College Admissions: College Interview Coaching

Interviewing is a unique skill, separate from how a student writes or even how well they can give a speech. It’s also increasingly important in the competitive landscape of college admissions, as colleges seek to evaluate candidates holistically.

Director Carrie Kaplan is an alumna of both Dartmouth and Harvard with decades of experience as a college professor. She has helped hundreds of students learn to present themselves to colleges and universities, leveraging her own research into the neuro-cognitive and social-emotional development of empathy in academic and artistic settings and her work in theater. She has trained a dedicated cohort of Bespoke Interview Coaches in proven methods that help students manage anxiety and bring their best self to their interviews.

The Process:

Students undergo four sessions with experienced interview coaches who help them understand, frame and express their values, goals, and academic interests.

• We research target schools in order to coach students to display targeted knowledge and depth of interest.
• We engage in introspective exercises so that students can not only display who they are, but also better understand who they are.
• Students learn how to express themselves clearly–a skill that’s useful for a lifetime.
• At the end of the process we test each student in a mock interview with a real alumnus or alumna of one of their target schools.
• Coaching concludes with a debrief and discussion of the mock interview, with feedback and notes for the student to take out into the real world.

• Session One: Diagnostic conversation with your Essay Coach with character & values exploration, skill-building exercises, real-time feedback, and homework & practice recommendations.
• Session Two: Follow-up and feedback on homework; Question & answer conversation, notes and training, and additional homework & practice recommendations.
• Session Three: Full practice interview with your Essay Coach with immediate feedback; notes & additional preparation before Session Four.
• Session Four: Full-length role-played interview with a secondary Bespoke Interview Coach; feedback from the secondary Coach included in a summary debrief conversation with your primary Coach, with forward-looking tips & techniques for future preparation.

Past College Interview Coaching Webinars

Bring Your Best Self to College Interviews
Even the most confident student can freeze up in an interview. Seemingly simple questions like “Why don’t you tell me a little bit about yourself?” can feel daunting or treacherous. In this webinar, we share what students can expect from their interviews, the logistics of the college interview process, and how interviews can bolster a student’s application. Whether your student struggles with anxiety, organizing their thoughts, confidence, or simply wants to maximize the impact of any admissions interview, Bespoke is here to help!