Application Process: Interviews

Not all national fellowships require an interview: the Javits, NSF, Udall, Goldwater, and Fulbright select scholars on the basis of the written materials alone. But many-Truman, Rhodes, Marshall, Mitchell, Mellon, Watson and more-conduct regional and national finalist interviews.

At Willamette, as at most universities, faculty committees stage mock interviews for candidates, to increase their comfort level in the interview setting, and expose them to potential lines of questioning. At times, the mock interviews feel like endurance tests: a grueling half hour of fielding impertinent, unanswerable, and seemingly irrelevant questions, digging yourself into moral and ethical holes, from which you emerge with your confidence and self-esteem in tatters.

Take heart. In these pages you'll discover reams of advice from Willamette students, both finalists and scholars, selection committees themselves, and examples of questions posed to candidates in interviews across the country.

Preparing for Interviews
Characteristics of Successful Interviews
Suggestions for the Truman Scholarship Interviews
Advice from a Truman Finalist
Truman Finalist Interviews
Rhodes State and District Interviews
Marshall Finalist Interviews
Truman Sample Questions