Interview Attire?

[Electrophile]

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As far as boots go, it was extremely icy the day of my interview for graduate school. The biology division at my school has 3 separate buildings and we had to walk around to all three in a circle. Since I was there for my undergrad and knew my way around, I stashed my pair of cold weather boots in the women's bathroom behind the trashcan and changed into my nice shoes. I was NOT going to risk a broken ankle, thanks! 😀

For my vet school interview, I wore these shoes I got for like less than $30 at Shoe Carnival:

I call them my interview shoes as I have done a couple interviews and presentations at national meetings in them and they are comfortable and professional with black slacks/pants (I hate the ones with the extreme point that look like they could do a LOT of damage if you kicked someone with them!) without looking too dowdy. I like how they are open in the back as I get blisters on my heels easily, but with black dress socks and black dress pants that are long enough, you can't even tell. This pair had about a 1.5 inch heel. With shoes and interviews, I try to think to myself: blend in! You should be drawing attention to your face, not your feet! Hard to go wrong with black and conservative.

For my interview, I wore a black suit top I got at Dillards off the rack, a dark grey striped button down shirt from New York and Company, and black dress pants from NYC (all on sale). I think the total cost, shoes and all, was like less than $100.

For piercings, my tongue ring was already gone by that point, so I didn't have to worry about it. 😎 I just had 1 lobe piercing on each side and 1 cartilage piercing on my left side which I left in. The funny thing about them during anatomy was that I knew were the tragus and anthelix was because of piercings.

 

[CookieBear]

If anyone (ladies) needs a shoe recommendation, I love my Dansko Roxy shoes. I bought them for my interview last year, and I've worn them a few times since, including a New Year's Eve party, and my feet are still OK even after several hours of being in them. (I normally hate heels).

Re: K-State tour and ice and such: I had a Sunday AM interview last year, and there was snow on the ground. I wore hiking boots with my suit to drive there, and changed to the Dansko Roxy's in the car. The parking lot is usually fairly clear, so I just walked carefully into Trotter Hall and was fine.

Even if your tour-guide takes you to the large animal (I don't think mine did) hospital area, the walkways are easily navigated in shoes. I doubt you'd step into a stall... But again, I believe they keep the standard tour to the small animal and lecture areas. I can't recall now. But, I was fine in my Roxy's - no problem.

 

[banditalfi]

I just noticed that the cheap pair of shoes I got in high school are busted, so now it's time to get a cheap pair of shoes in college!

Anyway, just an important question (even though it sounds ridiculous): is patent leather - or faux patent leather - appropriate for interviews?

 

[Hobiecat1642]

I really don't know about the patent leather thing--why were you thinking that it would be a bad idea? Personally, I'm not wearing a suit, I think pant suits make me look goofy. I bought dress pants, a collared shirt, and a dressy coat. I think it looks fine, so I hope that's all right.

 

[VAgirl]

I just noticed that the cheap pair of shoes I got in high school are busted, so now it's time to get a cheap pair of shoes in college!

Anyway, just an important question (even though it sounds ridiculous): is patent leather - or faux patent leather - appropriate for interviews?

I've never liked patent leather, personally. I think it would stand out more than regular matte-ish leather, but I don't think it would be a big deal.

 

[Moonpaw]

I'm very much a jeans and hoodie kind of girl, but decided it was time to break down and get nice clothes for interviews. I went out and bought a suit at Loehmann's (very similar to Ross/Marshall's) for $50 and got a button down shirt at the Banana Republic outlet for $10 (yay post-Christmas sales!).

You sound very much like me, in regards to the jeans and hoodie thing. Unfortunately, my trip to Loehmann's yielded NADA, as did Macy's, JC Penney's, and Express. Maybe my body is just shaped weird, but none of the suits I tried fit right. 😕

 

[Tsuky2008]

This is posted on UIUC's website:

http://www.cvm.uiuc.edu/asa/documents/WhatshouldIwearfortheinterview.pdf

This answers the question. It seems reasonable, and it comes straight from the school. It also admits that much of the interview is about your appearance. So whoever was saying that how you look shouldn't matter, UIUC says that it counts for 55%. I'd rather go with UIUC on that one, thanks.

