Put your best foot forward

Here are some tips for SAIS candidates who are preparing for interviews with members of the Bologna Center Admissions Committee.

Some candidates are interviewed and some are not. More on that below. But first, the tips.

• The interview is your chance to put your best foot forward. Approach it with a positive outlook.

• You'll want to summarize why SAIS is right for you and why you are right for SAIS. At some stage you will want to get that across. The challenge is two-fold: (1) find the words to say that, and (2) find the time in the interview to express it.

• You're interviewing for SAIS. You will not be expected to know everything about the program, but you should do your homework. The interview is not the time to ask questions if the answers can be found on SAIS's website.

• The best interviews are conversations and not simply Q&As. Hold your own.

• If you don't know the answer to a question, don't guess. Be honest.

• The answer to a question is like the temperature of porridge that Goldilocks prefers: neither too long nor too short, but just right.

• Leave plenty of time to get to your interview and arrive 5-10 minutes before the scheduled start. The surest way to get off on the wrong foot is to rush to get there and, worse yet, to arrive late.

• Don't worry, be happy.

Who is interviewed? Non-U.S. citizens who want to start their SAIS studies in Bologna and some candidates who are willing to start in either Bologna or DC.

Candidates with only U.S. citizenship are handled by SAIS DC; these applicants would not ordinarily be interviewed at this stage.

Who does the interviewing? The Bologna Admissions Committee is made up of faculty and some senior staff. The considerable time they spend in the process underscores the importance SAIS attaches to giving candidates a fair shake and admitting a top-quality class.

Nelson Graves