College Scholarship Interview Questions: How to Answer and Win Money
What kinds of questions will you be asked during a college scholarship interview? How can you answer college scholarship interview questions so you are chosen for the scholarship?
If you’ve been selected to interview for a college scholarship, congratulations! Here are 30+ tips to help you get ready for the college scholarship interview questions!
College admissions teams or college scholarship committees review applicants’ application materials carefully to select a list of scholarship finalists.
Colleges’ interview committees look at your GPA, test scores, essays, extracurricular activities, and recommendations.
If you’ve impressed the scholarship committee and made it to the interview stage for a merit scholarship, you may be in the running for a lot of scholarship money, even a full ride scholarship!
What are Competitive merit scholarships?
Competitive merit scholarships are awarded based on the talents and experiences college students bring to the school, because the school wants the student to attend.
These highly sought-after awards recognize and reward exceptional academic achievements, leadership skills, and personal accomplishments.
Financial aid is awarded based on students’ financial need. Unlike student loans, merit scholarships don’t have to be repaid.
You could be awarded a merit scholarship from a state university or a small liberal arts college as part of your overall scholarship package. Large merit scholarships can have a huge impact on your ability to pursue higher education.
However, many selective merit scholarship programs require that you interview for their college scholarships, either in person or online.
The selection process for competitive merit scholarships is rigorous and often involves a comprehensive evaluation of applicants’ academic records, standardized test scores, extracurricular involvement, community service, essays, and letters of recommendation.
These scholarships not only provide financial assistance to recipients but also offer opportunities for networking, mentorship, and enrichment activities, fostering a dynamic learning environment.
Winning a competitive merit scholarship award is a prestigious achievement that can open doors to educational opportunities and contribute to a student’s personal and professional growth.
Tips to prepare for a College scholarship interview
The more prepared you are for your interview, the more comfortable you’ll feel. Here are some scholarship interview tips to help you prepare for an interview for a college scholarship.
1. Practice Interviewing
Ask a family member or a friend to do a mock interview with you and give you feedback on your answers.
Practice answering interview questions like the type of questions listed below.
Keep practicing until you can give concise and thoughtful responses. Know the key points you want the scholarship providers to know about you.
Practicing is the best way to feel confident about your ability to answer any question.
2. Dress to Impress
Choose your interview outfit in advance so you are comfortable and not rushed on the day of your interview.
It’s a good idea to wear clothing that is comfortable and appropriate for a formal interview.
3. Have a game Plan
If the interview will be in person, know where you’re going and where to park. Allow plenty of time to get there.
Find out exactly where the interview will take place, so you’re sure to be at the right building and right room.
Practice introducing yourself with your first and last name, shaking hands, and making eye contact.
4. Be ready for a Virtual Interview
If your scholarship interview is going to be online, test your connection and the sound the day before your interview.
Carefully look at your background to be sure it looks good on screen. Have a practice Zoom session with a friend or family member.
5. Review your scholarship application or scholarship essay
You may have already answered some common interview questions when you applied for the scholarship, but be prepared to answer them again.
Review your application, especially if it’s been a while since you applied for the scholarship. Interviewers may ask you specific questions about what you wrote.
6. Review common types of questions asked in college scholarship interviews
Thinking about your answers before your interview will help you develop thoughtful responses, and you’ll be more likely to win big scholarship money.
College scholarship interview committees want to know if you would be a good fit for their college’s culture, if you are likely to be a leader at their school, and if you’re serious about attending.
Here is a comprehensive list of the most commonly asked scholarship interview questions, so you can think about how you would answer these common scholarship interview questions.
Questions asked in a scholarship interview
Preparing for a scholarship interview is essential to your success. Knowing how you will answer the following common scholarship questions will help you ace your scholarship interview.
By practicing how you would answer these questions, you’ll get a sense of what key things you want to tell the scholarship committee about yourself.
Even if they don’t ask you these exact questions, you’ll be prepared! And being prepared will help you ace the interview process and win scholarship money!