I'm involved with my college's PPAC (pre-professional advisory committee) and they hold several seminars every year that have to do with applying to professional school. Some are devoted to personal statements, others talk about letters of recommendation, etc. They even hold mock interviews for us the spring semester before we apply.

Anywho, one of the seminars is completely devoted to the interview process, including a half-hour informational session about what is considered appropriate attire for an interview setting, and they say practically everything on that list Cyrille posted. They even tell men to shave all facial hair the morning of the interview, regardless of whether you normally have a beard or not.

To answer the OP, I'd personally advise a suit, but nothing too drastic, you don't need an Armani or anything haha. I'm just planning on wearing a skirt suit and a conservative pair of heels, and bringing an extra pair of shoes along in case I get uncomfortable on a tour.

 

[banditalfi]

You sound very much like me, in regards to the jeans and hoodie thing. Unfortunately, my trip to Loehmann's yielded NADA, as did Macy's, JC Penney's, and Express. Maybe my body is just shaped weird, but none of the suits I tried fit right. 😕

Try out SYMS in Paramus. I went there and they have a TON of suits that are all designer, but much less expensive. I forget exactly where it is, but it's in the direction of the bigger mall (away from Home Depot), but on the other side of the highway. Plus if you go out there you can hit up all the malls if syms is a bust! Good luck!

 

[pressmom]

You sound very much like me, in regards to the jeans and hoodie thing. Unfortunately, my trip to Loehmann's yielded NADA, as did Macy's, JC Penney's, and Express. Maybe my body is just shaped weird, but none of the suits I tried fit right. 😕

If you went to the suit department at Macy's that might be the problem. None of the Kasper and "older people" brands fit me. My waist is too big in comparison with my hips. Always has been. Anyway, if you look in better or moderate sportswear, you might find brands with a younger fit. I ended up going with a very moderately priced Rafella suit from moderate sportswear and a sweater set from Jones New York Signature (better sportswear). If you have a larger Macy's, I like the INC black pants and there are usually some on the 40-75% off rack. Jones New York and Liz Claiborne usually have nice button downs and/or sweater sets. You may also find some cute less expensive stuff in moderates. Can you tell I used to work at Macy's?

Also, RE: patent leather shoes. They're traditionally a spring/summer shoe, so if you have a older female interviewer they might notice that or probably not. Just FYI. If you like it and they're comfortable, just go with it.

 

[clawsbeatskin]

As far as a "younger" fit...

JC Penney had several off the rack suits that were definitely marketed for the hipper crowd, despite still looking professional. Those were extremely affordable, at less than $80 for a jacket and pants.

Mine is Tahari from Dillard's, on sale for $130. I found this price to be great given the quality and cut. The shell came with, so I didn't have to get a shirt separately.

 

[lailanni]

As far as a "younger" fit...

JC Penney had several off the rack suits that were definitely marketed for the hipper crowd, despite still looking professional. Those were extremely affordable, at less than $80 for a jacket and pants.

Mine is Tahari from Dillard's, on sale for $130. I found this price to be great given the quality and cut. The shell came with, so I didn't have to get a shirt separately.

I agree, some other places that have a 'younger professional' section are Express and the Limited.

(I like Tahari stuff too, clawbeatskin!) 🙂

 

[Moonpaw]

Try out SYMS in Paramus. I went there and they have a TON of suits that are all designer, but much less expensive. I forget exactly where it is, but it's in the direction of the bigger mall (away from Home Depot), but on the other side of the highway. Plus if you go out there you can hit up all the malls if syms is a bust! Good luck!

I'm home for vacation, and there's actually a SYMS pretty close to me that I was going to try soon. And pressmom, you listed a whole lot of brands that I tried! Thanks, though! There are still a few places for me to try, so hopefully something will find me.

 

[VAgirl]

I really like Ann Taylor. Their clothes tend to fit my body shape really well. The main store is pricey, unless you find sales. But they have an Ann Taylor Loft (cheaper) and an Ann Taylor Factory Store (cheapest). I've found that the further down the Ann Taylor store hierarchy you go, the less well the clothes fit, but that seems to matter less for me for tops/shirts/jackets than for pants. Also, sometimes at the factory store or loft they'll have items on deep sale that started out in the main store.

