2nd interview--Alumni Interview

<p>I am doing SCEA to Yale and i did an on campus interview in the summer. Now I have just been contacted by an alumni for a second interview. Is there a reason for a second interview? Has anyone else had this scenario? I thought the purpose for the on campus interview was so that I did not have to do an interview again.</p>

<p>Is there a reason? Because Yale didn’t tell your local coordinator that there’s already an interview report on file. That’s it. Don’ t read into it. Frankly, you can tell the alum that you already did one and I’m sure he/she will offer to cancel if you want.</p>

<p>^Agreed. And Yale does NOT take alumni interviews nearly as seriously as it takes on-campus interviews…</p>

<p>If you have the time and you don’t stress out - I’d say go for it.
If you have something better to do - finesse the truth and turn the offer down politely, explaining you already had one.</p>

<p>I will probably get into the same situation once I submit my application…Looking forward to that. :D</p>

<p>I disagree with this point: “And Yale does NOT take alumni interviews nearly as seriously as it takes on-campus interviews…”</p>

<p>You’re simply mistaken. They take them equally seriously – which is not a lot in most situations. I don’t want people to inordinately feel an on campus interview is a must or a must-avoid. It’s simply not.</p>

<p>In the vast majority of cases the interviews (campus or alumni) just mirror the flow of what’s in the rest of the applicant’s file – good, mediocre or less so.</p>

<p>i think my campus interview went well. do you think doing a 2nd interview is beneficial in any way? i cannot believe it would be</p>

<p>Frankly, it’s up to you. I highly doubt that it will add anything to your file. Just contact the alum and tell him/her you already interviewed on campus. It will free the spot up for that alum.</p>

<p>My son had a great on campus interview. then he was contacted by an alum from our town (whom we do no know). He had that interview today and the guy was a pompous jerk. He spent most of the interview talking about himself, told my son nothing about Yale. He didnt give my son a chance to answer any questions nor did he ask him if he had any questions.When my son expresed an interest in Plotics he started quizzing him on economics and economic policy. My son is bright and personable but he is still a 17 year old!</p>

<p>My son applied SCEA and has been so excited about and focused on Yale. This guy was so rude that my son now wished he applied ED to Brown instead. It is so disheartening. He was so excited to have another chance to talk about Yale and to share his enthusiasm and now he feels stupid for even meeting with this guy. When all of this is over, where ever he winds up, I plan to write to the Admission person for our area to let her know how inappropriate this guy was.</p>

<p>Sorry to hear that. If I were in your shoes, I’d shoot that letter off as well. If you son gets accepted to Yale, encourage him to go to Bulldog Days. I daresay any misgivings he has now will likely be flushed away. Yale does an impressive job of selling herself to the admitees – and most of it is due to the enthusiasm of current students. </p>

<p>Come May of my senior year, I had acceptances from every school applied. It was the genuine and enormous amount of enthusiasm that every Yale person I had met emitted that made the difference for me. Good luck to your son.</p>

<p>T26E4, thank you for the note. I am sure that no matter what mys on will wind up where he is meant to be and he will get a great education, make life long friends and have a good experience overall. Aside from this, all of our experiences with Yale have been fabulous. Which is one reason why this was upsetting.</p>

<p>I’d encourage your son to send the letter NOW. I may be naive, but I think a thoughtful, courageous, well written letter about this might make his file shine.</p>

<p>Good luck to him.</p>

<p>It is routine for the alumni interview to be offered to applicants regardless of whether they had an on campus interview.</p>

<p>At the risk of over-generalizing, Yale alums tend to be confident, articulate, successful and upbeat about life. But Yale attracts its share of the pompous and self-important. Alumni interviewers are self-selected volunteers who bring their own personal quirks. Yale provides guidelines for interviewers – talk mostly about yourself isn’t one of them – but not everyone will follow instructions. Still, I think the majority of applicants would say that the alumni interview was a good experience – more interesting and less stressful than they anticipated – and that they were encouraged to talk about themselves and their interests. </p>

<p>If twoboys2 winds up at Yale, he’ll probably run into a few people who remind him of that unsatisfying alumni interview, but he’ll run into a lot more talented people who are fun to be around. </p>

<p>T26E4’s suggestion about Bulldog Days makes sense – the chance to be on campus and meet many current students should give a much better sense of whether Yale is right twoboys2’s son.</p>