<p>Has anyone been contacted for an alumni interview? Just curious. I have already had my Harvard interview, so I was wondering if anyone had done an interview for Columbia yet. If you have, what was it like (formal vs informal, questions vs conversational)?</p>
<p>^ my interview was kind of in the middle
Like it was in my interviewer’s work school office, but then we talked about movies, nyc, pleasure reading books, etc. I dressed up though, although my interviewer had told me that it was optional</p>
<p>it can really vary. a friend of mine had a CEO who was a little uptight. My interviewer, on the other hand, was class of '08 and really down to earth. he cracked jokes and even cursed several times lol. he asked me stuff like what i’d be doing on a typical saturday night, and even said “be honest, if you say out getting drunk, i won’t hold it against you”</p>
<p>^ LMAO DUDE
My interviewer was professor of History and he was like you know, Columbia’s a really upbeat place, so make sure you find your own group that you can go out and have beers with and get drunk now and then…</p>
<p>mine was with a guy who just graduated, and he was really funny. we met at a starbucks for an hour and half, and we basically just talked. he threw in a lot of philosophical questions (say you had to go on a solitary mission into space…) and then we talked about current events, music, movies, art, sports, friends, etc. Don’t stress out too much - from what I’ve heard, they range from super lax, to very structured, so there is no way to know what you will get.</p>
<p>does anyone know how(on what basis, in what order, etc.) they choose applicants for interviews?
is it who applied first? or random?
im pretty sure there is an alum available to me as i live in the city so im just wondering when the interview will be.
if it helps, i applied 12/26.
also, whats the duration between the alum contacting you and the interview?</p>
<p>Website says your chances are better the earlier you apply, but they schedule interviews through February. So I bet you’ll get one eventually, living in a city. They try to do as many as possible.</p>
<p>Does anyone know if Columbia does phone interviews or something like that as well? I live in a pretty rural area and really don’t think I would get an interview otherwise. Also, do they interview each person on an individual basis like on separate days? What I mean by that is that for Dartmouth, my interview is at a state university so they’ll probably interview most of the people applying from my state that weekend. Most of you guys seem like you just met with them locally and pretty informally.</p>
<p>i live in a city and met in a starbucks as well. i dont think they do phone interviews</p>
<p>My daughter had telephone interview</p>
<p>Does anyone know if they do interviews in Canada or not? I haven’t been contacted for one so I was just wondering if they even conduct them here. Im in Toronto btw</p>
<p>Mine was chill, but not spectacular. Interviewer was a middle-aged alum, went to Harvard Business School. I went to his house, he lived just down the road actually. I wore business casual. He started off by telling me to just tell him anything I wanted him to know. It turned into a conversation, slightly uncomfortable, and I felt like I was talking 70% of the time. We clicked on a couple things, but we didn’t have much in common. I came off a little superficial, which I regret. He told me he had questions prepared but I’d naturally touched on all the topics already. I told him how much I loved Columbia, though. That was a big point. Do your research, and know the little things and quirks. ALSO-- ASK QUESTIONS. YOU’LL FEEL LIKE A DUNCE WHEN YOU REALIZE YOU ONLY ASKED HIM TWO QUESTIONS. If you forget, send a follow-up email. </p>
<p>I got in ED, and I don’t think the interview was very important, but it was very stressful for me. It’s not a huge deal though, so don’t freak out. Just be chill and genuine. Don’t wander into conversational territory you’re not familiar with.</p>