Guides · Updated 3 November 2026

Wake Forest Interview: Zoom Interview or Video, Deadlines and Questions

Wake Forest University offers Fall 2027 applicants two optional ways to share more about themselves: a 20 to 25-minute live Zoom interview with an admissions representative or a two-to-three-minute recorded video answering one of three prompts. According to Wake Forest Undergraduate Admissions, you must request your virtual interview or submit your video in your status portal within 5 days of applying. The final virtual interview request deadline is 18 November 2026, and the final video deadlines are 20 November 2026 (Early Decision I and Early Action) or 5 January 2027 (Early Decision II and Regular Decision). AdmitMock is an AI mock interview app for Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial, UCL and US college alumni interviews: an AI interviewer asks the questions out loud, follows up, and shows you what to fix.

Two Optional Ways to Interview for Fall 2027

Wake Forest offers two optional formats for first-year applicants entering in Fall 2027: a live virtual interview over Zoom or a short recorded video submission. Neither option is required for admission, and Wake Forest states that plenty of applicants are admitted without completing an interview or submitting a video. On its Class of 2031 admissions page, Wake Forest also notes that the two-to-three-minute video submission is treated with the exact same consideration as the live virtual interview.

In the Wake Forest 2025-2026 Common Data Set (Section C7), the university lists the interview as an 'Important' non-academic factor in first-time, first-year admission decisions, alongside extracurricular activities and talent or ability, while academic rigour, class rank, GPA, the application essay, and character/personal qualities are rated 'Very Important'. Wake Forest is test-optional, and its admissions pages emphasise that the interview or video is an opportunity for the admissions team to get to know your education, self-education, and intellectual interests beyond your transcript.

Both options follow one strict timing rule: you can only access them after you submit your Common Application or Coalition, Powered by Scoir, Application, and you have 5 days from submitting your application to either request your Zoom interview or upload your video in your applicant status portal. Wake Forest emails instructions for setting up your status portal within 24 hours of receiving your application. To see how Wake Forest's policy compares with other selective US universities, see our guide to which colleges offer interviews.

• Who is eligible: Rising high school seniors who have applied to enter Wake Forest in Fall 2027 across Early Decision I, Early Action (for first-generation college students), Early Decision II, and Regular Decision.
• Who is not eligible: Transfer applicants and waitlisted Fall 2026 applicants are not eligible for a virtual interview or video submission.
• Format rule: In-person interviews are not offered. All live conversations take place online via Zoom, and all video submissions are uploaded through the status portal.
• Accessibility accommodations: If you need assistance with accessibility or have accessibility questions, Wake Forest asks you to contact Dawn Calhoun in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions at 336.758.5201 at least 3 working days in advance.

Deadlines by Admission Round and the 5-Day Portal Rule

Every Fall 2027 interview request or video upload is governed by two deadlines at once: your personal 5-day window after submitting your application, and the calendar cut-off for your admission round. Whichever date comes first is your deadline.

For the live Zoom interview, the final request date is Wednesday, 18 November 2026 for all applicants. Wake Forest notes that if you submit your application between 14 November and 18 November, you will have fewer than 5 days to request a virtual interview. While virtual interviews are open to Early Decision II and Regular Decision applicants, their application deadline is 1 January. That means an EDII or RD applicant who wants a live Zoom conversation must submit their application in mid-November and request the interview by 18 November 2026. If you apply after 18 November 2026, the two-to-three-minute video submission is your available option.

On Wake Forest's main Interviews page and in the deadline column of its Class of 2031 dates table, the final deadline for EDII and RD video submissions is 5 January 2027 (within 5 days of applying). Because 5 days after a 1 January application falls on 5 January, we recommend treating 5 January 2027 as your cut-off.

Option 1: The 20 to 25-Minute Virtual Zoom Interview

If you choose the live virtual interview, you will meet online via Zoom with a Wake Forest admissions representative. Interviews are generally 20 to 25-minute virtual-interview conversations. Unlike universities where you speak with a local graduate, such as the Duke alumni interview or the Princeton alumni interview, Wake Forest conducts its undergraduate interviews through its admissions representatives. In-person interviews are not offered even if you visit Winston-Salem for a campus tour.

