<p>I applied to Brown RD, and was offered an interview. Does the interview become a huge factor in the admissions process or is it like many other interviews–an info session?</p>
<p>What do Ivy interviewers ask? How about brown in particular?</p>
<p>I honestly don’t think the interview matters that much-- mine told me it was simply to “put a face to the name” and to personalize the process and help answer any questions I may have about Brown.</p>
<p>That said, I had mine yesterday; my interviewer was pretty standard. He only asked me four questions: whether I had any questions first, why Brown, what my academic interests were, and what I did outside of class.</p>
<p>I think he may have had more on his list, but he had another interview soon after and we talked quite a bit (and he told me many, many stories!), so we weren’t able to get many questions in for the hour.</p>
<p>15 fantastic pages to sink your teeth into: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/brown-university/810532-brown-interview-faq-answers.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/brown-university/810532-brown-interview-faq-answers.html</a></p>
<p>^ That thread is your best bet. However, just to tell you a little bit about my interview:</p>
<p>My interviewer was a recent grad who had concentrated in my area of interest way back in fall '09 (Env. Sci.). We spent a while discussing my interest in environmentalism, and she asked me a few general questions about where I thought I might head if I chose to pursue that route at Brown, but the majority of the interview focussed on why I’d chosen Brown to apply to. She spent a lot of time “selling” Brown to me - not that it was necessary, since I was an ED applicant - and answering any questions I had about student life.</p>
<p>Basically, it’s more informational than IRS-like :)</p>
<p>Brown takes the time to contact alumni to work out interviews so it has some meaning, yet i’ve heard heard some seniors tell me that it really means nothing. Well if you wanted to go to Brown, doesn’t talking about Brown seem interesting [and not nerve racking]?
Interviewers can do whatever they please, but generally, they’ll ask you why brown?, what do you do outside of school? and almost “what’s your life and growing around here like?”</p>
<p>be specific and talk lots more than the interviewer~</p>
<p>just to share my experience:</p>
<p>i interviewed last weekend. my interviewer started out by sitting down at the table and telling me explicitly “this is not a quiz; this is casual. all i want to do is get to know you, what you like, why you want to go to brown.” he was extremely nice, engaged, energetic, and interesting. though he graduated 40 or so years ago, he was extraordinarily knowledgeable about brown (he said he went back frequently). he talked especially well about how providence has changed over the years. he had a great sense of humor. </p>
<p>his interests were ostensibly totally incompatible with mine. he played soccer in college, was in a frat, is a local bank executive and has been for years. i am a cello-playing literary-magazine-editing ballet dancer who’s a prospective math major. and yet what he had to say was interesting and often quite funny (“a friend of mine who played soccer was a math major, and he became an executive at a financial firm. of course, he was also the goalie, so we always joke that he likes to take shots to the head.”), and he seemed very interested in what i had to say and what i was interested in, which–even if it weren’t sincere, which i believe it was–i appreciated greatly. the interview was actually short–about 35 minutes. but it was a lot of fun, casual, not stressful at all. </p>
<p>i’m not sure how representative my experience was, but expect to talk about yourself. this is true of all interviews, but i think especially true of brown interviews, because brown, more than any of the other ivys, has a reputation for quirkiness and individuality. they want to know two main things: what you like to do and why you like brown. not all that difficult to answer, and fun to talk about, particularly if you are genuinely interested in your activities and brown. so try to enjoy yourself. if you do, he/she will too.</p>
<p>What about phone interview? Did anyone do a phone interview with Brown alum? My daughter was offered phone interview. Is this a normal practice?</p>
<p>D had a phone interview for another school. It is pretty normal where there aren’t any interviewers within driving distance.</p>
<p>My interviewer said I was the best he had interviewed since he began, which was a few years back, which I feel is good news for me. He only asked me one question, because I would go so in-depth with everything I said and we conversed about a ton of different topics for the most part. The one question he asked was “If you could create any course at Brown, what would it be?” His average interviews lasted 30 minutes to 45 minutes, but I stayed there for an hour and 45 minutes just talking with him about many different things. I didn’t really ask questions pertaining to Brown, because walking into the interview I had a really good picture of Brown already.</p>
<p>travel family, we’re doing a lot more phone interviews now, because of the large increase in applicants. So yes, it is becoming a normal practice. See if your daughter could do a Skype interview on her computer, if it has a camera – that will make it more like an in-person interview.</p>