What to Wear for a College Interview: A Scientific Approach

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The discussion centers around choosing an appropriate outfit for a college interview. The original poster seeks input from a community of physicists on what to wear, emphasizing a desire for a conservative yet stylish look. Suggestions include combinations of blue pants, various shirt colors (tan, plaid, yellow), and ties, with a consensus leaning towards darker colors for a classy appearance. The importance of shoes, grooming, and overall neatness is highlighted, along with the need for confidence during the interview. Some participants humorously suggest unconventional choices, such as "no pants," while others stress the significance of standing out positively without being overly flashy. Ultimately, the poster decides on a yellow shirt with a blue tie and blue pants, reporting a successful interview experience despite initial reservations about the college's atmosphere.

WHAT SHOULD I WEAR?!?!?!?!?!?!?

  • Yellow shirt

    Votes: 9 23.1%
  • Black shirt

    Votes: 8 20.5%
  • Tan shirt

    Votes: 3 7.7%
  • Maroon plaid shirt

    Votes: 7 17.9%
  • Black tie

    Votes: 7 17.9%
  • Blue tie

    Votes: 9 23.1%
  • Red tie

    Votes: 7 17.9%
  • Black pants

    Votes: 14 35.9%
  • Blue pants

    Votes: 9 23.1%
  • No pants

    Votes: 15 38.5%

  • Total voters
    39
  • #31
Moonbear said:
What other kind of knot is there? I looked at the diagram, and that's the only kind I know (some guys are hopeless and us women need to help them out tying their ties).

Look at the side tab. There's the half windsor, Four in Hand Knot and the Pratt Knot. The Pratt knot is the one most people learn to do. It is quite simple. The windsor take a bit more pratice to get it right.

I think the military also have their own knotbut it might be the windsor knot.
 
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  • #32
iansmith said:
Look at the side tab. There's the half windsor, Four in Hand Knot and the Pratt Knot. The Pratt knot is the one most people learn to do. It is quite simple. The windsor take a bit more pratice to get it right.

I think the military also have their own knotbut it might be the windsor knot.

Hmm...most of those look more complicated than the windsor to me. Does the Pratt Knot leave the wrong side of the narrow end of the tie facing forward? That's how it looks in the picture. That would look pretty tacky if the wide part slipped aside so you could see the backward narrow part. Now I can see why some guys' ties look so bad on them.
 
  • #33
iansmith said:
Look at the side tab. There's the half windsor, Four in Hand Knot and the Pratt Knot. The Pratt knot is the one most people learn to do. It is quite simple. The windsor take a bit more pratice to get it right.

I think the military also have their own knotbut it might be the windsor knot.
Are you referring to the Navy neckerchief? The neckerchief is rolled tightly and tied into a simple square knot.

Many sailors actually use a piece of tape to hold the roll tightly in place.
 
  • #34
Moonbear said:
Hmm...most of those look more complicated than the windsor to me. Does the Pratt Knot leave the wrong side of the narrow end of the tie facing forward? That's how it looks in the picture. That would look pretty tacky if the wide part slipped aside so you could see the backward narrow part. Now I can see why some guys' ties look so bad on them.

The pratt is basicly, make a knot, go around and pass the large part inside the "knot". It usually give you a small knot that is not symetrical.

Huckleberry said:
Are you referring to the Navy neckerchief? The neckerchief is rolled tightly and tied into a simple square knot.

Many sailors actually use a piece of tape to hold the roll tightly in place.

I remember that when the person did it was a wide knot with very symetry. It was a very nice inverted isoceles trapezium.
 
  • #35
iansmith said:
remember that when the person did it was a wide knot with very symetry. It was a very nice inverted isoceles trapezium.
Had to look up that isosceles trapezium, but yeah, that's the basic shape. It's not a perfect square. It does taper down towards the bottom.

P.S. Be careful what sailors you talk to like that. They have a tendency to take offense to anything they don't understand. After long periods underway they are hardly in the mood for intellectual stimulation. :smile:
 
  • #36
WOO2 - So what did you wear, and how did the interview go?
 
  • #37
Moonbear said:
What other kind of knot is there? I looked at the diagram, and that's the only kind I know (some guys are hopeless and us women need to help them out tying their ties).
When I was a kid, I learned the four-in-hand. Eventually, I learned the windsor. It's easier to get it symmetrical.

iansmith said:
I think the military also have their own knotbut it might be the windsor knot.
The military use whatever knot they happen to know, although, if you don't know how to tie a knot when you go into basic training, they teach you - it might be the windsor knot, since that seems to be the most common. Or, maybe you get taught whatever knot the TI happens to know and most just happen to know the windsor. I remember they had at least a couple different knots in the book.

Being a cheap person who could get by with one civilian suit picked to match my military tie, transition to civilian life was kind of difficult. Before, all I had to do was memorize one tie and could get it to come out the right length every time, guaranteed. Having to wear a different tie every day was kind of complicated.
 
  • #38
BobG said:
Before, all I had to do was memorize one tie and could get it to come out the right length every time, guaranteed. Having to wear a different tie every day was kind of complicated.
I have about 50-60 ties, but only half a dozen or so that I wear on a semi-regular basis. (Work has a 'casual only' dress code.) Every bloody one of them has to be tied differently, because of length and width differences. Some of them even have to be done extra carefully because the pattern looks goofy at the knot area if it isn't lined up properly. (And I always tuck the small end through the back loop of the big one or use a tie-pin so nobody can tell if it turns backwards.) :biggrin:
 
  • #39
Danger said:
I always tuck the small end through the back loop of the big one or use a tie-pin so nobody can tell if it turns backwards.


A tie-pin? Yeah, right. You mean a bulldog clip...
 
  • #40
brewnog said:
A tie-pin? Yeah, right. You mean a bulldog clip...
Roach clips, I've got. Never heard of a bulldog clip... :confused:
 
  • #41
Astronuc said:
WOO2 - So what did you wear, and how did the interview go?
I ended up wearing the yellow shirt with blue tie and blue pants. The interview went great, according to the guy, I pretty much will be accepted if I apply there. Unfortunately - or fortunately, depending on your perspective - I really wasn't that impressed with the school when I went on the tour.

It's not like the school was crap, they actually had a very very well maintained, clean, new, beautiful campus, that had some award winning architecture on it, but the vibe I got off the students and the tour-guide just didn't click with me.
 
  • #42
wasteofo2 said:
It's not like the school was crap, they actually had a very very well maintained, clean, new, beautiful campus, that had some award winning architecture on it, but the vibe I got off the students and the tour-guide just didn't click with me.

Well, that's the importance of visiting the campus before making a decision. Not that you want to attend a place where everything is left to fall apart either, but the people are going to be more important to your experience than the buildings.

Glad the interview went well though. Let it all sink in a few days; sometimes you realize that things seemed better or worse while viewed through the nervous energy of an interview day than they seem after a few days of letting it sink in.
 

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