What to wear
03/07/12 17:47
Q. What should you wear for a campus tour and interview?
A. I have four answers.
1. Halfway in between what you want to wear and what your parents seem to be saying you should wear. Maybe that is because the admissions office staff is generally halfway between your age and your parents' ages. But, don't go anything beyond 50% of what your parents want!
2. You want to look as if you could fit on the campus and with the other students. True, college admissions offices are hungry for diversity, but they also want to make sure you will fit, and be liked and happy. So, if most of the students have green hair and earrings everywhere, you may want to leave your Rush Limbaugh t-shirt in the car. Let your dad wear his if he feels the need.
3. You want your clothes to go unnoticed. That doesn't mean see-through; it just means that the admissions people shouldn't even think about what you are wearing. That means that you don't want to look very uncomfortable and too dressed up. That also means that you don't want to look ragged. Don't try to make a statement with your clothes.
4. You want your clothes to be you. They may speak for who you are, but they should speak very quietly.
At most colleges, few boys wear ties to interviews these days. Some girls wear dresses. If you dress as you might if you wanted to look just a little dressed up for school tomorrow, that would probably be about right. Many students visiting colleges during the summer wear shorts. Ragged or wrinkled shorts don't work well. Some students wear t-shirts, but ragged and wrinkled t-shirts don't work well either. If you come from a simpler background, do not worry about trying to look wealthy. Simple and neat works very well. At most colleges, jeans are OK, but not ragged ones. A college education can be expensive; you don't need to go out and spend a lot of money on some jeans that look extra ragged.
You will probably ask why you can't just wear whatever you want. You can. But, some things may change for you over the next forty years. You may find that you have to adjust a bit; you may have to dress the style that your employer wants. At some point, you will realize that what you wear really isn't worth fussing about much. College interviews are a first step into the world beyond high school. After college, most people wear clothes to be warm, not to be cool.
Don't wear your iPod. And, as a college I recently visited advised, don't bring your cell phone into the interview. And don't answer it in the interview if you forget to leave it in the car. The student who did answer his cell phone in the interview didn't get accepted.
A. I have four answers.
1. Halfway in between what you want to wear and what your parents seem to be saying you should wear. Maybe that is because the admissions office staff is generally halfway between your age and your parents' ages. But, don't go anything beyond 50% of what your parents want!
2. You want to look as if you could fit on the campus and with the other students. True, college admissions offices are hungry for diversity, but they also want to make sure you will fit, and be liked and happy. So, if most of the students have green hair and earrings everywhere, you may want to leave your Rush Limbaugh t-shirt in the car. Let your dad wear his if he feels the need.
3. You want your clothes to go unnoticed. That doesn't mean see-through; it just means that the admissions people shouldn't even think about what you are wearing. That means that you don't want to look very uncomfortable and too dressed up. That also means that you don't want to look ragged. Don't try to make a statement with your clothes.
4. You want your clothes to be you. They may speak for who you are, but they should speak very quietly.
At most colleges, few boys wear ties to interviews these days. Some girls wear dresses. If you dress as you might if you wanted to look just a little dressed up for school tomorrow, that would probably be about right. Many students visiting colleges during the summer wear shorts. Ragged or wrinkled shorts don't work well. Some students wear t-shirts, but ragged and wrinkled t-shirts don't work well either. If you come from a simpler background, do not worry about trying to look wealthy. Simple and neat works very well. At most colleges, jeans are OK, but not ragged ones. A college education can be expensive; you don't need to go out and spend a lot of money on some jeans that look extra ragged.
You will probably ask why you can't just wear whatever you want. You can. But, some things may change for you over the next forty years. You may find that you have to adjust a bit; you may have to dress the style that your employer wants. At some point, you will realize that what you wear really isn't worth fussing about much. College interviews are a first step into the world beyond high school. After college, most people wear clothes to be warm, not to be cool.
Don't wear your iPod. And, as a college I recently visited advised, don't bring your cell phone into the interview. And don't answer it in the interview if you forget to leave it in the car. The student who did answer his cell phone in the interview didn't get accepted.