If you could do so, how would you plan your academic studies differently?

This sentence is exactly what the interviewer wants to hear (although, I don't recommend doing this a lot), but if you must:

"I wish I could have studied more (position which you are applying to - HR, Marketing, etc.), but..."

• My major wouldn't allow it

• The professors had a bad reputation in that area and I didn't want to enroll then have to drop a class as it is both expensive and looks bad on a transcript

• There weren't enough classes offered

• I would have had to stay a 5th year and I love learning, though for the obvious reasons, I could not.

• By the time I decided I wanted to study this more, I was already a Junior or Senior and would have had to change my major which would have put me back for a while

Do you think your grades are a good indication of your academic achievement?

If your grades are over a 3.5, your answer should be one word: "Yes." Out of every 10 people interviewing you, unless you are at a Goldman Sachs or a very, very prestigious company, maybe 1 or 2 did that well.

If your grades are a 3.0 - 3.49, your answer should be, I wish I did better my first two years. "So, to answer your question, my grades are not 100% indicative of what what I learned or my academic achievement. Though, that is what I ended up with." Out of every 10 people interviewing you, 9 or all 10 are going to be in this grade range. If you feel that they are not, you may not be interviewing with the best firm. Yes, there are exceptions, but dozens of people win the lottery every day too.

Personally, I got off lucky. My first two years were at University of Miami where I got a 3.0 which is not very impressive. However, at Fordham, where I finished, I had a 3.49. Not that it matters anymore because I am my own boss, but it was still a nice way out.

If your grades are below a 3.0, I would recommend taking courses to get that higher. This is not only because your value on the job market will suffer, but because you need to learn more. If they are below a 3.0 and there is no way you can go back to classes, make sure your credit card bill reads less of "bar charges" and more of "Barnes and Noble" charges. Then, you can say, "Yes. I they are indicative of my academic achievement. I fooled around in college and now I have to make up for it and am reading the following books: (have some good ones) This is what I have learned:"

Then, take each book, write a Microsoft Word page synopsis of what you're learning, and hand it to the interviewer.

What have you learned from participation in extracurricular activities?

This may be one of the worst questions out there. Unless you were like some of the people here and traveled to France to learn French, you are not going to have an impressive answer. My answer would have been pathetic and 9 - 10 of your interviewers would probably have been the same.

If you want an easy out:

"I had to study a lot so I couldn't be on any team or really heavily involved with any clubs, and I did want to take the free time to socialize and enjoy college, so my extracurricular activities were really getting to know all types of different people and, indirectly I learned about cultures which I was not exposed to growing up."