<p>Hi, so I live in southern California and there are only about 4 alumni and they all live in Los Angeles, which is a long way from me. </p>
<p>I really want to interview but if I cannot find anyone in my area, will that still hurt my chances?</p>
<p>I interview for my undergrad alma mater. I would accept an alum interview in LA and use Skype. I interview students in Skype at least once a year for my alma mater. Wake Forest I think does a great deal of Skype interviews from the admissions officers. Send this person a shortened version of your resume before the Skype apt if possible. Follow up with a handwritten note, and use email in a professional manner. Do your best to learn more about his or her Vanderbilt significant experiences, and get across three or four points about yourself.<br>
The other thing my Vandy son did was to seek out a coffee break with a local person who attended Vandy but who does not interview. He did not know this man. He wrote a paragraph about this to his adcom. And he learned a couple things from him that made my son more interested in Vandy.</p>
<p>My D did not interview and still got in. I don’t think it makes that much difference.</p>
<p>I did not do an interview and got a scholarship, so it really doesn’t matter much.</p>
<p>Southern CA is a very competitive region. If you interview well do not miss out on a chance to add another positive note in your file. The adcom director for southern CA will be grasping at anything he can find to help him decide which of the 1,000 qualified students will get one of the 100 “fat” letters.</p>
<p>Although it is true that interviews are not dealbreakers and in some cases are superfluous, seriousness of purpose is important to demonstrate if you can regarding Vanderbilt or any college with an excessive number of applicants. By that I don’t mean you have to promise your first born son, but you should be talking briefly about why Vanderbilt is a match for your personal growth and academic goals in ways that are if possible a bit specific. Interviews allow for this sort of coloration. My Vandy’s son’s first year roommate was from Orange County. He was a valedictorian but more than that he was a person who was very willing to come across the country to attend Vanderbilt and he had a seriousness about him that has played out over four years. Rather than having tons of national awards, he had strikingly good character. You don’t have to be a national star to get in but you do want to show your readiness to move to Nashville and max out Vanderbilt’s resources which is after all Vanderbilt’s reason for being.</p>