<p>I applied to Yale through Questbridge. I had my interview towards the end of October and haven't thought about it since. However, while discussing the disappointing Match results (congratulations to those who were Matched) with a teacher, I revealed one particular part of the interview. When I entered the interview, the alumnus began asking me questions. He preceded with asking me general questions. Then, he asked where I'm from. I am from a small country in the Balkans called Kosova. He asked me, somewhere along the lines of, "Oh, Kosova, that's when we helped you guys during the war, right?" I said yes. He then proceeded saying, "Aren't they mainly Muslim there?" I began wondering where he was going with this. I looked up his name prior to the interview and found he was a very religious Christian. I myself am Muslim and have made sure never to force my beliefs on anyone in any way or insult persons of any faith; only one teacher and three of my closest friends out of a school of 2200 knows I am Muslim. I do not inform anyone of my faith, but these few asked me. I do not appear like the "typical Arab," so the question rarely comes up. Back to the interview. I responded the the question posed by the alumnus, saying that the people of Kosova are mainly Muslim. It was the comment following this that, when I revealed to my teacher, made him agitated and make me post. The alumnus stated, "Yeah, we helped them, but now THEY all hate us, and want to kill us." By they, he was referring to Muslims. Now I could go into detail about how this is not the case, but I would feel that I would be entering a religious debate and would not like to insult other faiths, so I will simply say this: those radicals that perform bombings are denounced by every Muslim community; they do not represent Islam; they claim jihad as the reason to their killings. Although jihad is lawful, as it is performed in self defense or in absolute fear that eminent danger is close, it is not meant to harm the innocent; just as in modern law. I believe the logical, even without islamic knowledge, will realize the radicals do not represent Islam. It is because of this assumption that my teacher found the comment especially disturbing. He found it demeaning to the status of an institution like Yale to have someone so stubborn and ignorant represent them. He urged me to contact Yale so further instances such as mine will not demean Yale. I agree with my teacher, but I do not wish to set trouble for the alumnus or try to demean his faith. When the alumnus stated the remark, I was dumbfounded and just waited for another question, not wanting to steer the interview in that direction. What I am asking is if I should contact Yale to inform them of such a representative. I know this may not be the best site for such a question, but I'm trying to gather opinions. I hope you will understand that I am by no means considering this because he was Christian, and hope you will understand what I have to say concerning Islam on a college information site. Thank you for reading.</p>
<p>Hmm. Well your interviewer definitely was out of line with that comment, so yes I would contact Yale about him. Although it might be best to wait until after your decision comes out. I don’t think that little aside would have reflected negatively in the report he wrote.</p>
<p>Well the decision has already come out. I did not get matched, but my teacher feels I should contact Yale. I do not wish to start anything. I know it would not have affected the results, but I feel that if I report this now to Yale, it may seem that I am doing so out of frustration regarding my decision, blaming the decision on the interview. Perhaps I should wait some time from today’s results? And how would I go about contracting a Yale on such a matter?</p>
<p>this is a really tough situation for you. out of curiosity, how did the rest of the interview go? did he carry a similar tone in his other questions/answers? </p>
<p>two other possibilities to consider: </p>
<p>1) could he have been trying to be sarcastic? like he was trying to say that there are ignorant people out there who still say things like that?</p>
<p>2) could he have been trying to say something offensive to see how you react? it’s a pretty extreme interview strategy that I’ve heard of before.</p>
<p>just thought I’d offer another perspective: of course it depends on how he was during the rest of your interview.</p>
<p>college5214: While this is an unfortunate occurrence, and while Yale’s Alumni Coordinator for your area should likely know that this happened… I would not really characterize not being matched by Yale as a rejection of any form. Yale likely was listed as a possible match for around 1200-1500 QuestBridge Finalists, and they only chose to Match with 24 on Dec 2nd. But they will also likely end up accepting 100-200 QB Finalists eventually, based on past years results. So you may still have a very good chance of being finally accepted by Yale through the Regular Decision process.</p>
<p>For example, last year, 383 were matched by the partner colleges… but eventually 1300 more QB finalists were accepted RD.</p>
<p>I don’t think that is the OP’s concern right now. I agree with what your teacher said; your interviewer sounds rude and narrow minded. I suppose this could have been an interview technique of some kind, but I don’t think that’s appropriate at all. If you do send Yale an email, just make sure you’re very polite about it, and make sure you just explain that you just want to make sure they’re aware of this guy.</p>
<p>@WWWard
Like whisper12 said, I’m not blaming my decision on the interview. I am also not saying that I am angry I was rejected, because I know that is not necessarily what it means. I can say that I would have liked to have been matched since my family makes <$20,000, but I know it’s all in the best.</p>
<p>@whisper12 and 2redpartyhats
I doubt the alumnus said the remark to get a response from me. The thought of such a tactic did not come across me actually until I told a friend a while back, and he thought of such a tactic. But when I thought about how he said it, it seemed that this was not the case. I don’t think he could make the conclusion of my faith without knowing for sure. I would not send the email to Yale out of anger, but to prevent this from happening to someone, who say, would have been extremely sensitive. Which Yale email should I use? I’ll probably discuss it with my teacher further.</p>
<p>I will private message you the person at Yale that I believe you should contact… and when you see who it is, you will understand why.</p>