So, I recently got invited to interview with a Dartmouth alumni, which I’m very happy about. However, I live quite far from where the interview is going to take place. I don’t want to miss the interview, but I don’t think anyone is going to be available to take me that day. Are there any other ways to interview for Dartmouth? Like a Skype or phone interview?
How far away? More than an hour? Call or email the interviewer for alternative. In my opinion, asking a student to drive more than an hour is completely unreasonable.
Is there no public transportation available? If it’s within an hours’ drive, then call to reschedule for a day when you actually can get transport.
Some colleges have initiated Skype and other virtual interviews. Your interviewer may suggest this.
Ask of you could have an interview over the phone
@T26E4 No, it’s not up to an hour. More like 30 minutes away. I guess to some people it’s not that far, but to me it is. I’ll just call and ask if it’s possible to have a phone interview, and if it’s not, then I’ll look for a way to get there. Thank you!
@outlooker Thank you! I will.
unparallel: Then I think you need to go to the interview and not do the phone interview. A phone interview simply is a poor substitute. And let be be blunt with you: your aversion to a 30 min car ride needs to be overcome. Yesterday.
I’m sorry but your worldview that a 30-min one-way car ride i* is extremely out of sync with the real world unless you have a medical limitation. People all over the world go one hour to and from work. You’re saying you’re a Dartmouth aspirant. You need to buck up here and exercise some mature flexibility
If I had your address, and could google where you live, and you called me requesting a phone interview, I might not say something directly to you, but my impression of you would be diminished.
Agree with T26E4. 30 minutes is not an issue, unless you have physical limitations or other issues. An hour? Eh. I would not hold a Skype request against you. Phone interviews are close to useless,. IMO.
Skype is perfectly fine. Distance is a legit issue and they can’t hold that against you if you email back w your reasons.
Also, my interviewer was extremely chill (both online and in person) and reassured me multiple times over email that it would be no problem if I had conflicts/couldn’t make it for some reason, as long as I notified her.
Also, the interview won’t hold much sway over their decision, unless you have an extremely unique personality & utterly wow them. An interview can only help but it won’t ever hurt you (unless you turn out to be a repungant psychotic criminal or something).
Good luck!
And I’m in agreement with this 99% of the time. My concern is that a non-medical aversion to a thirty minute car trip shows poor judgment and immaturity.
Dartmouth is looking for people who’ll explore the ends of the planet if given the chance – people who are hungry and crave knowledge and are looking to affect others. Maybe I’m a little jaundiced: when I was OP’s age, you could have told me that tomorrow’s classes were canceled b/c we had to jump on a plane to visit Lisbon and I’d said “What do I pack? How’s the weather?” without blinking an eye.
T: you wouldn’t even have worried about what to pack. You would have grabbed something to read on the flight and booked.
My take on this is usually interviewers will be flexible on dates and times when given reasons, but they also are volunteering their time so you need to be flexible as well. Dartmouth does have a strong alumni network, but will not have hundreds of alumni signed up in your area, so that interviewer was likely the closest person to you to begin with (when I assign interviews, I try to take the city the applicant and interviewer are in to pair people up, so we’re really trying to make it easy!)
It’s definitely OK to state your reasons, but A) you should have reasons and B) you should be aware of the fact that the interviewer might also be driving 30 minutes to meet you halfway after a day of work or being away from their family, solely to talk to you about Dartmouth as a courtesy and a desire to answer your questions.
I’ve had applicants drive an hour each way to an interview if they live in a geographically large region to show up. We usually only do Skype or phone interviews as a desperation final resort because they’re impersonal and don’t allow us to interact in a manner that helps us learn about you, and you learn about Dartmouth.
I noticed you mentioned you can’t make the 30 minute drive because no one is available to take you. That is DEFINITELY an OK reason from my perspective. Just shift the date or time to something that works. There’s enough time between now and the day the interviews are due to figure something out if you’re truly excited about meeting with them.
@Tank07 Thank you for the advice! I can see how silly I might have sounded; it’s just that I don’t know if I am going to have transportation or not. I already emailed the interviewer back, though and scheduled a date to meet. I know I’ll find a way to get there.