@ilovelcohen don’t worry about articulating yourself- interviewers understand that interviews can freak people out and nervousness can propagate the fact that you’re legitimately interested in the college. (though of course its Brown so like, DUH) and since on paper you meet the english fluency requirements I have no doubt you’ll do great. (I’m an international student too by the way B-) )
@fireandrain I respect your authority as an interviewer and Brown alumnus, but that isn’t the right advice to give an international student. I like to believe that colleges in the USA -especially ones like Brown- are really understanding to international students who might not have had the same advantages of english language education as American students. and I also disagree that “aggressive and outspoken” are the ONLY ways to succeed in ANY curriculum. Different people exist in the world- some are assertive like me, and some aren’t. Again- I’m pretty sure the fact that Brown has an open curriculum (as you have mentioned) and the fact that IT IS BROWN means that anyone can flourish with hard work and determination.
The words that come to mind in describing the types of students who flourish with the Open Curriculum are “self-motivated”, “independent”, “responsible”, “intellectually curious”, “not risk-averse”. I am sure there are others.
Yes it is necessary to register for courses on time and work within any course enrollment caps. And if you wish to pursue an independent concentration, it is necessary to submit a proposal, after working with a faculty advisor.
But I hope no one has the notion that it is necessary to advocate or be pushy in the use or tone of words to enjoy the full benefits of the Open Curriculum.
I had my interview for Brown yesterday and it was great. It lasted over an hour and there was never a second of silence or awkwardness; we were always talking or exchanging thoughts. He also thought I was a great person and candidate and hopes the best for me
I know it’s been said a lot that interviews don’t have a lot of weight, but I really do hope this helps me at least a little!
Hi, I’m interviewing for Brown this week, would you recommend bringing a notepad with bullet points on how I intend on answering specific questions, if asked? Or do you believe bringing a notepad shows lack of confidence in my own memory and conversational skills? My parents would love to know. Thank you for this thread!
@fireandrain
I think each interviewer will have his/her own reaction. Interviewers do not have monolithic attitudes, preferences, or predilections.
Here is just one data point for you. I think any person who is sincere and truthful does not need to rely on memory (or notes) in connection with questions that relate to character, hopes, dreams, self-motivation, independence, passion, responsibility, why-THIS COLLEGE.
If I had two interviewees, and one referred to notes to describe their passion and paint a picture of their self-motivation, while the other did not…all other things being equal I would rate the latter candidate higher.
But that is just me. You might get an interviewer who feels just the opposite.
If I would have had a notepad with bullet points at my interview, it all would have been extremely awkward.
I just had an interview where the student had a notepad. Twice during the interview I said something that she wanted to remember, so she took it out and wrote herself a note.
When at the end of the interview I’ve asked, “Is there anything else you want to tell me or ask me?” and a student pulls out a crib sheet, that would be fine. Students have brought their resume and referred to it. Others have had a sheet of paper with questions written on it.
That said – if I ask a student, “Why Brown?” and a student says, “hold on” and gets out a piece of paper with bullet points – that would be a little odd. I recognize that if you’ve applied to 18 schools, it’s tough to keep them straight in your head. But if you do prep before the interview, you shouldn’t need notes to answer that one question. And there really aren’t any other standard questions about Brown that you should need notes for – if you can’t remember your own extracurricular activities, then that’s a whole other problem.
In the ~10 interviews I’ve done over the last few years I’ve never had anyone use a notepad and I’m in line with @fireandrain here:
A notepad to take notes on what I’m saying - totally fine
A notepad with questions you want to ask me - totally fine
A notepad with notes about yourself/why brown - weird/not cool
so I just had my interview…
my interviewer was a highly-renowned neurosurgeon, and his assistant called me to set up the interview at his office in the hospital. I get there, wait for him for like, twenty minutes, and the the assistant comes out and brings me up to his office and tells me that he’s running late, which I totally understand. He’s a doctor, he has a job, he’s taking time out of his busy schedule to talk to me.
But the whole interview, he seemed like he was counting down the minutes he could leave before I even started talking. He asked me to tell him about myself, and then asked me why Brown…and that was it. I tried to engage him in conversation and I asked him questions about the school, but overall, he just wasn’t interested.
I don’t think it was anything I did because I felt like I was fairly eloquent and sincere, and he already was showing signs of disinterest before we started talking…but still. The interview barely lasted fifteen minutes, while all my interviews at other schools lasted as LEAST an hour.
I’m probably overthinking but should I be worried??? I really wanted this interview to go well, Brown is the dream 
Yes you are overthinking (with some good reason in these stressful times), and no you should not be worried, I think.