Questions about you
1. Tell us about yourself.
You can include a lot of information in a very short statement!
Highlight your most significant traits, values, and experiences. Mention your future plans, personal aspirations, and potential career path.
Tell the interviewer why you want to go to that college.
2. How would a family member or friend describe you?
Mention what you’re most passionate about, your short-term goals (like your college major), your long-term goals (your career plan), your hobbies, what inspires you, your interests other than academics or sports, and something about your personality.
Keep this short and sweet. Portray yourself in a positive light. If possible, give an example of why someone might use a certain adjective to describe you.
3. What is your greatest strength?
Now is the time to be proud of yourself, not humble. Choose a specific attribute and give a detailed example of how you have demonstrated that trait.
4. What is your greatest weakness?
Discuss a trait you have that you are trying to overcome or improve. Show introspection by reflecting on why this trait is a weakness for you.
Give a specific example of how you are working to overcome that trait. Avoid a cliché like “I’m a perfectionist.”
5. Tell us about a mistake you made.
The interviewer wants to see evidence of introspection and personal growth. Interviewers are asking you to demonstrate self-awareness of your flaws and to reflect on the personal growth that came as a result.
This answer will be very specific to your own experiences, but be sure that your answer is not just about the mistake, but about what you learned from it and how that lesson changed you.
6. Tell us about your role model or someone you admire.
Your answer to this question will reveal a lot about what you value. Explain who the person is and why you look up to them.
Choose someone who has a defining personality trait that would like to emulate. If they have relevant flaws, you can discuss how they’ve overcome those and why you admire that.
Talk about what character trait this person demonstrates and why you look up to them.
7. What is your favorite song, movie, or book?
Whatever you choose, know why it’s important to you.
Explain what your favorite song, favorite movie, or favorite book is about. Then talk about why that message resonates with you.
Your explanation will help the interviewers understand what’s important to you. It can also reveal if you have unusual or diverse interests that make you stand out from the other candidates.
8. What was the last book you read that wasn’t assigned at school?
The interviewers want to know about what interests you.
Be prepared to answer questions about the book, just in case one of the interviewers also read it!
9. What would you do if you had twenty-four hours with no responsibilities?
This is an opportunity to highlight your interests or personality traits that may have nothing to do with your life at school.
Be genuine in your answer, but remember it’s an opportunity for the interviewers to see if you’re a good fit for the school or the scholarship. Make your answers relate to the values and expectations of the program.
10. How do you spend your free time?
This question is less dreamy than “twenty-four hours with no responsibility.” Talk about some of the things you do for fun or ways you give back through community service.
If those activities relate to the values of the scholarship, definitely mention them. Give specific examples of what you like to do, and be sure the examples show positive personality traits.
Make a good impression at your college scholarship interview!
Questions about how you see the world
11. What does diversity mean to you? How would you help foster diversity at our college?
Answer with examples from your life. If you do not represent or live in a diverse community, this question might be challenging for you, but think about your experiences with and what you know about race, gender, different abilities, and other types of diversity.
12. Tell us about a time you learned something from someone who is very different from you.
This is an opportunity for interviewers to assess your ability to learn from others and see how receptive you are to differences.
This doesn’t have to be in a formal setting, like debate team. You can talk about any experience that is relevant and meaningful to you.
13. What do you think is the biggest problem facing the world today?
There’s not one right answer here, since the world has plenty of problems! However, if the scholarship has a particular focus, be sure your answer fits that theme.
Interviewers want to see that you are curious and thoughtful, that you read widely, and that you consider current events and the future.
14. Have you ever traveled outside of the United States?
If not, that’s okay. You can mention that you’re very excited about the study abroad opportunities, or just leave it at a simple no.
If you have, talk about the highlights of what you learned from the experience.
15. What’s on your bucket list?
What are the things you’d most like to do? This question will tell the interviewers so much about your dreams and values.
Questions about your experiences, achievements, and goals
16. What activities do you participate in at school or in your community?
Yes, this is all listed in your application. But this is your chance to tell the scholarship committee about your enthusiasm for volunteer work, how much your sport has helped you become a leader, your amazing work ethic, or how extracurriculars helped you find your passion.
