I received an invitation to do an interview with an alumni from Cornell today. Does this interview mean anything in terms of my admissions decision? Or is this the last step in deciding if I am a good fit for the school?
These alumni interviews are informational only. You should respond, attend, and ask any questions you have. The alum interviewing you may not have attended the school to which you are applying, but you can ask general campus life questions.
If you were to completely ignore the interviewer’s request or not show up for the interview, that would reflect poorly on you as an applicant, but the content of your conversation during the interview will not impact your admission decision.
Hope that answers your question.
Agree with CT1417.
I’m confused. It says right on Cornell’s website that CALS doesn’t offer interviews. Did you list an alternate school?
CALS does not do “interviews” per say but they do an alumni contact meeting when available to give the applicant a chance to ask questions and for the alumni volunteer to talk about Cornell. Look up Cornell CAAAN contact. My D applied to CALS (RD) and already had a meeting.
See post #1 in this thread for excellent explanation.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/cornell-university/1728011-cornell-alumni-admissions-meeting.html#latest
Do you think that this is a good sign that we were invited to one of these?
Oh okay, thanks for the clarification!
@baulge – did you read the link posted above your inquiry?
I did now, haha. It answer my question quite well.
My D was accepted ED to CALS and was never offered an interview.
I believe that a smaller percentage of ED applicants receive offers of Alum interviews b/c of the tight turnaround time. As far as I know, the university distributes lists of applicants to regional CAAN coordinators who in turn reach out to last year’s interviewers to confirm their continued availability. Once the interviewers are confirmed, the CAAN regional coordinator distributes interviewee contact info.