Mastering the Art of the NSLI-Y Interview: Questions Answered, Questions Asked
Updated: Sep 8, 2020
It’s that time of year again: time for NSLI-Y semi-finalist interviews. Congratulations to all the NSLI-Y semi-finalists on making it through the gauntlet! As a reflection on my own interview experience and as a means to provide some hopefully useful information, I decided to create this post.
My older sister and I outside NCSSM after my interview.
I received my semi-finalist notification December 1st, which happened to be a Saturday. I remember reading the email in complete and utter shock with a mixture of elation and apprehension. However, I didn’t receive an email from an interview coordinator until December 28th, and my interview wasn’t until January 20th. During this month of waiting, I did as much research as I could to prepare by mainly reading alumni blogs, finding interview questions, and having my parents ask me questions whenever possible. The NSLI-Y semi-finalist interview was my first interview, and I was hoping to make it a good first experience.
For Christmas, I received nice business casual attire. For my birthday, January 10th, my dad took me to get a haircut. By this time, just a week or so before the interview, I was feeling mentally and physically prepared. The day of, I, being a notorious running addict, got up early to go out for a run in the cold January morning. Acknowledging the occasion, I ran a solid eight miles because, in Chinese culture, the number eight is considered a lucky number. With rosy cheeks and slightly sweaty skin, I changed into my interview clothing and headed out the door with my dad for our grand adventure.
My interview was to be held at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics (NCSSM), a public residential STEM high school about an hour and a half from my hometown. Driving up to the interview location, my dad asked me a few more interview questions to help ease the butterflies swarming inside. I had brought along an interview portfolio with a fairly informal resume I had created and a small thank you card inside. Neither of these documents were a requirement; the process of creating the resume was more for me to reflect on my personal experiences and consider my goals and accomplishments, and the thank you card was for the interviewer as a means to say thank you to him for taking the time to volunteer.
We arrived about ten to fifteen minutes before eleven o’clock, the time of my interview, and headed to the library. Upon arrival, an alumni who went to India greeted us, and my dad of course, being my dad, asked him a whole lot of questions. Before I knew it, I was called back for my interview. I was led to a fairly large computer lab/conference room space in the back of the library. My interviewer was a friendly, college-aged YES-Abroad alumni; he told me he had applied for NSLI-Y three times and never got accepted, so I was feeling like my chances of being selected were pretty low. My interviewer, trying to help me ease my nerves, told me I looked like a good candidate from the gecko; I have a feeling those eight miles helped pay off.
Then the torrent of questioning began.
Knowing myself, and my not too great impromptu speaking skills, I had practiced for the interview as much as possible. This paid off tremendously because many of the questions asked were the same or similar to ones I had found on alumni blogs. There were two that I found myself a little taken aback by because I hadn’t considered them before. During my interview, there was a point that I started to talk about a podcast I had recently listened to from the New York Times about a white supremacist who slowly changed his views overtime; I’m still not quite sure what prompted this. Though I was told interviews should only take 35 to 45 minutes, my interview ended up lasting over an hour, and by the end, I handed the interviewer the small thank you note I had made and walked out.
Upon leaving the room, I felt overcome by exhilaration. My dad, being my dad of course, asked me how it went, and I said I felt triumph, as though I had just climbed Mount Everest. I didn’t feel that it was a perfect interview or that I was a shoo-in; that’s just not how I felt. However, I did feel this excited aura around me and deep satisfaction. Being past noon, my dad and I, met with my older sister, who happened to go to NCSSM at the time, and headed to Guasaca, a Chipotle-style restaurant serving Venezuelan and other South American food. It was a wonderful midday to help top off a wonderful day.
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Here are some frequently asked questions regarding the NSLI-Y interview I’ve encountered. If you have any more you would like answered, feel free to shoot me an email at haldenlevin@gmail.com, and I’ll try my best to respond with complete and accurate information.
Q: When is the interview? Where does it take place?
A: NSLI-Y semi-finalist interviews occur throughout December, January, and the beginning of February. My interview was on January 20 at 11:00 am at NCSSM. The time and place of interviews vary greatly; I’ve heard that some were in churches, at other public buildings, or even in people’s homes. If you ever have an issue with the time or place, feel free contact your interview coordinator.
Additionally, make sure to arrive 10 to 15 minutes early! Alumni will likely be at the interviewing place, so this will be a good time to ask questions.
Q: What should I wear?
A: Business casual attire is the best way to go. I wore a nice blouse with stars on it, nice gray pants, and two-inchish black booties. You don’t have to wear a suit and tie, but jeans and a t-shirt are definitely not the way to go.
Q: Should my parents or guardians come?
