Brown interview FAQ and answers

<p>@ br2pi5:
Unless you know the person interviewing you is a “very casual” person, I would vote against the jeans unless they are “dressy jeans”, (not faded, maybe black or a colored jean) and the boots are also nice boots. (and also “no” to the ultra casual look unless you know the interviewer is under 30.) It’s just a matter of expectations. Doesn’t mean suit / tie (would vote no on that too) but you can dress a bit and still be warm.</p>

<p>@BrownAlumParent They are skinny black jeans and black combat boots… I was thinking of a nice top and a black long coat for the winter? Since it’s at his house I’m dressing dressy casual. I believe he’s older than 30.</p>

<p>Hi, I applied to Brown RD (the deadline was Jan 2), but I haven’t heard from them about an interview. Can I read into it that I am probably going to be rejected? At my old high school, everyone got an interview in years past. Any info would help. I don’t know if it is appropriate to call the admissions office.</p>

<p>@Maple370: if you read through this thread, you’ll learn that interviews have nothing to do with your chance of acceptance. It’s possible that you’ll be contacted later, or you may not be contacted for an interview - it’s all about luck and the distribution of interviewers/interviewees in your geographic region.</p>

<p>bruno14 Thanks very much for your reply. I just found the thread, so I’ll browse through it now. I appreciate your help!</p>

<p>br2pi5, I would have no problem with a student wearing jeans to an interview. Just make sure no underwear is showing, the jeans aren’t ripped and you wear a clean, logo-free text-free shirt.</p>

<p>ONE got in?</p>

<p>Alright, haha, no Brown for me.</p>

<p>Thank you very much for taking your time to guide parents and students in this process. My daughter is going to have her interview this coming Saturday. As you can imagine she was a little bit worried, and I was worried too wondering how to help her, now I feel so much better after reading your amazing explanation.
Now I can tell her that is a friendly conversation, that she has to be calm and relaxed, confident, but most importantly she has to be herself…that should work.</p>

<p>I had an interview on a phone for about 40 minutes, and I’m not really sure whether or not I did well or bad.
But would the fact that the interviewer had a muffled voice on a phone for40 minutes straight count towards a “benefit of the doubt” situation?</p>

<p>my guess is that he/she was using a speaker phone and could hear you just fine. (or they likely would mention it.) But regardless, I wouldn’t worry too much. In your favor is that you did accomplish the interview. This year I have had the strange experience of not being able to get through to one student despite multiple attempts, and one student turn down an interview (not for “legit” reasons like distance, illness, etc. just decided not to interview. I think those students perhaps should be a bit worried about negative effect.</p>

<p>@BrownAlumParent: Isn’t it remarkable how hard it can be to get in touch with some of these applicants? This is the Internet era, people.</p>

<p>On the other side of the coin, I recently had an applicant grab a table at the coffee shop fifteen minutes before the interview, and shoot me an email to let me know that she was there and where she was sitting. That was great.</p>

<p>my interviewer only called me. i called him back to ask for his name in case i needed to confirm at the interview. i dont have his email or address so no thank you note , i guess?</p>

<p>while thank you notes are nice, they are rare. not the norm.</p>

<p>@ FireandRain,</p>

<p>Thank you very much for starting and maintaining this thread. My daughter and I pulled the highlights from this thread and the information has helped her ace 6 interviews in 3 weeks. She felt her Brown interview couldn’t have gone better if she had scripted it.</p>

<p>Thank you again!</p>

<p>Best Regards,
Wheaty</p>

<p>i just had mine and i think it was fabulous!</p>

<p>oh and i thought they were not supposed to ask about what other colleges we’re applying to…mine did, and i just told him because i thought if i didn’t it would just seem awkward and suspicious. i should have said Brown was my first choice (because it is) when he asked me if i had any last words to the admissions office</p>

<p>Thanks, wheaty – glad to help.</p>

<p>whiteout – glad your interview went well. Not all the interviewers get the memo about not asking for the other colleges you are applying to. I wouldn’t worry about it, because even if it is included in the writeup, admissions will ignore it.</p>

<p>And agree about thank-you notes – I 've gotten just a handful in a couple decades of interviewing, and they don’t affect what I think of the student.</p>

<p>Hey fireandrain,</p>

<p>I have my interview in a couple of days, and I have a question. I have still not really decided what my major in college is going to be, but I’m interested in English, Sociology and Political Science - more in the first two and less in the third.
In my Brown supp however, I mentioned Sociology as my first choice and Political Science as my second. I did not mention English at all, for some reason I don’t remember now.
From my past interview experiences, I have realised that I am much more comfortable when I’m talking about English, and my passion for it really shines through. Moreover, my interviewer majored and works currently in the Political Science field so I’m a bit hesitant to talk about it as my major choice.
If I say that my major choices are English and Socio despite what I wrote in my app, or if I say that I’ve changed my mind now, will that look bad?</p>

<p>Thank you in advance :)</p>

<p>IdleDevil – I hope that most interviewers recognize that many students are changing their minds about what to study up until the moment they have to declare sophomore year. I certainly do. Just say that you are interested in the social sciences and English, and need to take classes in a number of disciplines before you decide. The only possible issue you might have is if he decides to ask you questions about current political events because of your expressed interest in political science. If you’re not knowledgable about what’s happening in Washington, consider reading some newspapers in the next few days.</p>

<p>And if you do decide to talk about English, then be prepared to discuss favorite authors, books you’ve recently read, your English classes, etc. Just show how you are academically curious.</p>

<p>In general, you are overthinking this.</p>

<p>I guess I’ll just be honest and say Im interested in all three as of now, and be prepared to answer questions about all three. Hopefully he won’t ask very academic questions.
Ha, I AM overthinking this, but can’t help being tense. Brown is my dream school!
Thank you :)</p>