1. What is the most important thing you’ve learned in high school?

2. What do you expect to be doing ten years from now?

3. How do you define “success?”
4. What have you liked or disliked about your school? What would you change?
5. How would you describe yourself to someone who did not know you?
6. What are your strengths? Weaknesses?
7. What has been your proudest achievement so far?
8. If you could talk with any one living (or deceased) person, whom would it
be and why?
9. What events have been crucial in your life?
10. What mark do you feel you’ve left on your school?
11. What do you want to get out of your college experience?
12. What about you is unique?
13. What could you contribute to our college community?

gain valuable industry experience that will assist their development as outstand
ing professionals
Australia s industry leaders of the future through recognising and nurturing tal
ent.
1. To provide sponsors with a unique opportunity to meet and select high achievi
ng scholars within a relevant area of study.
2. To maintain a relationship between a scholar and sponsor throughout the schol
ars time at the university.
3. To provide an integrated approach to academic studies and industrial placemen
ts which are monitored and managed.
4. To provide an enhanced academic experience which develops leaders in the futu
re.

Sample Scholarship Interview Questions

General questions & plans for the future
How did you become interested in your major?
What influenced your choice of this major?
How did you become interested in your focus area?
Have you traveled abroad before? If so, where? What have you learned in your tr
avels?
What have you learned about yourself as you ve been a student at BYU?
What do you hope to accomplish while at graduate school?
What are your educational/academic goals? What are your future career plans? Ho
w do you plan to use your studies to achieve your future career plans?
What would you do if you didn t receive the fellowship?
What do you envision yourself doing in 10 years?
What will you do with your degree in the long run?
Why will this scholarship help you in your career goals?

Hooks from application--Know your application & review your essays

You wrote in your application that you read poetry. What kind of poetry do you
read? Who s your favorite poet?
You said you like reading classics. What is one classical novel you recently re
ad and did not like?
I see your transcript includes ______ (a low grade, an odd course, etc.). Tell
me about this.
I see in your application that you re fluent in ______. Translate this statemen
t and tell me who said it.
How would you be a good _______ as a ______ Scholar?
What can you tell me about the person this scholarship is named for?
Questions about recommendations and choice of recommenders
Your high school principal wrote one of your recommendations. I m always suspic
ious of applicants who need to go all the way back to high school to find someon
e who can say something good about them. What do you say to that?
Your adviser wrote that you did significant research on Dean Acheson and three
Ambassadors to Yugoslavia. After doing this research, do you think people make h
istory? And if so, discuss if history would have been different if Stevenson had
defeated Eisenhower in 1956, Nixon had defeated Kennedy in 1960, and Dukakis ha
d defeated Bush in 1988.
One of your advisers has written a lot about health care policy. Do you agree w
ith his ideas, and if so, in one sentence, how should these ideas be implemented
?
One of your letter writes uses B.C.E. and C.E. Please define B.C., A.D., B.C.E.
, and C.E. Which do you prefer and why?
Research/Topics in your field--Be prepared to talk about your work and that of o
thers
I saw in your application that you intent to ______. Can you give us some examp
les, outside of your own research, of some successful studies in this field?
Can you explain exactly what techniques or methods your propose to use in your
research?
What do you think will be the big thing happening in your field in the next ten
years?
Tell me about your honors thesis topic and describe the research methods you pr
opose to use in your research.
Is there anyone you would specifically like to work with?
Current events or hot political topics--Read a good newspaper; listen to opinion
discussion shows.
Do you think everyone in America deserves healthcare? How should we provide hea
lthcare to the poor? How specifically can we encourage private industry to parti
cipate?
I recently read about ______. What can you tell me about this?
What do you think is the big thing happening in ______ in the next ten years?
Do you think that a financially powerful nation could effectively alter the cul
tural norms of another nation?
What are your thoughts on US interventionism?
You have one minute to tell the Prime Minister of India how to end religious vi
olence. What do you say?
What should the U.S. do about the War on Terrorism?
Do you believe in state sponsored assassinations, and if not, what about in the
case of Hitler?
Welfare reform seems like a good thing. Lots of poor people are working now, wh
en they weren t before. What do you think?
Name what you think are the top five diplomatic achievements in the past decade
.
What is the biggest change you would make in government to improve its ethics?
If a patient with late stage Alzheimer s had written a document requesting that
his life no longer be supported, what would you do? Follow up: What level of ab
use in the system would be enough to stop euthanasia: 10 in 100 or 5 in 100?
Explain the importance of basic science (or some other topic) as if you were ta
lking to a group of lawmakers.
What can you tell me about globalization (or AIDS, unilateralism/multilateralis
m, U.S. foreign policy, etc.)?
If there is an attack on the embassy where you re serving, what would be your p
lan of action?
The ambassador asks you to write a cable about human rights in country X. How w
ould you go about completing this task?
Questions about a student s choice of university and degree choice
What graduate schools/programs have you been accepted into?
Why do you want to do postgraduate study now, as opposed to in two or three yea
rs?
Is there anyone that you are specifically looking forward to working with?
You say you want to study for a PhD in X, yet your university does not have de
partment of X. How are you qualified for this?
You say you want to study for a PhD in X, yet the majority of your preparation
is in Y. How are you qualified?
Questions about church, missions, BYU---Welcome these questions calmly, responsi
vely, and non-defensively. Such an answer can broaden into other perspectives.
What did you learn on your mission? How can you justify "soul snatching?" Isn t
it presumptuous to intrude on other cultures?
Is it possible to have academic freedom at a religiously affiliated university?
Why do so many athletes get kicked out of BYU for honor code violations?
_______ at BYU recently received attention in the news. What can you tell me ab
out this?
What is your stance on ______?
Questions about your personality or how you spend your time
What do you do for fun when you re not studying, doing research, or performing
community service?
I see you ve accomplished some amazing things in your short life. In what areas
do you think you can improve?
I see you ve done a lot of community service. Which service project are you mos
t proud of and why?
I also assume you ve been involved in some leadership experiences. Please descr
ibe your most meaningful leadership experience and explain why it was most meani
ngful.
What kind of music do you listen to?
What is a novel or book that you ve read for pleasure recently and like, and wh
y did you like it?
How would you define life? And what is your position on abortion? What is more
important--someone agreeing with you on these issues or someone figuring out the
ir own stance on these issues?
What is your "Top 5 " list for the following? Favorite novels, favorite non-fic
tion books, favorite movies, favorite contemporary political leaders, favorite h
istorical political leaders.
What would you do if you won a billion dollars in the lottery?
You have a strong desire to give back to the world. Where does this desire come
from? Your family, religion or somewhere else?
If someone was writing your obituary, what would you want it to say, and what w
ork of literature would it quote?
What is your philosophy on service that keeps you dedicated to it?
They may give you an opportunity to say whatever you want, so be ready.
Do you have anything else to add?
Why should you be one of the 10 people to get this scholarship?