<p>THIS is why I and most people I know under 30 almost unequivocally believe the alumni interview to be an informative session, not an aspect of admissions decision-making. You have any number of random people, all with ZERO quality control when it comes to their judgment of applicants, putting down their ideas onto paper. A couple of the older posters on this forum seem to think otherwise (franglish,fireandrain) so I’m not sure where the breakdown is. It does benefit the admissions office to play up the importance of interviews when speaking to alumni doesn’t it?</p>
<p>This topic came up yesterday in a conversation I was having with a 30 year old who went to Yale. The response was, “Alumni interviews do not matter much since there is no quality control, and it would not be fair to applicants if they did.”</p>
<p>poorplayer: As I said in my FAQ, alumni are not well trained in how to give interviews and every interviewer has a different style. I also said that while there may be questions that Brown (and I) think are not appropriate, some alums will ask them anyway. So just because I would never ask where else you are applying, many alums will ask.</p>
<p>To directly answer your questions: do I think his conduct was strange/poor? I don’t think he was strange – his interview style is probably based on how he does job interviews. Think of this 30 minutes as prep for a job interview (which are much more important than Ivy League college interviews). This interviewer is clearly a curt and direct guy – that’s his style. Perhaps it’s not the style that I would use, or that Brown would prefer, but it’s not totally outrageous. I might agree that his conduct was “poor” – he probably should have been more warm and fuzzy. From Brown’s perspective, he didn’t do a good job promoting the school, and therefore was not a good interviewer. If you want, when this whole experience is over, you could write a note to alumni relations and relate your story, which will be passed along to the area chair and maybe this guy won’t be asked to do interviews again.</p>
<p>As to whether his report will be positive or negative: How should I know?? He’s the only one who can answer that question. It seems like you answered his questions, didn’t make any major faux pas. Chances are he wrote a brief report that won’t help or hurt you. So I wouldn’t worry about it.</p>
<p>Hey, I applied ED to Brown with everything on time and in order, but haven’t received an email or phone call about the interview. I talked to admissions a few days ago, and they told me that all they do is send out my info to the alumni interview network.</p>
<p>So, my question is that if I don’t hear about an interview, which admissions noted was not required or guaranteed, should i just accept it and go without the interview? Or should I contact admissions again and see if there’s any way I can get one? From what they said, it seemed to me like admissions office is not really involved in the interview process.</p>
<p>Someone with more admissions experience can answer this better than I can, but I would say don’t worry quite yet. I submitted my ED application in mid-September last year and didn’t hear about an interview until early November (which was subsequently held a few weeks later). It all seemed very close, especially since the decisions were released the 11th of December, but it somehow worked out. I’d be patient, but if you don’t hear anything before Thanksgiving, I’d give them a call next Monday (the 30th).</p>
<p>The reports are due on Dec. 1, so waiting until Nov. 30 is too late. If you want to call again, I’d call Monday. It’s really up to you – there is no “bad” decision.</p>
<p>If you do get deferred, you can call again and ask for an interview.</p>
<p>about reasons for going to brown…
i understand that open curriculum is talked about by everyone…but do i really have to make up other reasons why i like brown?
brown is very similar to most other good schools, main difference is really open curriculum</p>
<p>Lemonio: No, you don’t have to “make up other reasons why” you like Brown. You can do whatever you want and you shouldn’t have to “make up” anything. But I hope you have at least one other reason why you want to go there. Because Brown is a lot more than the open curriculum, and Brown differs from other schools in many ways. If the open curriculum is the only reason you want to go there, then I suppose that is all you should talk about.</p>
<p>thanks for the response fireandrain
there are of course other reasons why i like brown…but they don’t really make it unique…and open curriculum is basically the main thing that differentiates it from other similar colleges
in terms of student life, courses, facilities, and people brown isn’t really all that different</p>
<p>Lemonio, since you are a high-school student I recommend you should be cautious when disagreeing with people on issues regarding what Brown is or isn’t, as these people know MUCH more about Brown than you do.</p>
<p>I also was not contacted for an interview yet and I applied right on Nov. 1st.
If I don’t get an interview… would that affect my chance of getting in?
I kind of want to have the interview… but then again…I’m not a person who would do “amazing” at an interview… so it might actually be better if I don’t do it.
If I decide not to call Brown, and they don’t contact me and I don’t have the interview, and then get deferred or rejected, that won’t be because I didn’t do the interview… right?</p>
<p>just had my interview.
i think it went well, though it was really short.
only like 25 minutes. but i answered his questions pretty in depth so i guess if my interviewer didn’t have any questions for me then i guess it went well.</p>
<p>thanks for your response fireandrain.
I don’t think I will need to write admissions a letter, the interview was ok just not what I expected.
thanks for your feedback, I just wanted an informed opinion.</p>
<p>so i just had my brown interview a couple hours ago.
the problem is, i don’t know if it was good or not…
i mean, we just talked and talked about random stuff
and there were these moments when i didn’t know what to say so it was just a pause of a few seconds.
i could feel myself saying “uh huh” and yeah SO MANY TIMES lol
and then after the interviewer just got up, shook my hand and left, after saying good luck with your applications!</p>
<p>No, that doesn’t sound like a horrible interview. Perhaps it wasn’t the “best interview ever,” but it doesn’t sound like anything happened that would reflect too badly on you.</p>