I have been setting up a couple alumni interviews for colleges. I live far away from most of the colleges so I feel pretty lucky to keep finding someone in my area. I am not sure how I have done, but I have been paired with great alumni. Anyway I was given a contact for Bates College. Its just an email adress and the guy responds that he will call me if I leave a number. He calls today asks a few questions and then starts planning when to meet. He tells me that he charges one hundred dollars for an interview. I assume that he is obviously joking and tell him I would pay that if he could give me admission. He goes on to explain to me that the interview is only a part of admissions and my grades will be what gets me in or not. Then he tells me to think it over and text him and hangs up. I was sure he was kidding, but he made no indication of it and it seems like he would have mentioned that before hanging up. I guess it could have been a test to see if I was an idiot. The only reason I did not ask was becasue I was speachless. Should I call back or text and ask if he was joking? I mean I can usually pick up on humor and what he said was ridiculous. Its just he had no hint of humor in his voice. Should I contact the school instead?
I would email him again and see if you get the same response. If so, I would contact Bates directly. That’s the most bizarre thing I have every heard.
That’s ridiculous and certainly against their alumni interviewing policy. I would just talk to them directly - even if he’s kidding, your interviewer is not supposed to be messing with you.
I would text him to set it up and see how he responds/acts. If he refers to the $100 or continues to mess with you in a strange-humored way, I would go directly to the college.
That is bizarre. Even if it is a joke, it is inappropriate and in extremely bad taste. You just don’t do that to a nervous HSer. Contact the school immediately, tell them what happened and ask if there is another alum available, even if needed by skype, to do the interview.
Thanks for the feedback! I thought it was crazy. I will message him one more time. I feel like I must have misunderstood although he seemed clear on the phone.
I am ambivalent about your contacting him. I do alum interviews and this is just off the scales bizarre. Even if he was kidding, it needs to be reported. It is totally inappropriate.
I get what you guys are saying. It would be bad if he does it to other people so I should contact them. I just did ot want to freak out if it was a joke.
Listen to post #4. Do not engage. At this point it’s just weird. If you do not want to be confrontational, call Bates and ask to have a different interviewer, or Skype. They are unlikely to ask why you are uncomfortable with the original one. He really should be reported, but you are in a subordinate position here- you may want to wait until acceptances are in.
Also he was kind of odd from the start. He told me to call him at 7:30am sharp this moring. I explained I had school so he told me 7am. I explained I have to get on my bus at 6:30 and he finally told me he would call me after school.
I realize I have a strong opinion about this, but I HOPE you have the courage to explain why you are asking for a change of interviewers. You can tell them maybe you misunderstood but it made you uncomfortable and you d like to start fresh. ITs then incumbent upon them to (hopefully) follow up with the alum to address this. Hopefully he wont say that to any other student.
Gawd this smells bad all the way around. I make all my arrangements with students via email.
@ItsJustSchool I do not feel uncomfortable explaining what happened. I think if I am straightforward it should not hurt me too much. Also Bates is a reach. I have a relatively low GPA and very high financial need. This means I will likely get denied and my opinion will not be respected much after that.
You are entitled to equal and fair treatment regardless of your chances of admission.
It is not your battle to fight. If you report it after being denied admission, and they choose to attribute it to “sour grapes” so be it. If you report it now, there is a possibility, however slight, that the conversation could go sideways and portray you in a bad light. Probably not a large chance. But, as I said, it is not really your battle, and you would hate to get dinged for doing future applicants a favor.
Call him up and tell him that it will cost $100 for your time to go to the interview 
Seriously though, this is bizarre… I would definitely give the college a call in this situation.
Are you certain that he is actually a Bates representative?
Look man, a brother’s got to eat. Economy’s rough and the poor fellow is just trying to make some money on the side.
^Great argument for the benefits of a Bates education
I would call Bates and tell them about it. Many colleges warn you on their websites not to respond to anyone who says they want to charge you for an interview. This is a quite common scam so yeah I would call Bates aout it. This would in no way portray you in a bad light. Someone is trying to scam you and if there’s a chance that he may actually really be an interview then they need to know