Was anyone else’s Columbia interview like this? My interviewer asked me one or two questions about myself and the proceeded to grill me on global issues and philosophy (not any particular philosophers, really just moral questions in general and my thoughts on them). I was able to hold my own, but it was by far my hardest college interview. I really did not expect it to be like at all.
Is this normal for Columbia?
That sounds kinda intimidating TT. I just received the interview email.
That’s surely not a typical interview … it sounds as if the interviewer has some dominance issues.
The interviews I’ve given have all gone like this:
I’m convinced the admissions office pays no attention to the alumni interview reports. Why? Because of too much variability, including the possibility the interviewer (like yours) wants to play tough guy. Anyway, the admissions section of the website says not getting an interview doesn’t affect your chance of admission. Logically, that means they weight the alumni interview as zero.
I do alumni interviews for a different Ivy (guess which one!), so take this with a grain of salt, but my guess is that the interviewer was trying to assess your intellectual depth. That said, although I can see asking one or two questions of that sort, dedicating most of the interview to global/philosophical issues seems highly unusual to me (unless the topics fall into the student’s areas of interest), and the interviewer really should have focused on matters directly related to you and your experiences.
Fortunately, the general rule for Ivy interviews is that they can help your chances of admission a small amount but won’t hurt you (unless you say something really inappropriate – e.g., racist remarks – or you don’t take the interview seriously). So I wouldn’t worry too much about what happened (I know that’s easier said that done). Besides, it’s even possible that the interviewer was impressed by your performance – not every high schooler (even very smart ones) can “hold their own” in that situation.
@TigerInWinter Princeton?
@amandaf I did a ton of interviews last year while applying, and while most interviewers will ask you why our school, why selected major etc, there’s a lot of individual freedom when it comes to the exact questions asked, barring certain ones. Just make sure to send a follow-up email to your interviewer thanking them for their time and keep moving forward. 
I don’t think that alumni interviewers are rigorously vetted, and I bet that the interview reports are not a very significant part of the application. That being said, I had one HORRIBLE interview for a good med school, where the faculty member interviewer grilled me aggressively, implied that I had somehow cheated on my MCAT because I had done so well on it, and especially the chemistry section, when I’d gotten a C in Organic. I finally just got mad at her, pushed back, told her that the academic level at my Ivy was much higher than at mid-level and low-level colleges (and I had done a sophomore year at a mid-level school), that clearly I had mastered the material, and how dare she imply that I had done anything other than that. I walked out of the interview, went straight to the Dean’s office, demanded to speak with him, since I’d just spent a lot of money I did NOT have to fly there for the interview, and demanded another interview. I had already had several med school interviews, and I knew that this was NOT normal. While I waited, the Dean called. He said that I was in. She had already called him and said, “We HAVE to take this woman!”
Point is, you may have impressed this aggressive interviewer with your ability to respond to his style, and he may given you his highest rating.
@azzzzzzzz06 @amandaf When did you submit your application? Is it like they give interview in the order of application submission? Also, since this year’s interviews are completely virtual I guess geography won’t be a reason for not giving interviews…
@jsluo888 Can still be a reason across time zones and some interviewers might not be interviewing this year as they don’t like virtual interviews.
@amandaf I live in South America and was interviewed on November 11th and my experience was very similar to yours. My interviewer GRILLED me from the second I started talking. He would question if I actually knew the meaning of the words I said, stopping me to ask point-blank what I meant when I said “X word”. He would also question me to confirm I had actually read the novels I talked to him about and the same with my interests. My interests were very connected to global issues, politics, and policy, but never did I expect to be so grilled on geopolitics and social problems. Columbia is my DREAM school (obvi I applied ED) and I was nervous at first as it was my first interview, the relentless interrogation didn’t help my nerves. I wasn’t even able to fully demonstrate how much I really know and love Columbia because this was a very rigidly established conversation. No doubt, my interviewer is brilliant, but it’s kind of a shame that I didn’t get a bit more insight from him and the way he sees the world. I could kind of assume it, and understand it through the questions he asked me, but I would have loved to know more about him. He was a really nice guy, though, no shade to him. I was just not prepared to be grilled that way. I guess in a way it worked out, he got the best of me I could offer and showed him what I’ve got. Hopefully, it all works out.
@1968tunnels Idk what happened exactly since you still said that the interviewer was a nice guy, but he sounded very disrespectful to me…
I had an awesome interview experience! My interviewer was super kind and we had a really great conversation. I prepared for questions like why Columbia, why my major, but we never actually talked about that. She asked me a lot about my home, my hobbies, passions, and she also asked me about if I have considered a transition to a city like New York (I’m from the countryside). We even got into a brief discussion about politics and partisanship.
Honestly, I think less prep is okay, as for me all it was was a pretty casual conversation. I think the best thing you can do is have some topic starters so you can continue the conversation if there are any breaks.