(Can you tell I love this store? Nearly my entire work wardrobe came from there at one point or another over the past several years. 🙂)

 

[VETleigh]

For those of you looking to get a nice suit that will last, I just got a great deal at The Limited. I don't know if every store location is having the same promotion, but our local Limited was offering $75 off any suit, which dropped the price of jacket + pants from about $230 to $155. In addition, if you go on their website they have a coupon (lower rt corner of the main page) that takes 30% off of any suit purchase. I wasn't sure if I could use both discounts, but they had no problem with it and I ended up with a really nice suit for about $110. Just wanted to give you all a heads up, hope it helps someone else out 🙂 Good luck!!

 

[lailanni]

Just dusting off this thread and adding my opinion for the next interview batch....

I wore a real suit, a business/professional one.

It was a navy blue -- a soft suede sort of fabric -- skirt suit. I'd say about 25% of the girls were in skirt suits. My skirt was on the shorter side, just a wee bit above my knee (I know, technically not good but it made my legs look great). Most everyone else had skirts below the knee. The top was a high cut, no V neck, no scoop neck, nada.

I got several compliments on the suit (from the whole interview panel, from the lady in the office, from other applicants, from people at the hotel, from some random guy who yelled "hey good lookin"), so I guess I was doing something right.

I had my hair down but pulled back, and small pearl/diamond earrings. Conservative black pumps, with a short (about 2") heel. No makeup, just some foundation/press powder and chapstick.

I'd be willing to post a picture if anyone really wants.

I saw a variety of interview attire (from slacks and a blouse with sketchers sneakers to guys in complete busines power suits) though it was all on the more formal side. It just depended on how comfortable people were dressing up.

Do you have to wear a suit? No. Did my suit win the interview for me? Absolutely not. But I thought I looked really sharp which made me feel more confident about the interview. And the first thing they said when I walked into the room was "Wow, that's a great suit." so it made a nice first impression.

 

[bovine]

Keep in mind this is coming from a male. I wore a Charcoal suit with a white shirt and burgandy tie. I ended up having to go to The Men's Warehouse to get a suit because I could not find an off the shelf one to fit right. It seems that in the year and a half since my wedding my old suit must have shrunk in the shoulders a couple of sizes😀. I ended up spending about $450 for the suit, shirt and tie.(Way more than I wanted to spend). The good thing about it is that when you have a properly fitted suit it makes you feel a lot more confident in yourself.

As for facial hair, I have had a beard since I was 17 and now I think that I look really strange and much younger without it. I trimmed it very neatly and don't think that it was a problem at all.

I had several people compliment me on my suit and that really doesn't hurt anything; especially right before your interview

 

[athenaparthenos]

I felt quite confident in very nice gray slacks (Ann Taylor, on sale for $90), a feminine but conservative teal blouse (Ann Taylor, on sale for $30), and a black suit jacket ($10, Nordstrom Rack, down from $150! 😱). I looked very professional and pulled together, my pants and jacket just weren't the same color. 😛 I also had an awesome bird necklace that definitely caught the eye of my Western interviewer, whose specialty is poultry!

I also wore makeup, made sure my short curly hair was curly, not frizzy or floofy, and I did go ahead and wear cute black heels (~3" heel) that were conservative but had some extra detailing on them. They weren't so high I wasn't used to walking like that, though they did hurt my feet after a couple hours. They were fine for touring Western in. At WSU I wore snow boots for the tour (gray and they fit under my trousers, so it didn't look horrible), as I didn't know how much time we'd be spending outside, and changed into my heels for the interview.

I felt very confident in what I was wearing and didn't look out of place with any of the other interviewees -- we all looked very nice. Except the guy at Western who wore a button-down casual, wrinkled shirt, jeans, and sneakers -- though he still looked perfectly confident in what he was wearing, so they may have seen that and not cared he wasn't in a suit.

 

[Steelmagghia]

I wore a skirt suit with a maroon button up underneath. However, I interviewed with A&M (tends to be more conservative) as well as Missouri, I myself tend to be a less conservative minded than most professors, and I am overweight, so I felt that a slightly more conservative attire was best for my situation. I wore makeup, did my hair in a flattering style, and wore a few of my less flashy pieces of jewelry (with two piercings in each ear, it's easy to be overwhelming with the jewelry).
The main thing is that you are comfortable in what you wear, it is appropriately dressy (jeans are not at all appropriate, it doesn't matter how nice your shirt is), and you feel like you are putting your best foot forward.