Start by talking about the activity that means the most to you. Share why it’s important to you, how long you’ve participated, and how it’s changed you.
Then mention one or two other activities that are completely different and discuss their impact on you.
Include school-based and outside-of-school activities. Be sure that each activity you mention demonstrates a trait like service, curiosity, teamwork, or leadership.
17. What is a personal achievement that you’re proud of?
Choose a personal achievement that aligns with one of values of the college or the scholarship program.
Discuss the achievement in relation to overcoming a challenge. Your answer should reveal something about your work ethic and your passions.
18. Tell us about your leadership experience.
Answer in a way that gives specific examples of a time or times when you were a leader, either formally (student government president) or in an informal setting (taking care of younger siblings).
Talk about problems you solved as a leader, how you motivated others, or how that experience changed you.
19. Tell us about a time when you were in a leadership position and were criticized. How did you handle that?
Questions like this are a double whammy. You need to provide an example of when you were a leader AND discuss how you responded to criticism.
For this question, the scholarship committee is definitely looking for evidence of leadership and to see how you handle difficult situations.
20. Tell us about a time when you faced adversity and overcame it.
This is a great opportunity to talk about any challenges you’ve experienced. An example of adversity can be anything; be prepared by thinking about a situation that was particularly significant to you.
If the obstacle you are discussing fits in with the scholarship program, be sure to mention that.
21. What are your career goals?
The scholarship committee wants to give the scholarship to a student who will eventually reflect well on the college.
So they want to know you have a plan and goals for the future. Give an answer that discusses your academic goals and your career goals. Explain how that university and scholarship program would help you reach those goals.
22. Where do you see yourself in five years?
You will have just graduated, so use this question to talk about what you hope to gain from attending this college on this scholarship.
You’ll probably either be working or in graduate school, so talk about your dream scenario for either of those options.
23. Where do you want to be in twenty years?
Like the question about career goals, this question wants you to show that you’ve thought about your future.
Focus on the type of work or research you hope to be doing, rather than on your personal life or comments like “on a beach.” If you’ve already taken steps toward achieving those goals, mention that.
24. Tell us about a class or a teacher that changed how you think.
This will be unique to your personal experience, but the interviewers want to see that you are open to learning, receptive to different perspectives, and intellectually curious.
25. What’s your favorite subject in school?
This should be a pretty easy question for you to answer. Explain why you like that subject.
Interviewers want to see that you have a genuine love for learning and are enthusiastic about your favorite subject.
26. Tell us about a meaningful experience you’ve had in school.
What stands out in your mind as something you think you’ll always remember from high school?
Your answer could be about a volunteering opportunity that gave you a different perspective, being mentored by a memorable teacher, or something that happened in a class that changed how you think about learning.
27. What awards have you won?
This is specific to you, of course, but be sure to mention any awards that relate to the scholarship.
28. What skill or experience do you currently lack, but would like to gain in college?
You could answer this question with something related to academics and your path of study or with something that’s pure fun.
Questions about the college
29. Why do you want to attend this college?
Overwhelm the committee with all the reasons you want to attend that particular college. This is so important!!
Maybe it has your major, you have friends who love going there, your family has a tradition of attending, you love the character of the community, or it offers the best path to your future goals. If this is your dream school, tell them why.
Be specific and give examples that are unique to that school. For example, don’t say, “the great biology department,” but specify, “the opportunity to do research on turtles with Dr. Metz in the biology department.”
Give diverse examples, such as academics, location, culture, special opportunities, athletics, and so forth. Competition for college scholarships is tough, and colleges want to know that you will attend their college if they choose you. So have a really strong answer prepared for this question.
30. What do you plan to major in and why?
Relate your choice to experiences, classes, or mentors that influenced you. If you’re not exactly sure what you want to study, that’s okay!
Talk about what particular subject is your top choice at the moment. Again, the interviewers want to see that you’re a curious and engaged learner.
