Looking for - Northwestern Interview Advice

Bamboosprout

Here's my perspective (for the 2017-18 app):
It is clear that we should all do as many practice interview questions as possible. But honestly, I didn't feel like it helped all that much. I spent 2 days searching up questions and preparing for them, but only 2 questions on the actual interview were on the 10+ pages of of questions I prepared. And even when it was a similar question, they worded it differently such that I could not use my prepared responses and had to rephrase them. This, combined with my nerves from not having been interviewed for about a year, made me run out of time for almost every question, even though I thought I had given myself some leeway. Additionally, I wasn't very certain, because I may have simply mis-remembered, but I felt like they mixed up the time allotted to you for the questions, for example: during a practice session, a question was given for the long answer response section, but during the actual interview, it was given during the short answer response section, and threw me off completely.

Do any of you have insights on this interview that you would like to share? I would appreciate any thoughts and advice .

Here are some reflections from my interview last year:
Have a phone timer on the side.
My browser didn't beep when the time was up, because I clicked off of it.
Be even more concise than you think was necessary, and be able to answer every answer within 45 seconds, but be able to expand on it if necessary.
Practice table topics, instead of preparing responses.
Begin each response with a conclusion in mind.

akistotle

@Bamboosprout said:
Here's my perspective:
It is clear that we should all do as many practice interview questions as possible. But honestly, I didn't feel like it helped all that much. I spent 2 days searching up questions and preparing for them, but only 2 questions on the actual interview were on the 10+ pages of of questions I prepared. And even when it was a similar question, they worded it differently such that I could not use my prepared responses and had to rephrase them. This, combined with my nerves from not having been interviewed for about a year, made me run out of time for almost every question, even though I thought I had given myself some leeway. Additionally, I wasn't very certain, because I may have simply mis-remembered, but I felt like they mixed up the time allotted to you for the questions, for example: during a practice session, a question was given for the long answer response section, but during the actual interview, it was given during the short answer response section, and threw me off completely.

Do any of you have insights on this interview that you would like to share? I would appreciate any thoughts and advice .

Here are some reflections from my interview last year:
Have a phone timer on the side.
My browser didn't beep when the time was up, because I clicked off of it.
Be even more concise than you think was necessary, and be able to answer every answer within 45 seconds, but be able to expand on it if necessary.
Practice table topics, instead of preparing responses.
Begin each response with a conclusion in mind.

Sorry, I'm confused. Are you done with Northwestern Kira interview for the 2018/2019 cycle? Or are you saying that you ran out of time a lot during your NU interview for the 2017/2018 cycle so you want advice from others?

Bamboosprout

@akistotle said:

@Bamboosprout said:
Here's my perspective:
It is clear that we should all do as many practice interview questions as possible. But honestly, I didn't feel like it helped all that much. I spent 2 days searching up questions and preparing for them, but only 2 questions on the actual interview were on the 10+ pages of of questions I prepared. And even when it was a similar question, they worded it differently such that I could not use my prepared responses and had to rephrase them. This, combined with my nerves from not having been interviewed for about a year, made me run out of time for almost every question, even though I thought I had given myself some leeway. Additionally, I wasn't very certain, because I may have simply mis-remembered, but I felt like they mixed up the time allotted to you for the questions, for example: during a practice session, a question was given for the long answer response section, but during the actual interview, it was given during the short answer response section, and threw me off completely.

Do any of you have insights on this interview that you would like to share? I would appreciate any thoughts and advice .

Here are some reflections from my interview last year:
Have a phone timer on the side.
My browser didn't beep when the time was up, because I clicked off of it.
Be even more concise than you think was necessary, and be able to answer every answer within 45 seconds, but be able to expand on it if necessary.
Practice table topics, instead of preparing responses.
Begin each response with a conclusion in mind.

Sorry, I'm confused. Are you done with Northwestern Kira interview for the 2018/2019 cycle? Or are you saying that you ran out of time a lot during your NU interview for the 2017/2018 cycle so you want advice from others?

It was last cycle. Yeah. I wanted to do two things: one, share my experience and maybe warn people who try to prepare for it like a traditional video interview, which I think doesn't work very well; and two, ask if anyone has any advice.

Leah M B

Ah, I was confused too. I did 2 or 3 of those Kira interviews last year. I think Cornell's is the one I bombed the worst lol.

Yeah, these automated video interviews are just dang tough. I think the best approach is to have your thoughts jotted down on a few topics that will inevitably be asked (like, why Northwestern, why law), and then just be ready to think on your feet.

Also, I think try to make a solid point as quickly as possible when the recording time starts. Don't try to lead up to your main answer, because you will run out of time. Make a point, then expand on it, and keep an eye on the timer. Wrap it up asap when the timer gets low. You can google typical questions but of course you may or may not end up with those specific ones, so I think it's not all that helpful to have answers pre-written for questions.

At the end of the day, the adcoms know that these interviews are awkward and stressful. No one is going to really put their best foot forward on it. Just be yourself and try to keep your cool.

Bamboosprout

@"Leah M B" said:
Ah, I was confused too. I did 2 or 3 of those Kira interviews last year. I think Cornell's is the one I bombed the worst lol.

Yeah, these automated video interviews are just dang tough. I think the best approach is to have your thoughts jotted down on a few topics that will inevitably be asked (like, why Northwestern, why law), and then just be ready to think on your feet.

Also, I think try to make a solid point as quickly as possible when the recording time starts. Don't try to lead up to your main answer, because you will run out of time. Make a point, then expand on it, and keep an eye on the timer. Wrap it up asap when the timer gets low. You can google typical questions but of course you may or may not end up with those specific ones, so I think it's not all that helpful to have answers pre-written for questions.

At the end of the day, the adcoms know that these interviews are awkward and stressful. No one is going to really put their best foot forward on it. Just be yourself and try to keep your cool.

Good advice. I like the specific approach of just making the point right away and expanding on it. I think that's a great idea, instead of trying to build up a point or telling a story.

Bamboosprout

@octablue said:
Do you guys know if Kira records during Cornell's written questions? I'm thinking of having some notes as prep but I don't think it would look good if they see me glancing at papers, even if its for the written questions only (assuming Kira does record during these).

Not sure, sorry. =(

Leah M B

@octablue said:
Do you guys know if Kira records during Cornell's written questions? I'm thinking of having some notes as prep but I don't think it would look good if they see me glancing at papers, even if its for the written questions only (assuming Kira does record during these).

I don’t think it records video on your written questions. I had notes on my computer (I use Evernote) so that helps a bit. But when it came down to it, most if not all of the questions were ones that my notes weren’t relevant for anyway. You’ll mostly need to just think on the spot.

Leah M B

@octablue Well, my cycle was a little weird because I applied pretty late. I didn’t get my app in until early Feb. I did the interview in early April and was waitlisted the next day lol. However, in late May I was floated an offer off the waitlist. So, I’m thinking maybe I was borderline, or they wanted to admit me but I applied late. They waitlisted me in record speed haha. But I did get an offer later.