A: Parents or guardians are definitely allowed to come, but will not be interviewed or invited into the interviewing room. Once again, alumni will likely be in the waiting area and can answer any questions your parents may have. My dad came with me, but I don’t think he hung around in the waiting room the whole time.
Q: How long was the interview?
A: NSLI-Y semi-finalist interviews generally last around 35 to 45 minutes, but that of course can vary. My interview lasted over an hour; I’m pretty sure my interview slot was the last slot in morning, so pressure to finish quickly was low.
Q: Who are the interviewers?
A: I believe interviewers are AFS-USA volunteers, and many, if not all, are alumni of study abroad programs. My interviewer was a YES-Abroad alumni, which is another State Department funded study abroad program.
Q: When do finalist notifications come out?
A: Finalist notifications will come out during March and April. I received my finalist notification on March 27th in the afternoon. I remember sitting in computer science class, going to check my email as I usually do, and then seeing an email that said “NSLI-Y 2018-19 Application Status” in the subject line. After clicking on the email, I about fell out of my chair in excitement.
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Practice Questions:
Disclaimer: Though some of these questions were asked during my interview, there is no guarantee that these will be the questions asked. However, these are good questions to consider in preparing for the interview.
Identity/Personal Questions:
Who’s at home?
What type of family would you say you have?
Do both your parents have college degrees?
Introvert or extrovert?
Leader or follower?
Are you impatient?
Are you independent?
Does you family value sports, music, religion?
When was a time you were disappointed? How did you react?
Describe a time you tried something new.
How do you spend time with your family?
Describe a typical week for you (what activities do you do)?
How do you feel about school? What are some of your least/most liked classes?
Do you spend a lot of time online/on social network?
Does your family watch TV a lot?
Are you into volunteering/service?
Why did you choose your countries?
What are two goals you have for the program other than learning the language?
What are both positives and negatives of this program for you?
What do you expect to learn about yourself from this program?
How do you expect to use your language in your future?
Are you flexible?
How would you feel being away from your parents?
Why did you pick NSLI-Y? How would it help you?
How do you handle stress?
What is the hardest thing you had to overcome? How did that affect you as a person?
What was the last thing you heard from someone that you didn't want to hear? How did it affect you?
If you went to study abroad, how would you handle being away from your family?
How to you complement the host country's people and community?
When was the time you were more of a follower or were not a leader?*
When was a time that someone didn’t share your beliefs? How did you react?*
* 30 and 31 were both questions asked by my interviewer that I had not encountered on other alumni blogs in preparing for my interview.
Situational Questions:
What will you do if kids make fun of your accent?
When was the last time someone told you something you didn’t want to hear? How did you react?
What if your host family, at the end of the day, doesn’t really talk to you, they just go to their rooms and shut the door, how would you react?
What do you do with your friends– how would you react if you couldn’t do some of those things in (Country)?
How would you react if your family in (Country) was making you follow rules that other exchange students didn’t have to– ie, they wouldn’t let you go to an event everyone else was going to?
Can you describe if your family is more strict or relaxed– how would you react if your host family was different?
A teacher makes a mistake about American history. Do you correct him or let him keep making the same mistake? Why?
In your host home, you are excited to talk about your day, but your host family is too busy. How do you handle this?
In your host country, you may be denied some freedoms that are offered in America. How do you respond?
In your host country, women do not have many rights. How do you handle this?
You have a fight with your host mom. What do you do?
I grouped the questions asked into two major categories: identity/personal questions and situational questions. Identity/personal questions are questions asked that require you to describe who you are and your identity in the context of your surroundings. They require you to describe your experiences, your roles in the community, and your short and long term goals. Situational questions describe situations you may or may not encounter in your host country, and you are supposed to describe how you will react in those situations. These questions aim to get at your personal characteristics through your hypothetical actions.
I recommend that you at least consider WHY you want to go to your country of choice, WHAT you wish to gain (your goals), and HOW you will be apart of your host community (what are your personal characteristics/identity). Additionally, preference is given to those who demonstrate that NSLI-Y is necessary for future goals, including academic, personal, and especially professionally. Consider your major short and long term goals falling under these categories.
Above all else, as cliche as it sounds, be yourself! Run eight miles if you makes you feel lucky. Make thank you cards with hand-drawn pandas and Chinese. Wear a shirt with stars or hearts or stripes. Do whatever puts you at ease and truly expresses who you are (within reason of course).
Additional Resources:
NSLI-Y Website: https://www.nsliforyouth.org/how-to-apply/timeline/
Useful Blogs (There are many more!):
http://little-catt.tumblr.com/post/73374003458/some-basic-nsli-y-info
A lot of the questions above come from this website: http://little-catt.tumblr.com/post/73900242390/nsli-y-semifinalist-interview