My D recently had an interview with a top Ivy alumnus. The alumnus set the interview for his office which happened to be a 1 and 1/2 hour drive one way (Date and time sent in a “take it or leave it” email).
My D left school way early and drove through bad weather to reach his office 20 minutes early. My D was given multiple pages with numerous short answer questions to fill out prior to the interview. This is after she already filled out a rather long interview questionnaire online days prior to the interview. My D was called back to his office by his clerk. The interview lasted only 15 minutes when it was scheduled for a half hour. When she left his office she was given additional paperwork to fill out. She texted me images of this paperwork. The questions were clearly supposed to be answered by him inquiring as to the quality of her candidacy. There were rankings involved. She was put into quite an awkward situation. I am glad I was not there cause I would’ve likely helicoptered in
She has had other college alumni interviews that lasted well over an hour. The Princeton interviewer told her she was his favorite interview and she has been admitted SCEA.
In full disclosure, I conduct the regional alumni interviews for a different top 10 (non Ivy) college. We have always been instructed to conduct interviews on neutral grounds trying to work with the students schedule and location since we know they are also very busy. We are also instructed not to gather any background data on the candidate so that we are not biased during the interview. Our interviews are supposed to last a half hour but often go an hour if it is an interesting candidate.
I thought this was quite an odd situation and wondered if anyone else had similar experiences. Thoughts?
ha! it does. That is the oddest interview I have ever heard of. Frankly, if she doesn’t get in, I would report the interviewer, because that doesn’t sound like any of the interviews my son has had. They usually have been at Starbucks and lasted close to an hour.
I suspect that the college’s admission office should get some feedback on this interviewer, and I don’t think that it matters that it is an Ivy. I’d suggest she politely inform the admissions officer for her region, but I would not mention the SCEA admission or your status as an alumni interviewer.
ON the other hand, maybe that was the interviewers point, to see the reaction to the students, and maybe he ranked them accordingly, based on how they responded. I personally would have given myself a 10 across the board just for driving 3 hours.
Gads. The alumni interviewers, to me, represent to my child “what my life could look like in 10, 20, 30 years.” She only liked one of them in this regard, to be honest. Bet this guy handed her paperwork directly to his secretary to send off and never even read it.
I definitely would have her send off an email to admissions advising them of her experience. All of my D’s interviews lasted 45 minutes to an hour, and she felt every interviewer was genuinely interested in getting to know more about her. Sounds to me like this person is on some kind of power trip and is not suited for alumni interviewing.
No seriously, my S had one horrible Ivy interview and one great non Ivy interview. Plenty of weirdness with the first interviewer: she did pretty much everything she wasn’t supposed to do. S came home and looked at the U’s website guide to interviews and the wondered if it had been some sort of test, it was so bad. We were both mad and S was totally turned off the school.
He decided to let it go. He has other options. I took my cue from him…except I ended up at a party with the head of the alumni group and the subject came up and I told the story.
I would let the admissions office know about this. She can forward copies of the paperwork; I assume the applicant is not supposed to see the interviewer’s paperwork.
Nevertheless, one odd alumnus doesn’t necessarily mean that the college isn’t a good fit for her.
I know the OP did not name the “top Ivy” school but it definitely could not have been Yale. First, we are encouraged to make the interviews convenient for our interviewees. This puts them at ease. As alumni, we are supposed to be ambassadors for Yale, not do an inquisition. Also, there is no questionnaire that needs to be filled out, before, during or after the interview. There is no set of questions that must be answered. Interviews usually turn out to be conversations and over time, each interviewer has some “go to” questions they usually ask. I know I usually ask the same ones, but will ask different ones based upon the direction our conversation is going. All we know about the applicant is their name, school and intended major (if they listed one on their application).
I prefer to do them at Starbucks, Panera or some such cozy place (I know the quieter, off the beaten path ones). I offer to buy them a hot chocolate, coffee or whatever and we sit and talk. While most kids start off nervous, after a few minutes they usually loosen up. My interviews always last longer than an hour and I let the applicant ask me questions about Yale. This is the best part cause I love my alma mater. I can’t imagine an interviewer giving off such a bad vibe and I won’t begin to speculate about what school it was.
Now, being in the law enforcement field, I never say never. So, if by some chance it was Yale, please PM me. I need to let the Alumni Schools Committee know because this would be a definite violation. I am so sorry this happened to your D.
@Tperry1982 your description of the typical Yale interview was my D’s experience with the vast majority of her interviews - Ivy and non-Ivy. It is encouraging to see that Yale understands things from the student’s perspective - these kids are trying hard.
" I let the applicant ask me questions about Yale. This is the best part cause I love my alma mater."
Nice to see some love for your alma mater - in general the Ivy League takes a beating on this board.
Thanks for all the helpful responses! It was not Y @Tperry1982 so I guess that let’s the proverbial cat out of the bad. If it was my school I would want to know. I have let my college know about a local alumnus whom I thought was a bit lax on contacting students as I can electronically follow the process. I will see what my D wants to do. But knowing her, she will likely want to let it go. I do like the recommendation to go through her guidance counselor @jonri
Let them know after the process. I have three interviews lined up now that I need to do over the next couple of weeks.
I’ll never forget this poor kid whose mom made him wear a suit and tie to the interview. He looked miserable. I told him I would not start the interview until he took off the suit jacket, tie and unbutton the top button of his shirt. The look on his face was priceless.
You’re in the cat bird set here with a Princeton admit in hand…I would COMPLETELY let the admissions office know about this…and I would write it in the detail that you did here…and i would send it from you (the parent) and not the kid…you have experience and this is a very legitimate complaint.