 

[guppy73]

How about thoughts on post-mortem interview attire? Do people tend to go the suit route, or is it usually more casual?

 

[fargeese]

First, don't worry about what you wear to the post-mortem, it will probably be with the admissions counselor, not your interviewers, and as long as you don't look like a slob or too crazy I don't think you'd even need to dress up much. I did mine over the phone so I did it in my PJs!

Second, and this may offend some people, but I was pretty unimpressed by the dress of most of the people I saw at my interviews. Poorly fitting suits, poor color choices, no suit at all, just much too casual in my opinion. It is always, always better to be overdressed than underdressed. Going to an interview in cordoroys and clodhopper shoes (I kid you not, it was at VA-MD) does not say confidence, it says This is not important to you, and that you are unprofessional.

For the love of all that is holy, find your most stylish adult friend, and have them take you shopping. I know my parasites, but I dress like a dork, so I had my high powered banker sister take me shopping and dress me. I got tons of complements from everyone at my interviews, which like someone else said did not get me in, but did made me feel more confident. More importantly, my interviewers were not distracted by a fashion disaster as I would have been by some of the travesties I saw.

Also, everyone says black, black, black suits, but I look horrible in black so I wore a suit with a brown skirt and spring green jacket. Standing out is ok in my opinion as long as you don't stand out because you look unprofessional.

End rant.

 

[pupsforseeing]

For the love of all that is holy, find your most stylish adult friend, and have them take you shopping. I know my parasites, but I dress like a dork, so I had my high powered banker sister take me shopping and dress me.

Amen. I have no fashion sense, but at least I know it. So, to insure that that would not be my downfall, my lawyer sister-in-law and fashionista sister dressed me. We found a Calvin Klein charcoal gray/light gray pinstriped pants suit at Lohmann's for $40 and a light blue button-down/collared shirt at the Banana Republic outlet for $10. I wore some simple, flat black shoes that I found in my closet from high school...it's amazing what a little shoe polish can do (anything with a heel would have created a fashion disaster as I fell down the stairs!). A little bit of makeup (powder, mascara, and tinted lip gloss), straightened my hair, and I was ready to go! My "secret ingredient" (as my sister calls it) was my DNA earrings. From afar, they look like very simple 3/4" dangling, yet professional, silver earrings. But get up close and you recognize their double helical goodness 🙂 I hate dressing up because I feel sooo un-me, but this was the perfect compromise!

Most importantly, I felt good about my outfit and it gave me that extra boost of confidence to act the part. If nothing else, this whole interview process has shown me that dressing up can be kind of fun sometimes 🙂

 

[Truth74]

I agree about the black suit thing. I found that blue, brown, and gray are better colors for me. I didn't find that out until my mom dragged me into one of her banker suit stores. What is it with bank people and their suits anyway?

 

[VAgirl]

Poorly fitting suits

Amen! Find a tailor. It does wonders for the suit. I got my interview jacket tailored to make it less boxy which made it much more flattering. Well worth the $35. (Also, I've been watching old Friends episodes lately...anyone ever notice that in the first few seasons, Joey wears the same ill-fitting suit jacket all the time? Looks awful!)

 

[clawsbeatskin]

Ok, stylists 🙂 can you elaborate on what a "poorly fitted" suit looks like? I mean, mine was a name brand off the rack from Dillards (cost me around $250, which is huge for me), I never had it tailored, but I thought I looked great! Nothing was gapping, the pants and jacket were long enough, what else should I have been looking for?

Great, the whole time I thought I looked polished and professional, I had fashionistas snickering behind my back! 🙁

 

[VAgirl]

Great, the whole time I thought I looked polished and professional, I had fashionistas snickering behind my back! 🙁

Sorry, I didn't mean to be snarky. I'm sure if you thought you looked polished, you did. A poorly fitting suit is no different than any other poorly fitting clothing. It's either too big in certain places or too small in others. That's really all that matters. Personally, I also like suits with jackets that aren't too boxy. A boxy jacket will have no shape at the waist; I think jackets that nip in a bit at the waist help make the overall effect more feminine, but subtly so. And that's something that you can easily have altered.

