<p>I know that the interview is optional and I recently got contacted to schedule one. How would I go about declining an interview politely? I am interested in brown, don’t get me wrong…I just don’t feel like the interview will help. I seriously hope this does not affect my admission chances. Help please…I want to respond to her message asap.</p>
<p>bump bump, somebody please respond soon?</p>
<p>Just say you would rather not have an interview. Thank you very much.</p>
<p>chocolatie, I just recently had my Brown interview, which was also 'optional,' but I think you should go. from reading other threads and stuff, going would obviously show that you're interested enough to take the time to set up an interview.</p>
<p>and of course, interview cannot hurt you, it can only help, and it probably will help you. honestly, if you can make conversation with people, which I am sure you can, you should go. it's a good way for Brown to get to know you better as an individual and you can ask the interviewer questions ... they can give you firsthand accounts of what it's like to go to Brown. I was iffy about scheduling one, but I didn't want to reject it and it was a great interview. I learned a lot about Brown and it made me want to go a lot more than before... and I think I made </p>
<p>so seriously, I strongly advise that you take this opportunity. any college would probably get a bit of a bad impression if you decline an interview, because that probably means you don't want to make the time for it or that you are not so good with conversing with people... both of which are bad, bad things. unless you have a super-busy schedule, and I mean EXTREMELY that you can't make time for a one hour interview, I hope you reconsider and take the interview!</p>
<p>Will that leave the impression that I am not interested enough? I read that an interview can only help you but I can't express myself well verbally, especially since it will be my first interview.</p>
<p>(oops sorry, I didn't see your post looshia)</p>
<p>If you really think you can't handle a one hour-long interview, then don't do it, but I didn't think I would be able to express myself either... I can be a little shy at times though I have had experiences with talking in front of large groups.. but I had my first interview recently, and I actually just got off the phone with another interviewer. I was really nervous at first for my first interview, but it's definitely not as bad as you think, and interviews do not count that much on your application, so even if you did "terribly," which is really hard to do, it wouldn't really affect your application. once you get your first interview down, you'll realize that it's not as bad as it seems... a lot of them are informal and you just talk.. prepare a list of questions to ask your interviewer, and be prepared to answer questions like why you want to go to that school and what your interests/activities are and you'll be fine. it will be smooth sailing from that point on.</p>
<p>I was about to schedule an interview with my interviewer. But she said she already had a bad impression of me and was constantly questioning my interest. If I were to decline the interview, would she be able to comment on this?</p>
<p>chocolatie: There are 2 issues here, and I'm going to address this one: that you need to learn sooner as opposed to later how to do interviews. You may be able to escape having college interviews and still get into college, but if you ever want to be employed, you're going to have to have job interviews. And job interviews are considerably more intense than college interviews.</p>
<p>Find someone to practice with. Your parents, guidance counselor, friends. Or just wing it. </p>
<p>It's not a big deal to avoid an interview, but it is a big deal to avoid interviews in general. Like looshia said, the more you do the better you'll get.</p>
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If I were to decline the interview, would she be able to comment on this?
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<p>Yes. There is a box on the form where you check off if the student declined the interview, and then the interviewer is asked to explain the circumstances.</p>
<p>I'm not sure what to tell you to do. Asking for another interviewer at this point would not be a good idea, since we are scrambling to find enough interviewers for all the applicants.</p>
<p>Although I am absolutely dreading it, I am taking the interview, simply because I don't want to leave a bad impression of myself on her. </p>
<p>Thank you so much, fireandrain and looshia. You guys were extremely helpful!</p>
<p>"But she said she already had a bad impression of me and was constantly questioning my interest. "</p>
<p>Wait... she already has a bad impression of you? How is that so? Or do you mean she does have one since you did not schedule the interview then?</p>
<p>Also, just adding on, do they ask very random/hard questions as some job interviews do or no? Is it more like a conversation? I've been through so many interviews, more than dozens from school/club positions and from jobs, but still, even though I can be calm now and not stutter, I still pause from time to time if asked a hard question.</p>
<p>Having interview for Penn for longer than most of you have been alive, I'm the first to say don't worry about an interview, they count for nothing. BUT, an interviewer raising a red flag can hurt you. Probably the only useful thing these alum can do is flag a problem applicant.</p>
<p>I can't imagine what your interaction has been with the interviewer for him/her to openly tell you they have a bad impression of you, but whatever happened, straighten it out.</p>
<p>I would suggest an email with an apology for whatever offended the person and an open explanation that this was caused by your fear of the interview because of how important Brown is to you.</p>
