The 10 College Interview Questions That Come Up Again and Again

If you're prepping for a college interview, here's one thing to know: most interviewers ask the same handful of questions. They might word them differently, and you might get a couple curveballs, but in general the themes are the same. Once you know they’re coming, you can spend your time preparing to ace them.

Here are the 10 most common college interview questions you should expect:

1. Tell me about yourself.

2. What’s your favorite subject in school?

3. What’s your favorite extracurricular or leadership activity?

4. What do you do for fun?

5. What’s a book you’ve read recently?

6. What’s something you’re proud of?

7. Why do you want to go to this school?

8. What will you contribute to our campus?

9. What do you want to study in college— and why?

10. Do you have any questions for me?

Want help figuring out how to actually answer these? (Including some killer ways to answer the last one)

I’m a Yale alum and coach, and I’ve helped students get into schools like Stanford, Harvard and Columbia. My 26-page College Interview Guide consolidates everything I’ve learned over the year and includes:

• A smart structure to answer these questions

• Real examples from students I’ve coached

• A bank of 100+ practice questions

• A full preparation timeline

• And the unspoken rules of what interviewers look for

Check out the Guide and crush your interviews.