In March 2013, I visited Conn for the first time as a high school junior and fell in love at first sight with the school. Back then, I was leaning toward applying to a small school with academic support and Conn certainly felt like the right fit for me.  

When I applied to colleges that January, Conn was my first choice. I remember being drawn to it because, like my high school, it was a small community that fostered student relationships with professors inside and outside the classroom. Now, I share my college-search experience and why I chose Conn with interviewees from all over the world through my job as a senior admission fellow.

Last spring, I sat in my apartment in Haifa, Israel, where I was studying for the semester, and had an interview over Skype with Ben Brown, Assistant Director of Admission at Conn, for the position of senior admission fellow. Ben and I discussed a multitude of topics, including why I chose to attend Conn. It had been four years since I submitted the Common Application to Conn.

In my job as a fellow, I have lots of insight on the college interview. By conducting interviews with high school students, writing assessments for the Admission Committee and serving as an ambassador to the College, I get to share my experience here with future Camels. If you asked me four years ago if I wanted this job, I would not have an answer for you. I didn’t even know if I would get into Conn until March 26, 2014! While the training to become a fellow was oftentimes tedious, being able to share my experiences at the college has taught me that the application process was not that long ago. When meeting prospective applicants, I often stress the importance of maintaining a calendar to keep track of deadlines and important dates surrounding the process. It is important to know the last available day to interview on campus or dates of any on-campus auditions.  

I have put together a few tips on the interview process for any prospective applicants out there and hope to see you in the office sometime soon!

1.     Be on time!

2.     I want to get to know you, think about what makes you tick.

3.     It’s truly a conversation, not an interview.

4.     Questions are not just for me to ask you, bring some for me.

5.     When in doubt it is okay to not have an answer!