<p>I am at a loss to understand what circumstances prompted her to say this? Is this a quote from her or are you possibly misinterpreting her? If it is a quote, then that is very wrong of her. Did you delay, put her off, waste her time? This seems to me very wrong of someone to say to you so please tell us where you think this came from.</p>
<p>If you do have a statement such as this in writing, I would forward it to the interview office and explain that such a statement makes you extremely unconfortable to meet and do they have any other interviewer. If they do not, then you are out of an interview as you wanted. and hopefully this one's comment wouldn't be used.</p>
<p>But I do think it is not a good idea to decline an interview. It is an opportunity for you with little downside and it just seems so wrong not to do it. However, this situation may have got out of hand. If it has not, then try to put your fears aside and use this opportunity to learn how to have a conversation with an authority figure. This is a good skill, for use in college with professors and with internships and research and you can only do it by practice.</p>
<p>Interviews are usually really nice conversations about Brown, what questions you have about it, what kinds of things you are interested in. I was at a recent Brown alumni event and everyone was so nice and interested in learning about what my daughter was doing. </p>
<p>My own daughter had a wonderful conversation with her interviewer who is a foreign language professor at a local college. The interviewer was supposed to meet for an hour but they stayed longer having a nice chat, talking in the foreign language a bit. The interviewer was very complimentary during the talk, saying things like "you are such a team builder and you don't even know it!"</p>
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But she said she already had a bad impression of me and was constantly questioning my interest.
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<p>I want to know why she would have a bad impression of you too. Did you wrote or told her anything about the fact you don't care about the interview? It is hard to believe that she would get that impression if she didn't even interview you yet.</p>
<p>To explain the situation I was in, my interviewer had called a week ago and left a message. I didn't return her call because I never got the message. I explained this to her but she sensed my hesitance in accepting the interview. She then proceeded to ask if I visited the campus, to which I responded 'no, I haven't but I plan to very soon." She asked if I had a job, which explained why I have yet to visit. I don't have a job and she said I should make it a priority then to visit, as it was only an hour's drive away. Overall, I think I disappointed her because I gave the impression that I wasn't interested in attending brown and was only doing so on a whim. </p>
<p>I scheduled a meeting for next week and hopefully I'll come across in the right light. I'm superrrr nervous even though it is more than a week away.</p>
<p>I'm sorry this misunderstanding happened before the interview even began. Hopefully everything will work out once you get there.</p>
<p>I'm always nervous for interviews because I haven't done a lot of them either. I've been interviewed by Princeton and Chicago (by phone). Almost all of them will ask why School X, and about school and ECs. The order of the questions depends on the interviewer I think. I find it hard to start with the why School X questions. >.< I haven't practiced a lot, and wing most questions other than why X, and "any questions for me?"</p>
<p>Don't be nervous though, I thought I was not able to do it at first, but just forced myself to request an interview for Chicago, and even though I could've improved now that I look back, I think the experience is great help for the future, and it's not like an interviewer will treat you with disdain just because you're nervous (I'm hoping) because it's natural to be nervous.</p>
<p>I'm glad you didn't decline the interview, and good luck a week later. :)</p>
<p>Please try to relax about it, and put the past behind. I'm glad you scheduled it too. I still think it is stinky that the interviewer is putting this pressure and getting ****y with you. I don't think any interviewer should make a student uncomfortable. But just think, they are doing you a favor by being candid. If they didn't mention reservations, you wouldn't get a chance to address and correct them.</p>
<p>A good idea is to think of some typical questions, and say your answers aloud to yourself. Not to reherse per se, but to get comfortable expressing yourself answering questions. The most important thing is to get comfortable enough to allow your personality to come through, and to be able to talk about your aspirations and goals and why Brown.</p>
<p>I do also wonder why you have not visited. Do you have time to visit prior to your interview?</p>
<p>Would you like to talk to a Brown student? I'm sure my daughter will be happy to call you on the phone, or meet you if you can visit. She is a Senior. I can send you her hompage on the Brown CS site. Last summer, she was the designated person who talked with tour groups about Undergraduate Research and how she got to that point at Brown. She has also hosted prospectives overnight. She has taken mostly science, math and CS, but also other things and she can talk to you about the campus and the student body and academics in general if you would like.</p>
<p>Also I would be fine with you calling me and I can ask you a few questions to help you get comfortable with that format. PM me if you would like either opportunity. Perhaps chatting with a student or parent will give you some ideas for topics of conversation withh your interviewer.</p>
<p>Best wishes, I really feel for you.</p>