Interview Etiquette: 01 Why Have You Applied To This School?

Interview Etiquette
Strike the right balance in the interview.
● The image you present is really important. Your image is what makes the first impression on the
interviewer; that first impression is the one that sticks, so it's important to dress appropriately when
interviewing.
● Make sure your cell phone is off...not on vibrate.The last thing you need is a distraction during one of
the most important meetings of your life. People can still hear your cell ring in vibrate mode. Better
yet...just leave your cell phone in your car.
● Don’t talk too much. Answer the question, but don’t go into unnecessary details. Interviewers notice it
when you wander away from the main subject. It shows lack of focus in the candidate.
● Don’t ask impertinent questions. For instance, Where is my classroom going to be? How long will this
interview take? How many candidates are you interviewing?
● Don’t complain about your present school. Your interviewer would notice this characteristic and assume
that you’d be doing the same to the present school as well, if admitted.
● The most important cornerstone of manners is to say a post interview thank you.
Common Interview Questions for High School Students

Apart from routine questions, they also tend to ask some quirky questions to check out your response under
pressure.
For instance, a student was once asked to name his favorite building on the campus and the reason for
favoring it. These are curveballs or unexpected twists.
Schools would like to know you, your goals, your views and your contribution to their institution. These are the
top questions that institutions are likely to ask high school students.
01 Why have you applied to this school?

Interviewers ask this question to understand how you make major decisions in your life. This is the most
important question for a high school interview.
● Answer this question in a way showing that you chose the school after much consideration and careful
thought. No general statements like ‘Because it’s an excellent school’. Be more specific.
● Mention factors like a good curriculum; excellent faculty; affordability; location; a family tradition; the
Honors program of the school; the living learning community and so on.
● Focus on the ‘Why’ of the question. Do a proper research of the school in order to honestly spell out
why you wish to attend it.
Tip: Avoid answers like ‘students graduating from your school get excellent placements’.
02 Describe yourself
This is one of the important and most asked interview questions for high school students.
● Mention qualities that are related to a school student.
● Talk about where you grew up and try to connect it with your interest in the school campus.
● Mention your major subject, academic interests and extracurricular activities.
● Try connecting information about the school with your personal interests. For instance, if you’re
interested in foreign languages and the school has an excellent study abroad program, it’s the perfect
connect.
● Find something memorable and unique to say about yourself.
● Talk about any 3 personality traits. For instance, you can talk about how you love doing exercises and
creating competition among friends. Be creative!
03 What will be your contribution to our campus? / What would you like to
accomplish during your time in school?
Admission committees want to admit students who can handle the studies as well as contribute to their
campus. It’s more like a question about student life.
● How could you improve the school campus? Maybe, by participating in the extracurricular activities.
● Consider your hobbies and abilities. For instance, can you organize camping outings for your friends?
Or do you have a novel idea for recycling that could benefit the school?
● See that your answer connects with the school facilities. For instance, if you have piano playing skills
and the school does not have any music ensembles, there’s no point.
● Explain why your talent or abilities will improve the school community.
● Don’t focus on your grades or your achievement scores while answering such interview questions for
high school students. This is not what the question is about.
04What are your strengths and weaknesses?

Here’s a top contender for students' interview questions and answers.
● Do not merely mention your strengths or weaknesses. Say something to support your statement. For
instance, if you say you have good leadership abilities, share an incident where you have led others,
the results arising from the leadership, the reasons for doing it.
● Be honest while mentioning a weakness. Also mention the action that you are considering for handling
this weakness and fixing or minimizing it.
● For instance, if you are a procrastinator, you can show how you’re working on it by using online tools to
monitor yourself.
05 Who is your role model?

If you want to learn about interview tips and tricks for students, this one is a must! Asking this interview
question will help them discern which qualities a candidate appreciates in others. It can also show the kinds of
traits students want to develop within themselves.
● Try avoiding cliches like ‘My father’ or My mother’.
● If you have learned an important life lesson from someone, this is the time to mention it. Describe your
relationship with that person.
● Your role model could be someone famous like Nelson Mandela or even a fictitious character. Make
sure you know something about them.
● Qualities you admire could be intelligence; humor; kindness; achievements; determination; patience;
nobility or selflessness amongst others.
06 Have you any questions that you’d like to ask us? / What questions do
you have for us?
When you ask questions, it shows your interest in joining the school. It also shows your alertness and
attentiveness during the interview. Never end an interview without giving both the candidate and their family
members a chance to ask their own questions. They’re likely just as interested in learning about your school as
you are in getting to know them.
● Ask research based questions. You can prepare them prior to the interview.
● Personal interest questions. For instance, you can ask about some popular campus tradition of the
school.
● Questions based on information received in the interview. Ask more details of something your
interviewer mentioned about a school program or campus event.
07 What do you do in your spare time? / How do you like to spend your free
time?
The interviewer wants to understand how well rounded a person you are outside of your academic
qualifications, when asking such interview questions for high school students.
● You don’t want to be totally honest on this one. You could be clearing poop at animal shelters during
your free time, but you’d surely not want to share that.
● Think about your passions. Do you love to play soccer or hike in the nearby mountains? Play word
games? Surf? Paint?
● Give an answer that shows you to be a person with diverse interests, which could improve the school
community.
What not to answer: I do Facebook; WhatsApp; hang out with my friends; partying; TV watching and so on.
08 What would you do if someone asked to copy your homework?

Asking moral and ethical questions, like this one, will help interviewers learn more about how a prospective
student approaches difficult situations. It also provides clues about character.
● Think of a similar past experience and how you handled it.
● Remember a situation when you found yourself solving a conflict, taking action against an unethical
behavior or another situation where you had to rely on your problem-solving and ability to act under
pressure.
● No matter the type of situation you experienced and respond with during the interview, clearly
emphasize your ability to act with honesty and integrity. Clearly emphasize your ability to act with
honesty and integrity. Even if your experience required you to take action against wrong-doing or
unethical behaviors, be sure to reiterate your values and showcase how you chose to take steps toward
a solution in a proactive and fair way.
● Use the STAR approach:
○ Situation: Briefly describe the ethical dilemma or situation you experienced.
○ Task: Explain your role and the roles of everyone involved in the situation.
○ Action or approach: Give examples of the approaches you took to solve the situation.
○ Result: Highlight how you applied integrity, your values and other skills to come to a resolution.
Connect this to the values of the company
09 What is one achievement that makes you proud?
This question gives you a chance to talk about personal success, but it also helps the interviewer understand
what’s most important to you.
● For example, discuss getting a good grade in a class in which you previously struggled, it suggests
you’re driven to overcome challenges.
10 What do you do when you’re having a hard time in a subject? / What are
three things you’d like to improve upon?
Interviewers usually assess a prospective student’s problem-solving skills and dedication to self-improvement.
These questions are gauging a candidate’s level of self-awareness.
● While it’s never easy to admit shortcomings, students who can acknowledge their areas of opportunity
are likely to dedicate energy to making necessary improvements.

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Interview Etiquette

Strike the right balance in the interview.

Common Interview Questions for High School Students

01 Why have you applied to this school?

04What are your strengths and weaknesses?

05 Who is your role model?

08 What would you do if someone asked to copy your homework?

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