Selection committees may challenge applicants on their views. They are looking for students who hold strong beliefs and are able to defend and articulate their views. Your aim should be not to please a committee, but to gain its respect. Selection committees believe that by speaking with candidates in person they can learn more than from the applications alone. Interviews will not be designed to offer comfort. Expect to have your ideas challenged. Questions may be asked rapid-fire, answers interrupted, and surprises may be sprung on you to see how you react. Have a sense of timing. Twenty or thirty minute interviews go by quickly. Decide beforehand some of the points you want to get across and use relevant questions to make these points. Try to convey thoughtfulness, authenticity and honest engagement. Appearance, manner, dress, diction, courtesy, ease, warmth, humor, confidence, maturity - all may play a crucial role in an interview situation. Be ready to explain what part the scholarship will play in the achievement of your career goals. A mock interview may be arranged for you here on campus to help prepare you for the final interview. You may be asked to expand on some point in your essay, so if there is a topic on which you feel you can speak eloquently, make sure to include it in your essay. Equally, you should be prepared to discuss any activity mentioned on the application or any statements made in your personal essay. Take your time in responding to questions. Make certain that you understand what is being asked, and do not be afraid to request clarification if needed. The best general advice is: Project enthusiasm!