The situation you describe is unfortunate. But I expect, can’t prove it, that Admissions Offices at all schools that have interview programs anticipate the possibility that interviewers will have demeanors, personalities, and/or time constraints spanning the spectrum… and they account for this possibility.
How do they account for it? By having policies such as this (see the FAQs on the Brown Admissions site)
Rarely will an interview be the determining factor in an application.
The dream should be alive and well, I think!
The guy probably planned on giving you ~30 minutes (I plan on an hour but have had ones go closer to 30) but got held up and could only give you ~15. My question is was he so focused on the time because on that particular day his schedule got messed up and he had somewhere he needed to be after you (e.g. picking up kids from soccer practice) or does he treat everyone (cough including his patients cough) that way?
As I’ve posted on other interview threads - pretty much no way an interview would cost you your acceptance unless you assault and/or egregiously insult the interviewer. (or if you spent the whole time talking about how badly you want to go to [insert college/university name other than Brown])
I looked him up after the interview and read reviews that patients had left, and they all pretty much said the same thing–brilliant guy, incredible surgeon, but he always seemed like he had somewhere else to be.
Reading that made me feel a lot better. As usual, I’m just being a basket case haha.
I had my interview a couple weeks ago. I think we had an awesome conversation, but we hardly talked much about Brown. Still he told me I was a shot-on for Brown, that I was what Brown is looking for and all. He had no Why Brown question. The only thing he asked me about Brown that I remember is my intended concentration. When I looked at the report that the interviewer needs to submit, I got worried a bit thinking about how he would answer the Why Brown question on the report because we didn’t mention it a lot if at all…
Is this common among Brown interviews? No Why Brown question?
@rotckid My interviewer didn’t ask it either. But I talked about Brown so maybe she didn’t need to. She probably saw my love for Brown without directly asking. I was accepted ED this year.
And although it is great that your interviewer thought highly of you, I caution against reading too much into any interviewers saying things like “you are a shoe-in”, “you are exactly what XYZ University is looking for”, “I will write a stellar report”, “you are perfect for XYZ University”, etc. I know multiple people who have been told these things and did not get in to various universities.
An Ivy interviewer spent a lot of the interview time telling my sister how perfect she was for the school, how she was exactly what the school was looking for, how he was going to write the most glowing report he had ever written, and guess what? She didn’t get in. And, she had her hopes up after being told those things making the rejection even worse.
Best of luck to you through the rest of the process and hope to see you on campus next year!
@lax1997 Congrats on your acceptance!! And thanks a lot! Luckily I have been pretty realistic throughout this process, haven’t put my hope much on any single case…
Both the interviewer and I are not typical Brown students, we kind of come from an environment opposite to the Ivy League kind of thing. It was really lucky for me to have him as my interviewer. Still because of that we talked a lot about matters regarding to that similarity and thus not much about Brown. We even still contacted after the interview just to talk about that matter… It’s pretty weird… I even wanted to know more about him than about Brown…
Well I think I should not worry anymore about the report… it’s probably his job now…
It makes me contemplate about the interview as an opportunity to make friends with some interesting people who graduated from great universities, that’s awesome enough 
@rotckid I’m a Brown grad and I’ve been interviewing prospective students for a few years now. I don’t always ask why Brown either mainly because students often answer that question indirectly (talking about something specific so I know they’ve done their research).
So I didn’t get contacted for an interview (everyone else at my school who applied did). I called admissions, they said not to worry about it, but it kinda feels like I should worry. There are definitely a lot of brown grads in my area.
What is there to worry about? I promise you that the lack of an interview has NOTHING, absolutely NOTHING, to do with your strength as an applicant. Zero, zilch, nada. What your application is missing is a short write-up by an alum that 99.9% of the time makes no difference in the final decision. I understand disappointment, that you missed out on something, but really, don’t worry.
Hello Fireandrain, I have been following this thread and really appreciated your advice for interviews. I am actually having problems with my online Brown account and I was wondering if you would be able to enlighten me?
I want to send additional information to be added to my application. I tried to send this to the admissions email, however they requested that I upload them to my brown account.
I happen to be incredibly un-techy and I cannot figure out where to upload this. When I log into my brown account, I have only 3 options: Look at profile, change password, change security question. Where can I upload my supplement information???
On the website it says “If you choose to send us additional materials, we prefer that you upload supplementary materials to your file once you receive your Brown account username.” Is there something wrong with the website or is it just me who is struggling? I don’t want to email the university asking them to clarify if the answer is obvious.