesn’t know about the party scene, what to do on a Thursday night,” says Joan Bress with College Resource Associates in Massachusetts. (To get that kind of info, ask current students on the quad or campus food court.) Ask the interviewer specific questions to show you’ve done your research, Bress says.

For example, are you interested in the physical sciences? Ask the admissions officer about the new chemistry labs or faculty.

When it’s your turn to answer questions, be prepared to explain why you want to attend the school, and why you think you’re a great addition to the campus. Now’s the time to let that great personality shine through.

And when you get to a question you can’t answer, Ribotsky recommends scratching your chin. “You look thoughtful and you say, ‘I’ve never gave it much thought before, and it’s a really interesting question. How about I give it a bit more thought and we come back to it?’ The trick is you look thoughtful, and the interviewer almost never comes back to it,” he says.