<p>I had my interview this afternoon and found out that my interviewer has a daughter who is also a senior in high school. Although he did not say it outright, it seems like she is applying to Duke. Add this to the fact that he asked me only three questions -- what classes I take, what my extracurriculars are, and where else I am applying, specifically. Should I talk to Duke? Or contact the regional coordinator? I know another Duke alum in the area, could I ask him to submit an interview report on my behalf? Has anyone else had this experience who can suggest a course of action?</p>
<p>if there is one spot for you and his daughter and you could proof that you are more qualified, then yes, you have a case.</p>
<p>by the way, if he is willing to disclose these info to you, a complete stranger, then i am sure it is a well known fact to Duke. it will only show Duke that you are a little paranoid.</p>
<p>They aren’t allowed to interview if their child is applying to Duke that year.</p>
<p>I thought interviewers aren’t allowed to interview if their child is applying to college at all, not just Duke. But yeah, it’s on an honor system. </p>
<p>If it were me, I’d have asked whether the daughter was applying to Duke when the person mentioned she’s a senior in HS. It would have been natural and completely un-awkward considering the interviewer is a Duke alum. </p>
<p>In the end though, I doubt it’s a huge deal. These interviews rarely count for anything unless the interviewer felt strongly negative and wrote a bad report. Otherwise, anything ranging from good to bleh doesn’t amount to a hill of beans in the process.</p>
<p>This post seems odd…</p>
<p>I interview candidates for Duke, although not this year. I have twins who are applying to Duke and the Duke Alumni Association (DAA) automatically locked me out of the AIMS system.</p>
<p>Also, interviewers are specifically told to not ask about other colleges (or test scores/GPA, etc.). We are instructed to discuss information that will not be found in the student’s application, which would exclude classes and ECs.</p>
<p>I am a Duke interviewer as well. I also have a high school senior this year who is not applying to Duke. It is my understanding that they have relaxed the rules somewhat. My son is a current junior at Duke and I was unable to interview his senior year. This year I have conducted interviews. It’s important to remember that interviewers are volunteers and sometimes don’t follow the suggestions put forth by the admissions office. My son’s interview in 2010 was conducted in his interviewer’s home–definitely prohibited by the admissions office. We were comfortable with it and didn’t complain. I don’t think you should worry because the interview is a very small part of the process.</p>
<p>Duke currently has over 29,000 “live” applicants that potentially may have requested an interview. That’s a huge task for an alumni association at a school that only graduates about 1,600 students per year – and the numbers grow every year. After reading the last two posts, I’d hazard a guess that the DAA has relaxed the rules for at least some of its chapters (in high volume application areas) so that they don’t have to live without the services of kind volunteers like rmldad, provided that the children aren’t in Duke’s applicant pool.</p>
<p>That’s probably correct. We’re in North Carolina–fifty miles from Durham. There are lots of applicants from the area.</p>
<p>Haha, I interviewed at the alum’s house back when I applied, and that was 8 years ago. No harm no foul. I guess those rules from the DAA are really just guidelines in many cases.</p>
<p>The official Duke interviewer packet asks for alumni to recuse themselves for a year in which they have any children applying to college. So, it’s people simply not following the recommendation or not being aware of it. Incidentally, while everybody says interviews don’t mean much, I’ve seen the stats from Guttentag and there is a high correlation (not necessarily causation though) between high interview scores and an acceptance. It’s likely that a top applicant in other regards will impress during the interview as well and simply serve as confirmation to the admissions committee as to what they thought from the rest of the application materials.</p>
<p>I interviewed at my interviewers house last year apparently that’s not allowed? I really liked the in home setting.</p>
<p>^Officially it’s highly discouraged for alums to have interviews in their own homes where the pair will be alone. This is a measure to protect both the alum and more importantly the applicants, many of whom are underage (no implications of any kind). It’s also designed to reassure parents who may not be comfortable that their children are meeting with complete strangers. </p>
<p>For these reasons, usually alums are asked to schedule interviews at public places such as coffee shops or I’ve even heard of at the applicants’ high schools where they will be among people and highly visible. When I interviewed, I met with students in the cafeteria of the hospital where I worked or at local coffee shops.</p>
<p>SBR: You are incorrect. Alumni interviewers must withdraw in any year that their child – or any other individual with whom they are close – is applying to Duke for undergraduate studies. Obviously, it would make no sense to extend this constraint to other universities, since no potential conflict-of-interest exists. The foregoing is based on decades of Duke alumni leadership experiences, including leading local applicant interview teams.</p>
<p>Sure, I was wrong, my bad.</p>