Top 5 Questions NOT To Ask (Part I)

Back in May I wrote about how you should always be ready in your interview with a couple of questions about the school--it's par for the course to be given a couple of minutes to ask about the school at the end of your interview (see the original post).

I had a couple of people ask about the worst applicant questions I've ever gotten, so I thought I'd share.

For any future applicants--its probably best not to ask the following.

Without further adieu, all aboard the fail train:

• How far is campus from the airport? Really. Really? You've got a chance to ask one--maybe two--questions about your dream school, and you want me to Mapquest directions for you? Don't ask hyper-specific questions (particularly stupid ones) that could best be answered on your own, online, in about a minute. (By the way--I have no idea. My internal GPS functionality is broken. Sorry.) Ding.
• Can I live off campus first year? (Related: How easy is it to travel home on weekends?) This is a borderline-legit question--some people would rather live off campus. That's fine. The implication though is that you'd just as soon avoid the rest of your class. Painting yourself as a detached loner probably isn't the impression you want to make. (Ditto for wanting to travel home at every possible opportunity.) Light ding.
• How easy is it to transfer after a year? No, really--someone asked me that once. Even if I am from your safety school, how stupid are you to telegraph that? Resounding ding.
• I applied to [state school X], but I really don't want to go there. Do you think [school X] sucks? Of course I do--I didn't go there. But comeon, talking badly about another school is tacky, and asking someone to do so is even tackier. Ding. (BTW, a more acceptable way to ask would be: "How would you compare your experience to what you would have gotten from other schools?")
• Doesn't your school have a problem with X [alcohol abuse, drug abuse, crime, etc]? Way to go on the offensive, ace. It's a legitimate question, just cleverly asked in the most accusatory way possible. Instead, try "What is your school doing to [control underage drinking/handle on-campus crime, etc]?" Light ding.

Plus your bonus question:

• Is it true that your school is all Asians? Wow...where to start on this one. First, class demographics can be found on a school's website in about 23 seconds. More importantly, even if that were true, the implication of your question is that that's a bad thing? Racist bastard. Resounding ding.

Remember to have a couple of questions ready that you want to ask--just don't be dumb. If you want some tips on asking questions that will make you stand out, see my earlier post. Good luck ---CJ