<p>I have read that people sometimes do an interview when they tour a college. A post on another thread noted that someone's son found the interviews to be very helpful. I am not sure what the purpose/value of these interviews would be. During a tour, who would you be interviewing with? Is the interview more for the prospective student to learn about the school, or more for the school rep to learn about the student? Are these tour interviews done only for High school senors? Would this interview then count as "the" interview that is often done after a student applies to a school?</p>
<p>You have to look at the college website to determine what type of interview it is. If it is just “informational”, then it is for your student to learn more about the college. They may note that he did the interview, but probably no impact on his admission regarding what he says. Although I suppose if someone was REALLY awful, that might get noted!</p>
<p>If the interview is “evaluative”, then they are looking at him and trying to figure out if he is a good fit. There are varying schools of thought on this (maybe some overthinking that goes on!). A lot of students wait until late in junior year or fall of senior year to interview – some added maturity can make the interview go better. Some schools offer the opportunity to do Skype interviews (so you can skip on campus and do it later), or their reps might come to your area and offer interview opportunities. In some cases they come to your high school, but that isn’t always the best time to set up an interview (reps can be going to several schools a day, so time is limited… but maybe if it is their last school of the day they will do it).</p>
<p>At some schools (some Ivies, for example), interviews are required. Usually those are done by alumni, not on campus. The weight of those interviews is a topic of constant speculation on CC… and there are some hilarious stories from both sides out here!</p>
<p>My kids were completely opposite ends of the spectrum on this. D1 is a true extrovert and can make a new friend in 5 minutes. She took all of her interview opportunities, and I think it helped her admissions and merit aid offers. D2 is completely opposite – smart as all get out, but also quite introverted and a bit awkward – really not a good interviewer. She did not interview at ANY of her schools except one (that she did not end up applying to anyway). None of her schools required the interview, although some “recommend” it. So far she has 2 EA acceptances, so we will see what the final impact is. </p>
<p>Students do not usually do more than one interview per school. It is also true that some schools say they limit interviews only to seniors. But if you are visiting in spring of junior year to a school far away, and your student is a “sparkling” interviewer, sometimes I think they will make an exception because of travel distance. You can ask if you think it is to your son’s benefit.</p>
<p>My son did a bunch of interviews with admissions officers at colleges we were touring, and found them to be easier than interviews with alumni at schools he applied to later on. Most of the time he felt they were trying hard to convince him to apply! They were curious about why he was interested in the school, how he found out about the school, where else he applied etc. I’m sure the admissions officer does record some impressions about the student and in any case it helps to demonstrate “interest”. That matters at some schools.</p>
<p>Several of my daughter’s interviews were with student admission interns. This happened both in the summer and on fall weekend visits. Most of them were relaxed conversations, talking about the school but also finding out what she was involved in, classes she was taking, etc. There were a few interviews in which she and the interviewer did not seem to ‘click’. I think she felt the best after the interviews with actual admissions officers rather than the student intern ones.</p>
<p>My son interviewed at about half of the schools he visited, wherever evaluative interviews were offered. If I remember correctly the interview list was Kenyon, Hamilton, Swarthmore, Yale, Skidmore, Wesleyan, Trinity, Conn College. Maybe Haverford, can’t recall. </p>
<p>The school he ended up at, Williams, didn’t offer evaluative interviews and for whatever reason he didn’t choose to do an informative interview. Or maybe he wasn’t aware that that was an option. </p>
<p>These interviews were in lieu of alumni/ae interviews in his hometown. We had a practical reason for choosing campus interviews – we live overseas – but in retrospect the campus interviews had other positives. He talked to some interesting people – two admissions directors, a few recent grads, a few current students – and received a contemporary view of the college. </p>
<p>He was able to keep in touch with the interviewers during the application process, and felt he had the opportunity to make a personal connection. </p>
<p>He felt comfortable talking about himself, his interests, his aspirations. He was prepared to ask a specific question about life at the specific school. I agree with the BeanTown’s “demonstrated interest” comment: He was able to express why he would be a good fit for the school, and why he liked the idea of being a student there. </p>
<p>I’m sure a conversation with an alumni/ae off-campus could serve the same end, but the on-campus interview seemed more timely and direct.</p>
<p>We made a second trip to my D’s two top choice schools so she could interview. She was also able to interview with admission officers from two other schools while they were in our area visiting high schools. This way she had specific reasons she was interested in the school and specific questions to ask. All of these interviews were extremely helpful. The one alumni interview she did was pretty useless (the interviewer graduated a year ago and really didn’t know how to interview) except that it demonstrated interest in the school on her part.</p>