<p>Well. We have a difference of opinion, because as far as I can tell, the public is gullible; i.e. if it’s on the internet, it must be true.</p>
<p>So if people see “oh, interviewer at Brown is a racist, offensive jerk,” they’ll believe that it’s true.</p>
<p>And apparently most people who replied already feel that seasider’s been wronged, as opposed to reserving judgment. Hence, I think that you’re wrong, and the court of public opinion (small as it may be) has already convicted the interviewer.</p>
<p>There’s a time to give it up. Seasider gave the details he felt comfortable giving- and got some feedback. There is no federal- or ethical- case here. He didn’t id the interviewer in any way- except that it was for Brown. If you have been around, you’d know there have been other threads bemoaning interviews, even naming schools-- and no one made/re-made a case that “the court of public opinion” was being set against anyone or anything. Most of us recognized that this was one interviewee making one comment about one anonymous interviewer.</p>
<p>It doesn’t matter if “the public” is gullible or you think they are. If he complains, it is up to the school to decide the merits of his complaint. </p>
<p>So what are you saying? You don’t like my posts but you have a right to complain about it? And I don’t like seasider’s posts, but I don’t have the same right? How convenient for you!</p>
<p>lookingforward is saying take a chill pill. You do have a right to not like the posts, but that doesn’t make you any less annoying/obnoxious for how you’re handling this.</p>
<p>1) What is your spirit animal and why?
2) What is your guilty pleasure song?
3) Please talk about some thing or some idea that you feel strongly/passionate about?</p>
<p>Others notable ones:</p>
<p>1) Plan out courses that you would take first semester?
2) What type of people do you like?
3) What is your weakness?
3) Really wanted to get a good answer out of me for why I wanted to apply to a medium-sized research institution rather than a techie place (MIT) or a smaller liberal arts college. This was the only time a felt “grilled”
4) What do you like about Brown besides the Open Curriculum?
5) Asked me specifically what I did on my tour/visit
6) What is something you don’t like/feel is missing from your school?</p>
<p>Really impressed that I mentioned a specific professor I thought had interesting research who was in her department (we had similar academic interests)</p>
<p>@NewYorkerGuy loved watching that video before my own interview today. I interviewed with a local doctor, who usually interviews at starbucks, but since we were out of town at different times, he just had me meet him at the hospital where he worked. It lasted about 30 minutes, he had just gotten off work and was ready to leave. A large part of the interview consisted of him telling me about Brown, a lot of useful information. I got to expand on my concentration interest (architectural studies) but other than that I didn’t really get the opportunity to talk about myself (I hate talking about myself anyway). I gave him a resume after just in case he needed something specific other than “he was a good listener” for the interview report thing. I’m definitely excited about Brown, I hope it reflected in my interview! </p>
<p>Also, I had this spontaneous fun question come to mind during the “do you have any questions” portion. I asked “If you could choose one building on campus to be the postcard building for Brown, what would it be?” He said Sayles Hall. Postcard buildings are like faces for college campuses, good to know what Brown looks like! </p>
<p>Had my interview today, over Skype (I live in the Caribbean) and it was fantastic.Although it started out with the conventional questions, I found the me and my interviewer had much common ground and our conversation expanded into philosophy, Latin American culture and football (what Americans call soccer). We spent about thirty minutes talking about favourite teams, history, style, evolution of the game etc. After the first 30 mins, the next hour and a half had almost nothing to do with Brown. </p>
<p>Only thing is at the end I didn’t have that many questions to ask. I feel as though I’ve done so much research already. I asked about the atmosphere, his personal experiences with Brown and how it made a difference etc etc,</p>
<p>Whatever happens, it was a great experience.</p>
<p>Someone asked what your spirit animal is? Oh dear lord. I HATE questions like that. Honestly, based on the descriptions of some of these interviews, I really wonder how some of these alums write their reports. There are specific questions we have to address, and trust me, spirit animals are not mentioned. </p>
<p>I actually just saw a person I know a few years younger than me say on Facebook recently that he was going to do his first interview soon and asked for suggested questions. Someone threw that up there, maybe that’s who we’re talking about. I think some people like to pride themselves on the idea that Brown is “out there” and so give kids these kinds of questions.</p>
<p>I’m with you, they’re useless, maybe if you had the kid say why you could get some useful information to put down but there’s much better ways to get at that stuff.</p>
<p>WHOAA…I gotta Brown Univ interview comin’ up like two weeks from now and I was wonderin’ how much weight do these interviews have? I DID look at others’ posts and they like, say that the interview doesn’t have much weight but since I’m ADHD, very poor, and homeschooled would this interview count for more/less than usual? I am totally freaking out… :(( </p>
<p>Relax and be yourself. You’ll be fine. Both my son and my daughter applied (diff years) and both had very nice interviewers. The interviews were relaxed. No grilling or anything! BTW I had never heard of “spirit animal” before! </p>
<p>I had my interview today, it was over phone. It was amazing and the interviewer was a very approachable and amiable person. I really enjoyed talking to her and she pictured Brown as the perfect place for me. As an international student, it’s very difficult to visit colleges but after talking to her I felt I didn’t need to. She gave me so much information. Well, basically I just wanted to say thank you for this thread and all those alumni that take the time to interview anxious students and give them a glimpse of life at Brown. It adds something personal to this otherwise very statistical, formal process. Thank you from a now less anxious student. </p>
<p>I’m not sure if they’re supposed to or not, but my interviewer asked me what other colleges I applied to/got accepted to. I felt like I wasn’t really in a position to refuse a question, so I answered it. It didn’t bother me because otherwise he was very nice and the rest of the interview went really well, but that was one area that I didn’t expect to have to answer a question to.</p>
<p>I had an interview awhile ago but it wasn’t just a normal alum, it was the regional director in charge of a few states and he said he handpicked me to interview. He ended up loving me, and said that he had some weight with admissions. He also encouraged both me and my guidance counselor to send in update emails with my regional admissions officer, which I did. Do regional directors actually have any pull in the process? Thanks!</p>
<p>If I understand you correctly – he actually is a “normal” alum, no different from any other alum who volunteers to do interviews. He just has an administrative role. Since the amount of information he had about you was minimal, he probably “handpicked” you based on your activities and/or academic interests – maybe he did Model UN in HS and he saw that you did, too. Regional directors do not have any more access to admissions files than any other alum who interviews.</p>
<p>Some regional directors do know the admissions person for their region and feel comfortable calling them about a particular student. (Most don’t.) I’ve been in that position, have lobbied for students – and those students have not gotten in. With one exception, and that was a very very long time ago, and this was a truly exceptional student with a complicated story.</p>
<p>Any advice for shy people? My D is academically qualified and involved in extra-curriculars, but she is very quiet and speaks softly and not at great length. I’m pretty sure that the interviewer will comment on her shyness in his/her report–will that be a red flag to admissions that will veto her application? The difference between her and the example you used above is that she has been away from home and is not at all scared about attending college. Nevertheless, she is very shy.</p>
<p>My opinion is that interview reports have no impact on admissions decisions except for the miniscule minority of applicants who are either rude or otherworldly brilliant.</p>
<p>But if you are concerned, there is time before the interviews for your daughter to work on speaking more loudly. As far as not speaking at great length, I do not think it is negative to make points with an economical use of words.</p>