<p>Son's ED rejected in December, just got an email from alumni to set up an interview. If that's not bad enough, she sent a general email to a list of 10 students of his high school, not BLIND. Is that unprofessional? What about student privacy? (maybe I sound bitter, but this is an ivy we're talking about!)</p>
<p>Alumni interviewers are not professionals. They’re volunteers. And they’re dependent on the information provided to them by the admissions office.</p>
<p>If your son was actually rejected from this school, rather than deferred, it might be a good idea for him to reply to the e-mail and explain that. Or he could inform the admissions office. Clearly, a mistake was made.</p>
<p>That’s funny! I’m a volunteer on twelve different committees and my work is always professional. Clearly a mistake was made. While she may have been given the wrong contact information from admissions; it was her error in sending a mass email with no regard to privacy.</p>
<p>What I was trying to say – however ineptly – is that unless the alumni interviewer was told to send the e-mails in such a way that the recipients would not see the other names on the list and taught how to do it, I think it’s too much to expect that much privacy.</p>
<p>A lot of people don’t know the trick for sending out a mass e-mail without having the recipients see each other’s names. I didn’t know it myself until I was asked to help out with a mass e-mailing at work – something that is not a normal part of my job. If a busy alumni interviewer thinks that the only way to ensure privacy is to send individual e-mails to each person on the list, it might seem like too much work for the interviewer to do that.</p>
<p>I’d suggest you contact the college and ask that this particular interviewer learn how to do a mass mailing without revealing everyone’s addresses.</p>
<p>Hi Breathe, you haven’t clarified if your son was altogether rejected after applying ED or if he simply did not get accepted ED. If he was rejected outright, WHY NOT accept the alumni interview–maybe he can make them reconsider!</p>
<p>I’m an alumni interviewer, and like Marian, learned relatively recently how to use the BCC thing in emails. I would imagine that there are a lot of people who have no idea how to use that function.</p>
<p>It is possible that the school miscoded your son’s information in the computer, so it’s not the volunteer’s fault. Or, the alum didn’t look closely enough at the list of names – at Brown, where it’s all computerized, the ED/RD info is in a different column, the student’s name is not removed after the ED decisions go out, and I could easily see an alumni making an honest mistake and forgetting to look in the column, especially if they are dealing with dozens of names.</p>
<p>Of course this shouldn’t have happened, and I’m sure the alum will be mortified when he or she learns that this happened. I doubt it was done maliciously. And you’re right, the alum shouldn’t have sent out a mass email, but either was pressed for time or just didn’t consider the privacy issues.</p>
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<p>So learn “the trick.” The first result of a quick google search for “how to send a private mass email” turns up the answer. It took me about 10 seconds to figure out. If an alum interviewer does not wish to expend that effort and time to figure out how to maintain privacy, I question whether s/he has enough energy to provide fair and competent interviews to applicants.</p>
<p>Really not bothered by the paperwork mishap (and yes he was rejected, not deferred). Actually was good as he could see it’s a numbers game there, and not personal. It is the alumni’s nonchalant attitude I think is unprofessional. DS knows at least half of the kids on the list, and he preferred not to broadcast where he had applied. The alumni not only listed everyone with whom she contacted, she then kept a running ‘reply all’ to let everyone else know who took what interview time.</p>
<p>ok, so the alum is a jerk. like Marian said, he/she is a volunteer. I try very hard to make the applicant feel comfortable but sometimes volunteers do screw up - so contact the school if you wish and let them know</p>
<p>…and like I said…being a volunteer doesn’t give anyone an excuse to be unprofessional. I don’t get how that is the excuse for her. She is still representing an ivy institution and should know better. The institution should give better counsel to alumni. I spend nearly forty hours a week as a professional volunteer working with volunteers, please refrain from using that as a reason for making mistakes. Everyone can make a mistake, volunteer or paid employee; this is not a mistake. This is an m.o. that is not appropriate.</p>
<p>…sooooo, again, why not have him go on the interview and wow her? You never know how deeply she may be connected (especially if she is this scatterbrained, maybe she’s someone’s GF!) Maybe he could cordially bring up the rejection sitch toward the end of the interview, and the non-blind email list, and she will feel compelled to make a case for reconsideration by the AC?</p>
<p>D1dilemmas; he was rejected, just a mishap that she got his name and contact info., done deal. I’m actually thrilled as it wasn’t a good match for him, he’s got great choices to make. Thanks for the positive thinking though!</p>
<p>At many high schools, where you’ve applied is pretty much public knowledge. The GCs share it. Indeed, this seems to be particularly common at independent schools. It’s possible that an interviewer who attended such a high school just assumes that all high schools do it that way or just didn’t think about it because she didn’t see this information as private.</p>
<p>Oh come on, people don’t know how to use the bcc function? Did they just get email? </p>
<p>I think a GC at the school should give the interviewer feedback that it is inappropriate to reveal everyone’s names. It is no one’s darn business.</p>
<p>I agree interviewers should respect applicant privacy. I don’t agree that a student’s college application list is common knowledge at all schools. Many high school GCs believe it is unethical for them to talk about student applications to others, and if a student chooses to guard the details of his application process, he should be able to rely on the adults involved–including third-party interviewers–to protect his privacy.</p>
<p>OP, you’ve made it clear you don’t believe ignorance is an excuse. But plenty of professionals, volunteers and ordinary folk still send public blasts. If no one teaches them the bcc trick and the important privacy rationale, how will they know they need to learn it?</p>
<p>The irony is, the college admissions office personnel are probably like you–so used to employing the bcc, they didn’t envision needing to instruct their interviewers! I’m sure they’d be appalled to learn an interviewer used a public blast and appreciate your suggestion to add “use of the bcc recipient list to protect privacy” to their procedures guide for alumni interviewers.</p>
<p>“You never know how deeply she may be connected (especially if she is this scatterbrained, maybe she’s someone’s GF!)”</p>
<p>Nobody else offended by that?!</p>
<p>…and she was ‘giving’ 25 minute interviews. Really glad he had hugely positive experiences with interviews elsewhere, one was two hours, the other over an hour. Those alumnni volunteers represented their institutions with grace and style. Samuck, not offended; got a chuckle because she is a realtor…you’d think she’d have a little more time nowadays than the CEO and the surgeon who where generous with the other interviews DS has had.</p>
<p>Breathe, you have the right attitude. Everything happens for a reason. You sound very tuned in to your son and that is a great start for pointing him to his ideal choice!</p>
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<p>Ew. Ew, ew, ew. It wasn’t even particularly our kids’ GC’s business where our kids attended in the first place, except insofar as the GC’s had to send forms / transcripts.</p>