I’ve often said that college interviews are a lot like first dates. Bathe beforehand. Dress well but comfortably. And most importantly, do your part to have an interesting conversation. Don’t just sit there and make the other person do all the work.
But it’s worth mentioning that like first dates, when it comes to college interviews, it’s not a good idea to over-prepare.
Before a first date, you might consider potential areas of conversation and what you’d like to say if they come up. But nobody writes out a script before a date to plan exactly what to say. You want to come off like an interesting human being, not a robot. For your college interviews, you should be prepared for questions like, “Why are you applying here?” But that preparation should reveal itself in the form of relaxed and interesting conversation, not stilted and rehearsed answers.
Remember that most college interviewers are asking questions that don't have right or wrong answers [apologies–I'd left the "don't" out of that sentence in the original post]. They’re just trying to see if you can have a comfortable conversation with an adult. Prepare, but don’t rehearse.