A friend of mine found out that his current AP Econ teacher is going to be interviewing him for his Cornell application, and neither he nor his teacher has done anything about it. As I know this scenario is not fair to me or any of the other applicants at my school, I think I should send an anonymous email letting the adcom know what’s going on, but I don’t want to hurt his chances or make him look bad. Would sending an email put his application at risk?
These alumni interviews are NOT evaluative. This doesn’t hurt you or any other applicant in any way.
Alumni meetings, are really just another way for you as applicants to show your interest in the university and to ask questions about life at Cornell.
There is a check box on the meeting report if we have known an applicant prior to the meeting. I’m sure that this teacher will check that box and explain that he is this student’s teacher.
I would bother with it but if you want to, you do have a right to notify Cornell. Interviews doesn’t have much value but it is an unfair advantage.
But, there is no “advantage.”
This is from the guidelines Cornell gives to their alumni:
"2. Clearly characterize the Contact Meeting to the applicant as an informational meeting, not an interview, nor an official part of their application process. CAAAN contacts are made for the purpose of putting a personal face on Cornell by enthusiastic, informed volunteers answering applicants’ questions and providing them with information about the university.
- CAAAN contact reports are not intended to evaluate whether an applicant should or should not be admitted. "
And for the record, there is nothing in our guidelines that prohibits an alumni for meeting with a student they know. The teacher could recuse themselves if they weren’t comfortable or they can disclose on the form that they know the student.
The student is doing nothing wrong by accepting the meeting request.