Should I bring a resume? Should I instead email the alumni interviewer asking something along the lines of, "Would it be alright if I brought along a resume…?
Doesn’t matter. If he/she wants it, it’ll be accepted. It’s “meh” either way.
What do you mean, “meh”?
Doesn’t the college already know everything that’s on your resume?
@JustOneDad It’s an alumni interview. The only information they know is that I applied and my perspective major.
That’s my point. What is the interviewer going to do, put “Hey! Did you know this student volunteered at a hospital?” on the report form?
@JustOneDad no but it might help them discern that I’m actually a competitive applicant and not just wasting their time
That’s why they are talking to you. It’s very unlikely that they come to this interview thinking you are wasting their time.
I personally didn’t ask to bring my resume and he didn’t ask me for it, but I brought it anyways. He was fine with it and it was a nice reference point for the conversation. It’s up to you.
lol consider bringing it sonny, especially if the alum is older.
I thought it would be unnecessary, but then my interviewer asked me for all my test scores, gpa, and a resume if I had one!
Fortunately, she let me email her the resume, and was very impressed by me in general.
P.S. If you have very good stats/ are very competitive, don’t show them the resume till the end of your interview. Let them figure out your personality, THEN add the stats at the end of the interview. My princeton interviewer asked for it at the start, and it colored the whole interview (so much so that at the end when he asked me which other colleges I’m applying to and listed MIT, he said it’d be right up my alley. That’s not going to help me at Princeton. …).
I didn’t put my stats on the resume. The resume just had my EC’s on it. The interview really shouldn’t be about the numbers; it should be about who you are as a person which is why the resume would be helpful. The resume should define you by what you’ve done, not what scores you have.
even ECs can color someone. I’m sure the princeton alum formed his MIT assumption based on my ECs, not my stats as every top college wants good stats.
and my counselor recommended keeping the stats on my resume. Idk if that’s the wrong call. That’s exactly my opinion, but some older alums will still want a resume.
Keeping the stats on the resume is a subjective thing. Every interviewer is different. Some may like it; some may not. Older alums probably are more likely to want the resume. Younger alums might want the resume too but they may not be as insistent on it.
I’ll try to be clearer: It doesn’t matter either way. If the interviewer requests one in advance, then try to abide by that request. Otherwise don’t worry about it. If you have one handy, offer one. You’re over thinking this. It’ll be fine.
My personal opinion is that there is nothing on a HS student’s resume I need. As an interviewer, I expect to use my skills to find out what I want to know. And, the older I get, the more developed those skills become, so I’m not sure what’s behind the notion that older interviewers are more dependent on a list on paper.
I suppose it really depends on what the interviewer wants to know about the applicant they are interviewing. As many alumni interviewers have posted throughout the CC forums, they are provided very little information about the candidate prior to the interview, mainly name, contact info, intended major/focus, some EC’s.
My D just had her Harvard alumni interview last week and she was asked by the lady to bring a copy of her transcript along.
I interview for a different Ivy and we have never been given a resume, or asked for one. The school gives us intended major and sometimes ECs.
We are expressly told NOT to discuss scores or grades or where else the student is applying. Rarely these things might come up in the flow of conversation, but we move on quickly as that is not the purpose of the interview. The admissions committee has all of that info, we are just to answer any questions the student might have and get a sense of his/her interest in the school.
- We are specifically asked not to request or review résumés; the concept of the interview is: (1) to seek information not included in the application and its documentation and (2) to create a unique "portrait" for Admissions, which begins with a "blank canvas."
- Asking for a transcript seems rather far "out of line" to me; the Admissions organization already has that information -- and much more -- and the interviewer's duty is to provide data that is not apparent to Admissions (not to mention the obvious biases that are certain to occur if the interviewer analyzes the candidate's transcript).
^ I agree TopTier – I think Harvard’s policy gives too much room for error and bias on the part of the interviewer. If someone says they have 2000 SAT but doesn’t disclose that English wasn’t a first language, learned only as a teenager, I can certainly imagine it would impart a bias to the interviewer.
When that can all be avoided. I firmly believe that interviewers have no business knowing/asking for SATs or transcripts. I think it’s a weakness in Harvard’s interview protocols.
Bring the resume. I am an alumni interviewer and we do go over the ECs…I am trying to find where they showed leadership or if they seemed more of a follower. One time a student didn’t bring one and she had a hard time remembering all of her ECs. I don’t need SAT or GPA or transcripts or essays…I am not doing anything with that info.
Just say “I brought my resume if you think that is useful.” They can say yes or no.