Other little tailoring tips...it helps if you try on your pants with the shoes you're going to wear and make sure they fall at the right spot (not dragging on the floor but not too high, either...maybe 1/2 inch to 1 inch above the ground). If they're a bit too long or short you can have that adjusted, too.

The only other thing I can think of that I saw sometimes were suit pants that were too tight. You definitely don't want them to hang on you, but if one can see a clear outline of your underwear and the exact dimensions of your butt in excruciating detail, that's too tight! (As in, wearing a thong won't fix it...it's not an underwear lines issue. It's more just the ability to make a distinction between clubbing pants and pants that make you look professional.)

But don't sweat it, I'm sure you looked fine. 🙂

 

[clawsbeatskin]

No offense taken, really! 😀 I was really just wondering what makes a good suit great. Thanks for the info, VAGirl!

 

[lailanni]

To get a good idea of what a nice suit looks like, just turn on the news. Your news anchor (at least the ones at the desk, doing the weather,etc) will typically have a really nice suit on.

I mean I'm sure that varies from place to place. But on the channels I get, the news always has professionally dressed people. I couldn't help noticing how nice their suits are.

I also have to add, don't be afraid of colors, as I think someone else mentioned. While I was there, most people were in black. Black suits with white shirts. Black poorly fitting blazers with poorly fiiting shirts. Just because it's black and white does not mean it will work, or look good. You could look stunning in black or white, I'm just saying give the other colors a chance too : )

Please do try on a few different cuts - women have very different erm.. chest sizes... and the correct jacket/bazer makes a huge difference. Huge difference. I saw a few unflattering cuts on some girls, and just a simple jacket change could have helped.

And I'll mention it again: the sit test. You'll be sitting for your interview. They'll see your top half. Sit down - how do you look? Did your jacket poof weird? Etc, etc.

I saw one girl at the interview who obviously did not do the sit test. Standing she looked alright (just alright).... it went downhill from there. Sitting her jacket poofed out huge in a very unflattering way, the jacket was not the right syle for her and made her shirt look very strange, which lead to a very dishevled and unprofessional look, I thought.

And then there's sitting correctly....I know it was just the waiting room, but please ladies! Be ladies!! For some girls, I hoped to god for their sakes that they would not be sitting like that during the interview!

Anyhoo, I'd like to think that I'm fairly decent at looking nice. So if anyone in the washington area wants help with getting a suit, I'd be happy to go shopping with you! I help my sister and my friends with suits and they always get several compliments on their outfits.

 

[nyanko]

I also have to add, don't be afraid of colors, as I think someone else mentioned. While I was there, most people were in black. Black suits with white shirts. Black poorly fitting blazers with poorly fiiting shirts. Just because it's black and white does not mean it will work, or look good. You could look stunning in black or white, I'm just saying give the other colors a chance too : )

Ok good while I was reading this thread I started to think I was committing a major faux pas because everyone was talking about their black and grey stuff and I was wearing a pale lavender skirt suit with a pistachio colored camisole. I have an olive complexion and dark hair and eyes so light colors look good on me, at least in my opinion. Because of how UCD runs their interview/orientation stuff I didn't get to see what other people were wearing for their interviews except the person right after me and he was a boy, so it was hard to gauge. I wore my long hair half up in a clip and straightened it some before I went, but not unnaturally.

As for the fit, I don't think the skirt was that great for the "sit test" but I think it was passable. I did have to go with a petite size because all of the jackets I tried on in regular sizes made me look like an outside linebacker about to sack the quarterback. 😉

Oh well, hopefully I looked okay! The woman in the reception area complimented me on my suit, she said it looked like "springtime"

 

[akitavet]

Traditional appropriate interview attire is a navy or gray suit for men and a navy or gray skirt suit for women. Technically black should be reserved for funerals. All perfumes and colognes should be kept to a minimum as should makeup and jewelry for the ladies. A watch should always be warn. Women's hair should not touch the collar. If it is longer than that, it should be put up. Ladies should wear a conservative comfortable shoe with a short heel. No purses, coats, or bags. You should only take into an interview a small briefcase and/or a leather bound folder. I took a folder (they are like $10 at target and the like).

