Deep Dive: How to Answer The Dreaded "Tell Me About Yourself" Question in Your College Interview
Since many students have found our Ultimate Guide to College Interviews helpful, we’re diving deeper with a series on the most common interview questions. If you’re looking for general tips, feel free to check out our guide—but if you want to tackle specific questions, you’re in the right place.
We’re kicking things off by diving into the most open-ended question: “Tell me about yourself.” Its vagueness often catches students off guard. What should you focus on? How much detail is too much? This will likely be the very first question an interviewer asks you, and your response will frame the rest of the interview. You want to touch on the core aspects of your identity and interests; by doing so, you’ll open the door for follow-up questions that you’re prepared to answer. It’s an opportunity to introduce yourself in a compelling way that highlights your personality, values, and key experiences.
Step 1: Structure Your Answer
Instead of giving a chronological biography, structure your response using a narrative approach. One effective framework is:
Present: Start with a defining trait or passion.
Past: Share a key experience that shaped you.
Future: Connect to your aspirations and how this university fits.
Example:
I’d say curiosity defines me. When I was ten, I spent an entire summer trying to build a Rube Goldberg machine that could turn off my bedroom light. That curiosity turned into a love for physics and engineering, leading me to research sustainable energy solutions in high school. At MIT, I hope to expand on this by working with the Energy Initiative to develop scalable green technologies.
Step 2: Highlight Unique Details
Make your response memorable by including personal anecdotes and vivid descriptions. Instead of saying, “I love music,” say, “I spent the last year composing a violin concerto inspired by my grandfather’s stories of growing up in rural China.”
Step 3: Stories are Effective
We make sense of the world through narratives. Anecdotes and overarching narratives are compelling—and they’re memorable. If you want your interviewer to distinctly remember you from a pool of applicants they interviewed in the same week, tell them about yourself in a narrative framework.
Examples:
We’ve framed these examples in bullet points. Why? Well, the chances that you memorize a speech for each question you’re asked are pretty low. Plus, bullet points are how stand-up comics memorize their own sets—it gives them the flexibility to play off of the crowd, move more fluidly through their sets, and come off as authentic.
Example 1:
Fascinated by my grandparents' dialect of Chinese
Practiced by watching regional TV shows, reading untranslated folklore, and recording conversations with my grandma to analyze tones and sentence structures.
Curiosity about language and culture led me to read books on linguistics and explore international relations.
Captivated by how certain words have no direct English equivalent—language as a reflection of thought.
Explored linguistic preservation and language policy (endangered and under-documented languages)
Studied the decline of heritage dialects among second-generation immigrants like tonal shifts when a language isn’t formally taught.
Researched machine translation biases and how AI struggles with dialectal variations
Hope to study computational linguistics and language preservation, especially the role of language policy in shaping identity and diplomacy.
Example 3:
Froze during a debate competition in my freshman year
Spent the next year studying logical frameworks, political philosophy, and extemporaneous speaking techniques
Worked with a coach to break down complex arguments
Started dissecting Supreme Court rulings to understand how justices construct persuasive legal reasoning.
Junior year: developed a deep interest in argumentation theory and legal rhetoric.
I’m fascinated by how judicial opinions, international negotiations, and AI-driven debate models rely on structured reasoning.
Sparked my passion for legal studies and computational argumentation, especially using technology to analyze and enhance argumentation.
Step 4: Keep It Concise and Engaging
Aim for a response that’s around one to two minutes long. You want to intrigue the interviewer, not overwhelm them with too much detail.
What to Avoid:
Listing accomplishments without context.
Rambling without a clear structure.
Being too generic—your answer should reflect you, not just any high-achieving student.
Final Thoughts:
Think of “Tell me about yourself” as an opportunity to showcase the most engaging parts of your story. Make it personal, concise, and reflective of who you are beyond just grades and extracurriculars.