31. What do you expect to get from the overall college experience?
Interviewers want to know what you want from college, besides the degree. They want to hear that you plan to be an involved, active member of the campus community.
A great answer will include the things that are most important to you: leadership positions, camaraderie from sports, friends for life, research experience, and so on.
32. How do you plan to serve your community in college and beyond?
Many scholarships are awarded based on service.
Answer this question using examples of how you served your community in high school, and talk about specific opportunities for service that you want to get involved in at college.
Questions about the scholarship opportunity
33. Tell us why you are interested in this scholarship.
Spoiler: “Because I need the money” is not the right answer.
Read up on the scholarship. Understand the selection process and learn about past recipients if possible.
If the scholarship is named for someone, know who they are and why the scholarship was named for them. There’s no excuse for not being prepared for this question.
34. What would this scholarship mean to you?
Talk about the impact the money would have on your ability to earn a four-year degree. Also think about the ideals of the scholarship and talk about how they will impact your life.
Does the scholarship come with extra support, special opportunities, a specific focus? Explain what that will mean to you.
35. Why should you receive this scholarship?
Your answer to this question should be specific to the scholarship, so do your research and make sure your answer aligns with the goals of the scholarship.
The school’s website will describe the ideal candidate and may even provide bios of scholarship recipients from previous years.
Once you know what traits the scholarship committee is looking for, think of examples of how you exemplify two or three of those traits.
Feel free to reference specific aspects of the scholarship that are particularly relevant or appealing to you and note how you would benefit from those.
Consider mentioning how you could be of service to the scholarship program or the university.
36. How do you fulfill the ideals of this scholarship?
Again, your answer has to be specific to the scholarship and your own experiences.
Be sure to give specific examples of what you’ve achieved in the past and relate it to the scholarship. Use the same terms used in the description of the desired scholarship recipients.
37. How would you use the scholarship money?
This answer is scholarship specific. If the scholarship is full-tuition, discuss what it would mean to you to know you could afford to earn your bachelor’s degree.
Would that allow you to volunteer, take an unpaid internship, or do research?
If the question refers to additional funds (for books, research, or study abroad), explain how you would like to use the funds to enhance your education.
38. What questions do you have for us?
Definitely be prepared with at least three questions. Be prepared with a pen and paper so you can write down any questions that come up during the interview.
39. Is there anything else we should know about you?
This is your chance to talk about anything that wasn’t covered by the other interview questions. If you have any talking points that you haven’t had a chance to address, now’s the time.
If you feel you didn’t adequately answer an earlier question, circle back to it and revise your answer.
Mention how excited you are about specific opportunities at this college, particularly those that are related to the values of the college or the scholarship program.
End by saying how much you appreciate the opportunity to interview for the scholarship. Thank the interviewers for their time and consideration!
Final thoughts on how to answer questions at a college scholarship interview
The interview phase of a college scholarship application can be both exciting and nerve-wracking. However, by preparing for the interview, you can greatly increase your chances of success.
By following the tips outlined in this blog post, you’ll be well-equipped to handle any question that comes your way.
The key to answering the most common scholarship interview questions is to highlight your unique qualities, experiences, and aspirations.
Each scholarship candidate will have a high GPA, excellent academic performance, great test scores, and amazing extracurriculars. The personal answers you give to the scholarship interview questions are what will make you stand out from the other contenders.
Take the time to research the scholarship, understand its criteria, and tailor your responses accordingly.
The most important thing you can do is to practice your answers to common questions. Be ready to highlight your achievements and demonstrate how you are the best fit with the scholarship’s objectives.
Additionally, pay attention to your communication skills, body language, and overall professionalism during the interview.
Engage with the selection committee, listen actively, and respond thoughtfully. Stay true to yourself, letting your genuine enthusiasm and passion shine through.
Finally, don’t forget to follow up with a thank-you note or email to express your gratitude for the opportunity. This small gesture demonstrates your professionalism and appreciation.
With careful preparation and a confident approach, you can stand out from the competition and increase your chances of receiving the scholarship.