Virtual interviews run Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. ET. Check your school timetable before requesting a slot. Wake Forest also states that while it makes every effort to interview students, it cannot accommodate all requests, especially those made close to the 18 November 2026 request deadline.

During the 20 to 25-minute conversation, Wake Forest says it explores core qualities: intellectual curiosity, character, community, inclusion, and open-mindedness. The interviewer will ask about both your formal schooling and your 'self-education', meaning how you learn outside your transcript.

• Your high school and the classes you have taken
• Your academic interests and what you are currently studying
• What makes you intellectually curious and what you think about
• Your most treasured books
• Your talents and extracurricular pursuits
• Your service work and involvement in your community

How to Answer Wake Forest's Guaranteed Closing Question

Wake Forest publishes the exact question its admissions representatives use to close every virtual interview: 'What have we forgotten to ask you that you need to tell me?' The admissions page notes that the response is usually, 'Not a thing. You got it.'

Before your Zoom call, Wake Forest advises you to think about what you are most proud of, what you are most energised by, what you are most concerned about, and what you are most looking forward to about the future. Write those points on a note card next to your screen and try to work them into your interview responses.

As the conversation unfolds, tick off the points you cover. When the interviewer asks, 'What have we forgotten to ask you that you need to tell me?', check your card. If one of your points has not come up yet, use the final minute to share that story. If you also have time at the end to ask your own questions, you can adapt ideas from our list of questions to ask your alumni interviewer for an admissions representative.

• What you are most proud of: A project, responsibility, or quiet achievement that shows your character.
• What you are most energised by: An academic topic, book, or independent project that shows your self-education.
• What you are most concerned about: A real issue in your local community or field of study that you have thought about.
• What you are most looking forward to: How you want to study, collaborate, or contribute at Wake Forest.

Option 2: The Two-to-Three-Minute Video and the 3 Official Prompts

If you prefer to record your thoughts on your own schedule, or if you apply after 18 November 2026, you can submit a two-to-three-minute video through your status portal within 5 days of submitting your application. Wake Forest asks for a personal, selfie-style video of you speaking directly to the camera. Do not hire a photographer, and do not submit video compilations or picture montages.

Wake Forest advises you not to write, memorise, and deliver a speech. Instead, the admissions team wants to hear how you would share ideas in class. Choose only one of three official prompts below to answer in your two-to-three-minute recording, and use our team's structure plan to keep your thoughts organised on a sticky note beside your camera lens.

• Prompt #1 (World Problem): 'If you could solve one problem happening in the world, what would it be, and why?' Our structure plan: Start by naming a specific problem you have observed first-hand. Next, explain the root cause and why it matters to the people affected. Finish by connecting that problem to the subjects or questions you want to study in college.
• Prompt #2 (Pro Humanitate): 'Pro Humanitate is our university motto. What does this motto mean to you, and how would you put it into action as a student at Wake Forest?' Our structure plan: Start by defining what the motto means in your own life through one real habit or service commitment. Next, explain how you connect academic learning with usefulness to others. Finish by naming specific ways you would practise that at Wake Forest through research, public service, or campus life.
• Prompt #3 (Something Not in Your Application): 'Share something important to you or about you that isn't already part of your application.' Our structure plan: Start by introducing one concrete detail, routine, or interest that did not fit onto your activity list. Next, tell one short story about how that interest shaped your curiosity or perspective. Finish by explaining how you will bring that habit to your roommates, classmates, and seminars at Wake Forest.
• Recording basics from Wake Forest: Wear clothing that is okay to wear to school, check for obvious background distractions, sit with a window or lamp in front of you so light shines on your face, and test your audio levels before recording.

Practice Questions in Wake Forest's Style

To help you prepare for the 20 to 25-minute Zoom conversation, the practice questions below are written by our team around the exact themes Wake Forest states it covers: high school classes, self-education, treasured books, talents, service work, character, and intellectual curiosity. For broader preparation across US universities, see our guide to common alumni interview questions and our Georgetown alumni interview guide.

