My daughter has an awesome college interview. However, towards the end, the interviewer asked her if the school was her first choice, and she said it was between that school and another. Will this answer hurt her chances?
No, but it all depends on the interviewer’s report. S/he could report the fact that the school is not a definitive, clear-cut first for your daughter, therefore weakening her profile.
But rest be assured, most interviewers ask that question out of their own curiosity. She should be fine.
She really enjoyed speaking with the interviewer and is now leaning towards that school. She is worried that her feelings didn’t come across that way. Should she say something in a thank you note?
On the thank-you email, I would just mention that she really enjoyed speaking with the interviewer, and gained tremendous insights of the school. Also shortly mention her passion of attending the school without mentioning other institutions.
FYI, there are a number of questions that, in my opinion, an interviewer should NEVER ask. This is one of them.
I’m surprised this question was asked and I also agree with @TopTier that it really shouldn’t be asked in an interview. I would hope that @viphan is right that the interviewer was just asking out of curiosity. I doubt it would affect her chances at all, but it certainly wouldn’t be a bad idea to mention in the thank-you note how much she enjoyed talking to the interviewer and how the interview has increased her interest in the school, or something to that effect.
Slightly different situation, but one of the schools I applied to was far enough away from home that my mom didn’t want to take me to visit until after I got in and was seriously considering it, for reasons of money and the time it would take to drive there. Before the interview I didn’t really have an idea of how high up the school was on my list (knew it wasn’t my number 1 but wasn’t sure beyond that), but I had a really amazing interview and liked the alum a lot, and this made the school move up to my top 3. Because of this I was worried that my lack of visit might make them think I wasn’t interested enough (it was a small LAC), so in addition to thanking the interviewer, I ended up sending an email to my region’s AO letting her know how much I enjoyed my interview and how interested I am in the school. I don’t think you necessarily need to do this, just an anecdote that I was reminded of. It’s never a bad idea to reach out to your top schools (whether to the interviewer or the AO) to let them know of your interest, even if they’re not your number 1.
asking where else someone applied or if the school is the “first choice” is the mark of an amateur. I’d bet this was an interview with an alum.
Don’t sweat it. If an alum interviewer sees something glaringly wrong with the kid then it can hurt (socially inept, when asked why applying say only because parents forced them to, etc), but other than that nothing this alum says is going to have an effect on the applicants chances.
My D had a similar thing happen and she told the interviewer what was the truth at the time – that the school was one of her top choices but she was going to wait and see how things unfold and try to visit again at accepted students day before she makes a final decision – and that seemed to be just fine. I agree that it isn’t really a nice question to ask.
The interview was with Harvard. And she told the interviewer that she was debating between Harvard and Yale.