Scholarship Interview Advice: TD Canada Trust Scholarship for Community Leadership
Although I am a recipient of the TD Scholarship, I have no experience on the judging committee, so please take my information or advice with a grain of salt. Oh, and good luck!
Dress Code
In general for interviews, I think anywhere from semi-formal to formal is fine. For my interview, I wore a dress shirt, dress pants, and dress shoes – no tie, no blazer. I honestly don’t think the judges really care about your attire as long as it’s presentable.
Pre-Interview
I believe you are asked to come to your interview for maybe half an hour or so before it’s actually your turn. You get to spend this time with a few past TD Scholars, and feel free to ask them questions and just have a nice relaxing chat. Hopefully the warm welcome will take your mind and nerves away from the situation.
In addition, you will receive an information sheet with a short biography of each of your judges. The judging panel includes Jane Thompson (Executive Director of the TD Scholarship program), a past TD scholar, and around three leaders from the community. The point of the biographies is just to give you a bit of background information on who you will be talking to. Don’t worry about memorizing the biographies, it’s not like you will be quizzed on them or anything! That being said, it’s some good information that you can use to maybe figure out how you can better relate and connect with them.
Inside the Interview
When you enter the interview room, I suggest going up to each judge, shake each of their hands, and get to know their names before sitting down – I think it’s important to know who you are talking to during the interview.
As far as questions, I think they were pretty simple. I found the TD interview process pretty relaxing and laid back. The judges seemed more concerned with just getting to know me than asking me really difficult or trappy questions.
Most of my questions were pretty basic – tell me about this from your application? Why did you start this? Oh, so it says here you are interested in studying neuroscience in university, why? It says here you are in a choir, tell me about that?
Conversely, I never got questions like: What are the most important qualities of a leader? What are your strengths or weaknesses? Nothing like that. All of the questions were just there to learn more about me as a person and the activities I’ve been involved in.
The most important thing is to answer honestly and be yourself. Sorry if that is cliche, but I think not being completely myself is what hurt me at my Loran interviews. During that process, I tried too hard to answer “correctly” instead of answering honestly, and that really messed me up. I think I prepared for a week for the Loran, whereas for the TD, I maybe prepared for maybe 15 minutes the day before, and just decided to walk in and speak honestly – and it worked!
For example, I’m pretty sarcastic as a person and I like to joke around, so I was sarcastic and made jokes when I felt like it in the interview – I didn’t force anything, I just spoke as I would normally speak to people. So honestly, just be yourself, and answer truthfully and from the heart.
At least from my experience, that’s what TD cares about. The want to see real people in their real element. There were even times in the interview where the judges were discussing random ideas with each other and not just asking me questions – that’s how laid back the TD scholarship interview is.
Hope that helps, and best of luck to all the finalists!
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- Post-McMaster Interview Thoughts
- Post-UofT Interview Feelings
- One Interview Down, Two to Go!
- Why You Need to Think Critically about Advice and Who You Get it From
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Comments
Hi Joshua, thanks for the tips:)I was just wondering whether a 75% on the dot would be okay to apply with? Does having a higher average affect your chances? Thanks
Thank-you, and I was also wondering if I would be eligible even though I’m taking 7 courses in grade 11? do we have to have a full course load? I tried looking on the website but couldn’t find any info. Thanks again:)
Hey Joshua, would you recommend applying to TD EVEN IF your volunteer experience is just casual volunteering and nothing special? I’m more of a extra curricular person than volunteering person.
Hey Joshua, I have this one leadership experience where I called about 40 people to the park clean-up. That comes under my environmental contribution. My other contributions involve a project that I did with old people, and I also completed 100 hours of volunteering at an Old Age Home. Other than these activities, I regularly participate in park-clean ups and tree-planting campaigns. Do you think this is good enough for them to consider me?
Hi Joshua,
I still havent heard from them. Does that mean i didn’t make it as a finalist? Do they call before the end of december for sure or do they call in the first week of january as well?
Hi Joshua,
I have an interview scheduled for January 28th in Toronto. I was just wondering if you could provide me with any tips? Please email me at meghiesmids@gmail.com if you can.
Thanks,
Meghie
Hi Joshua, I am a finalist and have an interview scheduled for February 2nd. I was wondering if they asked any specific questions about TD itself?
Hey Sarah,
Congrats on being a finalist! 
I of course can’t say for sure, but I think the probability of them asking you anything about the TD Bank itself is close to 0%.
They want to learn more about you. In my experience, they don’t try to ask you trick questions or try to trap you with random stuff.
Hi Joshua:
My name is Rosemary Finn, and I am a scholarship coach. I live in Stephenville, NL. I have coached many students for the Loran and for the TD and many other prestigious scholarships. I also assist with “how to write the best application.” I work with students from across the province and from other provinces. I find your comments genuine.
We all talk about “be yourself” but young people without any interview experience need to prepare. One important element I find helpful is setting up a “mock” interview. I do believe that it is better to be prepared than not to prepare. I have had a number of students who have had similar experiences to yours. The Loran is tough and more probing, and I have often been disappointed when “great students” like you do not receive the prestigious award but go on to win the TD. I’m sure it is the interview process. The TD is a great scholarship, and I have worked with a number of students who were winners. I have also worked with students who won the Loran. I think it is all relevant and it depends on the person/s who are interviewing. Greeting each of the interviews and calling them by name is a great point. Be sure to extend a firm handshake (without being too firm). Good eye contact, proper dress, prepare as best you can,and you will be ready. Find out who other winners are and make personal contact for thier opinions and advice. Thanks for the information. Remember each student has his/her own strong points. Sounds like you have a very pleasing personality which goes a long way–adding humour to your interview is always good as it shows your personality. Arrive early, and take into consideration that there might be people around you who are listening to your comments–some are even former winners. So, be on your toes.
Rosemary Finn
rosemaryfinn5@hotmail.com
Hey Joshua,
Thanks for the article! It was really helpful. Since you are a TD winner, I was wondering how they notify winners, is it by mail or a telephone call? Thanks