Okay...now that the formal and antequated rules are done, here's my opinion:
1) Wear a suit. You cant go wrong. For mine, I wore a Navy suit off the rack from Kaspar outlet $150. I show dogs so I have LOTS of suits. In fact, I have a gray pinstripe suit from New York and Company that I got for a whopping $14. If anyone says that they cant afford a suit, then are they also going to be skimping on books, equipment, etc.? I also have suits in seafoam green, gold, royal blue, etc. that are very appropriate for contrasting with a dog, but not so appropriate for an interview.

2) This is not the time to be yourself as far as dress. This is the time to give the interviewers nothing else to think about but the words coming out of your mouth. Even if you are the birkenstocks type, you need to wear professional shoes. Even if you never wear any makeup, you need to wear just the bare minimum to look like you tried. Look like you work in a bank.

 

[VetMed555]

I wore a very modest black pant suit, which I bought at New York and Company store (I LOVE their store). It was off the rack, but fit nicely. I wore a plain white button-up shirt (same store) underneath. My hair down (shoulder length)--I have very straight hair naturally, so I didn't have to do much with it. One single piece of jewelry: silver necklace in the shape of a paw. Black shoes with a moderate (2.5 inch) heel, no perfume. I did wear makeup, but mostly very toned down, natural version. Because my suit did not stand out much, it allowed me to be confident and not focus on my clothes. too much. Interview is really not the place to be original like the previous poster said, at least as far as clothes go.

 

[PlantersPunch]

This may be off topic, but does anyone have an opinion on what to wear to an accepted students day thing?

 

[Angelo84]

Casual is fine. I think I wore a plain shirt and khaki's last year. You could probably get away with jeans--your already accepted!

 

[NoleDevil]

Women's hair should not touch the collar. If it is longer than that, it should be put up.

Really? I never heard that. I definitely wore my hair down and it touched my collar! Maybe that's why I've only been wait-listed so far!

 

[BartonVet87]

I agree w/ NoleDevil. My hair is about 14 inches long and it definitely touched my collar. Also, I had it pulled back into a barrette and I was accepted to the school I interviewed for. 🙂

 

[OSJ]

I wore my long hair down as well. My first interview it was completley down -accepted , the second the front was back in a barrett but the rest down - accepted, the third the same front back in a barrett but I honestly couldn't get it "just right" - waitlisted. Maybe it's because my hair wasn't perfect 😉 Anyways, my hair touched my collar in each interview and I did pretty well. 🙂

 

[VAgirl]

Just to clarify...akitavet's quote was taken out of context. That was from where she was listing what you're "supposed to" do for interviews. Then she gave her take on what does and does not matter for an interview. I don't think anyone here thinks that hair length/style matters too much. 🙂

 

[NoleDevil]

Just to clarify...akitavet's quote was taken out of context. That was from where she was listing what you're "supposed to" do for interviews. Then she gave her take on what does and does not matter for an interview. I don't think anyone here thinks that hair length/style matters too much. 🙂

I don't think the length matters much either - I was just playing around b/c I never heard that idea before (except for guys). 😉 Although, I was just talking to my friend, who's in law school, and she says that if they're in court or whatnot, your hair definitely can't be touching your collar.

 

[VAgirl]

I don't think the length matters much either - I was just playing around b/c I never heard that idea before (except for guys). 😉 Although, I was just talking to my friend, who's in law school, and she says that if they're in court or whatnot, your hair definitely can't be touching your collar.

It's a military thing, too. Though that makes more sense than lawyers...how odd!

 

[twelvetigers]

I got my suit at Ann Taylor Loft for about $235... I almost died. I had no choice, though - if I wanted something to fit, it was going to be expensive. The pants were size 2 petite, and the jacket was 00 petite. I'm flippin' TINY, no joke. The shirt, however, was $5 from Wal-Mart, and the shoes about $20 from Belk. Not too bad there. I know I looked great, and I even got my hair done because I hate it when it's long and I never know what to do with it. So, yeah, I didn't get in for other reasons. Now the real challenge is trying to make sure my suit fits again in two years when I go for this stuff again! 😱 I also told myself that I couldn't cut my hair until I got in, so it's going to be... long...

