On scholarship interviews

Posted by Rachel

When you apply for scholarships, often you’ll need to fill out an application, write an essay, or do an interview. I only had to do two interviews out of the seven I applied for. Here are some tips I have for doing well at the interviews for scholarships.

1. Dress nicely for the interview, but don’t look sexy.

2. Be calm and talk slowly. Think ahead of time about the topics that you know they will ask you about. For example, if you are interviewing for a leadership scholarship, then formulate ideas about your leadership experiences.

3. Tell them the truth.

4. Sometimes I have a hard time recalling words that are necessary in what I am going to say, so sometimes I would pause and wait until I could remember the word so that I could finish what I was saying! The most important thing is to be nice and listen to them and answer the questions they ask, even if you take a few moments to collect your thoughts, and not just talk about you want to talk about.

5. It’s helpful to practice what you are going to say with your parents or friends.

6. Bring water.

7. Be happy! When you are stressed or uncomfortable, it shows!