Page 39 - US APP Booklet

videos games. Meanwhile, you can share your “teamwork” experience from the games with your
interviewer.
8. Do you have a leadership position at your school?
This can be a president of a club(dance club/computer club/debate club…etc.) Or it can be a
teachingassistance for a school subject like math/science/art/music. Or it can be a team leader for a project.
Anything relates to organize a team or to lead a team to do anything are experience of leadership.
9. Are you involved with a community service project? What did you learn from this project?
Please say YES! Community service can be environmental cleaning (for most school in Asian, schools require
students to clean the campus. This is community service!) or can be any kinds of volunteer(maybe you go
to volunteer for an event). Anything relates to non-profit is community service. Do not forget to share deep
thinking and experience to your interviewer how did you feel and what did you learn from it! You can say
you feel so good after helping others. Or because of the community service, you know many different kinds
of people and you know there are a lot of people who really need others’ help. You feel so thankful that
your parents give you a nice family and environment. Your small contribution will help others a lot in their
life!
10. What does your typical day look like? How much time do you spend doing your homework?
In general, one hour high school level class in the USA will have 1 to 2 hours homework. So, we recommend
you say you usually spend at least 4 hours on homework and study. And your parent also encourage you to
finish the homework first and then do what you want to do after that. Moreover, you can say that after the
homework time, you like to play music/sports or involve school clubs’ activities. This question is to know
whether you can organize yourself very well.

Potential Interview questions related to your thoughts:

1. What has happened recently in current events that interests you?
Older students are expected to follow current events and know what’s going on. During an election year,
students may be asked about the issues involved in the election. To answer this question in a thoughtful way,
students should read their local newspaper, as well as an international or national paper such as The New
York Times (which owns this site), or the Economist.
2. What do you read outside of school?
In today’s world of engaging video games and the Internet, many students don’t read that many books.
However, they should develop the habit of reading and have read three or so age-appropriate books that
they can speak about thoughtfully in the interview. While it’s acceptable to speak about books students
have read in school, they should also have read some books outside of class.

While many students devour a steady diet of fantasy, the admissions committees often prefer students to
speak about classic fiction, high-grade novels, and difficult non-fiction books. Here is a list of books to inspire
you. Students should develop an idea of why these books interest them. For example, are they about a
compelling topic? Do they have an interesting protagonist? Do they explain more about a fascinating event
in history? Are they written in an engaging and suspenseful way? Applicants can think about how they might
answer this question in advance.

Other reading material might include books related to a child's hobbies or recent travel that the family has
done. These books can help the admission officer better connect with the applicant, and provides the
student a chance to speak about specific passions.
3. What Was Your Biggest Challenge as a student or in the past? and how did you handle it?
This question is a way for interviewers to get a sense of how you tackle problems and adversity.
More important than the challenge is how you handled it: use this as an opportunity to highlight strengths
that would be helpful on the job, such as persistence, communication skills, time management abilities, etc.