 

[Truth74]

At work, we wear business casual for the majority of the week and formal business attire on special occassions. I have several suits to choose from, thanks to my mom. I guess she got her clothes horse despite my struggling.🙄
I'll be buying a new suit for the interview next year, though I'll more than likely have something suitable (pun intended😀) in the closet.

 

[charismarl]

So when I was interviewing at Minnesota and Tennessee most notably there were people there who were wearing jeans to their interviews! There was one girl at MN who was wearing a pair of blue jeans, a pullover fleece that looked like something I would wear to the barn, sneakers, no makeup, and her hair definitely not pulled together in any way. I overheard her talking to some other people about how she heard that the interviewers want to you see you in your normal state, blah, blah...but I thought it was absolutely absurd! Has anybody else noticed the same thing when they interviewed? Just curious

 

[NoleDevil]

I can't believe someone dressed like that for an interview, charismarl! I'm sure when the interviewers mentioned that they want to see interviewees in their "normal state," they probably meant seeing you act like yourself! Oops! You'll have to see in the fall if that girl got in and report back to us. 😛

 

[pressmom]

Here at TN, as some of you know, there is a program offering to host interviewees at current students' houses. Anyway, one of the people in my class was hosting an interviewee, and his cat peed on the poor interviewee's dress shirt. Luckily my friend and the interviewee were the same size, so he just borrowed a dress shirt from the host, but gees....I would've been so upset!

 

[VetMed555]

At one of my interviews there was this girl who was wearing black slacks and bright red sweater with a wide collar (the one that is not straight and has buttons for decorative purposes). She also wore those really high-heel strappy shoes. She didn't really look bad, but she REALLY looked out of place, especially with 99% of people wearing suits. And as far as hair goes: mine touched my collar and I got in to all 3 schools that interviewed me, so you don't lose points for hair length.😀

 

[greenie53]

For anyone who is small like me (short and skinny)- I found a great suit for about $200 at Victoria's secret. No other pants fit me as well, so just a suggestion for any other small people! 🙂

 

[purplebunnie]

So I most likely did everything wrong when it came to dress clothes. 🙂

I was exactly myself, but performance attire. (I was an undergraduate music performance major.) Striped gray slacks, a silver gray blouse, flat mary jane shoes (aka shoes that look nice but you can move in onstage without breaking an ankle). Left my hair down and curly. I am the girl with the abnormal ear piercings, and I leave them in with clean silver barbells. Dangle earrings about two inches in length but look polished and stylished. I never wear makeup normally, only for performances, and even then it's simple eye makeup, foundation, and lip gloss. Something I would feel completely comfortable in for a solo performance.

I didn't get any compliments on my attire, but I felt completely comfortable and myself. All of my interviews were positive experiences (except for RVC where they were mean but accepted me anyway).

I don't know, I think it's kind of a fine line. Some people feel more powerful in a suit, but I personally feel more powerful being myself. With a little bit of polish.

 

[Steelmagghia]

Purplebunnie, it sounds like you dressed fabulously.
Hey, I have two piercings in each ear and I would have more, except I'm a baby.
The only reason I went so conservative is because I'm overweight (so I've got to try just a little harder, unfortunately 🙄) and because at least one school I applied to (A&M) is definitely on the more conservative side.

But it sounds like you looked great and I'm utterly jealous of your outfit. 😀

 

[twelvetigers]

Overweight schmoverweight. I'm so glad we all have pictures of our pets, anime characters, LOLcat things, etc. instead of pictures of ourselves. Like it really matters. People are so judgemental! Of course, no one judges us more than we judge ourselves. Seriously, you guys are all awesome. And we all have very cute pets. Let's leave it at that. 🙂

 

[VAgirl]

Overweight schmoverweight. I'm so glad we all have pictures of our pets, anime characters, LOLcat things, etc. instead of pictures of ourselves. Like it really matters. People are so judgemental! Of course, no one judges us more than we judge ourselves. Seriously, you guys are all awesome. And we all have very cute pets. Let's leave it at that. 🙂

👍👍

 

[Steelmagghia]

Aww, well thank you both, that's very awesomely supportive.

I honestly don't care much about my weight, I just am aware that people tend to judge me on it and, since the interviewer's opinions are important, I didn't want them to judge me on that. 🙂

It's good to be aware of things about you which may affect people's opinions, as long as you don't put too much stock in those opinions. 😉