Some scholarship selection committees conduct face-to-face interviews with finalists. If you are pursuing a scholarship that requires interviews, the resident faculty advisor for that program will help you prepare with a series of practice interviews. Additionally, some National Scholarship Program events, like the annual Board of Trustees reception, are designed to let you practice the kind of informal, social-hour interviewing that often takes place the night before your formal interview.

However, there are many things you can and should do to prepare yourself for interviews long before you even apply for a major scholarship.

• Read! Some scholarship selection committees have been known to ask candidates, “what is the last book you read that was not assigned for a class?” Some college students get so caught up in required reading that they forget to read simply for the joy of losing themselves in a novel or to learn about a subject unrelated to their coursework. Don’t make that mistake—read, read, read.

• Keep current. You’ll likely be asked to share your opinions about national or world events, in particular those that relate to your major area of study or research agenda. What are your opinions on current events? Why do you feel that way? Scholarship interviewers want to meet candidates who have their own well-reasoned opinions; they are not looking for a student who simply gives pat-answers he believes will please the interviewers.

• Reflect on why you’ve made particular decisions—to go to Ripon? to major in one field and minor in another? to play a varsity sport? to volunteer for a certain cause? Remember, scholarship interviewers already know what you have done from your application; when they meet with you, they want to hear why you have made the decisions that have shaped your life.

• Know the history and purpose of the scholarship for which you are interviewing. Be prepared to seat your academic and career goals into the specific aims of the scholarship program.

• Really think about your future. Where do you see yourself in five, ten, forty years? Why do you want to achieve those goals? How will your success benefit others? your academic field? your community? the world? Exactly how will receiving this scholarship help you meet your goals? What will this scholarship allow you to do in service of your goals that you would not likely be able to do otherwise?