<p>I have one coming up, and I'm extremely nervous because I really want it to go well.
Any advice?</p>
<p>I do some interviewing for another school and my daughter had an alumnae interview last year for Smith.</p>
<p>My biggest advice: be yourself! The interviewer is not going to try to trick you or make you feel ill at ease. She wants to get to know you, what interests you most, what you will bring to the table if admitted.</p>
<p>You don’t need to get really dressed up, be comfortable but neat. Make eye contact with the interviewer, speak clearly and concisely.</p>
<p>Be prepared to ask some questions yourself about Smith. Be ready to tell her what drew you to Smith, your level of enthusiasm about the school and any unique qualities and talents you may possess.</p>
<p>Above all, you should know that the interview is not usually a deal breaker. Relax and have fun with it, it’s really not that bad. Good luck!</p>
<p>Agree with everything Bossof51 said, including that the interview is not going to make or break your admissions chances (since not everyone is able to interview, it’s not fair to make it a deciding factor). Try to practice answers to questions you think you’ll get asked so you’re comfortable with them (no need to write out or memorize a big speech, but with interviewing, practice can put you at ease). They will probably ask you what attracted you to Smith and there will probably be questions about your school activities, maybe your classes. </p>
<p>Also, think of questions you might have for the interviewer. They’ll give you a chance at the end to ask any questions of your own, and this is just as much a chance for you to get more information about Smith as it is for them to learn about you. You’re getting a chance for an informal conversation with an alum, so it’s a good opportunity to ask questions that are not covered in the regular admissions material.</p>
<p>Prior to your interview, you might want to get in the habit of differentiating between alumni and alumnae. It’s Smith after all.</p>
<p>well, if you want to be pedantic about it, she’s interviewing with an alumnA. Unless the interviewer is male (transgender or attended a co-ed graduate program), in which case her interviewer is an alumNUS.</p>
<p>Latin aside, the interview is really no big deal. The interviewer is not an expert (either on Smith or on admissions) and the interview carries some weight but not much. I was an interviewer and I can tell you that some of the people I liked best got in and others didn’t…so obviously they take a lot of other things into stronger consideration, as well they should! Mostly, it’s an opportunity for you to tell things that may not have come across in an interview and ask questions of someone who attended Smith (though bear in mind that your interviewer might not have been a student, or even visited campus, for years or even decades!). I also think Smith does it as a way of keeping alumnae invested (literally, as in donating money!) in the college…as an alum, when you see an eager applicant telling you why she loves Smith, it makes you want to support all the things she’s excited about. </p>
<p>The most important things you can do for the interview are show up on time, have a few questions (some I liked were “how did your time at Smith influence your life now?” and “what did you learn about Smith once you got there that you didn’t know as an applicant?”), and be sure to get the interviewer’s full name and email or postal address so you can send a thank you afterwards.</p>
<p>If you interview at Smith as opposed to an alumna, does it make any difference?</p>
<p>No. The interview process is the same and the procedure for reporting the results of the interview is the same. Some people think it helps to interview at Smith because you might interview with someone who will actually be reviewing your application, but that’s not necessarily the case. Smith has a Senior interviewer program, where they ask experienced seniors to conduct some of the interviews. They also have a lot of temporary help for the season that do the interviews. Not to mention that with many, many interviews and many, many applications, the chances the interviewer will remember you in the spring when they’re reviewing apps are very small. </p>
<p>The only real benefit is that you can do your interview and tour at the same time. It might be a help for you personally so that you can ask questions about things that you experienced in the course of the tour. But otherwise, alum interviews are just as good as campus.</p>
<p>Also, another note. I got into Smith with STRIDE and never interviewed. So really, don’t stress!</p>
<p>How did you schedule the interview? I emailed an alumna but there is no response</p>
<p>I just emailed and waited for her to respond. It took about a week and a half.</p>
<p>byxvera, depending on whether the alumna may have been affected by the big snowstorm we just had this last weekend and she may still not have power, I’d wait a little longer, say perhaps a total of two weeks from the time of your initial request. If you haven’t heard after two weeks, I’d very politely write her again, suggesting that maybe your email got lost in cyberspace (which sometimes happens!) or she missed it in the numerous emails she probably gets.</p>
<p>Also, remember that alum interviewers are volunteers with full time jobs outside of interviewing students, so they may have gotten caught up with work or family obligations and not had a chance to respond. Try a politiely worded follow up email: “I know you must be very busy, but I would love the chance to meet with you and talk about Smith. Or if this is not a good time for you, I fully understand, if you know of any other alumnae interviewers that I might speak with, please let me know” etc.</p>
<p>Thanks，guys, it has been 9 days since I sent the request. But it is like a month for me.</p>