• High school and classes (ours): Which class in high school has forced you to change your mind about something you previously took for granted? (Example written by our team. The applicant is invented. 'In AP Human Geography last year, we mapped food deserts in our own county using census-tract data. I had always assumed grocery store locations were purely about population density, and seeing how historic zoning lines shaped fresh food access made me start looking at local town council minutes in a completely different way.')
• Self-education and intellectual curiosity (ours): Wake Forest talks a lot about self-education outside of what is on your transcript. What is a topic you have spent hours teaching yourself just because you wanted to know how it worked? (Example written by our team. The applicant is invented. 'After my grandfather gave me his broken mechanical wristwatch, I spent weeks watching horology repair videos and reading diagrams of escapement wheels. Even though I still stripped a screw on my first attempt, figuring out how a coiled spring regulates time without a battery hooked me on mechanical design.')
• Most treasured books (ours): Tell me about one of your most treasured books and why you keep coming back to it. (Example written by our team. The applicant is invented. 'My most battered book is a paperback copy of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks that my older sister passed down to me. What stays with me every time I reread a chapter is how Rebecca Skloot balances the cellular biology of HeLa cells with the human ethics of informed consent for the Lacks family.')
• Service work and Pro Humanitate (ours): Tell me about a piece of service work you have done where you learned as much from the community as you contributed. (Example written by our team. The applicant is invented. 'When I started volunteering at our library's Saturday digital literacy desk, I thought my job was just teaching seniors how to attach PDFs. Soon I realised most visitors wanted help archiving family recipes and letters, so we shifted the workshop into a digital oral-history project.')
• The guaranteed closing question (official Wake Forest question): What have we forgotten to ask you that you need to tell me? (Example written by our team. The applicant is invented. 'We talked about my chemistry classes and track team, and the one thing I want to add is my part-time job closing at our local bakery after school. Working alongside people from very different backgrounds taught me how to stay calm when orders pile up and how to talk with anyone who walks through the door.')

Wake Forest Admissions Context: Class Profile and Selectivity

In the Wake Forest 2025-2026 Common Data Set (covering the Fall 2025 entering class), 19,600 first-time, first-year students applied (8,235 men, 11,360 women, and 5 of unknown sex), and 4,068 were admitted (1,965 men and 2,103 women). By our calculation from the 2025-2026 Common Data Set, that is an overall first-year acceptance rate of 20.8%, with 1,544 first-time, first-year students enrolling. On its first-year admissions page, Wake Forest also notes that it tends to enrol just over half of its incoming classes through Early Decision.

Wake Forest's Fall 2025 student-to-faculty ratio is 10 to 1 (based on 6,495 students and 677 faculty). Out of 1,245 undergraduate class sections reported in the 2025-2026 Common Data Set, 715 sections (174 in the 2-9 range and 541 in the 10-19 range), or 57.4% by our calculation, have fewer than 20 students, and 0 class sections have 100 or more students. When Wake Forest says in its video advice that it wants to hear 'how you'd share ideas in class', it is recruiting for those seminar-sized rooms.

Practise your interview out loud on AdmitMock.

Practice question

Pro Humanitate is our university motto. What does this motto mean to you, and how would you put it into action as a student at Wake Forest? (Official Wake Forest Video Prompt #2)

Example written by our team. The applicant is invented. 'To me, Pro Humanitate means that learning is unfinished until it is useful to someone else. After our town's community garden closed two beds over suspected soil lead, I worked with my chemistry teacher to test grid soil samples and translate the lab report into plain-language planting maps for neighbours. At Wake Forest, I want to bring that same habit into undergraduate research and campus public service in Winston-Salem, using coursework to help local community partners answer practical questions.'

It defines the motto in one clear sentence, grounds it in a specific high school project that connects classroom learning to real people, and explains how the student will continue that exact habit at Wake Forest without sounding rehearsed.

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